Chris BruntTravelling back and forth to work, catching up with friends and family or even visiting the many wonderful sights York has to offer, there will no doubt come a time when it’s necessary to slake that intrepid thirst of yours. So where should you go? Our city boasts over three hundred bars and pubs, the first three are merely yards from the platform as you step off your train and arrive at the station. Helping you decide where to get started with York’s plethora of watering holes, we take a look at the first three pubs waiting to greet you on arrival.
Coopers bar stands as a gateway to the city, situated in the main entrance of the station it’s a bridge between a starting point and a destination; helping to fill a stomach before a lengthy journey, occupy time until a friend arrives, or calm your nerves while the trains remain delayed. It’s a place where you’re guaranteed to encounter not only an interesting tale amongst your fellow travellers, but also a diversity of accents and dialects, compiled by the multiplicity of tourists and commuters passing through, heading in every conceivable direction.
The award winning York Tap, originally built as tea rooms in 1907, then turned into the York Model Railway in more recent times, has now become a local haunt for those dedicated to sampling drinks from a wide range of thirty two draft beers, ales and ciders. The nostalgic decor of York Tap with its original mosaic flooring, columns and spandrels, inspires a black and white image of one man and his dog: a bygone era where the tongue of man’s best friend laps contentedly at his water bowl, while the owner reads a newspaper, pausing occasionally to sip from his tumbler. It’s an establishment like that featured in the old movie, Brief Encounter, where you can sit next to a roaring fireplace, a drink in hand, watching the trains pull into the platforms.
In need of a place to stay tourists often rest their wearied legs and camp out at the historic, four star, Royal York Hotel. No more than a stone’s throw away from the train station, built in 1878, this famous hotel houses its own restaurant and bar. Huddled over a map of York, while seated in the beer garden enjoying a cold lager or glass of vintage wine, the chic Tempus Bar acts as a hideout where many people choose to plot the course of their next excursion, before venturing into the city centre.
With such a variety of pubs and bars on offer throughout York, it’s impossible for us to cover them all, we’ll leave that up to you, but for now this should be enough to get you started.
