12 Best Nightlife in York

The Guy Fawkes Inn takes its name from the fact that it was where the famous revolutionary was born. Right next to York Minster, the Grade II-listed building dates back to the 18^th century and has an olde-worlde-style décor that perfectly suits its surroundings.

While its famous heritage makes it arguably a bit touristy, The Guy Fawkes Inn is no slouch as a pub. It has an excellent restaurant, serving traditional and modern British pub grub. For some local flavours, try the Sunday Roast (with Yorkshire puddings) and wash it down with real cask ales and draught beers from local breweries.

York is said to be among the most haunted cities in Europe, if not the world, and you can learn more about the spooks and spirits around the city on a ghost walk. There are some ghosts that date back as far as Roman times, including that of a slovenly legionnaire haunting Treasurer’s House near York Minster. Some of the more modern ghosts can be found in Bootham Bar. As you might expect of a York ghost, he’s found in a pub and is described as a friendly, handsome guy.

There are loads of ghost tours available around the city, each following slightly different routes to tell different stories. There’s even one that goes around the city on a bus, though most of them explore the city’s narrow streets and back alleys on foot.

The Maltings is nothing special in terms of its appearance or setting but packs a punch when it comes to the beer it serves. A deserving past winner of the Pub of the Year award from the York branch of the Campaign for Real Ale, the bar serves a great selection of tipples, including high-quality cider and a regularly rotating selection of guest beers.

Beyond beer, The Maltings has a limited selection of food and occasional folk music performances. Despite its shortcomings in other areas, the beer alone is enough to make this an extremely popular venue, to the extent that they had to build an extension to handle all the demand.

City Cruises runs boat trips up and down the River Ouse in York throughout the day, but the Floodlit Evening Cruise is definitely a highlight. The beautiful riverside buildings are beautifully lit up in the evenings, partially by the boat’s own lights. The Woodsmill Quay, York Guildhall and The Bonding Warehouse are all noteworthy sights, but there are also waterfront parks and countryside to see.

The 70-minute cruise starts and finishes at King’s Staith and features a relaxing soundtrack of swing and jazz background music. The ticket prices are reasonable and includes your first drink from the bar – something bubbly if you’re on a date or something warm if it’s a chilly night. There’s a heated indoor saloon if you’ve had enough of the fresh evening air.

You’ll know the Kings Arms pub if you’ve ever seen a picture of the River Ouse passing through the middle of York, especially if it’s one of the river flooding. Being right by the water at a point where the river spills out onto the city streets if there’s even a moderately heavy rainfall, this pub is famous for how often it has been submerged. In fact, you can even see markers on the walls showing the high-water marks of each flood.

Aside from this little novelty, the Kings Arms is actually a very popular pub. The tables by the river make a lovely spot to enjoy a pleasant pint on a sunny day, and those pints are pretty reasonably priced. Just be sure not to park your car too close by during winter, especially if it looks like it might rain.

The Black Swan is the archetypal olde-worlde pub in York. The 15^th-century timber-frame house on Peasholme Green has low beam ceilings and open fireplaces and, because this is York, a ghost or 2. The pub is a regular feature on ghost walks and even hosts candlelit ghost dinners. If you want a laugh instead of a fright, the upstairs function room also hosts comedy and folk music nights.

As a pub, The Black Swan is solid if unremarkable. There’s a good if the slightly pricey selection of beers and ales at the bar and the pub grub is homemade and tasty. There are a few international options among the typical British fare.

The House of the Trembling Madness takes its name from the Latin term delirium tremens, which are the shakes that come from extreme alcohol withdrawal. As with many of York’s best nightlife venues, it’s got a long heritage, with the roof beams said to have come from an 800-year-old ship. However, the really remarkable feature of the place is the huge array of stuffed animal heads on the walls, ranging from typical deer and boars to a kangaroo, a stoat and a badger.

Aside from its bizarre appearance, the House of Trembling Madness is also a very good pub. It has an outstanding range of beers and ciders from local and guest breweries, including plenty of hard-to-find Belgian tipples. The food menu is equally impressive, with juicy meat pies and impressive hunter’s platters.

The York Theatre Royal is a grand old building near the Minster, but it has a modern interior providing a comfortable and enjoyable evening. Built in 1744, the theatre is a Grade II-listed building that has been refurbished several times through its long history. It has a modest capacity of just 750 seats in 4 tiers and hosts home-grown and touring shows, including pantomimes around Christmas.

You can expect to see dramas, comedies, musicals and performances by stand-up comics and conversations with celebrities. York Theatre Royal has a good café and bar as well as a kids’ play area. The historical façade conceals an interior that’s been well designed to allow easy access for wheelchair users.

The Hop in York takes the typical ‘ye olde pub’ look and expands beyond it, adding some fun, modern twists to create a cool nightlife spot. The red-brick exterior and tiled interior effortlessly evoke the Victorian era, but the modern font on the sign hanging over Fossgate gives you a hint of what to expect from the menu.

The pizzas at The Hop are stone-baked on the premises and are the highlight of the food menu, while the week’s drinks specials are shown on a blackboard and often include bizarre flavours – the rhubarb cider is tart, but tasty. There’s a sort of large hall with bench-style seating at the back of the pub, which hosts live music and comedy at least 4 nights a week. As a final little quirk, you’ll see the lyrics to The Grand Old Duke of York written along the staircase wall, so you can sing along as you come back down from the bathroom.

As the name suggests, Ye Olde Starre Inne is said to be the oldest pub in York. While it certainly holds the title of the venue that has been licensed the longest (since 1644!), there’s some dispute over which pub is in the oldest building. The grade II-listed Olde Starre Inn on Stonegate also claims of being York’s most haunted pub, with a couple of black cats being among the resident spooks.

In terms of its credentials as a pub, Ye Olde Starr Inn is fairly conventional. Expect typical British pub grub and a good selection of beers. Being in a busy part of town and with its various claims to fame, the pub is naturally particularly popular with tourists, though it has its share of local regulars (other than the ghosts), too.