Christmas On The Water!

City Cruises are bringing their festive boat tours back to the River Ouse from 21 November through to 31 December, with sailings running daily. It's billed as York's only boat tour along the river, and it picked up Best of York 2025 at the Visit York Tourism Awards, so it's a bit of a local fixture around the Christmas period. The fleet is all-weather, with heated saloons for when the November wind bites and open-top decks for when you'd rather be out in it.

There are three different ways to do it. The Festive Sightseeing Cruise is the classic one: you get mulled wine, tea, coffee, hot chocolate and a mince pie, with a live captain's commentary to point out what you're looking at as you go. Then there's the Fish & Chips Cruise, where award-winning fish and chips from Mr. Chippy are delivered straight to the boat. And for the smaller ones, York's Santa Experience lets the kids meet Santa and walk away with a personalised present and a gift bag. If you're bringing the dog, well-behaved ones sail for free.

Logistically, you've got two places to start from. From King's Staith Landing (YO1 9SN), sailings are at 10:30, 12:00, 13:30 and 15:00. From Lendal Bridge Landing (YO1 7DP), they're at 10:40, 12:10, 13:40 and 15:10. If you need wheelchair access, that's only available at King's Staith Landing, so keep that in mind when you're picking your departure point.