We’ve just come back from our tour of York with our guide Debbie. We’ve learnt lots of interesting facts and been taken down lots of little alleyways and seen places we would never have known existed. Debbie was friendly and informative, we will certainly be recommending it, thank you!

Just had a great tour from a brilliant guide, Shaun. Lots of interesting points and great to listen to the history of such a great city. Highly recommended.

We had a great tour delivered by Keith. Can’t believe it’s free. It was so informative and we saw so much that we would have never found on our own. Would definitely recommend. Thank you very much!

I went on a 1:15pm walking tour with Richard A. The tour was very interesting and Richard A was extremely knowledgeable about York. Andrew A also added humour to the tour which made it more enjoyable. I would definitely recommend this walk to anyone who loves learning more about York.

I was on the 1:15 pm tour with Richard and it totally exceeded my expectations. He was knowledgeable and shared a lot of interesting information about the sights and the fascinating history of York. The walk was easy as well and doable by children and seniors alike. Thanks for offering this!

Our tour was fantastic! The two and a half hours flew by as we learned about York’s rich history. Our tour guide was personable, funny, enthralling, and knowledgeable about all things York. I can’t recommend this amazing tour enough!

Richard A was a very well informed and engaging guide today. Clearly very enthusiastic about sharing his deep knowledge about his city. He managed to keep all included and interacted with all of us along the walk showing genuine interest in his ‘guests’. Very enjoyable.

A wonderful tour, thank you to our amazing guide Peter. Very knowledgable and very accessible for adults and children alike – our daughters were enthralled.

The walk this morning with Ian as our guide was great. Thank you so much … great fun!

“The walk this morning with guide Richard was fantastic.”

Thoroughly enjoyed our tour last week. Despite the less-than-ideal weather we learned lots, saw some of the most historic sites in York and were both well looked after and entertained by Fraser who did a great job. Only afterwards did we learn it was his first tour but you would never have known. An asset to your cohort of guides!

Our tour this afternoon with Ian was marvelous! He was very knowledgeable, interesting and articulate. He clearly loves history and his adopted hometown. And thanks to you, AVG, for organizing these brilliant tours! Our group was a large, multinational, broad age-range group and clearly everyone was very engaged in Ian’s stories!

John was an extremely knowledgeable guide. Clearly very passionate about the City of York. It was a very interesting and informative walk balanced with the right mix of history and humour. Thank you.

Great tour with John. Highly recommended.

Fantastic tour in the rain, with a very knowledgeable guide.

Simply excellent! Very informative … we were shown so many things that you wouldn’t know were there if you went around on your own. It’s free and the guide wouldn’t even take a tip.

We could not leave York without recognising the contribution to our visit’s success and enjoyment which your tour guide made as he took us on a tour of the city.
In short, he was professional, humorous, interesting and with an outstanding knowledge of the history of York ….. Thank you Colin. Thank you guides and thank you York!

Thank you Richard A.
We laughed, learned and thoroughly enjoyed your tour. It was a delightful experience. Thank you

Simply excellent! ….. Very informative, we were shown so many things that you wouldn’t know were there if you went around on your own.
It’s free and the guide wouldn’ even take a tip.

Thank you to Alison for a wonderful tour! We attended the 6.15pm tour on Tuesday evening, a beautiful, balmy evening!
Alison clearly loved York very much and shared so many fascinating stories, facts and anecdotes about the city. I would definitely recommend anyone visiting York to go on one of these tours.

We loved our tour with our guide. Mel was enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and engaging. We came away with a deeper sense of the history of the great city of York. It was a highlight of our trip. Can’t think of a better way to get a sense of the city than to take this tour. The 2 1/2 hours flew by. Thank you for providing it.

Best city tour ever! We visited York on 6th August (family of four) and our tour guide was Mike. Full of historic knowledge, info related to town life today and real enthusiasm and love for York and England. Big thank you from Spain!

On behalf of the 6 people from the Swiss visiting choir a massive thank you to our amazing tour guide John who dedicated almost 3 (instead of 2) hours of his time to share his profound knowledge of, and enthusiasm about, York with us today. We all have participated in guided tours in other places before but this was a truly unique experience! We definitely recommend this tour to anyone visiting York.

This was such a fantastic gem in York! I believe our guide’s name was Sandra. She was fantastic! So informative, funny, and a brisk walker! The reason I’m leaving feedback is because of the impact she had on my son. Something I haven’t seen in him before. At 15 yrs old, he is sceptical of all things and acts like nothing is a big deal… BUT, he still raves about Sandra’s tour. I asked what was so special and he said, “She loves her town so much and she shared it with us for free!” I’m still not sure why it had the impact that it did, but I’m grateful for it! Great job Sandra! Thanks from us in the U.S.

Barry, our tour guide, was an experienced and knowledgeable guide who clearly had an enthusiasm for the city and its history. He was a former Sheriff of the city no less! A great way to learn about York that I would highly recommend.

We enjoyed a wonderful tour with Mike around York on a drizzly Sunday morning, learning lots of history in a fun and memorable way. Listening to his talks, the city and its people really came alive for us. Thanks so much, Mike!

On behalf of the Rotary Clubs of Brielle and Howden, I would like to thank Richard Armistead for his expert guided tour of York yesterday. Rotarians from both Clubs enjoyed the tour and they all learnt a great deal about the magnificent city.
I am most grateful for the time Richard devoted to guiding the Rotarians around York, it was an unforgettable experience for everyone.
After the tour our guests were able to enjoy more sightseeing in York and come away with a wide selection of photographs to take back to their Club.
Once again, thank you for an outstanding tour.
Secretary to the Rotary Club of Howden

My husband and me really enjoyed the tour guided by Wendy yesterday. She explained the different periods of York’s history starting from the Roman foundation and the Roman city walks to Medieval times in the Shambles. She guided us on the city walls and showed us various beautiful hidden places.

She spoke very clearly. We were positively surprised that this very professional tour was free in a time where everything has to be paid. Thank you, Wendy!
Angela M. Germano

I had the most wonderful time learning so much about the history of York yesterday. Our guide, Wendy is so knowledgeable & passionate on advancing & preserving the history of York. She was incredibly generous with her time.

I especially loved the old photos that she shared with us & all the folklore & stories around the buildings & their past residents.

Keep up your good work & keep York beautiful. I will recommend all my friends & family to visit York!
Florianna Sing Key, Australia

I am writing with a thank you for Richard Carr, our guide on 5th April 2019. He was informative, funny and clearly passionate about the city and its history. His knowledge of some of the more hidden places in York is outstanding. Thank you Richard.
Dave Marsden

We would like to acknowledge Richard Carr’s wonderful tour of the City of York yesterday (05/04/2019) @ 10:15 am. Richard’s knowledge and passion for his home city was on display and he shared some wonderful insights and facts about York that most visitors would be unaware of or miss during their visit. Richard’s tour took us to places that do not register a mention in the tourist brochures, which we would have missed had we not taken Richard’s tour. Our sincere thanks Richard.
Craig & Kerry Mitchell, Melbourne

Excellent tour Ken. The group obviously loved it and you balanced interesting facts with your infectious love for York. Thank you.
Mick Pilgrim

My mother and I attended today on a very, very wet and cold day for the 10.15am tour.
Our tour guide was fantastic, very knowledgeable and very much in to what she was talking to us about. What that lady didn’t know about York’s history wasn’t worth knowing!
Would fully recommend the walking tour to anybody of any age, especially with the lady we had today (really sorry but I forgot your name)
Dan

Thank you for the very enjoyable city tour (24/11/18), so much knowledge and humour from the guide on a freezing cold day. It is a great service you provide.
Kevin Millard

Thank you to Ken for the guided walk. He was very informative and my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We think it is a wonderful service that you provide. Thanks again.
Barry Gould

I am writing on behalf of the York Society of Chartered Accountants to extend our thanks to Malcolm for a fantastic tour yesterday evening (6th September). Kind regards.
Samantha Hipkin

I am writing with a thank you for Peter, our guide today. He was informative, funny and clearly passionate about the city and its history. We learned a lot and really enjoyed ourselves on the tour. Thanks so much to Peter and to your organisation for providing this wonderful service – we really appreciate it. Best wishes
Radha from Pennsylvania

Just a quick thank you for making our day in York yesterday (19th August 2018) when your excellent tour guide John F shared his enthusiasm for and knowledge of the city with us. What a service, greatly appreciated, thank you.
Alan Eaton

Yesterday we attended the guided tour of York with Charlotte (I think). We are very grateful for the service provided.
In the same way, we would like to congratulate you on the initiative of the association of volunteers. Thank you very much,

Ana Cudos Rosales

Thank you! I went on the 13.15 tour today and I just have to say it was absolutely fantastic! There were 2 tour guides (one took a group of Spanish tourists and the other took the rest, including me) – I can’t remember her name but just thank you so much! Amazing and I will definitely be doing one of them again.

Wonderful guide, very friendly with an amazing amount of knowledge!

Natalie Cox

An interesting and informative tour; well managed with a lot of people.

Our guide, Geoff, would not take anything at all. We went back to Holy Trinity Church to make a further donation on his behalf. Thank you to Geoff and the Guides of York.

David Owen

My wife, three children, and I joined Jeff, our tour leader, in the 1:15 PM tour on 1st July. We had a small group overall, maybe a dozen people total. It was a warm day, but Jeff’s energy and no-nonsense style kept the group, including our 12- and 14-year old boys, captivated and moving from site to site.

Jeff’s commentary painted an excellent history of events at York, from the earliest Roman involvement clear through visits by the royal family today. In many places he added his own interpretation of history to bridge gaps and connect things, but he was always clear when doing so. We left with a whole new appreciation of the significant role York has played in England’s history, and consequently the deep history it offers.

In a brief chat after the tour, Jeff explained that he’d gathered much of the info he presented from his own reading, which he said make more sense the more you read. We also discussed a few general questions that we had from our earlier travels in England, which I appreciated.

Thank you to Jeff and the Association of Voluntary Guides to the City of York for this engaging and very interesting tour. We highly recommend the tour to others.

Victor Impink & family

I took this FREE tour on 3rd July together with my wife and two American friends; we found it exceedingly good and very informative. The guide, Richard, was excellent, giving the information clearly while holding the interest of the group. The most amazing part of this enjoyable experience was the refusal of any gratuities offered, which in this day and age is truly remarkable – free really did mean free!

Well done AVG and the City of York for providing such a first class service to tourism in your City.

L Walker

Hi. I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the tour I took with Margaret. She was so knowledgeable about everything and showed me so much around York.

Thank you for offering this service to your visitors. It is much appreciated!

Amy Teichman

The walk and commentary today was great! The guide (forgotten his name) was brilliant – full of info, knowledge and fun. I know a lot of folk would be happy to donate to some charity or other even if the tours are cost free, and a ‘labour of love’.

This was the highlight of my trip to York. I have 2 brothers who have lived in York for 40 years and they both said if I had time to go on one of these tours – glad I did! Down from Aberdeen for a visit and have visited York on many occasions but never knew I was so ignorant of its history. Many thanks indeed

Rob Peaker

“On behalf of the Jaguar Drivers’ Club, East Midlands please accept our sincere thanks for the guided tour around the City of York on Saturday 14th April 2018. Allan, our guide, was very knowledgeable, extremely interesting and obviously very passionate about York. Everyone on the tour appreciated his style. Thank you again.”

Robert & Jenny Ayres

I just wanted to pass on our thanks from the whole group for our walking tour with Neil yesterday. He was extremely knowledgeable and really friendly, making for a very enjoyable experience. He was patient with us for being a little late (trying to get 16 girls out of the house on time is near impossible!) and was clearly very passionate about York and all it has to offer.

I’m sure I’ll be back to York at some point for another of your tours and I will recommend you to my family and friends. Thank you again, please keep up the amazing work 🙂

Caroline

An excellent tour…

We had a fantastic tour with Barry at 10:15 on April 5. Barry mentioned that he had been a history teacher and he must have been an excellent one. He combined interesting stories, personal connections, and a wonderfully dry sense of humour to make the argument that York has been the location for a variety of turning points in history. We appreciated his enthusiasm – he is an excellent tour leader and we were so glad we were able to do this. Thank you, AVG, for this remarkable (and free) service. And thank you, too, Barry!

Thank you very much for the walking tour last Friday with Martin our guide – he was amazing!! We (6 Dutch people with one wheelchair) enjoyed York.

The weather was very cold, and that was a little bit sad, but The Blue Bell was a very good (warm) tip!!!

Thank You very much Martin!!! Kind regards, the Dutch friends from Arnhem.

Our walk around York yesterday was fantastic! Neal combined much knowledge with humor and energy. Visiting from the States again, we wanted to do something in the North. We weren’t disappointed! Thank you! Greg Carlson

I want to express my sincere appreciation for the guided walk my students and I received yesterday, led by guide John May. Our group of 22 university students is from Norway, and it was their first time in York. Although it was cold and damp outside, and my students didn’t all show up at the meeting point as planned, John led the tour with considerable skill and humour. He was well-informed about local history, and his enthusiasm carried the students through the afternoon. Generous with his time, he changed the usual order of the tour to meet my “lost” students midway, which was really appreciated.

I know I speak for my whole group in thanking the association and John especially for a lovely afternoon yesterday.

Jessica, Nord University

Just to say how much we enjoyed our tour with Peter this afternoon. He was very informative and the two hour plus tour past all too quickly. Will highly recommend your free tour to friends. Thank you

Hi, I’d just like to say thank you to all who provide this wonderful voluntary service. I did a 2 hour free walking tour with Jim yesterday and it was terrific! He was so knowledgeable and kind, sharing his time freely to show our group the wonderful city of York. He was apologetic about going slightly over 2 hours but I could have listened to his stories and information all day. Well done Jim and all the York walking tour volunteers!

Thanks, Margaret, for the great tour tonight!! Have fun with all the tours to follow. If you are ever in The Hague I will give you a tour of the city! Kind regards, Lobke

We joined the walking tour with Keith as our guide yesterday. His knowledge of the history of York and its many historic buildings, people and places whether in Roman Medieval or Victorian times was so impressive. By walking with him he was able to point out and we were able to appreciate places buildings and signs that would otherwise have been meaningless. He made the tour a pleasure to go on.

We were so enthused by his way of bringing the past to life that in the afternoon we joined him for a tour of York`s historic pubs.

I would like to say a big thanks to our guide last Monday (14th August). He was wonderful, and amazing. The job of this organisation is huge, and I recommend the walking tour with these volunteers.

Wonderful! I would like to thank you for the most wonderful and

insightful tour I had. Five stars, very highly recommended.

I just wanted to say a big thank you to Barry for a truly wonderful tour today. My boyfriend and I attended the 2:15pm (23.06.17), and were delighted with the content, delivery, pace and ambiance of the tour. So very engaging! I lived in North Yorkshire until I went away to university at 18 and ashamedly realised how much I didn’t know about my local city!! Thank you for reigniting my love for the city of York, and I have already recommended your tours to my family!

We applaud John for his splendid tour Sunday, May 21, 2017. We learned so much about the fascinating history of York as well as efforts to preserve said history. He moved us along, but not too fast for seniors, and held our interest so well we stuck with it for 3 1/4 hours! Thank you, John, & to the organization. Bravo! Kathy and Al from San Francisco

Dear all, my husband and I did your guided tour in March 25th, 2017. It was marvellous, we learned a lot of things about York city, with a lot of historical details, an also, we had the weather on our side, we are grateful for your time and for sharing your knowledge!

I visited York from Nottingham with some friends to celebrate my 22nd birthday last weekend. We joined on to the tour at 1:15pm on Saturday and I just wanted to say thank you to our tour guide (a lady who said she used to be a lecturer for archaeology at York University, I am afraid I did not catch her name) as the tour she gave was well presented, engaging and highly informative! The fact that not only her, but all your tour guides do this so routinely and free of charge is fantastic and highly impressive, so thank you and keep up the good work!

Some friends and I took the morning guided tour of York on Saturday, March 25 . Ray was our guide and she was great! We had a very pleasant and informative tour. It was excellent!

My husband and I took part in the 10.15 guided tour of York yesterday and had a great time. Our guide was John and he was excellent. His knowledge and enthusiasm was fantastic. It was very interesting and informative. This was our first visit to York and we’d highly recommend one of these tours. Thanks.

Many thanks to Peter for an excellent and most instructive walk.

The tour with Helen on Saturday was marvellous!

Just a brief note of thanks for an very informative and interesting tour . The enthusiasm of the guide for the City and its history is infectious and the enjoyment was in no way marred by it being on a chilly and slightly damp day . I would consider it an experience well worth repeating and one which I would definitely recommend. Many thanks to the guide for taking the time to share his knowledge,

We took a tour led by John. He was very informative and we very much enjoyed the tour. We have been to York a number of times before, so were pleasantly surprised to discover new things about the city on this tour. Thanks very much.

I’d just like to say a big thank you to Frank (originally from Aberdeen) for giving my husband and I, a very informative and enjoyable tour around York on 22/11/2016. He was brilliant.

My wife and I, and some friends, have just spent a very enjoyable, and informative, morning in the company of Harvey on the morning guided walking tour. He was very well informed, brought history to life, and injected some humour to keep us all riveted on a very cold morning. Thank you Harvey.

I just wanted to take a moment to let you know how much we enjoyed our tour with Chris through York. He was a wonderful guide, very informative and a lot of fun. Our students really engaged with the history of York and appreciated Chris’ guidance through the city (and dinner tips!). It was such a pleasure to work with him. Thank you for providing such a wonderful service. We look forward to booking future tours with AVG.

Dear AVG

I have been asked by the Ilkley U3A group on Tour 1640 yesterday to give our very warm thanks to Alison and Nick for the excellent quality of the guided tours. Members were competing to find the most compelling compliments: expert, informative, humorous, lively, finder of unexpected gems, fuel for my next trip with visitors, truly enjoyable, well paced. In the end Nick got the ultimate accolade: ‘knight in shining armour’ for his exploits in reaching a stick dropped over the wall. We really were very impressed and will recommend you to other U3A groups.

On behalf of our whole group, I just wanted to send a heartfelt thank-you to Chris, whom we had the pleasure of meeting last Saturday afternoon for a guided tour of York.

He was absolutely excellent and we all had a fantastic time following him around the sights of York. He really made history come alive and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, so thank you very much! We shall be recommending him to family and friends for any future visits to York.

We went on the free tour today at 2.15pm. John was our guide and was fantastic. Incredibly the tour is free! I have a disability and can be a bit slow when walking but I easily kept up. The tour is supposed to be 2 hours long but John is so enthusiastic it ran a bit longer. If you do nothing else in York please do this tour. Thank you John

I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the tour. It was both enjoyable and very interesting. Two and a half hours just flew by. Please pass on my thanks to our guide, Nick.

I would like to thank John who did the 18:15 walking tour on Sunday, 21 August 2016. His knowledge, his expertise, his worldly experience gave such a beautiful insight into your City of York. He explained things in such a way that I understood the history of York so clearly. He was so helpful and was able to answer questions that were asked of him. Thank you again, with love from this Sydney girl – Carmen.

Thank you so much from all of us Harry for such a lovely and informative day. It will help us enormously when we come to run our own day out in York, which we feel confident will prove to be a great success, only made possible due to all the wonderful help that we have received from all the people of York. It is a great job that the volunteers do for the city and we wish you all the very best for the future.

We joined the 6.15 tour on Wednesday with Sandra and just wanted to say we thought it was excellent! Sandra is very knowledgeable and had a great way of telling stories and keeping us entertained. I was wondering if you collected for charity or is there anywhere we could make a donation to your organisation? We didn’t get a chance to say to Sandra before she left. Again thank you so much for a wonderful tour

Charlotte is a top-rated guide. We had such a wonderful guided tour, she was so knowledgeable and witty too. Highly recommended

We appreciate so much the tour that Helen gave us on 11 June 2016. Since it was a large group, we were so pleased that she made arrangements for the group to be divided in two. The information that she gave us provided us with a great introduction to York so that we could then make our way back to the important sites we wanted to visit. She was easy to hear and to follow and the pace was just right.

We have just been on the walking tour of York with Barry. Absolutely brilliant! What an interesting tour, with a very knowledgeable guide and a great group of people. And all for free – totally recommended!

Thanks to Johana we could have an excellent approach to York’s history and views.Even though the tour was in English we could understand everything.

Congratulations to your association and special regards to Johana.

Huge thank you to Sandra from the Aussies for her insight sprinkled with her humour. Never been on a walking tour before and loved it.

We’ve been on a tour of York today with our young family and Ian the guide was super his knowledge of the city and sense of humour made a very fun and interesting afternoon walking the walls and seeing and explaining the beautiful sites of York.

Many thanks we will do this again when we have the chance.

Huge thanks to your association and our guide John for sharing his love and knowledge of your historic city. It was a delight to learn so much in a casual but informative manner ….. I’ll certainly be back to learn some more and see places we didn’t manage to visit. Your association is a great asset for tourism.

Dear AVG (particularly Fred and Chris), thank you so much for our tours and talks on Wednesday 10th February. We very much enjoyed the sights and stories, and hopefully our students have become a little more aware of the need for socks and gloves in February…!! Thanks again, you really offer an excellent service.

Me and my partner did a tour on 7.1.16 at 1.15pm. Despite the the rain and there only being 3 tourists attending the guide was enthusiastic and very knowledgeable. She answered all of our questions and more. Thank you for the experience.

Recently went on a guided tour with John. It was excellent. We learned a lot about York that we wouldn’t have otherwise found out. Great informative tour. It’s a pity the guides do not accept gratuities. They deserve it!

On a day trip to York we discovered your service in a leaflet from the library.

Best find of the day! Jeff took us on an excellent tour of your city.

Funny informative a real asset to your association and to York.

Once again thank you

Hello, I took a walking tour with one of your guides (Alan, Yorkshireman) on Monday of this week, and was very impressed with his recollection of facts and obvious enthusiasm for the area-really enjoyed the tour & York as a result of the time he spent with us and plan on telling people about your tours for their own visits to York. Just wanted to pass on my complements.

We took a tour with one of your guides on August 16. Unfortunately we left before the tour ended because we had a dinner reservation.

We do not know his name, but we would like to thank him for a great tour. He really knew his history and his presentation was extremely first rate as well. There were three of us, a man and women with a daughter from the Boston area. Please thank him for us. We enjoyed the tour very much.

What a lovely tour we had today! I would like to thanks to the AVG for the opportunity of knowing much more of this beautiful city you have. Congratulations, and we will spread the word in Spain!

I was on the walking tour on Sunday 12th July with Rod and I just wanted to pass on my thanks to him for such an enjoyable tour. He was so knowledgable and interesting and took his time to explain things without feeling under pressure to rush through. I would thoroughly recommend this trip to others. Thanks once again.

We joined the 6:45 pm tour yesterday evening and enjoyed it thoroughly. The tour guide, Jeff, was extremely informative and answered thoroughly all the questions asked by a number of the tour attendees. It was a wonderful way to become acquainted with the history of this fascinating city. Thank you,

I just wish to pass on the thanks of the North Lincolnshire Twinning Association for the most informative and interesting walk last Saturday, led by Angie. Her knowledge and enthusiasm for York were evident and made the walk so enjoyable.

I would like to say how fabulous my tour of York was today with your guide Angela! She was amazing, informative, knowledgeable, interactive, engaging! Congratulations to your organisation in providing such a wonderful opportunity to show visitors to your city what is here. Best wishes to the 2 chaps we met who are about to do their exams to become volunteer guides. The passion shown by your volunteers is commendable. Coming from a city that started in 1802 your history is staggering. Can you please pass on to Angela that I managed to find the book Dissolution by CJ Sanson in the Oxfam bookshop and I’m looking forward to reading it! Once again sincere thanks and congratulations to you all.

Hello Alison, can I thank you for two excellent pre-booked tours. The people on both tours really enjoyed it. The people on your tour were very impressed with both the tour and the information that you gave to them. They found your comparison of the history of York with the history of the country fascinating. So much so, that one of our members, who only lives in Leeds, plans to come back and do the public tour again! I went on the second tour with George, not that I needed to, but felt that I should be with what could be the more difficult group! They thoroughly also enjoyed it. George’s commentary was very different from when I did the public tour in December, so I learnt a lot more. He also made it both informative and amusing. Excellent. Thank you very much indeed for arranging this. We really appreciated it.

Came for a day trip to York 25/3/15. Had a tour with Alison. She was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about York and English history. Learnt a lot but not like being in school. Will definitely recommend AVG tours, though free was very informative and thorough

We would like to let you know how much we enjoyed our walking tour with Kevin. He was everything a Tour Guide should be – informative, educational and entertaining! We really felt like we knew the city by the time the tour had finished. – Kevin brought the story of York to life! We will be recommending this tour to friends and family and indeed to anyone who is visiting York

I just wanted to offer a few words of praise for our guide on yesterday’s walk, Colin. As I occasionally accompany students from my department on their two-week study trip to York, I have in years past had the pleasure of participating on a number of these guided walks. I always find them enjoyable, but yesterday’s tour was a real standout. Colin was highly knowledgable and his warm and engaging style of presentation — humorous without being flippant — held the students’ interest throughout. I especially appreciated his ability to impress upon the students how the various structures evolved in response to practical considerations — whether imposed by political circumstance or environmental factors — and he succeeded in establishing a sense of historical continuity to often scattered and fragmentary remains. In a sense, it is a thankless task to cover almost two millennia of history in two hours (while walking along freezing parapets), addressing foreign students who often lack a basic knowledge of both Roman and British history, and I have over the years certainly seen my share of both students losing interest along the way and guides being flustered by imbecilic questions about Henry VIII and his six knives (and so on). Colin took it all in stride, however, and his obvious enthusiasm for York and its history, along with his friendly and easy manner, made the whole tour an educational, pleasant, and even inspiring experience. I hope you will be able to convey our gratitude to Colin and I wish your oranization every success in the years to come.

John gave us a fascinating tour this afternoon. He not only told us so much about York that we did not know but filled it with humour. It was a wonderful treat and he is a real asset to York, Regards

Hello, Just a note to say thank you to Rod, our guide last Sunday morning for the walking tour of York. It was very enjoyable indeed, despite cold weather and we learned more about York and its rich history than we imagined we might. Rod was very knowledgeable indeed and kept our interest throughout, answering a variety of questions along the way. We wanted to be able to pay for his services and understood not possible, so kindly pass our thanks on! Kind regards

Saturday 3/1/15 me and my boyfriend went on the 10.15 tour with Doug. We had such an interesting time, was very Impressed with his knowledge, I really learnt a lot, I didn’t want it to end!! Was very impressed, so wanted to say thank you very much. Absolutely brilliant

It was a lovely and truly enriching experience. Our guide introduced us to the history of York with a charming and interesting narrative, Gabriele and Federica

To Ian – I liked the tour it was fun. The Minster is massive and the wall goes forever and you were great at telling us about the history of the City. I also really liked the coffins and how they reused them, from Callum aged 10.

To Ian – Thank you for the tour it was very interesting I liked all the amazing facts. My favourite place was the little old church with the little wooden boxes and angled windows. My favourite fact was about the cheeky stonemasons who carved rude statues, from Annabelle

My wife and I did the morning tour with Colin on 4 September, a lovely sunny day which showed York at its best. Our group was well led around the sites with great historical information and anectdotes. Colin encouraged questions and happily expanded on points raised. He also suggested things to revisit after the 2 hour tour. Excellent and free. Thank you for a delightful morning

Just to say thank you to our guide today 31/8/2014, 10:15 am.

I’m afraid I do not remember his name but be had a straw hat and sun glasses, from Yorkshire . The guide was excellent from start to finish and was told in a fascinating manner that made the 2 hour trip seem like 20 minutes. I would highly recommend anyone that visits york to participate in this great free service

Hello, we have been on the Free Walking Tour to-day Friday at 2.15. Our excellent guide Val was a delight, so much knowledge she passed on to our group of six people. The walk lasted two and a half hours and enthralled us all thank you so much for a great afternoon with such a lovely lady.

Just wanted to leave a wee message about our guided tour on Tuesday 22nd July with Shaun. It was a great start to our York trip – the lad was enthusiastic and really well informed taking us around the main areas. That 2 hour tour basically set us up for what to do the rest of the week – a really big thank you to him for giving up his time.

Just a quick message to say how wonderful Colin, our tour guide on the 2.15pm tour, was yesterday. A really enjoyable 2 hours spent in the company of some fascinating people from all over the world. Just the right pace, both physically (on a really hot day) and historically – I was taking notes and photos along the way for my blog.

I’ve spent today looking through the photos and notes I took and not only can I recall what Colin said, but the route we took and the wonders we saw. The whole experience was truly captivating!

I thoroughly recommend going on one of your tours which I stumbled on by chance – I am so pleased that I did.

Many thanks and best wishes

My wife, sister, and I did your walking tour yesterday (the guide was a Scottish gentleman whose name, I think, was Frank) and I just wished to let you know how much we all enjoyed it and how grateful we were for the opportunity. We saw so much that we would not have seen without the excellent guide and even had we chanced upon it, would not have understood, that the tour added greatly to the enjoyment of our stay in your beautiful city.

Many thanks.

I am writing to express my gratitude for Alan’s interesting account of York’s history and relaxed approach to the tour today at 2pm. Alan guided myself and 8 foreign students visiting York for the summer. The students were very positive about the tour and albeit nervous to ask questions, took in a lot of the information Alan offered which is fantastic and a testament to Alan and his thorough knowledge of York’s history. Thank you again for an enjoyable afternoon.

Jen, our tour guide was wonderful. She was very knowledgeable about the city and kept everyone engaged. It is great that the guides volunteer to show visitors around. Now we want to come back and learn more.

Thank you so much to the Association of Voluntary Tour Guides and to John who gave a score of other tourists and me an informative, insightful, and thoroughly enjoyable tour, accompanied by the best of weather, on 17 May 2014. John was surely a masterful guide.

My friend Francesca and I would like to thank you and John, the guide, for the wonderful walk in York on Sunday, 27th April. York is a “little jewel” and John was able to transmit us his enthusiasm and deep knowledge. Thank you!

A message of huge congratulations for your excellent tour, which I took this afternoon at 2.15. Apologies that I’ve forgotten your guide’s name. His commentary and care of our group was tremendous, and I could not have wished for a better introduction to York.

Your volunteer guides offer a tour that would attract a big cost elsewhere. And over 2 hours of detailed background and walking exploration.

Thanks again from a grateful Aussie!

Hi, I would just like you to pass on my thanks to Pat, the wonderfully bubbly and bright tour guide who took us around York this morning. Her knowledge of, and love for her home city came across loud and clear throughout the walk, and the whole group hung onto her every word. It was an absolutely wonderful introduction to the history of York, and was the highlight of our visit.

Just a note to say thank you to Rod and the Voluntary Guides for the very insightful tour of York on Easter Sunday. Rod’s passion, knowledge and love of York shone through and we learnt more in 2 hours from Rob than a week with a book. Thanks to Rod and all the volunteers for being so generous with their time.

Delightful – most enjoyable afternoon. Who said you get what you pay for, it was a marvellous introduction to York

I would like to express our thanks for the excellent tour provided by John on Wednesday 12th March at 5pm. Our colleagues from across Europe thoroughly enjoyed it and it was very much the highlight of our team meeting. The English members of the team also loved seeing the city in a new light. I will be recommending your services to family, friends and colleagues alike.

Whilst visiting York on Friday 21st Feb 2014 myself and 2 friends found our way to Exhibition Square and joined Mike your guide for the escorted walk, and we were very glad we did.I would recommend the walk to any visitor and if they were lucky enough to get Mike as a guide they will get a great tour. Thanks for the well presented informative walk

We joined the walking tour around York today, with our guide, John, and we both found the walk very interesting, informative, and at times even amusing. I could not think of a better way to learn a little of the background and history of York, and would like to say thank you to John for keeping us entertained for over 2 hours.

My husband and I arrived in York at 9.30am on Monday 17th February and by 10.15am were fortunate to just make the start of a brilliant two hour walk with one of your excellent guides. (His name may have been Kevin). We were very impressed with the pace of the tour and his vast knowledge of your beautiful, historic city. He gave us such an interesting time that we were able to return to some of the places over the next few days feeling knowledgeable. Couldn’t recommend the excellent service more highly

We would like to say how much we enjoyed our guided tour with Wendy on Friday. It was one of the highlights of our visit to York. Apart from the tremendous knowledge that Wendy has of York she was very friendly and made the tour really memorable. Please pass on our thanks to her.

I would like to say thank you to Colin for an enjoyable walk on Sat 8th Feb. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the walk and thank Colin for sharing his knowledge of the city. A well recommended tour.

We took the 10.15 walk on 2nd Feb, Steven was a very well informed guide making it interesting and enjoyable we learnt a lot. I would recommend it to anyone

Just like to express our thanks and appreciation to Roy for the informative but relaxing tour this morning (Saturday 1st February). A great job well done.

Last week I had the possibility to go on one of your city tours in the morning. It was amazing how John, the guide, explained the historical things with so much enthusiasm and heart. He seems to know where each pebble stone in York came from. There are many small details that I wouldn’t have seen without him. Thank you!

Just wanted to say a big thanks to the guide for this tour (unfortunately I missed his name, as we had to changed groups due to numbers, but he is from the south of England). It was an excellent and informative tour; he was friendly and injected life into the history of York. I can’t fault his enthusiasm for his subject matter. I am a Green Badge ITC guide from Manchester and marveled at the range and depth of his knowledge and indeed the fact that this can be done for free is a miracle in itself. A credit to the city. Thanks again and best wishes.

We arrived in York yesterday, 23 May 2013. On the strong recommendation of our B&B owner we took part in the 2:15 pm historical tour of the city with John. He was excellent, friendly, knowledgeable and a credit to the Association of Voluntary Guides and York. This was a great introduction to our visit and we have no hesitation in recommending this tour to others.

It was my pleasure to be toured with Jenny last Wednesday. Despite the very cold weather, the tour was a total pleasure. Jenny just covered enough detail to ensure we were all engaged, but when asked for more information, or asked about ’side-issues’ or totally unrelated topics she had such a deep body of knowledge that she was unfazed every time.

Jenny is a true gem, and we look forward to visiting York again and enjoying another York tour with your organisation.

Please pass my thanks onto Jenny.

I would like to thank Richard our guide for last week’s tour of York (Saturday 1 March). We were a group of 7 and Richard had to cope with a tour group that was at least 25. I have been to York several times now but have never really understood its historical context. Richard’s highly informative, stimulating and amusing tour was the best possible introduction to this wonderful city. Richard’s love of York and the enthusiasm he showed for the history of the place were nothing short of wonderful. It was fascinating and the 2 hours sped by. For all of us, it was the highlight of the weekend. Thank you very much Richard and thank you AVG tours.

We recently enjoyed one of your tours through York on the 3rd of February. Our guide, John, was just the nicest guy and really knowledgeable about the city’s history. We spent a nice few hours, learned quite a bit about York’s amazing heritage and got to discover some nice corners we wouldn’t have seen on our own. AVG’s tours are really a must-do in York! Thanks so much!

We went on a walk with one of your guides, Paul last Saturday 26th January. We had a most enjoyable time even though snow was still on the ground. Paul was very knowledgeable and gave us a real feel for York and its history.

Please pass on our thanks to him.

We spent a lovely couple of days in York, last weekend, in which we had a 2 hr plus guided tour around parts of the city, old and new. Charlotte, our guide, was so knowledgable and interesting, that the time went by so quickly. This is an excellent, free tour, and I wish I had the chance to buy her a coffee, at least. Thank you for the extremely friendly education.

My partner and I were very glad to have made it to the walk with our guide Simon. Not only was he very knowledge and interesting, his enthusiasm and humour opened our eyes to the amazing history of the city. Thank you Simon.

Just a note to say a very big thank you for a most enjoyable and interesting tour of your beautiful city. We all enjoyed your company and listening to all your facts and stories about York.

The tour was exactly what we hoped for and proved to be the beginning of a very successful trip. With thanks and best wishes,

Dear All,
I just want to say: thank you very much for your fascinating voluntary tour! I had today a great city tour with Monica and enjoyed it very much! I noticed directly, that you do this tour from the love to your beautiful city, its history and culture. I’m very grateful for this!
 All the best,

Wow!! We joined AVG’s free tour on Thursday 25th October with our guide John and thoroughly enjoyed the whole two (and a bit) hours. John brought York’s history to life with his down to earth insight into its historical events. Although we were a large group (35 ish) John catered for all ages and also the many nationalities excellently. John’s pace and use of humour kept the group engaged. We were really impressed with the quality and knowledge of our volunteer – well done, please ensure this valuable, informative, educational and humorous service continues.

My wife and I visited York August 27th and 28th, 2012 as part of our travels between Scotland and France. We joined Keith on the morning of the 28th for a wonderful and entertaining tour. An excellent window into the history of the community and area helping to connect to some of what we had seen and heard in Scotland. It was our first time to York, although I had heard many tales of York from my father who was based at Linton-on-Ouse during WW2 (RCAF426). History can be dry but Keith brought it alive with his knowledge and wit. We went back to several of the sites and explored more deeply off the side streets and alleys. Thanks again. We hope to be able to return to York and the country side surrounding some time in the future.

My wife and I are visiting from New Zealand and have been told by many folk we have met, that… “we must visit York!” By chance we arrived on the correct day and time (10th September 2012) to meet with Roy, one of your excellent guides. We can’t speak highly enough of his knowledge and memory for historic facts and dates – and especially for his enthusiasm of the subject matter. One could perhaps expect some indifference from someone who may have conducted many tours of this sort, but Roy was always expressing his excitement and this infected us all ! It was so very much appreciated and we can’t wait to be able to visit York again and continue on the ‘discovery trail’ which Roy has introduced us to. Please convey to him our deep appreciation for his time, research and study he has obviously been involved in. We will be back!!

Hi. We would like to thank you for the guided tours by Roy, Ian and Malcolm you arranged for us last week. Everyone was more than pleased with their guide. We all felt the tours were very well paced in that: we were not physically rushed from place to place, the information we were given covered so many facets of York’s history, this information was given in a way that kept our interest with a mix of anecdote as well as fact, all our guides spoke with great confidence and humour too

Many thanks, although I have visited York on other occasions, I now feel much more at ease in your beautiful city knowing more of its origins and how it grew and changed over the years. Please extend our thanks to our guides, it was a privilege to share in their great knowledge of York. Best wishes

Well, just to say thanks for the great tour we had! It was raining a little, but our guide made the tour the most interesting thing in York! We loved it! I don’t remember very well when we went, but I think it was 7th, aug. Thank you very much!

My partner and I went on a walking tour last Tuesday. I felt I just had to put into words how wonderful it was! The 2.5hrs + flew by and we both learnt so much.

Many thanks to our brilliant guide Ray. I would heartily recommend to anyone visiting York. Regards

Good Afternoon. Just wanted to say thank you for the walking tour which I went on the 6th August. Our walking guide was called Mike, who was a fountain of knowledge. I found the walk fascinating, enjoyable and intriguing. Learning more about this great historic city York. Well done. Yours faithfully

We were visiting York from Austin, Texas for only two days and decided to go on the free walking tour. Our guide that morning was Angela and she was just wonderful. Not only was she extremely well informed on the history and archaeology/architecture of York, she was a true delight. And, she was genuinely empathetic to the people who made York’s history and spoke eloquently of the need for tolerance between faiths and different peoples. Angela brought York alive for us and she is, indeed, a treasure, herself. Please thank her again for us.

I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the guided tour of York on Wednesday 20th June at 2.15pm. Charlotte who was our guide, was very informative, and it was very interesting to hear about the history of York, some of which I didn’t even know until the tour. I would recommend it to anyone else, who is interested in York and its varied history. Thank you once again, and in particular to Charlotte.

Dear Sir or Madam, we recently enjoyed a tour guided by John S. His knowledge and warmth made the walk the highlight of our trip to the UK. Many thanks to your organization for the wonderful gift it provides visitors to your fascinating city. We hope to return one day. Regards

Dear Sirs, Just to say how enjoyable my wife and I found the guided walk we did with David on Friday afternoon last at 1.15pm. It was a most enjoyable and informative few hours which significantly increased our enjoyment of a short visit to the wonderful city of York. We just wanted to record our thanks and wish the Association every success in the future. Yours

Hi, we joined a free walking tour of York on Wednesday 8th February 2012 guided by Richard. We would like to say that we thoroughly enjoyed the tour despite the freezing conditions. Richard was a very informative and entertaining guide – so much so that we felt it necessary to email to say how good we thought he was. We had a group of mixed nationalities and ages and Richard expertly gauged just the right level of detail and humour. Thank you very much to the Association of Voluntary Guides for taking the time to run these free walking tours – a great service, much appreciated. Kind Regards

We had a tour on 31 January 2012 starting at 1015 with your guide Glen. He was very good and made the tour a memorable experience. Many thanks to your Association & Glen, Regards

Dear AVG group, my husband, daughter (a student in York) & I joined one of your tours on Saturday morning. Unfortunately I did not get the guides name, but she was a delightful lady with silver/light hair. The tour was absolutely enthralling – she really brought the city to life, and I learned so much, not just about York itself, but the development of language, guilds, church environments….I want to thank you for providing such an amazing experience – I am now recommending to all my friends and colleagues! Many many thanks, Kind regards

Hi, my wife, son & I attended your 2.15pm walking tour of York today, run by Charlotte. I would like to sincerely thank her for the wonderful insight into the history of York she provided. We all learnt so much and it was a highlight of our stay here. Kind Regards

Dear Sir or Madam, we wanted to say thank you for a wonderful guided walking tour we had some weeks ago when we stayed in York. We have toured Britain for several years now and this was certainly one of the best walking tours we have experienced.

Hello. my husband and I visited York for the first time on Thursday 20 October 2011. We thoroughly enjoyed our day. One of the highlights of the day was the 2.15 guided tour, led by one of your volunteer guides. Our guide was superb – a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable gentleman. We did not have an opportunity at the end of the tour to fully express our appreciation to him, so would appreciate it if you would let him know just how much we enjoyed and learned from his informative and interesting tour.

Kind regards