Kevin did an excellent job of delivering York’s past in an interesting and captivating manner. The tour was very enjoyable and informative. Experiencing the city’s breath taking beauty was made all the better by understanding its complex history, and I would recommend this tour to anyone visiting York.

Fraser was amazing on our tour. Huge depth of knowledge and a great sense of humour. The tour itself was as the info states completely free and they won’t accept tips which makes the sacrifice of their time even more appreciated. The places we went to give you a great introduction to York history and some interesting social insights. Highly recommend the tour for anyone who is going to York. But makes sure you book as you may not get on a tour if you just turn up. You might but you wouldn’t want to miss this.

We attended a two-hour walking tour in York led by our guide Fraser, and it turned out to be one of the highlights of our visit. From the start, his humour and knowledge made the experience engaging and easy to follow. What stood out most was how thoughtfully he delivered the tour,he was careful to provide context, explain terms clearly, and ensure that even international visitors could fully understand and connect with the history.

As the tour progressed, we found ourselves becoming more and more immersed in the city’s past. The stories of Anne Lister was particularly fasinating to me. The Viking heritage of York added another layer to it , making the city feel alive with centuries of stories. We also really enjoyed the explanations of the stained glass panels at York Minster, especially the ones on the west front they added a visual depth to the historical narrative. One of the other memorable aspects of the tour was learning about the origins of everyday English phrases like “find the loophole” and “eavesdropping.” These small details made the experience both educational and fun. By the end of the tour, we walked away with a much deeper understanding of York and a genuine appreciation for its rich history. It didn’t just feel like sightseeing, it felt more like building a connection with the city. This is truly a must-do experience in York, and Fraser’s thoughtful and engaging approach made it exceptional for us.

We had a superlative tour. Fraser was the best tour guide! Witty, knowledgeable and clearly passionate about York’s heritage. He even chatted with and checked in on each family/couple separately during the short walks to the heritage spots on the tour itinerary.

Richard ( of york) was our guide. I understand there are three Richards. Ours i believe was the first.

We just turned up as the tour was fully booked online and of 25 people who had booked only a handful turned up so we were able to join.

Richard is very knowledgable and clearly loves his city.
He was engaging and told many stories that enhanced our experience.

Thoroughly recommend this tour. Make sure to give a round of applause because he is worth it and very genuinely did not want a tip. He does have his favorite charities though.

What a fantastic tour! I have been to York many times over the years but this was the first tour I had done, and it was so interesting! Ken was a fantastic guide….so knowledgeable and passionate about his city. He offered an extra tour after the two hours and if we had had more time we would have loved to do his Shambles tour. Instead, we only had 10 mins, so he took us to a little church and old building that had been restored….neither we would have noticed from the road (or gate as Ken taught us!). We would have happily paid for the tour….maybe AVG could think about suggesting some local charities people could make a donation to if they wanted?
Keep up the great work and thank you Ken!

Had an amazing tour of York with Glyn our guide. He was very knowledgeable and made our walking tour very interesting with his knowledge of the history of the city of York.

Did tour with Neil at 1.15pm he was excellent, ,he is very knowledgeable, lots of interesting landmarks and info. We learnt lots and even dodged the rain ! highly recommended.

It has been great to discover the city of York with Mike on our first day in town! He has shared so many interesting facts about the city and. Highly recommended!

This is one of the best walking tours I’ve ever been on. And it’s free. Our guide was Fraser and he was so knowledgeable. Pre booking is recommended but not required. Definitely recommend!

Today I did a walking tour with Richard he is engaging, funny, and knowledgeable. You can tell he genuinely loves the city and its history, and he brought everything to life with stories I’d never have discovered on my own.
From medieval streets to hidden details I would have walked straight past, he made every stop interesting and memorable. Easily one of the best walking tours I’ve done. Highly recommend if you’re visiting York!

We had a fantastic walking tour of York with Jim today and couldn’t recommend him highly enough. He struck the perfect balance between being incredibly informative and genuinely entertaining — full of fascinating historical insights, but delivered with great humour throughout.

Jim brought York’s history to life in such an engaging way, and it was clear how knowledgeable and passionate he is. The time absolutely flew by, and we came away having learned so much.

If you’re visiting York, definitely try to get on one of Jim’s tours — you won’t regret it!

The tour is absolutely wonderful and was the highlight of our trip. Glyn, our guide, gave us a bird’s eye view of York’s history full of fun facts and anecdotes. The content of the tour was very informative without being overwhelming. Highly recommend! Thanks a lot again.

Fantastic tour – Richard was an excellent guide through the beautiful city of York. He transported us through thousands of years of history with engaging and fun storytelling. Highly recommend and a big thanks to AVG York!

Excellent tour led by Richard, with commentary that was entertaining and highly educational. Included sights (e.g., Holy Trinity Goodramgate) that we would never have seen without joining the tour.

Nick was entertaining knowledgeable and interesting! The tour was nicely paced and we learnt a lot. Thank you!. ……from the Blackpool gang!

What an absolute treat today with Debbie. Such a wonderful experience. Debbie’s knowledge and humour was spot on. We learnt such a lot and would recommend this tour to anyone visiting York. Thank you Debbie. David and Ann.

Tour highly recommended! Kevin guided us through the history and some nice facts about York, all with warmth and expertise.

Glyn enhanced my visit to York immensely. His style was that of an old friend rather than a teacher. Highly recommended.

Absolutely fantastic! Richard’s guided tour of York was an great experience! He shared fascinating stories and anecdotes, making the tour both informative and entertaining. Would highly recommend Richard as a guide. Many thanks for this tour.

A great guide, Glyn, who gave an informative and entertaining tour of York. Thoroughly recommend.

Glyn was a perfect tour guide, hugely knowledgeable yet presented his knowledge lightly and with gentle humour. Every step was a joy, every stop an opportunity to learn and enjoy the history of this remarkable city. Superb and highly recommended.

I went on a tour today which was lead by Fraser. He was a fantastic guide; enthusiastic, funny, knowledgeable and clearly very proud of his city. I’d been on an AVG tour a couple of years ago but what I loved was that even though we revisited some places, there were others I had not seen before. On every corner Fraser could tell us some fascinating snippet of history. The difference between these tours and the paid ones are that the guides are clearly there because they love the city and its rich history and want to share it. Bravo. Highly recommend!

Great tour with Grant yesterday, and absolute mine of knowledge about York, all presented in an interesting and accessible way. Thank you.

Had the most incredible tour with Richard. His love of history shone through and we discovered parts of York we’ve never seen before. We thoroughly enjoyed it all and couldn’t get enough of the knowledge he was imparting. We were blown away and loved every minute of the tour. Thank you for this free tour showcasing your amazing historical City, it’s truly appreciated.

Had the most incredible tour with Richard. His love of history shone through and we discovered parts of York we’ve never seen before. We thoroughly enjoyed it all and couldn’t get enough of the knowledge he was imparting. We were blown away and loved every minute of the tour. Thank you for this free tour showcasing your amazing historical City, it’s truly appreciated.

I really enjoyed this walking tour in York. The guide was excellent (unfortunately I don’t remember his name), very knowledgeable and engaging. The tour beautifully retraced the history of York, from the Roman settlement all the way to the medieval period, highlighting the most important stages of the city’s development.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t walk on the medieval walls because they were closed, but the guide handled it very well and quickly improvised an alternative route, showing us other interesting places and sharing additional insights.

I highly recommend this type of guided tour to anyone who enjoys history and wants to discover hidden gems and interesting details about the city they are visiting. I had previously done a ghost tour in York which I didn’t enjoy as much, but this one was truly excellent.

Considering that the tour is free and run by volunteers, it is absolutely worth it. The volunteer association is doing a fantastic job, and I believe they deserve a lot of appreciation for their work.

We had a great getting to know York walk guided by the wonderful Mick. He knows the city in and out and obviously loves his town very much.
The walk had a great balance between history and anecdotes. Just the right amount of detail. We had a splendid time.
Wholeheartedly recommended!

Thankyou Nick for an excellent tour yesterday. I would totally recommend an AVG tour…informative, really interesting,and engaging, despite the weather!!

Superb, relaxed and highly informative tour with guide Richard.Many thanks for imparting your knowledge and enthusiasm.

Our tour today with Richard, was wonderful. We’ve visited York many times as we live quite close by in Grimsby. We learned so much today, and saw many sites we hadn’t seen before. Richard made everything come to life with his genuine honest knowledge and charm. Thanks and praise to everyone involved in this fabulous voluntary organisation.

Richard was amazing. His enthusiasm and fun storytelling made the history come alive. It was wonderful to learn so much in such an engaging and enjoyable way.

Also writing on behalf of a lovely elderly lady in our group of 3 who isn’t very tech-savvy but truly loved the tour. And wanted to drop a review for Richard.

Sakshi from London (28/01/26)

My friend and I went on a walking tour with Richard, and it was an excellent experience from start to finish. The tour lasted around two hours and took us through the Abbey Gardens, York Minster, and the Shambles. Richard was very knowledgeable and engaging, bringing the history of the city to life with interesting stories and insights. The pace was comfortable, and we learned so much while enjoying some of York’s most beautiful spots. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting the city.

Richard was awesome!
Great tour, kept us all entertained and informed.
Highly recommended.

A thoroughly interesting and engaging tour with Judy. Her knowledge of the very chequered history of York was extensive and her delivery was enthusiastic. She answered endless questions and took us to corners of the city we would never have found otherwise. First class.

Thank you to Richard for an excellent and brilliantly informative tour of York. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I know my two fellow walkers did too. I have made several day visits to York over the years and thought I had seen many if not most of the areas of historical interest but was really surprised at the extra places that Richard included and the number of small and amusing details he added that so enhanced the tour and greatly increased my knowledge of York.

A warm thankyou to Fraser for sharing his time to show us around the beautiful town of York. Fraser is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate, this is evident as each location he shared the story with such enthusiasm and respect for the history, whilst still making the tour fun. Highly recommend for everyone looking to gain a deeper understanding of York!

We were so lucky! Firstly, to not have the forecast rain but to have a dry, sunny, cold day. Secondly, to have Judy for our guide.
Our group was large for the time of year – 16 people, but we could all hear clearly the knowledge and enthusiasm Judy had for her city.
Thank you Judy for all the hidden gems you showed us – especially the box pews in Holy Trinity church – stunning! I have seen box pews before but never on this scale.
Thank you Judy 🙂

We had a brilliant tour last week. Our guide was Judy, who was very knowledgeable and passionate about the City of York. She walked us through 2000 years of history in a clear an interesting way and took us to see some of her personal best sites.
We can thoroughly recommend Judy and AVG?
Thank you Judy
Sandra and friends

Our guide Fraser was an amazing guide and held a wealth of knowledge on the history and geography of York. It was both entertaining and insightful. He also expertly adapted to the ongoing construction and route closures to ensure we were comfortable and still saw the sights of the city. We gladly recommend this tour to others!

We had such a gorgeous time on Pete’s tour! So friendly, entertaining and informative, he guided us round both iconic and more unusual York landmarks with enthusiasm and expertise. It was so lovely to be shown a city by someone with so much love for it! Thanks Pete 🙂

We had a fantastic tour with Richard of York today. An easy pace going back though time giving us historical background with many interesting facts and stories of events through history. Would highly recommend this tour.

We really enjoyed the tour with Neil. He is incredibly knowledgeable and you can tell he is really passionate about York and its history. He was also very entertaining. This was truly one of our best walking tours. Thank you so much.

We really enjoyed the tour with Neil. He is incredibly knowledgeable and you can tell he is really passionate about York and its history. He was also very entertaining. This was truly one of our best walking tours. Thank you so much.

We enjoyer this walking tour very much! Our guide, Frazier, was very knowledgeable and pleasant. The walking tour encompassed a majority of the significant historical sites in York. We learned a lot from Frazier. I highly recommend this tour.

Had a brilliant tour with Neil. We are fairly familiar with York but Neil taught us a lot that we didn’t know and took us to areas of the city that we had not seen before. Very interesting and informative. Thank you Frank & Rita

Amazing free tour with Ken. He was very knowledgeable, easygoing and engaging on a nice sunny but cold day. It was the right decision to do this walking tour upon arrival to York because it definitely helped us gain our footing and learn about York’s past and present. Thank you AVG!

We had a wonderful tour with Glyn. It was fun and easy to understand and follow. He was very kind, we really enjoyed this tour! Thanks a lot!!