3 Tips for Visiting York Minster

York Minster is one of northern Europe's oldest, largest, and most magnificent cathedrals. It's a beautiful, and absolutely huge building filled to the brim with history. My top three tips to make the most of your trip to York Minster follows:

1. Visit the Undercroft Museum

As a history geek The York minster undercroft was by far my favourite part of the building. It's a wonderfully well set up museum taking you through the 2,000 years of York's history through digital displays (which captivated my not-so-history-obsessed husband) and artefacts (which captivated me). The minster itself is built over a former Roman barracks and you can see the remains of this in the undercroft, as well as reconstructed Roman mosaics. About 60% of those who entered at the same time as us didn't venture towards the undercroft potentially because it's not very well marked. Make sure you venture to the south entrance of the Minster and down the stairs.

2. Enter early

We happened to be the second in our entry time to get into the cathedral and it was such a stroke of luck. Seeing the expanse of it without anyone else in sight is wonderful and the pictures you can take are incredible. This isn't of course a be-all and end-all but if you can try to get to less populated parts of the cathedral while visiting (this isn't difficult because it's so big) the feeling of insignificance in the expanse of the building is wonderful.

3. Don’t skip anything, and make sure you look up

It can be tempting to think that once you've see a stained glass window you've seen them all, but I highly recommend you don't skip anything in this Cathedral. Everything is beautiful and unique and I found something different to fall in love with in each room. One example is the Chapter House - very different to anything else in the cathedral, it dates from the 1280s and in the 1297 was used as the Parliament of King Edward I. The carvings on the walls are intricate and beautiful. The ceilings were so beautiful everywhere we stepped, so make sure you look up (without bumping into people).