Don’t just take our word for it
Visitor Feedback & Reviews
10:30am tour- Joanna
Absolutely wonderful tour guide! We’ve done a lot of tours over the years and all over world, and she is right up there with the best. Learned quite a bit about York, and she significantly increased our appreciation for your great city. Only problem is she wouldn’t let us compensate her for her 2 hour non-stop performance. She deserved a well earned tip!
John Fallisgaard
Richard made York history come alive with stories about the people behind the buildings and events we saw . The tour was entertaining Ang I highly recommend.
Kate Kelly
Richard made York history come alive with stories about the people and their motivations that led to the events we heard about. This tour was educational and entertaining. Highly recommend.
Kate Kelly
We were on a tour of York with Ken. He was knowledgeable, personable, flexible and capable. What a guy! What a delightful introduction to York!
John
Absolutely fantastic walking tour of York with Richard as our tour guide. Even with family who live in York, we discovered hidden gems we never knew existed. Richard’s knowledge and storytelling brought the city’s rich history vividly to life. Can’t believe it’s completely free, an unforgettable experience we’d highly recommend. Thank you, Richard.
Alison Hornsby
I don’t normally leave reviews but this tour of York with Richard was really good. He was very knowledgeable and full of interesting facts and fun stories. I always enjoy listening to anyone who is enthusiastic about their subject and this tour was a most enjoyable two and a bit hours and ended all too soon.
Pauline Finch
Nick was our guide as he led us on a most enjoyable tour of York! He made the tour most interesting with his dramatic telling of York’s history, architecture, and places of interest. Grateful for this organization and its gift to us tourists.
Elaine Kubicki
Our guide, Mel, was fantastic. He was extremely knowledgeable about York’s history. It was the perfect way to explore the city.
Thank you.
Regards,
Clau and Reyes.
Claudia Fernandez
Richard was great! Very knowledgeable of York and its history. I would recommend this tour to anyone that loves history visiting York.
Joe
My wife and I both want to thank Neil for his unbelievable depth of knowledge of the royal history of England before and after Charlemagne. We realize the amount of work that he has put into preparing as a guide in York. We had a great time.
Thank you.
Bill Eichengrun
Bill Eichengrun
A great way to get introduced to York. Steven provided a lot of interesting background to what we were viewing. We really enjoyed the tour.
James Daniels
I had such a great time during the tour with Richard.
He was absolutely brilliant, very knowledgeable, funny and lovely to talk with. It´s so clear that he´s passionate about what he´s doing and he really does do it amazingly. 🙂 I learnt so much about York and would do this tour again in a heartbeat. ( But ONLY with Richard again :D)…Thank you! 🙂
Stania
Whether you’re visiting York for a day or weeks, start here. Our guide, Fraser, was bursting with knowledge and humor. He led a superb introductory tour to York, which pointed the way to several days worth of independent touring, whether you love architecture, museums, churches, or just cultural history in general, Absolutely free — a well-done labor of love!
Sandi Goldring
I admire the Association of Voluntary Guides to the City of York. This totally free tour is conducted daily by York residents who show visitors the best of their city.
The funny and self-deprecating Fraser led our tour this morning. Born in Scotland, he fell in love with York. His love of the city is evident. His tour was informative without overwhelming us with names and dates. We received context for the buildings and historic sites. York has a fascinating history, and Fraser gave us a glimpse of it.
Marti Goldring
My husband and I could not have been more pleased with the tour of York with Glyn. He was engaging, knowledgeable and very fluent in sharing the incredible history of the area. We would highly recommend this excellent quality volunteer group.
C. Crosby
Nick was so entertaining and knowledgeable. Excellent tour. Many thanks
Jan
What a fantastic tour! Kevin was super knowledgeable and charismatic. We were recommended this tour by family and it’s clear why. Thanks heaps!
Danit
Richard was an outstanding guide — informative and full of humour. He brought York’s history through the ages vividly to life, setting the scene so well that I could imagine being there. I learnt so much and thoroughly enjoyed the walk.
Maggie
I throughly enjoyed this tour. Our guide was knowledgeable, informative and really loved her subject. I saw so many things and places l would have missed just walking round by myself. I want to thank the association for putting on such amazing tours.
Louise Cockfield
Glyn was a knowledgeable and informative guide. Thoroughly enjoyed his tour. Terrific and highly recommend. Many thanks for sharing your love of history and knowledge with us. Kathy and Craig from Australia.
Kathy Thomas
Very enjoyable. Opened our eyes to reveal what had always been in front of us but which we hadn’t seen. We had a chap called Glyn and I thought he pitched the level just right throughout the tour. A big thanks to him and AVG for an informative and well spent couple of hours.
Dave Alexander
What a wonderful experience and learned so much about York that I wasn’t aware of. Kevin’s enthusiasm about the town really kept the group engaged and it was just a lovely experience overall. Don’t miss this opportunity if you get the chance, you won’t regret it. Cheers.
J Bell
Kevin was our guide today and did a fantastic job and we learned so much. The history of York is amazing and Kevin stitched it together for us very nicely. I would highly recommend this tour to others.
Joe Bell
The guide was Glynn. He was perfect!!!!!!!! The best guide in our travel in UK. Thanks ❤️
Belen
Thank you, Malcolm!! ¡Muchas gracias!
Begoña
The best way to “meet” York. Thank you Nick for your detailed and enganging explanations.
Do book the guided tour…it is a must to both get to know and enjoy a reliable approach to historical data . He is an amazing and wise storyteller.
Mariana
We discovered this tour late and Steven helped us check if there was vacancy on the same day due to dropouts. Our guide Richard was a blast. Him being a history teacher was the icing on the cake. He patiently walked us through York’s fascinating history in 2 hours while also taking questions. I commend his volunteer interest on a warm day. He was also considerate of children on the tour and modified the colorful details accordingly. Given we had less than a day in York and came all the way from the USA, we could not have asked for a better experience. I wish there were more people in such historical towns, to share the love for their history and stories with everyone. Thank you for the volunteers, you made us want to keep coming back to York.
Jeevan P
I enjoyed the tour. It was interesting, and Fraser told us a lot of information, curiosities and a lot of fake news about York. I met a Spanish girl, British and American people I met the day after at the hotel. I’d recommend this tour. It was also a good opportunity to practice my English because I’m Italian. I spent two days in York but I would have liked to stay there more days.
Chiara
We took Mike’s tour and it was amazing! For almost 2.5 hours he showed us York around and explained the history of the city. He is certainly very passionate and loves what he does! Thanks again, Mike! His tour is a MUST for every York visitor!
Victoria
We learned a lot and really enjoyed the free tour provided by our guide, Jim.
He was so knowledgeable and shared a lot of really cool stories and information. Especially like the small size of the group. Highly recommend.
Kimm
Wanted to say what a fantastic guide Nick was – really bought my history lessons to life – great day thank you I did your walk tour of York 01/06/25
Mandy Martin
Having met in York in the 80s, we thought it would be nice to revisit one of our favourite cities. Glyn was a terrific guide. We won’t see owls or mice again, without thinking of this trip. And I’m going to stock up on fruit gums tomorrow. And loads of history too.
Guy
Had a amazing afternoon, which our tour guide David . It was so informative and interesting, he was so knowledgeable and has really given me a reason to do more pleasurable research. Thank you so much . Regards Tracy
Tracy Cranfield
We had a great time and learned a lot on this tour guided by Fraser. He was very knowledgeable, personable, and passionate. We tried to give him a tip at the end, but he absolutely refused. Despite it being absolutely free, our guide and this tour is even better than some of the paid tours that we have done.
Mary Logan
Helen led the tour. It was an excellent tour, my wife and I learnt so much about York. Helen took questions from the group that made it more interesting and engaging. Full marks.
Thank you and will recommend.
Gurpal Virdi
Had a great fun and informative tour with Nick. My sister and I were brought up in the area. We learned a lot about York even though we have been coming to York for 60+ years and thought we knew everything about the city.
I would highly recommend these free tours lead by local enthusiasts with a passion for the history of their city.
Deb Haycock
Richard was very knowledgeable and seemed genuinely interested in both sharing his stories and wanting to get to know us. Couldn’t have asked for more. Thanks!
Joshua
We had a lovely time with Nick today. He went above and beyond when showing us around. Quite a lot of informative content. Thank you very much Nick. Definitely recommended!!!
Gizem
We did the tour with Christa in the rain last Sunday and it was delightful and soggy. Cheers! Thanks for helping to transform our gloomy afternoon with a great tour.
Peter Hicks
This tour was magnificent. Our guide Fraser couldn’t have been more spirited or proud of his city. It was two hours of information and fun by a truly good hearted resident who wholeheartedly wants to share his City of York with visitors. I can’t say enough about this tour and the volunteers who run it. This is a definite must do if ever in York.
Haki Logan
Sue
Brilliant tour. We had Mel (Melvin) who absolutely knew his subject, showed his passion for York and had a great manner for delivering all the information to offer. Really appreciated his insight and highly recommend this AVG service to all who visit.
Mark and Mandy Gifford
We had a great tour of York with our guide Nick Jones, even with the rainy weather. Nick was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable, and his passion for the city really came through.
Thanks to him, we felt like we truly got to see all of York, not just the main sights, but also smaller details and places we might’ve missed on our own. His historical insights were engaging and easy to follow, adding a lot of depth to what we were seeing.
All in all, time just flew by, it was a fun and informative tour. We learned a lot and genuinely enjoyed ourselves despite the rain. Definitely recommend!
Frisian Family
Stephen led us on a fascinating tour around York. His knowledge was incredible. He was able to answer all questions and gave us an insight that we would never otherwise have heard about this fascinating city. Couldn’t recommend this Walking tour and Stephen’s knowledge highly enough. Big shout out to him.
Sally
Rich did an excellent job weaving together sights, stories, and history. Great tour!
Josh
The walking tour of York was a highlight of my visit to England. The York Minster was spectacular. It was delightful to see the impact of Rome and hear about the Roman presence in York. Richard was so knowledgeable and engaging. He encouraged questions and made our diverse group comfortable and inquisitive.
Thanks again Richard.
Byron Robbie
Nick led us on a fascinating tour of York. He was engaging and knowledgeable – a most excellent guide.
Thank you.
Patricia
Richard was very pleasant and knowledgeable. I enjoyed my tour and learned so much about York.