Don’t just take our word for it
Visitor Feedback & Reviews
Thank you to Alison for a wonderful tour! We attended the 6.15pm tour on Tuesday evening, a beautiful, balmy evening! rnAlison 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. rn
Samantha Bailey
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. rn
Tom Bomhof
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!rn
Manuel Rios
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.
Sonja
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, \dqShe loves her town so much and she shared it with us for free!\dq 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. rn
Wendy Henderson
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.
Chris
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!rn
The Murdock Family
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. rnI am most grateful for the time Richard devoted to guiding the Rotarians around York, it was an unforgettable experience for everyone. rnAfter 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. rnOnce again, thank you for an outstanding tour.rnSecretary to the Rotary Club of Howdenrn
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! rnAngela 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! rnFlorianna 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.rnDave 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.rnCraig & Kerry Mitchell, Melbourne
Excellent tour Ken. The group obviously loved it and you balanced interesting facts with your infectious love for York. Thank you.rnMick Pilgrim
My mother and I attended today on a very, very wet and cold day for the 10.15am tour.rnOur 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!rnWould fully recommend the walking tour to anybody of any age, especially with the lady we had today (really sorry but I forgot your name)rnDanrn
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.rnKevin 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.rnBarry 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.rnSamantha 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 wishesrnRadha 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.rnAlan Eatonrn
Yesterday we attended the guided tour of York with Charlotte (I think). We are very grateful for the service provided.rnIn 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
\dqOn 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.\dq 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 \dqlost\dq 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.