Call 08701 203 115 for more details.TAKE A VIEWIt's worth £3 and the effort to climb the 275 steps to the top of the Central Tower of the Minster (3). Arnot House (9) is a Victorian house at 17 Grosvenor Terrace (01904 641966; www.arnot houseyork.co.uk), furnished with antiques overlooking Bootham Park, five minutes' walk from the city centre; doubles from £64. Four High Petergate (8) refers to the address and the four storeys of an 18th-century town house attached to the walls by Bootham Bar just yards from the Minster (01904 658516; www.fourhighpetergate.co.uk); doubles from £90. Leaflets on seven themed walking trails are available, one on the topical subject of Guy Fawkes, who was born in York in 1570.The city is scattered with plaques marking the site of such events as the execution in 1572 of Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland, Anne Boleyn's lover before Henry VIII. The memorial (6) is almost opposite the entrance to Lady Peckett's Yard on Pavement.CHECK INThe Grange Hotel (7) and its award-winning restaurant occupy a largeRegency town house at 1 Clifton (01904 644744; www.grangehotel.co.uk) within five minutes' walk of the city walls; doubles from £145, including breakfast (as all the prices quoted here do). Most of York's attractions lie within the old city walls that extend for two miles around a warren of medieval streets (many of them pedestrianised) with the River Ouse running through. The Minster (3) is at the northern corner; Clifford's Tower (4) and York Castle Museum (5) are on the southern edge.
York station (1) lies just outside the western wall, within easy walking distance of the city centre. A la carte main and dessert costs €54 (£39).Hotel Adlon Kempinski, Unter den Linden 77, Berlin (00 49 30 22 61 11 11; www.hotel-adlon.de). There are fast and frequent services on the London-to-Edinburgh East Coast Main Line on GNER (08457 225 225; www.gner.co.uk), and from many other towns and cities on Virgin Trains (08457 222 333; www.virgin /trains).GET YOUR BEARINGSTourist information (01904 621756; www.visityork ) is available at the station and on Exhibition Square (2), where you can buy the York Pass, which provides free entry to more than 30 attractions and a range of discounts; one day £19, two days £25, three days £32. WHY GO NOW? A new £1.8m lighting scheme being switched on tonight will transform York at night by imaginatively illuminating many of the city's historic buildings. Besides a Christmas market of crafts and local food, St Nicholas Fayre on 24-27 November offers bygone refreshments from a medieval town house ( www.yuletideyork ).
Medieval music features in the Early Music Christmas Festival from 8-11 December (01904 658338; www.ncem.co.uk) and a Festival of Angels with ice sculptures is held on 10-11 December. TOUCH DOWNYork station (1) is at the heart of Britain's railway system. That eye-catching glass dome you can spy is the top of Sir Norman Foster's reconstruction of the Reichstag building. The restaurant (jackets more or less required) is named in homage to the hotel's founder, Lorenz Adlon, who wanted The Adlon (which cost 20 million gold marks) to set standards for the future, and become synonymous with unparalleled luxury.THE BILLThe seven-course tasting menu was worth every euro (€160/£114 plus wine). In the second half of the 20th century it became the symbol of a divided world. The Gate, modelled on the entrance to the Acropolis, was commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm II in 1791 and designed by Karl Gottfried Langhans to represent peace. Head sommelier Arno Steguweit not only helps to select wines, but offers 42 mineral waters from 18 different countries. THE VIEWThe Lorenz Adlon's sky-high, sound-proof, bullet-proof windows look out on to the Pariser Square, housing the French Embassy, several banks, and the Brandenburg Gate, which was isolated in no-man's-land during the Communist years It's now buzzing with tourists. Discover saddle of venison in a chanterelle pancake crust, served with vinegar cherries and celery souffl?Or John Dory, pan-fried, in a courgette blossom, served on cold sorrel mousse with lemon-vanilla sauce and tomato compote Wines are matched with dishes, by glass or bottle.