Where to stay in York: the best areas and hotels

York Minster is one of the great Gothic cathedrals of Europe, and the streets around it are the oldest and prettiest in the city. Stonegate and Petergate are lined with leaning timber-framed shopfronts, the Shambles is a five-minute wander south, and the walls can be climbed at Bootham Bar for the classic view back over the Minster gardens. It is busy by day and wonderfully quiet once the day-trippers have caught their trains.

Dean Court Hotel stands right in the Minster's shadow, about as close as you can sleep without taking holy orders. The Guy Fawkes Inn, a few steps away, has 13 rooms, a garden and a terrace; The Judges Lodgings is a four-minute walk from the west front; and Grays Court has just 12 individually decorated rooms looking over its gardens. Rooms are small and stairs are steep in buildings this old. That is rather the point.

Step through Bootham Bar and the crowds fall away. Bootham is a broad Georgian street running north-west from the walls, with the Museum Gardens and the ruins of St Mary's Abbey on one side and quiet residential terraces behind. You are still within a short walk of everything, but evenings here sound of blackbirds, not hen parties.

Jorvik House fills an 18th-century building overlooking St Olave's Church and the abbey ruins, with refurbished rooms and junior suites. Hotel Clementine sits on a peaceful residential street ten minutes on foot from the Minster and the Theatre Royal, with antique-furnished rooms and a walled garden. The Churchill is a converted Georgian residence in its own grounds, and St Mary's Guest House in Clifton is a friendly, good-value pick with breakfast included.

York's handsome Victorian station sits just outside the walls, with the National Railway Museum behind it and Micklegate Bar, the old royal entrance to the city, a short walk south. Cross Lendal Bridge and you are at the Minster in about ten minutes. For a one- or two-night break by rail, nothing is easier.

The Grand York is the city's smartest address: an Edwardian building with a spa, an indoor pool and two restaurants. The Milner York, steps from the platforms, is a late-Victorian railway hotel set in gardens with a view of the Minster from its Garden Room. On Micklegate itself, the Supercity aparthotel has kitchens in every unit, handy if you would rather cook than queue for a table.

The southern end of the old city is where York keeps its family attractions. Clifford's Tower stands on its grassy mound, the Castle Museum is next door, and the Jorvik Viking Centre and York Dungeon are round the corner. The Ouse and the smaller Foss meet here, and Walmgate, one of the city's oldest streets, has filled up with independent cafés and vintage shops.

Hilton York faces Clifford's Tower from inside the walls. Novotel York Centre, on the banks of the Foss, is the family favourite thanks to its swimming pool and sauna. Hotel Indigo sits on Walmgate, with décor that nods to York's chocolate-making past, and Roomzzz York City has riverside apartments, many with balconies or floor-to-ceiling windows over the Ouse or Rowntree Park.

South of the walls, the city opens out onto the Knavesmire, the wide stretch of common land that holds York Racecourse. This is the sensible choice if you are driving, and the obvious one on race days. The centre is a pleasant walk or a short bus ride away along The Mount and Tadcaster Road.

Elmbank is the surprise: a 19th-century mansion overlooking the Knavesmire, filled with stained glass, murals and one of the most complete Art Nouveau interiors in the country. Hotel du Vin brings its bistro and wine list to the South Bank area, the Marriott has a full spa and indoor pool, and Holiday Inn York sits right beside the racecourse with free parking.

With a car, you can trade city bustle for parkland and still be at the Minster for lunch. Mercure York Fairfield Manor is an 18th-century Georgian manor in its own grounds about 6 km from the centre. Aldwark Manor comes with a golf course, two restaurants and terrace views.

Further out, the market towns make fine bases for a wider Yorkshire trip. The Talbot Hotel in Malton is within a 15-minute drive of Castle Howard, and The Feathers in Helmsley is five minutes from the North York Moors National Park. Come here for walks and long pub lunches, with York as the day trip.

Scarborough is the grand old lady of the Yorkshire coast: two sandy bays split by a headland with a ruined castle on top, a harbour, a Victorian spa and an open-air theatre. It makes a good second stop after York, or a seaside base in its own right, with the North York Moors a short drive inland.

The Crown Spa Hotel, built in 1845, is a ten-minute walk from the town centre and station and minutes from South Beach, with a leisure centre for wet days. Mansion House is a beachfront guesthouse with 15 individually decorated rooms, Riviera Town House is steps from South Bay Beach, and The Kenton is within a 15-minute walk of Peasholm Park. Down the coast, Bridlington has its own long beaches and a clutch of seafront guesthouses.