1 and 3, Nessgate

Explorer Tom The York Dungeon sells a ticket to the city's darker stories, performed with actors, sets and a generous amount of theatrical menace. It is an attraction in central York, not an actual medieval jail; if someone tries to sell you a genuine plague rat as a souvenir, I recommend asking for the receipt before believing a word. The experience uses timed entry and live scenes to turn grim history into a visitor show. The operator advises booking before arrival and warns that darkness and loud effects are part of the tour. Children under five are not admitted, and younger visitors need adult company. Those are practical details worth knowing before deciding whether the Dungeon is your idea of fun. Check its current show schedule, since special seasonal characters and evening events come and go. York has enough real history outside the door that the theatrical version should be enjoyed for what it is: a performed romp through frightening themes, with jokes ready to break the tension. Actors may single out a brave volunteer, so my plan is to look heroic while standing behind someone taller. Then again, hiding is exactly the sort of thing a dungeon keeper notices. The set is there to startle you, not to prove that every line of dialogue was spoken centuries ago. Go in if you enjoy a good shiver with your laughter. Afterwards, return to York's streets and let the daylight sort the facts from the stage smoke. The best ending is a city that suddenly feels older, stranger and much more interesting than it did before you bought the ticket.

Explorer Tom JORVIK Viking Centre in York sits over the very ground where archaeologists uncovered Viking-age houses, workshops and backyards. Its recreated streets bring smells, sounds and characters into the story, but the real treasure is the evidence underneath. Tom offered to join a tenth-century trading voyage; one whiff of the workshop convinced me to negotiate a later departure. Between 1976 and 1981 the Coppergate excavation revealed remarkably preserved timber, leather, textiles and everyday debris from Viking York. Damp ground had kept things that usually rot away, letting archaeologists reconstruct work, trade, food and health in unusually rich detail. The centre opened in 1984 to put those finds before visitors, and its displays have changed as research has advanced. Jorvik was a real city with makers and merchants, not only an army in horned helmets. The visit moves from displays about the dig to a ride through a reconstruction and then to original finds. Look for the glass floor over the excavation area and the small objects that show how people lived: tools, bone carvings and household traces. The famous preserved Viking-era coprolite gives a very direct lesson in diet and parasites. I said I had discovered a new artefact in my pocket; it turned out to be yesterday's biscuit. Check current tickets and visitor arrangements before going, as the centre uses a managed visitor route. Give the real finds as much attention as the lively reconstructed street. When you step back into modern Coppergate, imagine how much of that older city still lies beneath the shops.

Explorer Tom Baile Hill is York's quieter Norman castle mound, across the River Ouse from the better-known Clifford's Tower and easy to overlook if you hurry past the city walls. Its tree-covered rise is still there, though the timber fortress and most of its bailey have disappeared. I asked the hill why its rival gets all the postcards; it answered by being older than my complaint. The Old Baile was built under William the Conqueror in 1068–69 as York's second castle. York's historic record says the surviving motte averages about 7.7 metres high; excavation found traces of twelfth-century buildings on top. The site later became part of the city's defences, and its mound was raised during the Civil War. There is little visible ditch or bailey now, so the remaining grassy shape is the main clue to its first job. You can see Baile Hill on a walk around the Bishophill side of York, beside the city wall route. Visit York describes the walls as free to walk, but their raised path closes at dusk or when weather makes it unsafe; the nearby streets offer another way to view the mound. Treat this as an outdoor historic stop, not an open castle tower. Take care on steps and unguarded wall edges if using the wall walk. My imaginary Norman guard says he preferred this posting because Clifford's Tower attracted all the tourists even then. His dates are suspect. The real second castle tells a useful story about controlling both sides of the river. Pause by the mound, picture its lost wooden defences, and give York's quieter hill a fair hearing.

Explorer Tom York Minster explains the 1800s to teenagers by saying it was basically just a really long Tuesday with more hats. It’s standing in Dumfries and Galloway acting like it owns the entire postcode, which is fair play. If anyone asks, Tom sent you.