Want to go step back in time? Sure, it would be nice to have a fancy pants time machine – but until then, there is little to compare to the ancient beauty of magnificent York in the northern part of England. To see the view I photographed above, head to the imposing and beautiful York Minster. Built circa – xploring York’s historic city centre is like taking a trip back in time. The city’s rich cultural heritage dates back to Roman times, but the flavour of Viking Jorvik is still alive at the outstanding Jorvik , and the medieval architecture of the city is outstanding.

York is dominated by the imposing bulk of York Minster with its superb stained glass windows, but spare some time to explore one of York’s other fine medieval churches, and wander the narrow streets of The Shambles area. Don’t leave York without taking a walk on the city walls that were first erected by the Roman legions. Along the walls you can visit the medieval gateways to the city.

A word about York street names. You will notice that many streets end in the suffix “gate”, such as Stonegate, Coppergate, and Skeldergate. This does NOT mean that the “gate” in question was a part of the old York city walls.

Instead, the “gate” in this case comes from the Viking “gata”, meaning simply “street”. The actual city gates are called “Bars”, such as Micklegate Bar and Walmgate Bar.