Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

York is really capitalizing on the Harry Potter and wizarding excitement. The shambles, despite not being connected to Harry Potter at all, does have a magical feel to it. So much so that they have a kids tour called the Wizarding Walk of York. Its a kids tour led by a wizard in full costume that does magic tricks at each stop of the tour. It comes complete with your own wand a leaflet of magic tricks to take home with you.

We headed in to city centre for the start of the tour with Kayla and Evelyn. Evs was already excited by the bus so her day was off to a great start. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and a coffee and found the meeting spot for the tour with a few minutes to spare. The kids were beginning to get impatient when our tour guide came strolling down the shambles. Any concerns we had about not being able to find the tour were relieved as he was dressed head to toe in purple wizarding robes, compete with hat, wand, carrying bag and stepping stool. The kids were pumped.

The tour lasted about an hour and was so well done. We walked around the shambles, down little alleyways, around the minster and back around to city centre. We made about half a dozen stops where he pointed out different parts of the city or buildings all while doing a magic trick. He stayed in character the whole time and was so engaging with the kids. He had them laughing and following along for the full hour. At the end of the tour we had our pictures taken with the kids new favourite wizard and then wrapped up the kids day and headed for home.

Lucky for me, Wendy agreed to watch all of the kids while Kayla Adam and I went out for tapas with Andrea and Joe. It was great finally getting to meet Andrea. We got to have a quick G&T at a fun little pub and then a delicious kid-free meal at Ambiente.