York is well provided for in the way of museums and art galleries. In addition to the places listed below, most of York's historic churches are open to visitors. Please remember, though, that they are nearly all still used as places of worship, so please respect them for this.
The National Railway Museum is the largest railway museum in the world, boasting a host of railway icons and literally millions of artefacts. Its vast collection tells the story of the railway from Rocket to Eurostar.

The Jorvik Viking Centre is unique, once experienced - never forgotten. It is built on the exact site of a huge archaeological dig. Here the York Archaeological Trust found the amazingly well preserved remains of part of the Viking City of Jorvik cocooned in wet mud (and therefore perfectly preserved) for over 1,000 years. A massive range of detailed, often microscopic evidence was recovered and has been used to recreate (in intricate detail) every last aspect of everyday life. This is no waxworks, this is the closest you'll ever get to time travel, the sights, the sounds and even the very smells of Jorvik in 948 AD. Starting from the moment you arrive at our door, Viking inhabitants of the York of 1,000 years ago will be eager to tell you the best place to buy wooden bowls, or bone skates, and give you a few insights into the City in their day, as well as preparing you for your journey back in time. Children will love to dress up for their journey as or a raider (complete with sword). Then your party can start the journey by descending the stairs into the very bowels of York, climbing down to Viking levels; to the level of York's streets as they were in 948 before they were buried beneath all the rubbish of subsequent generations.

York City Art Gallery’s internationally renowned collection spans seven centuries of painting in western Europe and has works representing the most important art movements of that time. The gallery is housed in an Italian Renaissance-style building designed by Edward Taylor and completed in 1879. The collections on view include pictures by Parmigianino and Bellotto, Levy and Reynolds, Frith and Boudin, Lowry and Nash and nudes by Etty. An outstanding collection of 20th-century studio pottery is also on view with fine examples from Staite Murray, Leach and Hamada