York is a truly beautiful place with a rich, English heritage and medieval buildings, making it the ideal location for your instagram feed. It’s easy to get great shots on every street corner, whether its historic landmarks, cobbled streets or cosy coffee shops, you will find more inspiration for the classic English aesthetic here than any other place.
01. York Minster
The most popular spot for a photographer’s dream of York, has to be York Minster. This stunning gothic cathedral has many angles to choose from for the perfect shot, but can be extremely busy at peak times.
If you are willing to pay, you can go inside and see the interior of the building, but the outside and the connecting park is completely free to view up close and get the ideal photographs.
02. Treasurer’s House
The Treasurer’s House is next door to York Minster, and is a National Trust building that requires booking-only tours of the interior. The beautiful gardens make for a stunning photographs, and if you sneak in the gate on the street, you can walk around it and get some photographs.
03. York City Walls
A free city attraction – York City Walls – is a great place to get stunning city scape photos, whilst also including some greenery and serenity in your shots.
From up high, you can view and photograph the historic buildings from multiple locations on the wall, and there is plenty of space for full body & outfit shots.
04. The Shambles
People from all over the world come on a day trip to York purely to visit The Shambles, which is Yorkshire’s own Diagon Alley. Harry Potter fans will find their favourite photo opportunities on this street, especially as the Harry Potter shop is located deep in this area (and is often very busy). Early morning Autumn & Winter will guarantee some quiet, gloomy shots, depending on your aesthetic, whereas at the height of the day, you will have more bustling, busy style photos, like this.
05. Minster Gates View of York Minster
Located near the busy shopping district, this quiet lane view of York Minster is one of the best instagram spots in the city. It embodies a bit of everything, quaint shop signs, golden light from York Minster, and old English aesthetic of a cobbled street.
6. Chapter House Street
Nearby The Treasurer’s house, this quiet, cobbled street is ideal for content creators wanting quaint, English door front shots and walking video views. This is the best place for outfit detailing with a variation of backgrounds, and aesthetic street signs.
07. Betty’s Tea Room
Betty’s tea room is the most established, traditional restaurant in the city. It’s primary location is in York city centre, and tourists queue daily to have a seat in this café for afternoon tea. It has beautiful, large windows in the interior that location depending, has great views of the city square below.
Photo’s with the classic products and Betty’s logo are ideal for any up-close, high-class English aesthetic photos. It’s the perfect opportunity for modern, chic dress style content.
8. The River Ouse
There are so many lovely spots along the river to capture content. Whether you want bar shots, Pitcher and Piano has a perfect view, or just a natural shot under shaded trees, simply walking along the river, you will find the ideal backdrop.
09. The Luxury Ice Cream Parlour
For a cute ice-cream parlour shot, try this little place on Back Swinegate, which has that English aesthetic shop front vibe, and plenty of ice creams to create a great photo spot.
10. The Ivy, St Helen’s Square
One of the top Pinterest posts for York, is a photo of The Ivy’s flower arch entrance. It has stunning interiors, but more prominently, the exterior of the historic building has a lovely view of St Helen’s Square, and is close by to the shopping streets. The Parisian style outdoor tables are a perfect little tea time photo opportunity.
11. The Carousel, York Castle Museum
In the summer months, there are several beautiful carousel’s placed around the city, which make lovely photo backdrops. This one is situated very closely to Clifford’s Tower, and may well be seasonal, but if you are looking for a summer afternoon photo, it’s worth seeking out. Follow the map link to get the current location.
12. The Flower Market
For a street aesthetic photo, the flower stalls located on Melrosegate can make a stunning candid shot for the instagram feed. It remains all year, but becomes quite busy and bustling during the festive season.
13. The Old Rectory House, Door Front
Perhaps the most English aesthetic photo backdrop is a little door front down Chapter House Street, called The Old Rectory House. This beautiful place is surrounded by several other beautiful door fronts, and is a great place for a series of quiet photos or videos for your content.
14. The Vintage Rose, College Street
For the most stunning, casual café shot with the York Minster background, The Vintage Rose is a great place to choose. It also has several cute little cafes next door, so you have a few table options. On a summer afternoon, this can be fairly busy, but the vast street space still makes a stunning location.
15. Hanging Umbrella’s, Coppergate
A great place for a quick, candid shot with beauty, is walking under the hanging umbrella’s along Coppergate. This busy area isn’t sufficient for many photos, but worth it for the aesthetic.
16. Double Dutch Pancake House
A cosy pancake café with an old-world style interior and food well worthy of your instagram feed. It’s a great place to eat luxury pancakes, and get beautifully lit shots showcasing one of the best eateries of the city.
17. The Habit, Goodramgate
This café/bar has a secret hideaway view of York Minster on their back terrace which not many people know about, making it one of the most instagrammable places in the city. The interior of the pub has a nice, old-world styling too for anyone wanting photo’s that encompass England’s rich pub heritage.
18. Fairfax House
This imposing Georgian townhouse museum has a grand exterior well worthy of a photo. The roman-style pillars make it one of the most underrated instagrammable spots, and the shaded lighting makes it equally flattering. it’s located on a small street, a bit further from the crowds and has stunning natural beauty, you’ll have plenty of time to get the perfect shot.
19. SOPHiE Café, Lendal Bridge
This cute little café is quaint and cosy, with a beautiful place to take gorgeous photos outside with a view of The River Ouse. On a sunny day this may be the best place to get a pretty, outdoor river shot.
20. Pizza Express, St Sampson’s Square
Of course eating at Pizza Express is optional, but it does offer a stunning table view of the square, and seasonally this beautiful carousel appears, making it one of the most photogenic places to eat. Surrounding the square are several other pretty restaurants you can choose from, but just walking the square itself you will find lots of little alleyways and shop front’s that make a beautiful photo.
21. The Imaginarium
This dark academia style home-ware shop is so beautifully decorated it would be great to include in your content. A top tip is to make your visit during Christmas, as they extend their shop and have a beautifully lit area exclusively for stunning Christmas decorations you can’t find anywhere else.
22. Kathe Wohlfahrt, Christmas Store, Stonegate
Tourists love the sight of Tudor architecture in York city, and if you are searching for overhanging timber-framed buildings for your photo backdrop, then this map location will take you to the most amazing photo spot, the stunning German Christmas store famed in York.
23. Goji Cafe, Goodramgate
This simple, cosy salad bar, Goji Cafe located on Goodramgate has beautiful, aesthetic plates that are ideal for the instagram feed, and also have a subtle, art-infused interior to take cute photos with.
24. York Minster Gardens
The idyllic picnic spot in the entire city of York, has to be the York Minster gardens. On the left hand side of the minster, the vast garden area will always be bustling with visitors on a summer afternoon, and very often has old-English style ice-cream carts which just adds to the instagrammable effect.
25. Forest, Low Petergate
The exterior of this beautiful restaurant is on a York shopping street, and makes a great photo spot. Forest is an intimate restaurant, with greenery and a cute bicycle on their window frontage, and in the city centre, it’s the perfect spot to stroll along and take an aesthetic picture at this independent business.
