Shopping In York, UK

Shopping in and around York

Whether you're shopping in anger or shopping for fun, York has plenty for you! York's city centre is very compact, and 'down town' York can easily be traversed on foot within 15 minutes.

Increasingly, shopping for everyday needs has, as in most large towns and cities, been moving out to the out-of-town shopping malls and centres.

Out-of-town shopping
There are three main out-of-town shopping centres, whose locations are shown on our Maps Page:

Clifton Moor - supermarkets (Tesco), household goods.
Getting there by bus: Services 18 and 18A run from the city centre to Clifton Moor every hour throughout the day, Monday to Friday, every half hour on Saturdays. 19A, 19B and 19C run from Monks Cross, via the city centre, to Clifton Moor, departing town every half hour, Monday to Saturday.
Monks Cross - supermarkets (Asda, Sainsbury's), ex-High Street shops (Boots, Woolies, WH Smith) and PC World.
Getting there by bus: the MX6 service runs non-stop from the Stonebow in York city centre to Monks Cross every 20 minutes.
Designer Outlet (McArthur Glen) - mainly designer-label clothing
Getting there by bus: take the McArthurGlen Designer Line shuttle bus from York Station every 10 minutes, or the Arriva Yorkshire bus number 415 from Selby to Piccadilly, York every 20 minutes.

You'll find excellent details of all of these shopping centres, including opening time and lists of shops on:
www.thisisyork.co.uk/york/classified/outoftown.html
Full details of the bus services can be obtained from First York on (01904) 435637.

Tourist shopping
Despite York residents' moans about the city centre being turned into a 'visitors museum', there is plenty of shopping activity. Naturally, tourist shops are plentiful, although some of them seem to have a fairly short life. Good tourist shopping streets are The Shambles (once the haunt of butchers' shops - look out for the broad shop window ledges), High and Low Petergate and Stonegate. And don't forget the ultimate place for morning coffee or afternoon tea:
Betty's Tearooms St Helen's Square, York. Tel: 01904 889822

There's a search facility for finding what you want in York shops here:
http://www.thisisyork.co.uk/york/datasearch/shopsearch.html

York market
York boasts the brightest and arguably best daily open market in the North. Newgate market has 120 stalls in a market square within Europe’s largest single pedestrianised area. Prominent since the Middle Ages, Newgate market is the heart and soul of the city lying between The Shambles and Parliament Street.

The market offers something for everyone every day offering a wide variety of dried goods, fruit and vegetables, as well as a good selection of fresh fish and meat.

City of York Council have information at:
http://www.york.gov.uk/business/Markets/

The big popular shops
Many of the High Street multiples are still represented in or near the city centre. Marks and Spencers have ploughed money into a large store, and Sainsbury's still have a supermarket just outside the city walls (near Monks Bar). The main shopping street for the multiples is in the Coney Street area ("Coney Street" - derived from "Konig's Street" - "King's Street" - nothing to do with rabbits!) The Coppergate Centre, which includes the Jorvik Viking Centre, is also worth a visit.

Street entertainment
You can experience some good entertainment when you shop in York's city centre! Parliament Street (built by the Victorians) can be lively at times, with street fairs and various forms of entertainment at times. York is good for street entertainers. With York University having an excellent Music Department, it's not unknown for classical string trios to join the usual collection of buskers. King's Square is a popular place for street entertainers. There's some very good juggling acts at times.