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England's Bath and York

This is a quick and handy source for details on the sights, hotels, tour guides and restaurants featured in the "England's Bath and York" show. For much more (and updates), see this year's edition of Rick Steves' Great Britain guidebook.

Georgian House

This museum (corner of Brock Street and Royal Crescent) offers your best look into a period house. It's worth the £4 admission to get behind one of those classy exteriors. The volunteers in each room are determined to fill you in on all the fascinating details of Georgian life...like how high-class women shaved their eyebrows and pasted on carefully trimmed strips of furry mouse skin in their place. On the bedroom dresser sits a bowl of black beauty marks and a head scratcher from those pre-shampoo days. Fido spent his days in the kitchen treadmill powering the rotisserie (mid-Feb–Oct Tue–Sun 10:30–17:00, Nov Tue-Sun 10:30-16:00, last entry 30 min before closing, closed Mon and Dec–mid-Feb, "no stiletto heels, please," tel. 01225/428-126, www.bath-preservation-trust.org.uk).

Bath's Free Town Walks

Free two-hour tours are offered by The Mayor's Corps of Honorary Guides, led by volunteers who want to share their love of Bath with its many visitors. Their chatty, historical, and gossip-filled walks are essential for your understanding of this town's amazing Georgian social scene. How else will you learn that the old "chair ho" call for your sedan chair evolved into today's "cheerio" farewell? Tours leave from in front of the Pump Room (free, no tips, year-round Sun–Fri at 10:30 and 14:00, Sat at 10:30 only; evening walks offered May–Sept at 19:00 on Tue, Fri, and Sat). Advice for theatergoers: Guides stop to talk outside the Theatre Royal. You can skip out a moment, pop into the box office, and snare a great deal on a play for tonight.

Museum of Costume

One of Europe's great museums, it displays 400 years of fashion — one frilly decade at a time — and is housed within Bath's Assembly Rooms. Follow the excellent included audioguide tour and allow two hours (£6.50, £13.00 combo-ticket covers Roman Baths — saving you £3.50, family combo-£36, daily March–Oct 11:00–18:00, Nov–Feb 11:00–17:00, last entry 1 hour before closing, on-site self-service café, tel. 01225/477-789, www.museumofcostume.co.uk).

Museum of Bath at Work

This is the official title for Mr. Bowler's Business, a 1900s engineer's shop, brass foundry, and fizzy-drink factory with a Dickensian office. It's just a pile of meaningless old gadgets until a volunteer guide lovingly resurrects Mr. Bowler's creative genius. Also featured are various Bath creations through the years, including a 1914 car and the versatile plasticine (proto-Play-Doh, handy for claymation and more). Don't miss the fine "Story of Bath Stone" in the basement. While there are included audioguides, the live tours are the key (wonderful 45-min tours go regularly). If rushed, join one already in session (£4, April–Oct daily 10:30–17:00, Nov-March weekends only, last entry at 16:00, 2 steep blocks up Russell Street from Assembly Rooms, tel. 01225/318-348, www.bath-at-work.org.uk).

Bizarre Bath Street Theater Walk

For an immensely entertaining walking-tour comedy act "with absolutely no history or culture," follow J. J. or Noel Britten on their creative and entertaining Bizarre Bath walk. This 90-minute "tour," which plays off local passersby as well as tour members, is a belly laugh a minute (£7, April–Sept nightly at 20:00, smaller groups Mon–Thu, heavy on magic, careful to insult all minorities and sensitivities, just racy enough but still good family fun, leave from The Huntsman pub near the abbey, confirm at TI or call 01225/335-124, www.bizarrebath.co.uk).  

York Minster

York's pride and joy, and one of England's finest churches, with stunning stained-glass windows, textbook Decorated Gothic design, and glorious evensong services. Hours: Open for worship daily from 7:00 and for sightseeing Mon–Sat from 9:00, Sun from 12:30; flexible closing time (roughly May–Oct at 18:30, earlier off-season); shorter hours for tower and undercroft; evensong services Mon–Sat 17:15, Sun 16:00, sometimes no services mid-July–Aug.

Yorkshire Museum

Located in a lush, picnic-perfect park next to the stately ruins of St. Mary's Abbey, Yorkshire Museum is the city's forgotten, serious "archaeology of York" museum. While the hordes line up at Jorvik, the best Viking artifacts are here — with no crowds and a better historical context.

Your museum stroll starts in ancient times. The Roman collection includes slice-of-life exhibits from Roman gods and goddesses and the skull of a man killed by a sword blow to the head. (The latter makes it graphically clear that the struggle between Romans and barbarians was a violent one.) A fine eighth-century Anglo-Saxon helmet shows a bit of barbarian refinement; you'll notice that the Vikings wore some pretty decent shoes, and actually combed their hair.

The Middleham Jewel, an exquisitely etched 15th-century pendant, is considered the finest piece of Gothic jewelry in Britain. The noble lady who wore this on a necklace believed that it helped her worship and protected her from illness. The back of the pendant, which rested near her heart, shows the nativity. The front shows the Holy Trinity crowned by a sapphire (which people believed put their prayers at the top of God's to-do list).

The 20-minute video about the creation of the abbey plays continuously, and is worth a look (£5.50, daily 10:00–17:00, tel. 01904/687-687, www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk). Before leaving, enjoy the evocative ruins of the abbey in the park (destroyed by Henry VIII in 16th century).

York's National Railway Museum

If you like model railways, this is train-car heaven. The thunderous museum shows 200 illustrious years of British railroad history. Fanning out from a grand roundhouse is an array of historic cars and engines, including Queen Victoria's lavish royal car and the very first "stagecoaches on rails," with its crude steam engine from 1830. A working steam engine is sliced open, showing cylinders, driving wheels, and smoke box in action. You'll trace the evolution of steam-powered transportation to the era of the aerodynamic Mallard, famous as the first train to travel at a startling two miles per minute (a marvel back in 1938). There's much more, including exhibits on dining cars, post cars, sleeping cars, train posters, and videos. At the Works section, you can see live train switchboards. And don't miss the English Channel Tunnel video (showing the first handshake at breakthrough). Purple-shirted "explainers" are everywhere, eager to talk trains. This biggest and best railroad museum anywhere is interesting even to people who think "Pullman" means "don't push" (free, £3 audioguide with 60 bits of railroad lore is worthwhile for train buffs, daily 10:00–18:00, snack bar sells Thomas the Tank Engine lunch sacks, tel. 01904/621-261, www.nrm.org.uk). The museum is undergoing a renovation in 2007, and some exhibits may close from time to time throughout the year.

A cute little "street train" shuttles you between the Minster and the Railway Museum (£2 each way, Easter–Oct, leaves Railway Museum every 30 min from 12:00 to 17:00 at the top and bottom of the hour; leaves the town — from Duncombe Place, 100 yards in front of the Minster — every 30 min, :15 and :45 min after the hour).