I'M ashamed to admit I'd never been to Beverley. I have lived in York for three years and been full of good intentions to check out what the tourism bosses call 'the mini York'. Please don't think I've got anything against our eastern neighbours. I have been to Bridlington and fallen in love with its old-fashioned charm. But Beverley had eluded me. Until now.

We checked into the Tickton Grange Hotel, just outside the mini-Minster town, and immediately fell under the spell of this old country house.

Georgian in style, it is an impressive venue, with handsome grounds, comfortable rooms, and a splendid dining room, in which it was a joy to take breakfast by the French doors overlooking the garden.

Tickton Grange also turned out to be a food-lover's haven. On the Friday night, we ate a superb meal: the champagne five-course dinner - a steal at £25 a head. Highlights included pear and prawn tartlet with Yorkshire Blue cheese for starters followed by plaice with a fragrant risotto.

We were the guests of East Riding Tourism and the Hornsea shopping village Freeport, which had invited us to spend the weekend in East Yorkshire to sample some of its 'gems'.

These two organisations are trying to promote the area as a weekend-break destination, where visitors can shop, visit local tourist attractions, stay in the region's hotels and eat in its best restaurants.

Shopping first. On Saturday morning, we spent a couple of hours at the Freeport Outlet Village at Hornsea, Britain's first shopping village. Open seven days a week from 9.30am-6pm, the village is East Yorkshire's biggest tourist draw with around three million visitors a year.

There are 43 shops, selling designer and top-brand gear from names such as Armani, Versace and Ralph Lauren - all at huge reductions, up to 50 per cent.

Ah, like York's McArthurGlen Designer Outlet, you might think. But not quite.

Freeport is more than a shopping centre. For starters, it's outdoors, built as a village of shops. It is also an attraction in itself for all the family with an indoor play zone, a butterfly farm, model village and other fun attractions. Please note however, the butterfly farm and model village are closed in winter.

There is also a licensed caf - the Pavilion - and a coffee shop as well as outlets selling fish and chips, burgers and ice cream. And in the run up to Christ-mas, Santa moves into Freeport's festive grotto - an attraction in itself for children. You could easily spend the whole day here. We found two hours not long enough - but adequate to buy several pairs of bargain-priced jeans: Wrangler and Lee at £18 a pair.

With shops selling everything from clothes and footwear to luxury chocolates, bags, books, china and jewellery, even the most reluctant shopper would be hard pressed not fill up Santa's sleigh here.

Next stop was Beverley itself. Saturday is market day, when the town really comes to life. Besides the stalls, the streets are lined with every kind of shop you could imagine.

And it's another grotto of gift ideas. I found a great deli, near the Queen's Head pub (also to be recommended, as is the town's oldest alehouse, the Tap and Spile) on the approach to the Minster, which sold an impressive selection of mustards and chutneys from the Beverley Mustard Company - great stocking fillers for grown ups.

No trip to Beverley would be complete without a visit to the Minster. While miniature by York standards, it's still hugely impressive. The cathedral dates back to the 13th century and today you can still see the repair line where engineers had to pull part of its leaning main wall back into alignment.

Another attraction is the medieval St Mary's Church at the north side of town, which was once the centre for the guild of minstrels for the north of England. See if you can spot a rabbit in the stonework in the North Choir Aisle, said to have been the inspiration for the White Rabbit in Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland. Look out too for the splendid carvings of the Beverley Minstrels and don't forget to glance at the ceiling in the chancel, where you can see panels showing all the kings of England up to Henry VI.

That evening, we dined at Cerutti2, said to be one of the town's best eateries. We enjoyed fishcakes, rack of lamb and a banana and toffee cheesecake, but agreed our meal at the Tickton Grange restaurant would take top billing.

On Sunday, we visited Bridlington and had a whistle-stop tour of the new promenades which have helped breathe new life into the resort. New bars, restaurants and a shopping centre have opened recently and a marina is in the offing too.

Our last call was at Sewerby Hall, a true highlight of our trip, complete with children's farm, putting green and gardens as well as period rooms depicting styles from the Georgian, Regency and Victorian eras. There's a good little museum there too, telling the story of East Yorkshire with the help of some imaginative exhibits.

After Sunday lunch at Tickton Grange - another triumph of chicken liver parfait, roast beef and all the trimmings and scrummy chocolate-orange mouse - we headed back to York, smug that we'd had a great weekend break and made a good headway into that headache that can be Christmas shopping.