SEVERAL tourist attractions in York and North Yorkshire have been awarded VisitEngland Accolades in appreciation of the ‘outstanding experiences’ they provide.

The Jorvik Viking Centre in York and the York Dungeon have both received ‘Best Told Story’ awards, while the Henry VII Experience at Micklegate Bar has won a ‘Hidden Gem’ award.

The Captain Cook Memorial Museum at Whitby and RHS Garden Harlow Carr at Harrogate have both won a gold award.

VisitEngland said 86 attractions nationwide had received accolades, based on the score they obtained following its annual assessment. The awards highlighted all aspects of the overall visitor experience from story-telling and food and drink to customer service and were available to members of its Visitor Attractive Quality Scheme.

Director Andrew Stokes said: “These attractions offer a warm welcome, unique story-telling, high quality food and drink and unparalleled customer service and rightly deserve these accolades.

“They provide visitors with amazing experiences and create reasons to travel the length and breadth of the country, increasing the economic benefits of tourism.”