Finding York's shopping secrets

SHOPPING: it's what women do supremely well and most men do under sufferance. So if you could find a way to shop 'til you drop while the man in your life doesn't lose the will to live, then you'd be on to a winner.

With this in mind, York has launched three new guides to shopping heaven, featuring more than 40 independent shops that you won't find anywhere else and also providing plenty of interest for the more reluctant companion.

York may be well known now for its distinctive shops and relaxed surroundings, but the city has a shopping history going back to Roman times. The Romans started shopping as soon as they arrived in York in 71AD, when shops and wine bars sprang up in the Coney Street and Micklegate areas and in Viking times, around the 10th century, the city was described as being "crammed with merchandise too rich to describe".

In the Georgian era, York vied with London as one of the most fashionable places to live and the elegance of the shops reflected the affluence of the customers. But even then people were keen on a bargain and an 18th century historian sagely wrote: "Country gentlemen have found York so much cheaper than London. The great variety of provisions makes it very easy to furnish an elegant table at a moderate rate".

Accompanied by my partner Peter, who could never be described as a keen shopper, but is a willing accomplice, I set out to test the trails to find York's shopping secrets.

There are three routes: Designer Living and Antiques, if you're looking for interior design ideas or perhaps a signature piece of furniture for your home; Designer Wear, with a stunning line-up of labels all within walking distance of each other; and Something Special, for jewellery, affordable art and unique gifts.

We took the Something Special route, which conveniently began in Gillygate, just a few steps away from the pretty guesthouse, Hazelwood, in Portland Street, where we were staying. Strolling and browsing in the specialist jewellers, we pass through the city walls at Bootham Bar into High Petergate, where we are enticed into La Bottega Della Lunghe for Italian cheeses, salamis, olive oil and wines. Turning into Stonegate, we enter the Swinegate Quarter, a cluster of delightful shops including Porcupine, where you'll find such idiosyncracies as candlesnuffers and china doorknobs, and then to Low Petergate, where the Cat Gallery has everything, as you would expect, for cat lovers, and Christmas Angels, where every day is Christmas Day.

Time now for a little relaxation as we turn into the Minster Gates, and take half an hour out for a quiet stroll through the Minster itself. As the largest medieval gothic cathedral in Northern Europe it cannot fail to impress, and it must be one of the most magnificent places for a quiet sit down.

Back on the trail again we follow our noses into Goodramgate and to Monk Bar Chocolatiers, opposite the games emporium Compendium and just down from the eponymous Mr Woods Fossils. Further along there's Rafi's Spice Box, where combinations of spices are tailor-made for each customer, amid a cluster of oriental restaurants and shops.

Kings Square is a good place to sit and enjoy the street entertainment over a coffee or a sandwich before venturing into the medieval Shambles, York's most famous shopping street and home to the Heraldic Art & Design Shop where you can order your own coat of arms. Once lined with butchers' shops, where the livestock was killed almost in front of your eyes, the only smells along the Shambles now are very different ones - coming from the John Bull Fudge shop and the Earl Grey Tea Rooms. There's still one reminder of the past with leather merchants Cox of Yorkshire, where the most wonderful leather bags, coats and shoes - including clogs - are made.

You'll find beautiful stationery, aromatherapy candles and incense burners in Ringrose, while in Fossgate, Give the Dog a Bone has a funky collection of gifts and the nearby Miniature Scene caters for dolls, dolls' houses and all that goes in them. Crossing the cobbled bridge over the River Foss brings you into St Mary's Square for the Jorvik Gift Shop and the Japanese Shop and the tour ends in Micklegate, a bohemian street with bookshops, cafes and record exchange stores.

After a hard day's shopping it's thankfully just a short distance back to The Hazelwood to change for dinner. Only 400 yards from the Minster, and in the very heart of the city, the guesthouse, converted from two Victorian terrace houses, is in a surprisingly quiet location backing onto Bootham School. It is completely non-smoking and has its own private car park and is ideally placed to explore the city.

And it's only a short and pleasant stroll to dinner at The Tasting Room in Swinegate. Voted the best place to eat in York by Country Living magazine, this bistro-style restaurant is set in a pretty courtyard where extra tables are set out on the warm summer evening.

We ate starters of warm artichokes with crispy bacon; and lambs' kidneys. I chose a main course from the blackboard of sea bass, red snapper and razor clams in a white wine and cream sauce, while Peter had rack of lamb with a pistachio crust on parsnip mash. With puddings of pecan chocolate brownie and summer pudding and a bottle of house white, the bill came to around £50.

We rounded off a perfect evening with a floodlit cruise on board YorkBoat down the River Ouse to the Bishop of York's palace at Bishopthorpe.

FACTFILE

York Tourist Information Centre: For your free guide of where to stay and what to do in York, telephone (01904) 621756 or visit www.visityork.org

Shopping Trails: Three Routes to Shopping Heaven are available from the Tourist Information Centre (01904) 621756 www.visityork.org/shopping

The York Pass: The pass allows free entry to 30 of the city's attractions. You can buy a one, two or three day pass at the railway station, online at www.yorkpass.com or by telephoning (01904) 621756. Prices start at £17 for a one day adult pass and £10 for a child pass.

The Hazelwood, 24-25 Portland Street, York. Tel: (01904) 626548 www.thehazelwood.com. Bed and breakfast in a four-poster room £100 per night.

The Tasting Room, 13 Swinegate Court East, York. Tel: (01904) 627879 www.thetastingroom.co.uk

YorkBoat: Daily sailings, ghost and evening cruises. Tel: (01904) 628324 www.yorkboat.co.uk

Peta King travelled by GNER to York. Bookings and inquiries 08457 225 225 www.gner.co.uk