York Castle Museum Tours
We have an exciting range of tours available to explore some of the most exciting aspects of our collection and building!
Tickets are now live for dates up to 27th September. Book here!
The full list of tours currently available are below!
Tickets are currently released on Thursdays at 1pm for the following week’s tours, please check our social media for updates. Please note there is no walk-ins on the day and tickets usually sell out within a few days of release. You MUST book a tour ticket in advance to visit York Castle Museum.
The tours will take place on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, throughout the day. Pre-booking via our website is essential. All fees listed below include Eventbrite fees.
To ensure social distancing the tours are limited to a small number of people. As these are specialist events rather than part of our standard opening, YMT Cardholders will need to pay to for these tours. We hope to be able to announce standard opening for York Castle Museum in the near future.
Kirkgate Victorian Street Family Tour
£8 per person (45 mins)
This tour is aimed at children aged 5-11.
Calling all families! This summer, let our costumed guide whisk you back more than 100 years to walk the streets of Victorian York as you explore what life was like for both rich and poor in our new family tour.
Step onto the cobbles and peer in the windows of the fine shops along Kirkgate, hearing why a Devil lurks outside the printers and how taking your “weasel” to the pawnbrokers was a weekly occurrence for many. Then head down the back alleys into York’s slums to discover how hard and deadly life was for the majority of the city’s residents as they battled against the awful conditions, where sharing a toilet with your whole street was the norm.
This socially distanced tour is for small groups to ensure your safety.
Book tickets for 24th – 27th September here.
Kirkgate Victorian Street Guided Tour
£12 per person (1 hour)
Visit one of York’s most memorable experiences in this guided tour of our recreated Victorian street. The 45 minute tour will reveal the fascinating history of the street, the stories behind the authentic shops and the real Victorian York businesses which traded everything from chocolate to weird and wonderful medicines to treat every ailment. Your guide will be there to answer any questions and point out the hidden history around every corner.
Book tickets for 24th – 27th September here.
York Castle Prison Guided Tour
£12 per person (1 hour)
Enter the authentic prison cells of York Castle Prison, where thousands were imprisoned while they awaited release, transportation or execution. Join our expert as they reveal the stories of the infamous, such as highwayman Dick Turpin, and those largely forgotten in this unique insight into prison life.
Book tickets for 24th – 27th September here.
Fashion and Textile Curator led Tour
£18 per person (1 hour)
From caps to corsets, and from gowns to children’s clogs, every object has a story. Join Dr Faye Prior from York Castle Museum, as she introduces you to some of these fascinating stories while on a journey through 400 years of fashion.
Based in the Fashion gallery of Shaping the Body, the talk will reveal the hidden histories of some of the gorgeous garments on show. It will focus on star objects from the displays, plus several hand-picked treasures brought out specially from the museum store.
Although social distancing means we can’t handle the objects, you will be able to view some up close. There will be seating provided so you can choose whether to sit or stand.
Please note that this tour is stairs access only and is not suitable for people with reduced mobility.
Book tickets for 24th September here
Power, Privacy and Protest: A LGBTQ+ tour
Fancy learning about other histories rather than the usual rich, straight, cis, white men? Then this is the tour for you.
Using our collections and buildings we will uncover people lives that have been excluded from the history books along with ways that the ruling power tried to suppress them. Starting with the Tudors and finishing with the world today, you will hear personal stories of people and how they have explored their sexuality and gender.
Book for 25th September here
Debtors’ Prison Curator led Tour
£18 per person (1 hour)
Join York Castle Museum’s Dr Faye Prior for a special tour of the Debtors’ Prison, the first custom-built jail for debtors in the country. With specially designed accommodation for debtors, cells for felons and a chapel it was built to impress, but most prison inspectors who visited found it anything but impressive. The tour will lead you through the building, revealing hidden features, exploring how the prison changed over the two centuries it was in operation, and will tell the stories of some of the people who lived, worked and died here.
This tour is for older teens and adults, and includes subjects that some might find challenging. It is not suitable for children or younger teens.
The tour will be socially distanced. It involves stairs, and will include indoor and outdoor spaces. Please dress for the weather.
Book tickets for 25th – 26th September here
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