City Guide: York

YORK is a gateway destination to another century.

When you are in York, you won't find any reminder of life after the Industrial Revolution, but only from before the era of machines. Stuck in medieval times, York is still an old-world cityscape with labyrinth of narrow cobbled streets and a cluster of Gothic churches.

Your trip to York is more than a visit to another city, but a travel to another century. Along with old-world lifestyle York offers modern comforts for your stay. Be it a room in cheap hotel in York to luxury one all available with maps, photos and secure forms at Booked.net.

York is a city of unbelievable cultural wealth and it houses the grandest Gothic Cathedral in the world. York Minster's final shape is a mix of Norman and Gothic styles and it was completed more than 250 years ago. Sitting in the very heart of the city York Minster is a place around which life in York revolves.

Hemmed in by a 7km stretch of walls, York Minster is the point from which Byland Abbey and Kirkham Priory spring up. Other attractions include;

• Jorvik Viking Centre houses an examples of the Viking culture at York

• York Castle Museum, a world-class museum with historic exhibitions

• Clifford's Tower, a medieval castle of York in the city center and was built by William the Conqueror in the 13th century

• Yorkshire Museum, A Museum of gardens and a very kids-friendly place

• Barley Hall, a renovated Medieval townhouse

While touring you can change focus to shopping in York as there are more than 2,000 shops or you may also dine out in one of 200 restaurants and hit the scene after dark in night clubs, pubs and public houses.

But the true essence of York lies beneath its appearance of the chic and modern and goes back to its old days. King George VI once said that "The history of York is the history of England". It still holds true for the city as York saw different hands from Romans, Saxons, Vikings, and Normans, but took the best from those foreign presences.

Thus, the Romans discovered the strategic potential of the city through the construction of the fort at the crossing of Foss and the Ouse rivers, Saxons bestowed on York the capital credentials of the Saxon kingdom of Deirwa and in the 9th century York experienced its heyday. If the lion's share of its architectural wealth the city of York gained during medieval times, its final shape was completed when Lord Mayor, George Hudson brought the "iron horse" - railway connection - to the city.

Since the railway and comfortable hotels in the area are the only to disturb its medieval face, Booked.net can place you in its medieval environment with all modern comforts.