A luxury hostel in York, England

On our epic 97 day road trip around the United Kingdom we had the pleasure of visiting an unusual city in the north of England. One that oozes history and quintessentially English charm from every cobbled street and hidden alleyway. York is a city quite unlike those you'll find in the north of England, a part of the country famed for its industrial might during the turn of the 20th century. Many cities and towns in the north transformed almost overnight into factory filled urban sprawls. While York does have an industrial history its city centre has remained mostly untouched. The old Roman city walls have protected the city for  thousands of years and did a pretty good job of preserving the centre in the form  we saw it today.

We parked up close to the centre and navigated our way through the busy tourist filled streets to find out accommodation. The Fort Hostel is right in the centre of town on pedestrianised streets and we passed a few of the famous landmarks on our way, making us all the more curious to explore.

The Fort Hostel

Slap bang in the middle of all the action, The Fort Hostel is a perfectly located place to stay. Sure there's no parking but there's very easy access from the nearby train station and we found a car park just 5 minutes walk away. There's no reception for the hostel, you just pop in to the bar downstairs and they sort you out. The bar is very nice and well worth checking out in the evening. They also do a good deal on breakfast as well. With a hostel being above a bar there's always going to be some sound bleeding through to upstairs but thankfully it was never that loud or annoying. Unfortunately the lift was out of order when we were there so we had to drag our heavy bags up the different levels of stairs to our room. The building is hundreds of years old and clearly used to be multiple buildings. Walking up some stairs, down some others to eventually find our room. Modern hostels can, sometimes do private rooms well. Ours was well styled, comfortable bed, lamps, flat screen TV and a wet room style shower which had a tendency to make all of the bathroom floor wet.

The downsides to this renovated yet ancient building are that there's a fair number of fire doors which easily slammed loudly unless carefully handled. Being a hostel nothing is very carefully handled so we'd often get woken up by doors slamming. Also with the cramped nature of the lanes and alleyways of York the buildings aren't very big. Our "common area" was little more than a landing half way up the stairs. Just enough room for one chair, one computer and a microwave kitchenette. So there was no atmosphere in the hostel itself but plenty down in the bar below. With the proximity to so much going on in York as well it wasn't really an issue.

Other than a couple of niggles it was a great place to stay. The most important 2 aspects of any hostel are a good nights sleep and being made to feel welcome. The Fort did a fairly good job of the first (aside from the slamming doors) and a good job of the latter.

Exploring York

With such a walkable city centre, getting out and about to explore is very easy and very enjoyable. Firstly there's York Minster, you can't miss it. Looming over the city centre close by to the hostel. Its a fairly expensive £9 for entry but if you're there on the hour you get a free guided tour which makes it better value for money.

Its interior is quite a sight and you can easily spend a couple of hours in there admiring the many stained glassed windows and unusual stone work.

The Jorvik Viking Centre is somewhere I went as a kid and was keen to visit once more. The first place in the UK to give you a virtual experience of an ancient site. While excavating land in the 70s a viking settlement was discovered and a museum was built to house the collection. Not only that but the UKs first smelly museum and indoor ride that took you around a mock-up of the village. Its a fun and entertaining way to tell you about viking life in England and there's a great number of artefacts to check out after the ride too.

National Railway Museum

Our love of travel does of course include all forms of transport including great railway journeys. With Britain's rich industrial history we couldn't overlook the best collection of historic trains at the National Railway Museum. Free to enter, its got some of the most famous trains not just from the UK but around the world too. Mallard, the fastest steam train is a particular favourite, some royal carriages used by Queen Victoria too. A Shinkansen Bullet Train from the 80s and the world famous Flying Scotsman which you can see currently being restored in the workshop. It's quite a collection and the exhibits are very well presented making the whole experience entertaining. If you love to travel and want to find out more about how people around the world travelled by train, this is definitely the best place to find out more.

Walking the streets and walls

Aside from the museums and churches York is prefect for just wandering around and taking in the sights. From the river Ouse that flows through its heart, to the cobble and wobbled Shambles streets where you'll find lovely craft shops in a setting akin to a Harry Potter scene. There's no shortage of wonderfully English tea rooms and lively narrow streets filled with independent shops and people trying to sell you ghost tours. In this historic setting its easy to see why they have become so popular. You can also walk along the ancient roman wall in numerous places which give you great view of both sides of the wall. Its height can be a little daunting in places but its worth walking at least part of it.

We really enjoyed our stay in York. Its a city that has no shortage of charm and activities, There's great places to eat and drink around pretty much every corner, lots to do both indoors and out. The Fort was an easy place to stay with a good restaurant bar below and right next to everything we wanted to see.

Thanks to The Fort and Hostelworld.com for their support during our stay in York. For more information on things to do in the UK visit www.placestogoinbritain.com