Hidden York

St Olave's Church, at the start of the walk, was founded in 1055 by Siward, Earl of Northumbria and heavily repaired after it was used as a gun platform in the Civil War Siege of York. Further along, past the library, look right as you ascend the steps, to the Anglian Tower. Built on the Roman ramparts during the time the Anglians ruled York (from the 6th century), this small building is now surrounded by the exposed layers of successive York defensive walls.

The King's Manor, on your left as you go towards Exhibition Square, was the house of the Abbot of St Mary's, and was appropriated by the King in 1539. The residence of the President of the Council of the North from 1561 to 1641, it was apartments until 1833 and then a school. Since 1963 it has been leased to York University. The Minster Library, approached through Dean's Park, north of the Minster, is the only remaining substantial part of the palace of the Archbishops of York. Built about 1230 as the palace's chapel, it became the library in the 19th century.

Bedern, off Goodramgate, was where the Vicars Choral of the Minster lived. They sang the Minster services, and had their own Chapel and Hall (both of which you will pass) as well as a wooden walkway to the Minster precincts to avoid the undesirables who inhabited the area. On St Saviourgate is the red-brick Unitarian Chapel. Designed in the shape of an equal-armed cross with a little tower, it was built for the Presbyterians in 1692. Lady Peckitt's Yard goes by the spectacular half-timbered Herbert House of about 1620. As you turn into Fossgate, notice Macdonald's furniture shop opposite. This was the Electric Theatre, York's first cinema, built in 1911. After passing Clifford's Tower and reaching Castlegate, visit Fairfax House, a fine town house of the 1740s with its interiors beautifully restored in the 1980s after it, too, was used as a cinema for many years. On King's Staith, once the main wharf for the city, is the 17th-century King's Arms Inn, which has the distinction of being Britain's most flooded pub. Ouse Bridge was for centuries the only crossing place linking the two banks of the river. This 19th-century bridge replaced two earlier ones: the Elizabethan bridge had houses on it. Holy Trinity Church off Goodramgate has delightful box pews and uneven floors. On the way back to Marygate, notice the round St Mary's Tower at its junction with Bootham. Part of the walls of St Mary's Abbey, it was blown up in 1644 during the Civil War and later rebuilt, rather inaccurately.

Where to eat and drink

As one of Britain's main tourist centres, York is well supplied with places to eat, from fast-food snacks to gourmet meals. There are many good, characterful pubs, too. Friday and Saturday evenings see Micklegate's bars thronged with young people. For wonderful surroundings, you can eat in the 18th-century Assembly Rooms in Blake Street.

While you're there

In the Roman and medieval city, the Greek-temple style of the Yorkshire Museum in Museum Gardens, designed in 1827, is an incongruous sight. Indeed, the Victorian Gothic architect Pugin called it a 'detestable building'; 'it would have been hardly possible,' he wrote, 'to have erected more offensive objects than these buildings in the immediate vicinity of one of the purest specimens of Christian architecture in the country.' Among its excellent displays are Roman objects, sculpture from St Mary's Abbey, Viking remains and the medieval Middleham Jewel of finely-engraved gold.

What to look for

You should visit York Minster. Allow time to visit The Foundations while you are there. It's worth the admission fee to walk through the building's history, including Roman walls, some with painted plaster intact, and medieval foundations. Also visit The Treasury and the shrine of St William of York.