We had a lovely walking tour with Nick yesterday morning! It was a rainy day but the weather could not dampen our spirits as we learnt many interesting facts about the city, all communicated in an engaging and humourous fashion by Nick. Would definitely recommend to a friend!

Tour guide Mel was very welcoming, entertaining & knowledgeable. Made the tour come alive.

Our tour guide, Richard, managed to skilfully engage all 3 of our party (with a wide age range and historical interest). His tour was comprehensive (no gimmicky history with no mention of Dick Turpin when I left a little early). yet he gave us quirky anecdotes and insights not necessarily found in the history books! Our particular highlights were the ‘hidden gem’ (and oasis of calm) in the Shambles along with Holy Trinity in Goodramgate. A first class tour and a fantastic service provided by the AVG to the visitors of York!

The tour was excellent, thanks to our guide Wendy — super attentive and patient, since we were a full group of Argentinians with different levels of English. The tour lasted about two hours, where we could see the mix between medieval and modern, along with history and a few ghost stories. Wendy made it very interesting — a 10 out of 10 guide!

I did the tour with Richard on Saturday on my own and then with Fraser on Sunday with my other half. Both had different tales to tell and were really interesting. They packed in so much information and I would have no hesitation in recommending spending a couple of hours on these tours whilst you are visiting. We both learnt loads about York! Thank you Richard and Fraser.

I took the tour of York with Ken who is a great guide with a wealth of information and engaging storytelling. I have learned a lot about York, history and some interesting, quirky facts. Ken was very friendly and flexible. It was a fantastic tour, highly recommended! Thank you so much Ken.

Debbie was our guide today and we cannot thank her enough for making what was a damp and gloomy morning into a really enjoyable and interesting tour of this lovely city. We learnt so much in a humerus way as well as in a more serious manner. A great morning out. She would not accept a tip so we donated to a charity. Highly recommend.

All 3 of us (aged 57 to 11), with varied levels of historical interest, came away enthused and we’ll informed by Richard’s tour. There was so much information on the history of York, without ‘gimmicky additions’ (no mention of Dick Turpin when I had to leave before the end) but all was delivered with enough humour and insight to keep us all engaged. We particularly
appreciated the ‘hidden gem’ on the Shambles and nearby Holy Trinity,
Goodramgate…places we’d never have discovered without Richard’s expert help. A
first rate tour, giving us a perfect overview of an
elegant city. Full marks for this long serving team of
volunteers!

We really enjoyed the tour with Debbie. She was very knowledgeable and a lovely guide. Thank you for a wonderful experience!

We did the 10:30 walk with Steve. We were a group of 4 all living in York. Steve was fantastic shared lots of fascinating information about things we didn’t know about York. Would definitely recommend.

Our guide, Pete, was absolutely fantastic — knowledgeable, friendly and with a great sense of humour. He managed to explain the long and fascinating history of York in a way that was both easy to understand and very entertaining. Even as a tourist with a Greek background, I found myself completely drawn into the stories — from Romans to Vikings, every corner of the city came to life thanks to his fun storytelling style. Big thanks to Pete and the whole team of dedicated volunteers for sharing their passion for this beautiful city! We truly enjoyed every step of it.

Fabulous walk with our guide Steve. Even though I’m a York resident I learnt so much about our wonderfull city. The 2 hours flew by .Brilliant tour

Debbie was very knowledgeable and an excellent guide. Thank you

A big thank you to our guide Kevin who took us on a brilliant tour of York, there’s so many places we wouldn’t have found without the tour and it all has more meaning when the history unfolds. It was interesting to listen to someone so knowledgeable and passionate about York.

The tour led by Annie was informative and interesting. We had considered making our own way round with the help of a guide book but we glad we opted to go on the tour. We would only have discovered a fraction of the places and the history behind them and the two hours passed very quickly. Would highly recommend.

Wendy was our tour guide and she was wonderful – very engaging and knowledgeable.
We enjoyed it very much and will be sure to spread the word!

We feel extremely fortunate to have had Dr. Neil Moran as our guide—an incredibly knowledgeable and patient man, with a wonderful sense of humor. The tour was the highlight of our three days in York. We can’t say enough good things about your valuable service.

13:15 tour on Sunday 12th Oct 2025 with Fraser.
We had a very enjoyable tour with Fraser, he made it interesting, informative and fun with his typical Scottish humour. We loved the anecdotes and snippets of information about where words came from, seeing and understanding what we were looking at and pointing out some of the unusual ‘modifications’ made in years gone by. Most of the time I wander round beautiful places and buildings without really ‘seeing’ them. A guided tour in any city is always worth while, and Fraser helped bring York to life. Thanks again Fraser!

We did a fantastic tour with Richard as our guide around York. His knowledge and enthusiasm was infectious. He rally brought the city’s history to life. Highly recommend.

Richard gave a fantastic tour of York and it’s history. The best walking tour I’ve done of any city. Thank you.

10:30 tour. Fraser was a wonderful guide. He was enthusiastic, full of knowledge and made the tour so interesting. The two hours just flew by. Thank you. It was great.

Fraser was a wonderful guide. He was enthusiastic and had an extensive knowledge. His communication skills are excellent. Thank you.

We thoroughly enjoyed this tour with Jim despite adverse weather conditions. A fascinating introduction to York’s long history.

Our guide for the York tour was Richard and he was fabulous . He presented the history of York in a clear chronological order which was easy to understand and entertaining. He chose quiet spots to talk , he included everyone and encouraged questions . I highly recommend Richard for the York history tour . Gary Watt

I joined the 1.15pm tour with Richard and for a free tour I cannot recommend highly enough – what a wonderful thing for York to offer. I did the tour early on during my stay and it was the perfect introduction to a wonderful city.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Richard was great! Very knowledgeable of York and its history. I would recommend this tour to anyone that loves history visiting York.

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

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.

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! 🙂

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!

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.

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.

Nick was so entertaining and knowledgeable. Excellent tour. Many thanks

What a fantastic tour! Kevin was super knowledgeable and charismatic. We were recommended this tour by family and it’s clear why. Thanks heaps!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.