The onetime stomping ground of Roman emperors, Viking raiders, Northumbrian monarchs, English kings and Scottish invaders, the city of York is a great palimpsest of history, exuding tales of heroism, religion, political machination and power from every one of its ancient cracks and crevices. It’s crowned by the mighty towers of the York Minster Cathedral, which id still hailed as one of the largest and most important of its kind in Christian Europe. Around this central hub emanates a labyrinthine conglomeration of tight-knit lanes and overhanging Tudor homes, where cosy English pubs and confectionary stores beckon passers-by. Nearby, the National Railway Museum examines York’s industrious past, and the JORVIK Viking Centre transports travellers back to the days of yore, while York tour guides scramble over the lichen-spotted ramparts of the old town with groups of wide-eyed visitors to the soundtrack of cheers that drift over from the city’s cricket stands. Throughout the year, York’s Early Music Festival and county beer and cider celebrations draw in very different crowds, while the town’s Shakespeare Project fields some of the best renditions of the English masters’ works the country has to offer.