York Residents Festival // Part 1

So you may remember me mentioning a few weeks ago that my weekend was spent celebrating the fact that I am in-fact a York Resident. This meant that with a small, rectangular piece of blue plastic, I was granted free entry into a whole host of tourist attractions, and as you can probably imagine I lapped it up. It's so much fun being a tourist in your own city and I though what better way to look back over all the exciting things I got up to then share it with you guys. To make it even more thrilling I've split my weekend up so I don't ramble on too much, and don't worry I won't tell you every detail just incase you want to visit these places yourself- I highly recommend it. 

The first of our adventures started at approximately 11am at Clifford's Tower. After having a little lie in and waking up to sun we were keen to bunch together as many activities as possible, and this one had been on our to-do list for a while. Clifford's Tower is the ruins of part of the castle that once stood and is an English Heritage owned building, so there is usually a charge of around £4 for an adult. However, on a sunny day I think that this monument is totally worth the price as there is so much to read about and the views go on for miles! (We played the game of who can spot our flat first)

After a good forty minute amble we headed over to the neighboring Castle Museum and managed to bypass the queue with our blue, plastic card, you can probably imagine the smug-ness. The last time I went to this museum I was about ten so it was nice to revisit and relive the distant memories. This is a great destination to spend a few hours learning about different historical aspects, but my favourite part has to be the Victorian street they've set up. You literally transformed back in time as you wander in and out of houses and shops, listening to talks and experiencing their way of life, if you liked Diagon Alley at the Harry Potter Studio Tour then you'll love this. {Insiders secret: they have three different scents that are pumped out into this section making the experience even more lifelike!}

A quick spot of lunch later and we've trekked to the other side of the city to the Yorkshire Museum, how intellectual are we? This attraction gives you an idea what happened in York after the Ice Age, through the viking period and onto the Romans. For me it wasn't quite up there with the Castle Museum but we did get our hands dirty in attempting to make a Roman pot, it's safe to say clay modelling isn't my calling in life. Once we'd finished up inside our day ended with a stroll around the museum gardens. These are always open to the public free of charge and are beautiful to walk round, even if you've got some spare time on your hands before catching a train. 

As you can probably imagine our feet were pretty much begging for us to sit down so we called it a day and headed home,via some shops of course. If you're planning a trip to York soon I'd definitely put these destinations on your itinerary!