Day two in York: pick the Dungeon, not the ghost bus

We did both across the weekend, and one of them we're still recommending to everyone who tells us they're going to York for a weekend.

The rest of the day went a bit sideways in the best way, because the thing we’d budgeted half an hour for kept us for two, and the castle we’d built a whole afternoon around turned out to be about the size of a roundabout. Here’s how it actually went.

Breakfast in the Shambles

We started in the Shambles, the narrow leaning timber street that everyone calls the real Diagon Alley. Whether it genuinely inspired it or people just decided that it did, it’s the same street either way and it’s worth seeing early, because by lunchtime you’re shuffling.

Breakfast came out of a window full of pork pies, pasties, sausage rolls and slabs of parkin, which is a very Yorkshire way to start a Sunday and I have no notes.

Top tip - go before 10am. The Shambles is a photograph before the shops open and a queue after them.

JORVIK Viking Centre

Then the Viking Centre, which was the best thing we did all weekend and has its own full review here because it earned one.

Short version: five out of five. It’s built on the actual Coppergate dig rather than being a themed attraction dropped into a city, and an adult ticket bought ahead is £17.50 with twelve months of free returns thrown in, which is a nice bonus.

Am I the only one who didn’t know York Castle is tiny?

Genuine question, because I clearly did not do my homework.

York Castle isn’t a castle in the sense you’re picturing. What survives is Clifford’s Tower, the stone keep sitting on top of its mound, and that’s it. No curtain walls, no great hall, no wandering about for an afternoon. There’s been a viewing deck and new floors put in, so you go up, walk around the top, get a genuinely lovely view over the city, and then you’re done.

And you are done quickly. Call it twenty minutes to half an hour unless you’re reading every panel.

Here’s the honest money bit. English Heritage want £10.20 an adult booked in advance, or £12.00 if you rock up on the day, and those are the prices that include their voluntary donation. Ask for the ticket without the donation and it’s £9.26 and £10.90. Members go free, and if you arrive by bus, train or bike you can get 20% off a ticket bought there on the day.

Twelve quid for twenty minutes is a lot per minute. It’s a nice view and it’s a proper piece of history, but go in expecting a keep and a viewing platform, not a castle, and you won’t have the deflating moment we had walking up to it.

The York Army Museum is worth half an hour

Half an hour, and I mean that as a compliment rather than a shrug.

It’s £5 for an adult, it’s right there on Tower Street two minutes from Clifford’s Tower, and for that money you get a tidy, well put together regimental museum. The cavalry horse and rider mounted mid-gallop in the main room is worth the fiver on its own. Your ticket is also valid for twelve months, which is becoming a bit of a theme in this city.

Don’t build your day around it. Do go in if you’re already standing outside it, which you will be, because it’s next door to the castle that isn’t a castle.

The one we skipped: York Castle Museum

We didn’t do this one, so we’re not going to review it.

What we will pass on is the practical bit that made our minds up. Everything we read and everyone we asked said you want at least ninety minutes in there, and ninety minutes was exactly what we didn’t have left. If it’s on your list, put it in the diary properly rather than hoping to squeeze it between two other things. Trying to squeeze it in is precisely how we managed not to go at all.

The York Dungeon, and why it beats the ghost bus

Five out of five, and this is the one we’d send you to.

Obviously we couldn’t take photos inside, so the contents come to you on trust. Lots of jump scares, genuinely good actors, and stories that are properly set up rather than just a bloke in a cloak saying “boo” at you. You walk through a series of shows, ten of them on the board outside, everything from the Vikings to Guy Fawkes to a plague doctor, and the pacing is what makes it. It never sits still long enough for anyone to get self conscious.

We loved it, and it’s the direct comparison that makes the point. On day one we did the comedy ghost bus tour and gave it a two, because nobody on that bus laughed once. The Dungeon is doing the same job, spooky entertainment in a very haunted city, and it lands every time. If you’re only doing one, it’s not close.

Prices, and read this bit properly because there’s a catch. At August 2026 prices an adult ticket booked online is £20.12, down from a normal £23, because there’s a reduced VAT promotion running between 25 June and 1 September 2026. Expect the £23 to come back after that. An Anytime ticket, which lets you turn up whenever rather than at a fixed slot, is £24.50 against a usual £28, and students get in from £12.68 with a valid ID.

Pre-booking is essential and entry runs on 15 minute slots, so this isn’t one to wander up to. The recommended age is 8 and over, minimum age 5. There’s also an adults-only Dungeon Lates on Saturdays at £27.50 which includes entry to a nightclub afterwards, which is a sentence I enjoyed typing.

Top tip - book the timed ticket rather than the Anytime one and just decide your day around it. It’s four or five pounds cheaper a head and you’re going to be in York anyway.

The National Railway Museum ate two hours of our day

We thought we’d have a half hour wander around and leave. We were there for two hours.

Neither of us is a train person. That’s the whole point of putting this in. You walk into the Great Hall, there’s a turntable with locomotives fanned out around it, and something about the sheer scale of the things gets you. Then you go up on the balcony and look down on the lot of them and that’s another twenty minutes gone. Then there’s a royal carriage. Then there’s a Japanese bullet train. Then it’s dark outside.

And it’s free. Not “free with a suggested donation you feel guilty about”, genuinely free to walk in, though they do ask you to book ahead at busy times and a donation is obviously welcome.

So here’s the sum that made us laugh on the walk back. Clifford’s Tower was twelve pounds for twenty minutes. The railway museum was nothing at all for two hours. We’re not saying don’t do the tower, we’re saying know which one is going to fill your afternoon.

Final verdict

Day two lands on four out of five, same as day one, and the two of them together made the weekend.

The three we’d send anyone to are JORVIK, the Dungeon and the railway museum, and it’s a nice coincidence that they’re the most expensive, the middling and the free one, because it means price isn’t the thing to sort them by. Clifford’s Tower and the Army Museum are both fine, both quick, and both worth doing only because they’re thirty seconds from each other and you’ll already be there.

The one real regret is the Castle Museum, and that’s on us for planning badly rather than on them.

One money note, because day two is the day the passes matter. Clifford’s Tower, the Army Museum, the Dungeon, JORVIK and the Castle Museum are all on the Visit York Pass, £93.82 an adult. Whether that beats paying at each gate comes down entirely to how many you get to, and it’s closer than you’d think. Even four of the pricier ones leaves you short, which is how the pass ended up with a three out of five from us.

Would we come back to York? We’ve got twelve months of free JORVIK entry and twelve months of the Army Museum sitting in an inbox somewhere, so that’s already answered itself. If you’re weighing York up against a big organised UK break, we paid £380 for the other kind and this weekend beat it comfortably.

York day two FAQs

Is the York Dungeon worth it? Yes, five out of five from us. Good actors, plenty of jump scares and ten properly set-up shows rather than one gimmick. Adult tickets were £20.12 online at August 2026 prices, reduced from £23 by a VAT promotion running to 1 September 2026.

York Dungeon or the York ghost bus tour? The Dungeon, and it isn’t close. We did both on the same weekend. The Dungeon got a five and the Comedy Horror Show ghost bus got a two, because nobody on our bus laughed once.

How long do you need at the York Dungeon? Entry runs on 15 minute timed slots and you walk through the shows as a group, so plan for roughly an hour and a half in the area to be safe. Pre-booking is essential.

Is York Castle actually a castle? Not in the way most people picture. What’s left is Clifford’s Tower, the stone keep on its mound, with a viewing deck at the top. It’s a lovely view and it takes about twenty minutes.

How much is Clifford’s Tower? £10.20 for an adult booked in advance or £12.00 on the day, including English Heritage’s voluntary donation. Without the donation it’s £9.26 and £10.90. Members go free, and there’s 20% off for anyone arriving by bus, train or bike who buys on site that day.

Is the National Railway Museum in York free? Yes, genuinely free to enter. Booking ahead is advised at busy times and donations are welcome. We’re not train people and we still stayed two hours.

How much is the York Army Museum? £5 for an adult, and the ticket is valid for twelve months. Half an hour is about right, and it’s two minutes from Clifford’s Tower on Tower Street.

How long do you need for York Castle Museum? At least ninety minutes by every account we came across, which is why we ran out of day and skipped it. Plan it in properly rather than hoping to squeeze it in.

What’s the best thing to do in York? The JORVIK Viking Centre, for us. It’s built on the actual Coppergate dig, it takes about an hour and the ticket includes twelve months of free returns.

Prices are what we paid in August 2026. Things move, so check before you book.