City Walls

York's city centre is surrounded by historic walls, which are free to access on foot every day of the year that weather permits except Christmas, from early morning until sun down. No visit to York would be complete without a walk around at least one section of the city’s walls. At 3.4 kilometres long, these beautifully preserved structures are the longest medieval town walls, and the most complete, in England.

A walk around the entirety of the remaining walls takes about 2 hours. There is a great deal to see along the way including the four main ‘bars’, York’s fortified gateways, Botham Bar, Monk Bar, Walmgate Bar and Micklegate Bar, the 2 lesser ‘bars’, the postern, other towers including the Roman Multangular Tower, and fascinating details like arrow slits, musket loops, sculptures and masons' marks.

The city walls provide stunning cityscape views of York, including many of the best places to take in the majesty of the York Minster, as well as sight of many other aspects of the city’s rich and varied architecture, both old and new. This includes both the current and former railway stations, York Art Gallery, King’s Manor, a glimpse of Holgate’s five sailed windmill, and a distant Terry’s confectionary factory.

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