It probably goes without saying, but York is a really old city. In fact, it's fair to say the place has history and heritage coming out of its ears.

I'm only bringing this up now because it's pretty much the first thing that hits you when you arrive there.

Apart from a really quite impressive old railway station, the first thing you're presented with as you leave the station is the crenellated wall that encircles the old city (you can actually more or less circumnavigate the centre of the city by joining the wall at various 'gates' and walk along its paved centre).

And as you walk into town, the second major reminder that you are in a place that positively shouts out its illustrious medieval past is York Minster.

Dominating the skyline, the Minster is the focal point of the town. It's a truly impressive building - even for the not religiously inclined and it is undoubtedly the landmark that helps define York's sense of grandeur and history.

The Minster's interior is equally impressive, and there is much to be learned from even an hour's ramble inside the church.

And, if you have the stamina, there are incredible views of the city and the surrounding countryside to be had from the top of the tower.

If you're the sort of person who enjoys doing the museum trail, then York has an incredible amount to offer. In fact, there's almost too much to do in this vein and it's very easy to become exhausted by the sheer amount of information on offer.

However, particular highlights must be the Yorkshire Museum - which has an impressive and detailed full reconstruction of a Victorian street, and the National Railway Museum - a surprisingly engrossing museum that boasts among other things a chance to see the Flying Scotsman, the Japanese Bullet Train and Queen Victoria's Royal choo-choo up close.

The museum is a little way out of town but while you're down there you can also take a spin on the Yorkshire Wheel - York's equivalent to the London Eye - and for the sheer kitsch, retro factor, there's also the model railway exhibition, tucked away right next to the railway station.

But there's a whole lot more to York than simply traipsing from museum to museum.

The centre of the town - much of it mercifully pedestrianised, making it a great place for aimless wandering - is thriving and bustling, with a great mix of your usual high street stores, quirky (sometimes verging on tacky) independent shops and a couple of open-air markets, where you can get anything from New Age crystals to a bag of toffees.

The winding medieval streets running from the Minster to the main centre of town really do make a refreshing change from the stultifying uniformity of most British city centres.

Once you hit the town properly, however, there's one more Yorkshire institution that demands to be tried - Betty's tearooms.

There are a few Betty's in Yorkshire - they can also be found in Ilkley and Harrogate - but the York one is perhaps the most impressive. Once again, it's trading on the heritage card and you are served traditional afternoon tea on silver cake trolleys by rather prim waitresses in immaculate black and white uniforms of yesteryear.

It's all very Trevor Howard and kind of fun but it is a bit like being in a heritage theme park with added cake and you're unlikely to be able to relax there with your friends too much.

Besides, it is definitely a bit over-priced for what you get, with full afternoon tea coming in at about £14.

But after you've done the Betty's thing, there's really no shortage of decent watering holes to get some more reasonably priced refreshment.

The River Ouse runs through the middle of York and there are a couple of decent, if rather chainy, pubs on the banks of the river. If the weather's being kind, a nice chilled-out afternoon can be had on the boardwalks here, savouring a decent bottle of wine and watching the many tourist boats chugging up and down the river.

But away from the river there's also a fair few decent pubs. My particular recommendations would be Judges - which is a little studenty, but still good fun - and The Last Drop Inn, a defiantly curmudgeonly watering hole, which openly declares its hostility to jukeboxes, music, fruit machines, children and dogs. Its insistence that you are there to drink and converse with your friends actually gives it a vibrancy and sense of cool that the more desperate chain pubs constantly try and fail to attain.

York is also well-served for decent restaurants and eateries. While there are a lot of dodgy Old-Worlde attempts at carveries that are best avoided, there are a couple of decent places for a decent meal.

Highly recommended is the Blue Bicycle, which specialises in seafood with a Gallic flavour, but we dined at the DCH brasserie, the restaurant attached to the Dean Court Hotel in the centre of town. The food offered by DCH is excellent, with a new take on some traditional Yorkshire dishes and using locally sourced produce.

The Dean Court itself is well-placed - directly across from the Minster, giving it really rather cool views and making it a good base for any explorations of the city.

Probably the worst you can say about York is that it sometimes feels as if you're walking around a medieval theme park that people happen to live and work in. But in this day and age of identikit British towns that's perhaps no bad thing.