The hotel An easy direct train ride from Newcastle, Peterborough, Doncaster or London (book with lner.co.uk), York makes a great weekend break – with smart hotels including Elmbank Hotel (hilton.com, doubles from £109). It’s a handsome mansion from c1870 with original Art Nouveau details – roses in the restaurant’s stained glass, a balustraded stairway by a Charles Rennie Mackintosh contemporary. There are special-occasion glam suites with claw-foot tubs; tea in the Peacock Bar can roll into whiskies until late.
The restaurant Grape Lane was, in the 17th century, the heart of York’s red-light district, known then as Grope Lane. It’s gone upmarket since and, at trendy indie restaurant Fish & Forest (fishandforestrestaurant.com), the proof is in the pudding: ask for the heady chocolate delice with bay-leaf ice cream and oat-biscuit crunch. Young owner-chef Stephen Andrews is a whiz with mains, including sea bass in a Jackson-Pollocky swirl of cream and tarragon. If you like oysters, you’ll love the cold, white Lindisfarne variety to kick off with.
The cocktails You’ve got to love a place where you’re greeted by a funky bartender with a pitch-black statement hairdo, accessorised with a broad smile. The Fossgate Social (thefossgatesocial.com) is that place. There’s something edgy about its Gothic-dark, oblong dimensions, but all is offset by a chattery crowd, winking red fairy lights, table candles and a drinks list notable for spicy honey (or alternatively mango) margaritas that would stun an ox. Handily, there’s a courtyard to crash in.
The Sunday roast In a city said to have 365 pubs, worthy highlights include The Blue Bell (bluebellyork.com), the city’s smallest: a shoebox of bric-a-brac and heavenly draughts. But our money’s on The Ackhorne (@_theackhorne, above), down an alley outside the city walls. It’s a woozy haven of low tables and stools, dogs and dad rock (ELO, Billy Joel). Families pile in for sensational Sunday roasts. The beef was unforgettable: tons of it, piled in rare-pink blankets, with a UFO of a Yorkshire pud and floods of pour-me-more gravy.
The tour For some eerie, entertaining history, join The Bloody Tour of York (£12, thebloodytourofyork.co.uk; for discounts see yorkpass.com), led by Lady Peckett, above. With a theatrical flourish, she shares some shuddery tales: of Roman soldier ghosts in the Treasurer’s House; the trade in leeches in the plague years; and heads on spikes, including, they say, the Grand Old Duke of York’s, in the Wars of the Roses. The 1586 execution of one Margaret Clitherow, crushed to death for harbouring Catholic priests, sounds truly grim.
The neighbourhood Bishopthorpe (unofficially ‘Bishy’) Road is dubbed ‘the Notting Hill of York’. It’s certainly a barometer of city style: for gifts, Frankie & Johnny’s Cookshop (no23) has beautifully patterned Polish tableware, and birthday cards by York artists; see also The Bishy Weigh (no1), selling local rapeseed oil, honey and chocolate. When it’s time for brunch, do pancake stacks (above), at Robinsons (no7). Visit indieyork.co.uk and visityork.org for more independent stores across the city.
