Haunted Travelogue

It was the kind of trip that begins in sunshine and ends in firelight. York – the ancient city where the streets breathe history and shadows coil in the corners – called us northward. We answered, eager to walk where phantoms wander.

Our resting place for the nights ahead was Willow Caravan Park. At first sight, it was a pastoral dream – wide green fields, the sigh of the wind through the trees, and a hush so deep you could almost hear the centuries ticking by. But as every ghost story will tell you… beauty often hides a twist.

The Pitch That Shrunk in the Night

If you are a tent-dweller, particularly one without the blessing of electricity, beware: the tent pitches here are tiny. You will need the precision of a coffin carpenter to fit everything in. 

The facilities… well. There is one lonely portaloo, meant for “emergencies only.” It is emptied once a week, though it might feel like a century has passed between visits. As for the main toilets and showers, they lie at the end of a long, dark walk. Should nature call in the small hours, you’ll find yourself on an eerie pilgrimage across the site – the kind of journey where every shifting shadow feels like it’s following you.

And yet… the land itself is beautiful. Birds call to the dawn, the air smells of grass and memory, and the quiet wraps around you like a soft shroud. This is a place for caravans and motorhomes to thrive – but for non-electric tents, it feels like an afterthought. Still, we would come again… only sooner, to secure a pitch with electric far from the forlorn little portaloo that stands alone in the dark.

When the Sun Falls – Shadows of York

By day, York is a jewel of medieval stone and winding lanes. By night, it becomes something else entirely – a city where the past is not only remembered, but walks beside you.

We joined Shadows of York, a 90-minute ghost walk led by the hauntingly fabulous Dan – a man whose voice could summon spirits from their graves. Through narrow alleyways and forgotten courtyards, he painted tales of plague, betrayal, and restless souls. The buildings leaned close as if to eavesdrop, and I swear the darkness thickened around us with each story. More than once, I felt the unmistakable sensation that we were being counted by something unseen.

The Ghost Bus Tour

If Dan’s walk was the slow tightening of a noose, the Ghost Bus Tour was its theatrical cousin – a journey through York’s haunted history wrapped in humour, stagecraft, and a few delightfully absurd scares. It’s not perfect – some effects could be sharpened, some silences better filled – but for the price, it’s an evening well spent. Think of it as the ghost walk’s mischievous younger sibling.

A Whisper Before We Go

York is a city that will follow you home. Its streets are full of stories – some told in laughter, others in low voices that seem to drift in from centuries past.

Shadows of York is the must-see for those who seek true chills; the Ghost Bus offers a lighter brush with the macabre. And Willow Caravan Park… well, it will give you peaceful countryside days and nights under the stars.

In York, the living and the dead walk side by side. And if you’re quiet – truly quiet,  you might just hear which one is keeping pace with you…