I lived there for a year, late 80's.
Fabulous place. My locals were The Brigadier Gerrard and The Tap and Spile, whiled away good few hours sampling ale in the latter.
Never been back, strangely. Ended up in South Wales and it's a long way away. Virgin did run a train service Swansea to Newcastle which I used once, that would he ideal for a weekend in York but no longer exists.
Ah well.
Can't big the place up enough though. Got shops, pubs, restaurants, ghosts, cafés, sights, the minster, museums, racecourse, golf courses, a river, the lot.