River Ouse

The York City Cruise provides an entertaining and informative tour of the historic city as seen from the River Ouse. Enjoy the sights from a different perspective as a friendly and knowledgeable team guides you leisurely up and downstream. Your cruise departs from the King's Staith landing. Admire the scenery from the comfort of the enclosed saloon or the upper deck and treat yourself to a refreshing drink from the bar. The duration of the cruise is either 45 minutes or 1 hour and is determined by the weather on the day and by demand. Your ticket will be valid for whatever duration is offered on the day of your visit. Typically the 1-hour cruise follows a route that heads upstream to Clifton Bridge on the northern outskirts of York city and then downstream as far as the Millennium Bridge on the city’s southern outskirts, before returning back upstream to the original landing stage. The 45-minute cruise operates in the same area without going quite as far in either direction, passing through the center of the walled city. During the cruise, the captain will keep you entertained with live commentary about the sites you pass. Learn about York’s history of flooding and its prosperity as an inland port, as you sail along the river that brought the Romans and the Vikings to this site. You’ll sail on a vessel that features an enclosed and heated saloon, restrooms, and a fully stocked bar serving beers, wines, spirits, soft drinks, hot drinks, and snacks.

Your cruise takes you through the city and surrounding countryside of York, where you'll spot York Minster, Clifford's Tower, and York Guildhall. Our crew will sort you out with a complementary drink and your Strawberries & Cream on boarding! After that, with a full on-board bar selling a wide variety of drinks, including beer, wine, spirits, and soft drinks, you can keep well refreshed. The Evening Escape on The Ouse offers a tranquil evening cruise along the river, providing you with stunning views of York at dusk. The experience is accompanied by a calming acoustic soundtrack of timeless tunes from the 60s to today, with no live commentary, allowing you to fully immerse in the peaceful surroundings.

Enjoy a leisurely one hour hire, exploring York from the helm of your own self-steer motorboat. Become a captain and explore the sites of York’s riverside in style. Your private boat can accommodate up to 5 people and will provide plenty of room for you all to head out on your own aquatic adventure, exploring the same river that brought the Vikings to this beautiful city. You will receive full instructions on how to operate your motor boat along with safety and river rules, whilst life jackets will be provided for any children. Your boat operating area is along a route that will along you to take in the whole city from the river within the one hour. Additionally, on a half hour hire you can operate within this area and will be able to take in most of the built up section of the Ouse, or make your way down stream to the Millennium Bridge and back to the moorings again. Please note that the boats cannot be taken past Clifton Bridge or the Millennium Bridge. You are not allowed to moor the boat up and disembark at any point on the river other than at the at King’s Staith (where your hire first began).

York is a city with over 2000 years of history to explore, choose your own adventure in this amazing city. After purchase, your York City Pass gives you free entry to over 20 attractions in York.  Enjoy a full day of sightseeing in York and see the best of the city. You can visit Jorvik Viking Centre, York Dungeon, York Minster, Barley Hall, and more. You can also hop on the City Sightseeing Bus or the York City Cruises. With a variety of different options of things to do in see, you can thoroughly explore York. The York Pass also gives you discounts on taxi fares, BOBH day trips from York, Mountain Goat Tours, City Cruises Evening Tour, York Cycling Tour, escape rooms, and ghost walks. Inclusions: • The Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre • Barley Hall • Bedern Hall • Beningbrough Hall • Clifford’s Tower • DIG • Fairfax House • Golden Tours York 24-hour ticket • Jorvik Viking Centre • Mansion House • Merchant Adventurers’ Hall • Railway Museum Road Train • Roman Bath • The Hilt Axe Experience • The City Walls Experience • Treasurer’s House • Van Gogh Experience • York Army Museum • York City Cruises • York City Sightseeing 24-hour ticket • York Dungeon • York Minster • Yorkshire Air Museum • Yorkshire Museum • York Castle Museum

There isn't a better way to enjoy the great British tradition of Fish & Chips than to sit back, relax, and take in the beautiful riverside of the majestic Minster city. Departing from the City Centre, you'll be handed your Fish & Chips freshly wrapped and delivered by the award-winning Mr Chippy with the option of washing it down with a wide range of refreshments available at our on-board bar. Throughout the cruise, you'll be entertained by music as well as live captain's commentary before returning back to York well-fed, watered and wanting to come back for more!

Explore York on a guided e-bike city and surrounding area tour. See the highlights of the city and its surroundings, including the River Ouse, Walmgate Bar, and York Minster. Meet your guide at the Black Swan Pub and get kitted out with your e-bike and helmet. Set off on your tour and head to Walmgate Bar, York's most complete and recognisable bar. Continue to Dick Turpin's Grave, the notorious highwayman and horse stealer's grave. Then, head to Clifford's Tower, originally built by William the Conqueror. Next, ride a ride down the River Ouse and take in the sights along the river with several stops to learn some little-known historical facts. Continue to York Minster, one of the world's most magnificent cathedrals. Ride to the Shambles, one of York's most famous landmarks and one of the best-preserved medieval shopping streets in Europe. Finally, reach Whip-ma-Whop-ma-Gate and find out the real meaning of the shortest street with the longest name.

Take in the majesty of the iconic York Minster with the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in the country. Marvel at York’s historic architecture and enjoy an all encompassing bus tour of this eclectic city. ravel to York by train from central London in just 2 hours. Hop-on Hop-off Tour There’s no better way to discover the magic of this ancient city than from the top deck of City Sightseeing hop-on hop-off bus. With stops carefully chosen around the city, you’ll be able to see all there is to see and the onboard multilingual audio guide means you’ll learn all about the city’s long and lively history as you go. There’s even a special commentary for the kids! York is one of England’s most historic cities. It was founded by the Romans and was the capital of the northernmost of their two British provinces. Later, famously, the Vikings made the city the capital of their British territory. All through its history, it’s been an important city and you can see that in its buildings, streets and monuments today. There are lots of great places to hop off, but a great place to start is Walmgate Bar, one of the city’s old gates that were part of its defensive walls. Walmgate is an impressive sight, but even better you can actually climb up onto the wall itself and walk along it and imagine you’re a Medieval guard! Clifford’s Tower is another great place to hop off. It’s the old Norman keep of York Castle and it’s hard to miss as it stands on a high mound above the surrounding buildings and streets. You can climb the mound and explore the keep. It’s another of the city’s Medieval jewels. For something a little different, hop off at the Stonebow and head to The Shambles, definitely the city’s most famous and atmospheric street. Full of medieval buildings, in places this incredible narrow street seems to be falling in on itself. It’s no surprise that it’s said to be the inspiration for Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley! If you want to relax a while, there’s no better place to hop off than the Museum Gardens. These charming botanic gardens sit on the bank of the River Ouse and they’re an excellent place to sit and take some time out or even have a picnic. And don’t forget to feed the very friendly squirrels! We’ve not even mentioned York Minster or the fascinating Viking museum, the Jorvik Centre. There’s so much to hop off and see. But whatever you do, it is sure to be brilliant.