York

Modern York is an amazing city. Much of the city is old and feels it, with a complete set of city walls and an array of medieval buildings. It has the largest cathedral in England and the second largest in Northern Europe. The shopping center is a really nice section of town lined with stores and generally a market in the square. It is a very popular shopping destination. There is a Roman bath located beneath one of the pubs (helpfully called The Roman Bath) but they charge for admittance and there isn't much there.
There is very little left of Roman York. It was originally one of the civitas capitals of Britian under the name of Eboracum. It was also known as Jorvik during the Viking era and there is the excellent (but overpriced and busy) Jorvik Centre to see there. As for Eboracum there is a section of wall left as well as a few artifacts in the museum. The centre of Eboracum was located where Yorkminster Cathedral is now. The Normans liked to build Cathedrals on sites of importance since that helped associate their buildings with the prestige and importance of the old ones.

The one surviving Roman tower was incorporated into the Medieval city walls which followed the same basic path on that side as the Roman ones. This is right next to the museum which has a surprisingly small number of Roman finds. I was expecting rather more from a city as important as Eboracum but I suppose that importance is no guarantee that things will survive. There are some rather nice Imperial busts and a few grave markers that are interesting but on the whole there's not much there.

The River Ouse

 The walls of York ring the entire old city and are free to walk on. The walls are a great way to see the city but since they stretch on for about three miles it's best not to do the whole way if you plan on visiting other areas of York.

Yorkminster Cathedral

The front of Yorkminster is visible from quite a ways away. I got the train in so I came in on the west side of the city. The cathedral is visible as soon as you get on the city wall.

It is possible to go on the roof but it is a long walk to the top up a very claustrophobic spiral staircase. They only let you up in groups to control the traffic and they charge extra for the privilege. It is definitely worth it for the tremendous view. When you get to the top you can see for miles around and on the halfway point you can see the flying buttresses from above.

The basement is a museum. This section contains the remains of Eboracum. The administrative center was built right here but it was built over by successive churches until the minster was put in. There isn't very much left of the Roman site. What little there is is very poorly lit and gloomy. I believe that the gloom is part of the atmosphere since there are supposed to be catacombs down there, but there is depressingly little in the way of creepy tombs. Visitors follow a set path and cannot deviate from it since there are walls in the way.

Constantine the Great has a statue just outside Yorkminster since it was here that he proclaimed himself Emperor. It was only put there a few years ago and I don't think it resembles Constantine at all but it is nice to see some recognition that this was where the man was raised up. He looks like an arrogant dilettante idly twirling his sword while listening to some court case. Not how I think of Constantine at all.

Clifford's Tower is a part of York Castle. I didn't go in this time but I went in when I was a little kid. The inside is pretty much gutted but it is interesting to see a castle on a mound in the middle of a parking lot.

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53°57'44.26"N, 1° 4'56.37"W