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Historic York, a riverside city with a cultural inheritance spanning eras from Roman, Viking, Medieval, Georgian, Victorian to the present day, all crammed into an extremely flood prone few square kilometres. There are no shortage of sights, indeed, if you aren’t paying attention you may miss dozens simply walking from one to the another. City walls, a fabulous Minster, Roman columns, old merchant houses, ruined abbeys, railway heritage, Georgian townhouses, art galleries and of course The Shambles are among just a selection to keep you very well occupied. All this naturally means it’s a honeypot for tourists, particularly on weekends. However, mid-week and in between high seasons, it can feel surprisingly normal and local even in the very centre.
York also has a very healthy selection of pubs, however filtering out the very best can require a keen eye, as there are some superficially historic-looking taverns that are chain-run and a little disappointing, while conversely, some backstreet gems are overlooked! This is where we come in!
The Route Map:
Stop #1 is House of The Trembling Madness (Stonegate) 🏴
A great place to begin our tour is this quirky Stonegate pub in the first floor loft of a beer and spirits bottle shop. A very much in-demand venue, you may find seating tricky to come by at times. With exposed beams, fireplace, stuffed animals and statement wall with mounted deer skulls and antlers, it’s a very cosy spot, not least in the winter months. You’ll be whisked back centuries. Food offerings are tasty and good value, emerging from a tiny kitchen.
Backup Venue: House of The Trembling Madness (Lendal) 🏴 If you are unable to find a seat, you’re in luck, because their 2nd venue is a spacious multi-floor Georgian mansion. A different vibe with macabre religious artwork, but same high quality produce.
On Stonegate look for an alleyway with a low frame – so low you have to virtually stoop. This is the Coffee Yard, and it is a scenic route towards the next venue, taking you past the Barley Hall with its timber frames. You will emerge on Swinegate, and walk along this until you come to the market square. If you fancy braving the crowds, take a left and you’ll be at the top of The Shambles, one of the best preserved Medieval shopping streets in Europe. At the bottom turn left onto The Stonebow and walk up to Peaseholme Green where our next venue is situated.
Stop #2 is The Black Swan 🏴
Enough outside the city centre to be clear of the tourist crowds, this Black Swan strikes a nice balance between locals and visitors. A historic centuries old building, altered over the years featuring low beams and an atmospheric entranceway, also acting as a hotel and luncheon diner. The bar area or the lounge is where to be, with an intact and suitably medieval feel. Fireplace, pub cat, off-centre window frames, the works. Some of the features remain since a c.1670 alteration. The entrance area is a fabulous example not only of preserved Medieval features but their effective blending with early 20th century decoration. You’ll find a selection of cask ales, several of which are regional/local and the pub is also locally famous for its folk club which gather here – check dates in advance if that interests you. If you enjoy ghost stories there are several to be told about the place (mercifully they don’t bang on about it in a tacky way unlike others in the city) and other myths persist since as the presence of an underground passage connecting it to a local church.
Retrace your steps to the centre and instead of turning up the Shambles, turn down Fossgate towards the river to the next venue.
Stop #3 is The Blue Bell 🏴
A different era of history exhibited here in one of the smaller pubs in the country. Two snug rooms and a tiny old side hatch in a corridor constitute the entire pub which originates in the late 18th century but whose 1904 restoration has been kept intact ever since, earning it a Grade II* heritage listing. The red hues and worn-in surroundings in such a tiny place create an intense cosiness and intimacy that is difficult to truly convey, you must experience it. It can be tricky at times to get a seat in either room and you have to accept that may involve sharing tables. However, rather than seeing that as a negative, enjoy the fact you will very often enter into conversation with your fellow patrons. Cask ales are the focus here, with accompanying pie + peas the extent of the food options. I become wistful even as I type. One of the best pubs in the whole country.
There are a couple of ways to get to the next pub. The first, direct, is to cross the Foss Bridge at the bottom of the street and shimmy right onto Piccadilly where a not especially scenic area (hotels and car parks) will at least deposit you efficiently at Fishergate, where a quick zig-zag will spit you out at Fishergate bar. However, if you’re fancying a walk and some sight seeing, head South East over the Foss directly down Walmgate to the city walls at the end of the road. Climp the stairs onto ramparts and around the perimeter of the city centre limits to Fishergate.
Stop #4 is The Phoenix Inn 🏴
Not on the tourist circuit, this pub is a community asset offering real ale, bar billiards, jazz nights and a very pleasant back garden for summer. The interior is unspoilt, worn-in and the operation remains independently owned, meaning they have a choice of which beers they can offer. The bar area is lit by a fireplace and candle-light, very atmospheric on winter evenings. What the beer community would refer to as a ‘proper pub’, and there are several such places to come.
Even a city like York has to struggle with the challenge of fluidly directing traffic, but unfortunately this will interfere with our walk to the next pub. Cross the A1036 as safely as you can, until you’re on the side by the Mason Arms, and follow the road West over Skeldergate bridge. You’ll see the iconic Clifford’s tower to your right and beautiful riverside views. On the corner as you pass a row of houses is our next stop.
Stop #5 is The Swan 🏴
One of York’s finest pubs for a number of reasons – and we will come to its interior – but the most persuasive of all is its genuine social value. Like all great English pubs its attracts people from a range of generations and backgrounds interacting in a comfortable social setting. It feels vibrant, relevant and alive. This has been fostered by the owners who won a long battle with previous owners to secure its future as an independently-owned community asset. Enter to find a stand-up lobby area across which are two rooms including an old ‘Smoke Room’ furnished with comfortable upholstered bench seats and little tables. There is a beer garden to the rear. Remodelled in the 1930s and preserved to Grade II listed standards, there are flashes of flair to the detail and finish in and around familiar and warm, likeable surroundings. If you catch it during its sweet spot where the place is nicely full, you will not want to leave. No ghost walks, no tourist churn, no canteen smell, this is a real pub for the community that actually live in York.
Our next walk takes you again through the city walls to the lovely quiet neighbourhood of Bishopshill, where you’ll feel far removed from the bustle of the centre. There is a lovely pub at the heart of this oasis of calm.
Stop #6 is The Golden Ball 🏴
Yorkshire’s first community-owned co-operative pub, the decisions made here are in the interest of the pub and the people that use it rather than by the edict of some top-down Pub company. With local ales and local produce on offer, and space given over to community groups, events, live performances, as well as Living Wage employers, these really are good guys trying to do things the right way. The pub layout remains the same as its 1800 origin, but each room has received its own distinct makeover. From the gigs, to bar billiards, to a pleasant garden, and display of local art you’ll be immersed in a pub that feels modern, relevant while taking the best aspects of the traditional pub and its heritage along with it.
Stop #7 is The Ackhorne 🏴
While close to the station and busy Micklegate bar its situation halfway along a narrow cobbled side-street near a church, makes The Ackhorne not obviously visible from either side and without care and attention can be easily passed over. As a result, it is just off the beaten path enough to remain unsullied by the tourist hordes. This is largely a local’s pub, not a tourist pub, with a pub bulldog, a friendly down-to-earth and communal crowd with pub grub, bar billiards and attractive features such as exposed beams, settles and unusual layout. An all-rounder with a dynamic feel on busy evenings but cosy haven of calm on quieter ones. Another venue that will not feature on most of the typical guides that deserves your attention.
Stop #8 is York Tap 🏴
Our final stop is now York Tap itself, a bonafide train station pub whose back door leads directly out onto the platform, though one of two pubs located in the station building. A magnificent conversion of Victorian tea-rooms, lavishly restored in 2011 offers an interior unlike any other. Owned by the Pivovar group who also run nearby station taprooms in the North, a strong selection of beer is guaranteed on cask and keg. In the winter time the fires are glowing and you can add yourself the one of the many who has stopped here for a drink before their journey home.
Should any of the above 8 venues be closed we have a series of recommended backup venues for you:
Other recommendations:
House of The Trembling Madness (Lendal) 🏴 The 2nd venue of this business is based in a spacious, splendid Georgian mansion. A different vibe with macabre religious artwork, but same high quality produce. There is simply nothing else like it.
Rook & Gaskill 🏴 – Local modern ale house on the fringes of the city walls offering high quality produce and community events to keep customers returning.
Pivni 🏴 – Modern beers offered in a stunning timber framed building in the centre of York. Several levels and plenty of seating available, the convenient location and good standard products make it a convenient stop off, even if the crowd generally feels quite transient.
Snickleway 🏴 – York’s only example of a 15th century galleried inn, the old name ‘Anglers Arms’ has been incorporated into the decor. Skewed angles and niches provide that olde worlde character and there are always good real ales on offer.
Minster Inn 🏴 A popular in-the-know pub around the back of Museum gardens, this maintains its multi-room interior but has received a refit and modern trappings in some respects. It mainly blends together well, and works as a local rather than a show-stopper tourist venue.
The Wellington 🏴 – Backstreet community pub with unspoilt multi-room interior and beautiful back garden. On a row of terraces, this is a true genteel throwback of a kind that seems barely possible in the present day. However, it is owned and run by Sam Smith’s brewery.
Kings Arms 🏴 The name Sam Smith may already be enough to make people run a mile, and this pub is under their ownership, but this riverside pub is notable, both for the frequency of flooding marked on a chart in the inside, and popular outdoor seating which is one of the top places in York to sit out with drink.
Masons Arms 🏴 A beautifully preserved ‘Brewer’s Tudor’ fit with a marvellously lost in time 60s/70s feel to it, and an attractive canalside back yard.
Volunteer Arms 🏴 Owned by the same fellows as The Swan, this is another pub focused on its local community well off the tourist trail, yet easily accessible behind York Station.
The Fox 🏴 A little West of York centre to the suburb of Holgate, this is a smart refit multi-room pub with Ossett beers and an entirely local place rather than for a transient touristic audience.
The Red Lion 🏴 – Rudgate brewery pub with traditional interior and old fittings. Down-to-earth with a warren of low-ceilinged rooms, this won’t be for everyone but may appeal to anyone continuing a heritage pub tour.
The Golden Fleece – 🏴 One of the most beautiful pub frontages in a city with a lot of competition. The interior is a little bit of a let-down by comparison, as it is subject to some rather tacky, tourist focused gimmicks, however you may still enjoy the quirky features and Medieval feel to the place.
Interested in more Yorkshire pubs? Head over to our England page!