Whether you’re planning your next historic city break or looking to soak up some sunshine in one of the UK's most picturesque cities, this mini travel vlog is packed with useful tips for a wheelchair-accessible visit to York. Join Pippa Stacey as she shares her insider recommendations and local gems.
Accessible places covered include:
- York Railway Station
- York Theatre Royal Cafe
- York Art Gallery
- CitySightseeing York
- Fossgate
- Brew York - Yuzu Street Food
- City Cruises
- Get Cycling CIC
- York Museum Gardens
Transcript:
Hiya, I'm Pippa Stacey. I'm a disabled writer, speaker and content creator. And today I'm spending the day with Motability Lifestyle magazine in the beautiful city of York.
Now, I know on the surface, York can seem a little bit daunting if you're a wheelchair user, because with all the cobbles and the old buildings, but it is entirely possible to have an amazing, accessible day out here.
We're starting off the day right here at York station. There's a Changing Places toilet facility on platform two if you need it. All the signage has BSL, which is amazing to see.
And if you're headed into town, you can come out of the main entrance and you'll find bus stops, taxi ranks, or if you can manage it, it's about 10 to 15 minutes to walk into the centre of town where you'll find loads of great stuff to do.
So first spot on our grand tour today, we're going to walk into town and we're going to head to York Theatre Royal Cafe. I love coming to this theatre. They have so many amazing productions through the years. They have a good amount of accessible performances as well, like relaxed performances. BSL interpreted the venues really easy to navigate as well. You've got automatic doors. There's lovely step-free access throughout. There's lift access, there’s accessible toilets, and even if you're not seeing a show, just coming to this cafe is really nice. It's got lovely chill vibes. We've got quite the array of foods going on here, so Lucie's got a cappuccino. I've got a vegan cinnamon bun, I've got an iced coffee with cookie dough syrup, which I'm very excited about.
And the really good thing is they're very allergy aware here. They've got a hefty allergen book, which we love to see, and the staff are really up on that as well. So very much looking forward to enjoying this. There are accessible toilets in the theatre, but if you're looking for Changing Places facilities, if you head literally just around the corner to the York Explore Library, they've got an accessible toilet on the first floor and they've got a Changing Places facility on the ground floor as well.
So now that I'm full and I'm back fully caffeinated, we're heading to our next destination, which is York Art Gallery, which is just across the square from this cafe.
We are in the brilliant York Art gallery. It's in a lovely historic building. But don't be fooled because there is brilliant access throughout. You've got ramped access to get in, there's wheelchairs available to borrow, There's plenty of seating throughout.
At the minute we have the Making Waves exhibition on, but there's loads of great stuff on throughout the year and there's also the permanent collection upstairs as well.
Now if you're a bit of an anxious traveler, you can get a view of the entire floor plan online so you can plan your visit. And since we've come in the door, we've seen some amazing access adjustments available as well. So I'm going to show you them now. So as well as the wheelchairs for hire, the headphones for hire, they've also got these sensory backpacks and these are absolutely brilliant.
We've been having a rummage earlier. We've got Zog, the soft toy dragon, we've got sensory toys for kids, and we've even got these little pebbles to represent how you're feeling and communicate that if that's something that you struggle with. Loads of amazing stuff in here.
You can really see how much thought has been put into the access. And the other thing to bear in mind as well is that there are ticket discounts available. For example, if you have a carer, if you are on any means tested benefits, if you have refugee status.
So it's well worth looking online and checking that out in advance as well. So we've just come out of the art gallery and just outside you've got York CitySightseeing bus.
Now this is a really great way to see all the sights and really take it all in, even if you can't necessarily walk as far or you're managing fatigue or pain. There’s a ramp to access the bus and there's a wheelchair space on the bottom and there's loads of good stops.
Now, if you're looking for something family friendly, if you get off a Stonebow, you've got Jorvik Viking Centre not far away, which is really great to do with families and kids. They've even got a wheelchair accessible capsule on the ride. But today we're going to get off a Peasholme Green and we're going to do some shopping instead.
So we've just got off the bus at Peasholme Green and we're now going to head towards Fossgate, which is a really lovely little street full of independent shops. It's nice because on busier days it tends to be a bit quieter. Now for full transparency. Not every shop is accessible there. There's quite a lot of historic buildings, but it's just a really nice atmosphere. There are some really gorgeous brunch places and shops here.
Some of my personal favourites are Botanic, which is the plant shop. We've got Expressions behind us, Give the dog a bone and then you've got a Black Wheat Club if you want something nice to eat. Very, very fancy, Cosy Club, which doesn't look accessible, but they have got a ramp. It's actually fine to get around once you're inside. So loads of lovely choices down here.
So Lucie and I are starting to get a bit peckish. So the next place we're going to head to is Brew York. Now they are famous for their craft beers, but more importantly, in my humble opinion, they are home to Yuzu Street Food and they do incredible, incredible food there.
So as you can see, we've got the craft beer that's freshly brewed on site and you can see it all happening. And then we've got the main event going on here.
So we've got the bao bun and we've got hash browns. And I don't like to be dramatic, but they will change your life. If you come here, you have to have them. They are so good. Cheers!
Right. We've had a thought. It is a ridiculously hot and sunny day. So we're actually going to head down to King’s Staith Landing, and we're going to see if we can get on one of the city sightseeing cruises. Not all of these cruises are wheelchair accessible. So make sure you check the website, but we're going to try our luck and see if we can get one first.
Very pleased to confirm we made it on board. So we are on the river Duchess and this one actually has an accessible toilet on board as well. If that's something you need. So the cruise we're doing today should take about an hour.
We're going to see some of the lovely sights of York from the water and just a really, really lovely day to spend a hot, sunny day in York. We’re coming up to Millennium Bridge. And just back from the Riverside, there's a really great organisation called Get Cycling, and they offer inclusive cycles for hire.
So, if you are looking for something more active, you can hire an adaptive bike from them and there's all accessible pathways all by the river. You can go over the bridge to Rowntree Park and that's a really lovely activity to do as well.
This is the best possible way you could end the day.I've got my raspberry sorbet, sunshine. We're going to have a nice chill afternoon now. Thank you so much for watching. I hope this is giving you some ideas for your next accessible trip to York.
Don't forget to subscribe and we'll see you next time.
Video: Lucie Rhodes
