A Day Out In York

We've had a few hospital appointments over the last few weeks which can be stressful and worrying so it was nice to relax at the a few weekends ago and enjoy a day out in York. We have been to York before little J was born and it was a lovely place so I was excited to get back there and enjoy the sights. We drove over on the Saturday night as we booked a room at a Travelodge. It was quite cheap and it meant we could wake up Sunday and be ready for our day out. The Travelodge was in Pontefract about 20 minutes from York. I know some people don't like Travelodge hotels or Premier Inns but we have never had a problem and have always enjoyed our stays. The room was spacious and had everything we needed for our overnight stop. It was a very bright but chilly morning on Sunday and our first stop was a trip on the York Cruise. We didn't do the boat trip last time we went so it was nice to take a ride this time. We parked close by in a shoppers car park. Parking was £11 for 5 hours which was quite expensive but we didn't have any other choices as the car parks were mostly full.

We were hoping to get on the first cruise of the day which was 10:40 but we were running a little late but it wasn't long till the next one at 11:25. We boarded at Lendal Bridge Landing which was right by a nice pub. Lots of people sat out enjoying the sunshine. Even though it was a little nippy it was lovely and bright and the views of the river are lovely.

I love this photo. The water just looks so calm and peaceful.

We kept the pram up as we boarded the boat and we decided to sit downstairs. The top deck was quite busy. I wasn't sure whether the roof would be open (it wasn't) so we decided on downstairs as it may have been to cold for little J. Everyone else chose up so we had it all to ourselves. It was lovely to sit and chill and little J enjoyed walking up and down and also enjoyed looking out the window.

Big J found a balloon on board so they played with that too.

The commentary on board was really interesting. I love listening to facts about places. We were told about the buildings, bridges and random facts about York too. 

There were refreshments on board but we had brought our own as I wasn't sure what was available and I knew little J would be peckish.

There were toilets downstairs and they were really lovely. I know that sounds a strange thing to say about a toilet but they were. It was like a mini bathroom with flowers in and it just look and smelt really clean.

The cruise itself was 45 minutes and to be honest it flew by. I thought it might be hard to keep both boys entertained but they loved it. I will pop the link to the York Boat website incase you are planning a trip to York as I would definitely recommend it.

After the cruise we went for a stroll around the shops and shambles.

Little J fell asleep for a hour but when he woke up we had arrived at Clifford's Tower. I'm not a fan of heights so I wasn't to keen in climbing up but Daddy, Big J and Little J did. I was happy to stay down the bottom and just look up at the views.

Little J enjoyed walking around the bottom of the tower while big J rolled down the hill.

Once we had finished we enjoyed a nice stroll along the riverbank before we headed off for some dinner at Bella Italia.

Kara from Are We Nearly there Yet has explored York with the Jorvik Group Passport - You can read all about it here.

A lovely Sunday in a lovely city. Have you been to York? 

*we were invited on a york boat cruise in return for our honest opinion*