York, England — Activities
York Culture
Music: The National Center for Early Music (tel: (01904) 632 220 or 658 338 for tickets; website: www.ncem.co.uk) is situated in St Margaret's Church on Walmgate and attracts some of the finest in jazz, folk and world music within a medieval gem, complete with unusual brick bell tower and ornate Roman porch. The center particularly specializes in classical music.
Theater and Dance: The welcoming and striking Theater Royal (tel: (01904) 658 162 or 623 568 for tickets; website: www.yorktheaterroyal.co.uk) in St Leonard's Place attracts many of the stars of stage and screen; and the Grand Opera House on Cumberland Street (tel: 0844 847 2322 for tickets; website: www.grandoperahouseyork.org.uk) tends to host more family-orientated and mass-market entertainment. The Friargate Theater on Lower Friargate, run by the Riding Lights theater company (tel: (01904) 655 317; website: www.ridinglights.org) paves the way for innovative theater in York and its program also contains occasional talks and dance shows.
Film: There is a Vue Cinema 12-screen multiplex (tel: 0871 224 0240; website: www.odeon.co.uk) at Clifton Moor on the outer ring road with all the usual blockbusters and premieres, but also the much-loved City Screen cinema (tel: 0871 704 2054; website: www.picturehouses.co.uk) off Coney Street, which brags amazing views across the River Ouse and is popular not just for its art house, world cinema and mainstream films, but also for its two bars, its riverside balcony and its nights of comedy and quizzes.
For the latest listings of what's on in York, look online (website: www.whatsonyork.com).
York Tours
There are dozens of tours in York and over the years the eccentric list has included both a ‘Historic Toilet’ tour and a ‘Bloody Execution’ tour. There are free daily guided walking tours of a more conventional nature from the Association of Voluntary Guides (tel: (01904) 640 780).
York City Sightseeing is a hop-on, hop-off bus service that travels around the city center (tel: (01904) 655 585; website: www.yorktourbuses.co.uk). There is also a sightseeing tour from a boat (tel: (01904) 628 324; website: www.yorkboat.co.uk).
The International Ghost Research Foundation announced that York was ‘officially’ the most haunted city in Europe in 2002 and there are plenty of ghost tours around the city to impart insights into York’s resident ghosts. Some of these tours rely on trickery and theatrics, while others opt for a more straightforward historical approach. The best of them all is The Original Ghost Walk of York (tel: (01759) 373 090; website: www.theoriginalghostwalkofyork.co.uk), which departs from outside the King’s Arms pub, 3 King’s Straith, on a nightly basis.
