York Saints and Sinners History Tour

*IMPORTANT NOTE: This tour is offered in ENGLISH and in SPANISH. Please make sure you specify your preferred language when booking.*
The Saints and Sinners Tour looks at the history of York through the eyes of those who shaped it.
Meet the King, the Bishop, the Highwayman, the Chocolatier, the Martyr, the Terrorist, the Emperor, and the Artist.
Do you know their names? What do you know about their lives? Where can you find their traces in the city? Were they saints… Or sinners..?

I am your guide: Irene, an art historian born in Madrid and living in York for the last eight years.
Join me on a fascinating walk around York to discover all this and more!

Meeting Point

148 Micklegate

148 Micklegate, York YO1 6JX, UK

Go through Micklegate Bar if you are coming from outside the city walls, or stop just before it if you are coming from inside the walls. We meet at the corner of Bar Lane and Micklegate, just outside the pub "Micklegate Social".

What's included:

• Private tour
• Hotel pickup (by foot, city centre hotels only)
• Tour escort/host: Art Historian, background in museums and customer services.

Not included:

• Food and drinks
• Entrance fees to historical attractions

What to expect:

Duration: 2 hours

Micklegate Bar

27 Micklegate, York, YO1 6JH

We will meet in front of Micklegate Bar, inside the city walls. There we will talk about the first of our "sinners": the most infamous king in English history... Was he a monster, or a hero? A murderer, or a pious man who did his duty?

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Ouse Bridge

Bridge Street, York, YO1 9QU

We will stand on Ouse Bridge, the place where our first saint performed an incredible miracle! It is also where another saint, whom we will talk about later on, was executed for her faith...

10 minutes

Clifford's Tower

Tower Street, , York, YO1 9SA

Clifford's Tower is all that is left of York's Castle. For decades it was also part of York's prison, and its most famous inmate is our second sinner: the most well-known highwayman in England... Did he really ride from London to York in just one day!?

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

York Castle Museum

Eye of York, Tower St, York, YO1 9RY

Once York's prison, today a wonderful museum of Yorkshire's social history from the 1500s to today.

Pass by without stopping

Jorvik Viking Centre

19 Coppergate, Coppergate Shopping Centre, York, YO1 9WT

A museum where you can go for a ride through an old Viking village and learn about York (Jorvik)'s past.

Pass by without stopping

Parliament Street

Parliament Street, York, YO1 8SG

We stop at the end of one of York's busiest shopping streets to look at the old house of our second "saint", whose name is synonymous with chocolate. But he didn't make people's lives sweeter only with his products; he also did so with his actions and beliefs.

10 minutes

Shambles

11 Shambles, , York, YO1 7LZ

Arguably the most well-known street in the city, we will stop here to talk about York's most famous martyr: the butcher's wife who lived here and was executed on Ouse Bridge for her Catholic faith.
*PLEASE NOTE* as Shambles is a very narrow street and usually very busy, we will take a detour instead of going up it. You can explore it at your leisure in your own time.

10 minutes

York's Chocolate Story

King's Square, York, YO1 7LD

A fun museum where you can learn everything about York's chocolatey history, and even make a chocolate lolly yourself!

Pass by without stopping

St. Michael le Belfrey Church

High Petergate, York, YO1 7EN

The church where our third sinner, the most famous terrorist of all time, was baptised. He could have changed the course of England's (and Europe's) history had he not been discovered. Remember, remember...

10 minutes

Statue of Constantine the Great

York Minster, York

Our fourth and last "saint", Constantine the Great, was proclaimed emperor in York, where we can see his statue today. He changed the course of history and religion forever, but was he really a Christian himself..?

10 minutes

York Minster

Minster Yard, Deangate, York, YO1 7HH

The greatest landmark of the city of York is its magnificent Gothic minster, whose origins date back to the 7th century.

Pass by without stopping

Exhibition Square

, , York

We finish our tour in Exhibition Square, a very appropriate name for the place where the York Art Gallery stands. Here we will meet our last "sinner": an artist whose life was shrouded in admiration and controversy in equal parts... And who saved the York walls from destruction.

10 minutes

York Art Gallery

Exhibition Square, York, YO1 7EW

Home of the CoCA (Centre of Ceramic Art), the biggest and most complete collection of British contemporary ceramics. It also has an extensive collection of paintings - most of which are not on display - and hosts temporary exhibitions periodically.

Pass by without stopping