I HAVE lived in York all my life but I'm ashamed to say I have never done the tourist bit, until last week when I spent the most fantastic day discovering what I had been missing.

Amazingly it cost me less than £7 to see four great places.

I bought The Hidden Secrets Of York ticket from the Barley Hall, which is tucked away behind Stonegate.

An audio tour guided me around this medieval townhouse with amusing stories about life in the 1480s. My next stop was the Richard III museum in Monk Bar.

Made famous, or rather infamous, by Shakespeare, Richard is put 'on trial' for murdering two of his nephews. After listening to the evidence I came away believing he was innocent.

My third stop took me back to York's Roman heyday. The Eboracum Legion Bathhouse under the Roman Bath pub in St Sampson's Square is full of information and fantastic detail of Roman life.

Lastly I went to the Micklegate Bar Museum, another great lesson in York history but not boring in any way. In each place the staff were helpful and happy to answer questions but, best of all, you can take photographs and touch, or sit on, anything in the museums.

The only drawback to these treasures is their inaccessibility to wheelchair-users, although the ground floor of the Barley Hall is accessible. If you're at a loose end sometime, give one or all a try, you won't be disappointed.

Mrs Margaret Clark,

Hampden Street, York.

Updated: 11:04 Saturday, September 04, 2004