Walking York's snickelways: a self-guided route through the city's hidden lanes

The best way to see York is to get off its main streets. Between them runs a web of narrow lanes, yards and covered passages, most of them medieval, many of them too narrow for anything but people. York has its own word for them: snickelways.

This self-guided York snickelways walk is a 2.5km loop from the Minster through some of the best of them, with a stop at the most famous street in the city and a few of its oddest names along the way.

What is a snickelway?

The word was coined in 1983 by local author Mark W. Jones in his book A Walk Around the Snickelways of York. It blends three northern words: snicket, a path between walls or fences; ginnel, a narrow passage between or through buildings; and alleyway. Jones's own definition, roughly, is a narrow way to walk from somewhere to somewhere else, especially in York.

His hand-written, hand-illustrated guide devised a route through 50 snickelways inside the city walls, became a local bestseller and has been through many editions since. If you enjoy this walk, it's the natural next step. The word caught on so thoroughly that the city council has used it in official notices.

Other places have their own words for the same thing. In Newcastle they're chares, and you'll pass some on our Seven Bridges walk. In Edinburgh they're closes and wynds.

The walk at a glance

• Distance: about 2.5km (1.5 miles), as a loop
• Time: 90 minutes to 2 hours, taken slowly
• Start and finish: York Minster, at the south door
• Terrain: flat, but with cobbles, uneven paving and some very narrow passages
• Accessibility: most of the route is step-free, but some snickelways are narrow enough to be awkward with a wide pushchair or wheelchair. The main streets between them give you alternatives throughout.

1. York Minster

Start outside the south door of the Minster. You're standing close to the heart of Roman York: the legionary fortress of Eboracum, founded around AD 71, lay beneath this part of the city, and its streets still shape the ones you'll walk today.

Walk down to Low Petergate, the street running along the front of the Minster precinct.

2. Mad Alice Lane

Partway along Low Petergate, look for a narrow opening leading down towards Swinegate. Its official name is Lund's Court. Almost nobody calls it that.

The local name, Mad Alice Lane, comes from a story that a woman called Alice lived here in the early nineteenth century and was hanged for poisoning her husband. How much of that is true is hard to say. It's a good example of something you'll notice all over York: the names people use for places are often older, stranger and more memorable than the ones on the signs.

Walk through to Swinegate.

3. Finkle Street

From Swinegate, find Finkle Street, which leads up to St Sampson's Square. It's a short, crooked lane, and one theory is that the name refers to that bend. Its old nickname was Mucky Peg Lane, which tells you something about how it was once kept.

Come out into St Sampson's Square and cross towards Newgate Market.

4. The Shambles

Walk through the market to the Shambles, York's most photographed street. The name comes from the old word for the benches or shelves butchers used to display meat, and this was the butchers' street. Look at the ground floor of the shops for the wide sills that once served as counters, and up at the upper storeys leaning in towards each other across the lane.

It's busy for most of the day. Come early or late if you can, and look up rather than at the shop windows. The buildings are the point.

At the bottom of the Shambles, turn onto Pavement.

5. Lady Peckett's Yard

On Pavement, look for a passage running through the buildings towards Fossgate. This is Lady Peckett's Yard, named after the wife of John Peckett, a Lord Mayor of York in the early 1700s.

It's one of the best snickelways in the city: a proper passage, partly covered, that goes under and between timber-framed buildings and comes out onto a different street entirely. This is what Jones meant by a way from somewhere to somewhere else.

6. Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate

Back towards Colliergate, keep an eye out for the sign for Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate, often described as the shortest street in York. It's barely a street at all. The "gate" at the end, like so many York street names, is from the Old Norse word for a street, a legacy of the Viking city of Jorvik.

Walk on up Colliergate to King's Square and into Goodramgate.

7. Holy Trinity, Goodramgate

On Goodramgate, look for a small archway between the shops. Walk through it and you're suddenly in a quiet churchyard, with the traffic and crowds cut off behind you.

Holy Trinity is a medieval church with old box pews and uneven floors, and it's one of those places that only exists for people who know to look for it. If it's open, go in. If not, the churchyard alone is worth the detour.

Come back out onto Goodramgate and head towards Petergate.

8. Stonegate and Coffee Yard

Stonegate is one of York's finest streets, and it follows the line of one of the main roads through the Roman fortress. Look up at the signs and carvings above the shopfronts as you walk.

Partway along, find the narrow entrance to Coffee Yard. It's named after an early coffee house that stood here. Inside the yard is Barley Hall, a medieval townhouse that was hidden for centuries behind later buildings and rediscovered in the twentieth century.

Coffee Yard leads through to Grape Lane. That name is a later, tidied-up version of what the medieval lane was actually called, which was considerably less polite.

9. Back to the Minster

From Grape Lane, make your way back to Petergate and the Minster. You'll have walked through the Roman fortress, the Viking street plan and the medieval city, mostly without using a main road.

Tips for walking the snickelways

• Go early. The Shambles and Stonegate are far calmer before 10am.
• Read the street signs. They're your best waymarks, and the names are half the fun.
• Respect closures. Some snickelways are gated at night or pass private property. If a gate is shut, take the main street round.
• Look up. Carvings, signs, jettied upper floors and odd windows are easy to miss at eye level.
• Wear good shoes. Cobbles are beautiful and unforgiving.

Questions people ask

What are the snickelways of York?

They're York's narrow lanes, alleys, yards and passages, most of them medieval. The word was coined in 1983 by Mark W. Jones, combining snicket, ginnel and alleyway.

How many snickelways are there in York?

There's no official count. Mark Jones's original walk took in 50 snickelways inside the city walls, and others have catalogued more.

What is the most famous snickelway in York?

Mad Alice Lane (officially Lund's Court) is probably the most famous name. The Shambles is the most famous street, though it's wider than a true snickelway.

How long does it take to walk the snickelways?

This loop takes 90 minutes to two hours at a gentle pace. Mark Jones's full 50-snickelway route takes longer, and is best done over a morning or afternoon.

Is the snickelways walk suitable for wheelchairs?

Much of the route is step-free, but cobbles and very narrow passages make parts of it difficult. The main streets run alongside most snickelways, so it's easy to bypass the tightest sections.

Walk York with Pilgrim

York is one of the first cities we're building journeys for, and it's a place where local knowledge makes all the difference. If you know its lanes and yards better than any guidebook, we'd love you to make a journey.

Practical details checked September 2026. Things change, so check opening times and closures before you go.