We happened to be in York 13-15 November which is when the uni was using the minster for their graduation ceremonies. Whilst the streets were full of students in gowns which was absolutely lovely to see, it meant the minster was closed for visitors which was so disappointing. However we decided to go to evening song to get an opportunity to go inside. You need to arrive by 5.15 to queue to get in as there are limited seats. You are seated behind the choir which consists of around 25/30 young people to adults. They sounded absolutely amazing. You will need to set aside a hour for the whole experience- queue to the end of service- but would definitely recommend. Don’t worry you won’t be expected to sing and it is free to attend- we have a donation through.

We turned up at February half term as the Minster opened at 930 am and paid the £20 entrance fee. At first we thought it was a bit steep however once inside it was worth every penny. The Minister is simply stunning and steeped in years of history. My favourite was the Chapter House which we got to with no other visitors present. The ceiling, stained glass and flooring are remarkable. There was a nice prayer for the day at 10am and regular free guided tours every. 30 minutes. At night we also went to the spectacular free light show projected on to the Minster lasting for 10 minutes on a loop.

We booked tickets for the Phoenix night time show, we didn't get in until nearly 7:30pm due to huge confusion over who is queuing for what time. There were no signs, the staff weren't helpful and although tickets were checked, I feel as though any one who hadn't booked or paid could have walked in. Very poorly managed. The show itself was beautiful and very interesting.

The Minster is beautiful inside and out and there’s a lot to see! As well as the main areas of the Minster you also have the crypt, under Croft museum and the roof climb. The roof climb is 275 steps through a narrow, steep tower so make sure you’re fit enough to get there because you can’t turn around! The views at the top make it worthwhile!

A great visit - and we accidentally arrived just as a tour (included with entry) was just starting. We had a great guide (John - I think). He really explained the architecture of the building and also took time to explain about the daily life of the church. The tours are included with entry - so I strongly recommend taking a tour - it helped us engage with the space much more.

This was our first visit to York & the minster and we were blown away with it. We paid to do the tour which was £18 each but we can go in again as many times as we like till June next year so that’s really good value. It’s a beautiful building inside & out , our tour guide was really good too, the only problem we had during our tour there was a service on with a choir so some parts of the tour we couldn’t hear everything that was said but it didn’t spoil it for us & I thought the music & choir sounded so good. We also paid an extra £12 to do the tower tour , that’s a spiral staircase that’s quite narrow & gets narrower nearer the top which has 275 steps up to the tower at the top , you do go out at one point and walk across a walkway then go back inside to climb the last of the steps to reach the top of the tower , you need to be fit & healthy to do it but it’s so worth the climb to see the views of York from the top of the tower,we would definitely recommend going up there if you can.

A beautiful and peaceful minster and a must see on a visit to York. I found my visit very enriching and all the staff we met were extremely friendly and helpful especially the gentleman on the ticket scanning who informed us of what was new since our last visit. There is a great deal to see and as we visited during December we also got to see the Christmas tree festival. The undercroft museum was a surprise to me and i enjoyed the well set out displays and the artefacts on show. The ticket admission price not only helps with the upkeep of this remarkable building but allows revisits throughout the year and i feel is well worth the money.

We had booked tickets to the York Minster Phoenix Light Show October 2024. It was a little chaotic as people gathered to enter the event at 6pm and there was no kind of system in place to stop people crowding. Staf did then start to organise people just before entry. But the event itself, once inside, was great. Busy but not uncomfortably overcrowded. The pre bookable event told the story of the York Minster fire of 1984 and the sequence of events that lead to the damage and then the story of restoration, all portrayed through a light show against the stained glass and up onto the ceilings. It was a very good show with wonderful colours, stills and videos and supported with narration. Due to the acoustics, it was quite difficult to hear the narration but the light show itself was impressive. I did intend to revisit York Minster in the daytime, but it is quite expensive with no concessions for disabled persons/carers so perhaps another time for us but from what I saw of the outside before dark, and the inside, during the light show it would be a good place for a return visit.

York minster is a defining feature of the city skyline and given its long and eventful history and the artistic treasures inside it is well worth a visit. The best way to discover the interior of the minster is by participating in a guided tour, included in the price of the entrance ticket. Hilary took us on a one hour twenty minute walk through the nave, the transept, the chapter house and the choir. She explained in a very colorful way how the minster was built and rebuilt and elaborated on the great fire of 1984 that partly destroyed the wooden ceiling and the works undertaken in the late 1960s to prevent the transept tower from collapsing due to subsidence. Hilary pointed out a lot of interesting and amusing details and proved particularly knowledgeable about the stained glass windows, some going back to the twelfth century ! She interpreted the images but also explained how the windows were made, repaired (with glue as opposed to lead nowadays !) and preserved (with sensors !) without getting too technical. A big thank you therefore to Hilary for making this a highly instructive and entertaining visit. It was an honour and a privilege !

What can one say about a 1000 year old building as majestic as York Minster. It's as spectacular and storied as Westminster, but having been at the London Minster a week prior (along with apparently every other human on the planet) our visit to York Minster was infinitely more enjoyable for the lack of crowds. We took the free guided tour and learned a good deal of the history behind this Norman colossus and it's mix of Gothic and Romano architecture. The stained glass windows, (particularly the giant rose window with its red and white Tudor rose alongside the red rose of Lancaster quite an interesting sight in the seat of the Archbishop of York), were incredible to behold. The magnificence of the vaulted ceilings have to be seen, and the many ceiling bosses and their tales. The scale of the place defies description, it requires seeing in person. The whiteness of the stone, as immaculate as they day it was hewn, adds a brilliance to the entire structure. Schedule did not allow us to visit the Undercroft museum, nor the Tower. Although I'd guess my knees and lungs would not be in any shape to tackle almost 300 steps up and down. But maybe next time, I can't wait to return with more time. It was certainly a highlight, not only of our stop in York (a city I fell instantly in love with), but of our entire two week trip across our brilliant little island taking in as many historical sites as we could. William the Conqueror, we;; no one asked him to come a knocking, but he did leave us some truly magnificent architecture, more than can be said for the Saxons. Wherever you are in the UK you owe it to yourself a visit to York,  a fantastic city, and to York Minster. It's a thousand year old gift deserves to be enjoyed by all.