I absolutely love Museum Gardens, it's so relaxing. A perfect place for a walk, and to explore in York. I went to see the ghost displays there, and it was brilliant! I highly recommend, and the gardens never disappoint. Some very hungry squirrels, to be aware of 🐿🤣
Winnifred W.
Google
We had a fantastic time with the kids at Echoes of Yorkshire last night. It was really well organised, and we had so much fun enjoying the music and light projections. It was wonderful to see the public space come alive on such a beautiful autumn evening, with the added surprise of spotting some ‘ghosts’ of 2025!
Jessica W.
Google
Visited to enjoy the current light show event, and we weren't disappointed!
It was great to see the gardens after dark, especially with the ghosts still haunting the area. It was all very atmospheric and eerie... perfect on the run up to Halloween!
The light show is self guided as you walk between areas. Each area has a different theme. My favourite was on the St Mary's Abbey ruins. The colours and sounds for each area were vibrant and atmospheric - very well done and immersive.
The event was very quiet when attended, which was great to see everything. Well worth the ticket price.
Grace P.
Google
Gorgeous, peaceful, tranquil and overall calming gardens open for free to the public with plenty of benches, bins, floral areas, walks and places to stop. Outside of the York Museum, it still has the original walls and parts of an old historic building, clearly well looked after and treasured. I found my visit here very nice, it’s a great place to take photos and get outside, away from the bustle of the town.
John Robbie C.
Google
A really lovely place! The ground are a great place to spend a few hours with a picnic in the sun. While we visited there was the Eboracum festival which was fantastic! The museum itself it great and filled with info. The ticket can be used across multiple days - however, when I asked staff members they said I could use it the following day. The next day, the museum was closed so we felt a bit disappointed (kind of out fault for not checking closed days, but also expect staff would say it was closed too).
Ayanna’s A.
Google
Best season to go is in autumn, so beautiful with oranges and yellow colours. I went first thing in the morning to get there before other people and walk around. Lovely gardens.
Rowan B
Google
One of my favourite places out of all my time living in York, so of course I had to take my graduation photos here and stop to feed the squirrels
I especially love the wire ghosts for halloween!! They werent here at the time, we'd just missed it but they're forever a fond memory
David W.
Google
Beautiful place in the historic city of York, friendly environment and well maintained. Well worth a visit to both the gardens and museum, highly recommended.
Kittee C.
Yelp
Beautiful garden with plenty of places to sit and enjoy the view. Perfect for photo ops due to the stone columns and the roman remnants. Good for a pleasant stroll or a relaxing picnic and fantastic for feeding the very, very friendly squirrels! They come right up to you and take peanuts (I just happened to have some on me) out of your fingers! I know they're vermin, but they are cute and it made some passing kids giggle with delight!
Qype User (.
Yelp
The perfect place for a quiet lunch or relaxing afternoon during summer, Museum Gardens offers a delightfully tranquil space to wander in peace or simply cut through to the other side for your car. It can become a bit of a children's playground during the holidays when the weather is nice though. There are also ruins of an abbey which is very photogenic and fun for children to play around.
The museum itself is free to York residents who hold a York Card (which you can get from Central Library next door).
The lower end floods when the Ouse is high and breaks its banks.
Ellen S.
Yelp
These gardens are beautiful and if you wander further in you are rewarded by the ruins of a once spectacular abbey. The walls that are still standing give you some idea of the scale and you can read all about its history. The gardens also house York Art Museum, the edible garden and a tudor hall. The perfect way to spend an hour wandering through gardens on the banks of the Ouse.
Qype User (.
Yelp
this is a fab place to go, especially with younger children! next to the york museum, but the gardens have some little ruins they can explore.
it can get busy, especially if the weathers good. but they have ice cream vans etc
they have a teenage hang out section, well its not desinated but there always in the same spot, near the bowls lawn
its a place you can go to rewind after work and people watch or even to be alone, as some parts of the gardens always seem quiet and deserted even when its really busy!
so take a romantic picnic for 2, or just something to do on the cheap with the kids!
Jasmine H.
Yelp
Fantastic place to spend some time in York. Open until 5pm, free entry, with a nice through walk to a quieter part of York. The gardens surround the museum and also have the open air ruins of St Mary's Abbey. Atmospheric, relaxing and tidy, with plenty of benches and rubbish bins to use. Also good if you like watching squirrels play around.
Qype User (.
Yelp
well kept and well presented gardens with great ruins , a museum and plenty of running around and climbing for the kids to do , would recommend anyone to visit ..
Qype User (.
Yelp
these are very nice gardens located near the center of York. They are a great place to go to sit and relax. It is also good to buy some food and go eat it there. There is usually a lemonade stand and an ice cream van which are perfect for hot days, when the gardens are most popular. They run downs from the Museum to river at the bottom.
Qype User (.
Yelp
A beautiful area of open space near the heart of York, very tranquil even when it's quite busy. I like coming here to eat my lunch. There's always another corner to discover. I haven't yet been inside the observatory (I keep missing it as it has odd opening times) but it's on my to do list!