Here’s what people are saying about us on Tripadvisor
“If you enjoy history, this is for you. The guide is so knowledgeable and puts it across really well. I would 100% recommend this to people who enjoy a bit of history. I learnt a great deal and my children really enjoyed it as well. we went to places that we would not have visited on our own.” – review by Matt from Lincolnshire, dated February 20th, 2014
“The best walking tour I have ever experienced. Alan’s wealth of knowledge and obvious passion for history combined with his experience as a stand up comedian add up to a most enthusiastic and engaging guide. The three hours flew by.” – review by Sonyar from Bucks, dated November 15th, 2013
“I’ve done a couple of free walking tours in UK and Alan is the best guide so far. He’s very engaging, interesting and knowledgeable. The 3-hour tour gave me a good understanding about York and made me start to in love with the beautiful city. Strongly recommended!” – review by helloMinming from Reading, dated October 30th, 2013
“This was an amazing tour!! Cannot imagine a better way to spend a day in York!!! Alan was a wonderful guide. His knowledge, enthusiasm and passion on this “Walk through History” was superb.” – review by BRW2013 from Louisville, Kentucky, dated October 21st, 2013
“A most enjoyable tour. Alan’s passion for history brought this walk alive for us. A must for anyone who wants to get the most out of their time in this wonderful city.” – review by Colin and Debbie from Derby, dated October 6th, 2013
And on Get Your Guide
“Alan is an enthusiastic history fanatic who seems to takes the greatest of pleasure in passing on his incredible knowledge of the local area from its beginnings right up to the present day. A very enjoyable and informative tour that everyone should take to get the most out of your visit to this amazing city.” – reviewer from Rugby, dated March 2nd, 2014
“Alan was one of the best guides we have ever had anywhere in our travels all over the world! His love of history, his enthusiasm & his storytelling made the morning so very special! We felt so fortunate to have this remarkable man be our guide to this amazing city.” – review by Janice from Los Angeles, dated November 15th, 2013
White Rose York Tours 
This tour I must say was one I will never forget. We had a guide called Alan sharp who is an excellent historian, so knowledgable and you can tell he loves his job so much! It just shines through! He talked about all the different ruins and explained each part piece by piece! You do not pay for the tour although it is 3hrs long! You can donate if you wish too, what you think It was worth – me and my partner donated £20 because it was fantastic! We would definitely recommend this to everyone if in York!
I believe you may have walked the same tour as myself and my girlfriend (Geordie couple, I was wearing a camouflage biker jacket)
I concur completely, Alan was a lovely chap, with an extensive knowledge of York and it’s history. No pressure to donate at the end, and looking forward to arranging a group tour with mates, in the Spring/ early summer.
Top tour. Alan is an humorous, engaging and skilled orator who has a passion for history. Highly recommend this brilliant tour.
Agree wholeheartedly…not been a big one for Tours, but it was GREAT! And so informative.
great walking tour lots of interesting history with a bit of comedy alan is very knowledgeable very open to questions we highly recommend.
The Wright family from Bridlington really enjoyed our walk today with Alan. We would highly recommend it.
We joined Alan for the 11am tour on the 15th August 2014. This was one of the best tours that we have been on, good pace, plenty of history and an interesting man to listen to. We would recommend Alan and his tour, a must for anyone visiting York.
I took the free three hour walking tour today and WOW!!! Alex was our guide and he was amazing!!! His knowledge of the history of York is astounding! We were a group of 13 and he made sure everyone was always accounted for and answered all questions along the way. Best trip so far in the UK I have taken. Even though the walk about is free… They depend on tips . So please do not be stingy at the end of the tour and tip well. You won’t regret it!!!
Easter Monday 2015 we enjoyed a fantastic tour with Alan. He was informative,funny and gave us a great overall tour of York. Our daughter who is a history major especially enjoyed it. Thank you Alan and hope to return to York again.
Whit Monday 2015 we enjoyed a fantastic tour with Dave. It was informative and enjoyable and gave us so much more than a guide book ever could. Thoroughly recommended to everyone. Thanks again Dave.
My daughter and I did this walk yesterday. Our tour guide for the afternoon was David.We really enjoyed the tour and found our guide to be interesting,very informative and entertaining. I would highly recommend this tour to future visitors .Thanks for a great afternoon .
Hi, we went on a tour hosted by David on Sat 31st Oct and were so impressed by his knowledge which was nothing sort of astounding. He has a real passion for his subject and what he doesn’t know isn’t worth knowing. An incredible man and guide. Katherine & Dan
We’ve just been part of the most amazing guided tour around York led by David. He was able to explain the history & put it all into context of other events of the times with a really impressive depth of knowledge tailored to his group. Stunningly brilliant.
superb tour. Alan is really a great guide hat is passionate about the city and its history. would recommend to anyone visiting York to follow this tour and get to know the city in a few hours time.
This was our best walking tour ever. York is truly a glorious treasure with historical ‘happenings’ wherever you wander…but to be shown it by Dave Haw was the cherry on the top of the cake. His depth of knowledge is amazing and he has such a passion for his subject. We also enjoyed the fact that, as we had been on a previous tour, he carefully tailored the tour to suit our interests. Thank you Dave…I wish you had been my History teacher when I was at school and found it all so boring! . Jeannie and John
David Haw made this tour a truly unforgettable experience. I have never seen anyone so excited about a city, and I learnt a great deal about the historical background of York. It would be very difficult get the same detailed narrative full of anecdotes and historical facts by reading a book about the city. I hope I get to visit York again and repeat the guide experience. Thank you, David.
We went on this tour yesterday with Alan, the founder of the company. He was a great guide, very informative on York’s fascinating history and guiding us through areas of York we’d not seen before. His love of all matters historical shines through and you will have a very entertaining 3 hours ( inc a tea stop) wandering around the sights of York
Thank you David Haw for your wonderful tour! We learned a great deal about the history of York! Loved the history of the Abbey and council.
Fantastic tour!!!
We did the “Step into History” tour last week with David Haw and he was absolutely fabulous. We would recommend his tour to everyone because he is so enthusiastic and knowledgeable.
The tour was without a doubt one of the highlights of our 2 week trip to England. Alan is fantastic! Our 2 teenagers noted (as only teenagers can) “wow – we learned so much, and it was actually FUN!” Alan is such a great story teller, making all the information very understandable to those of us who have a cursory understanding of British history (insert Yankee jokes here). I especially enjoyed Alan’s explanations of specific historical events, and how sometimes ‘popular history’ contradicts the real evidence. We took the tour at the beginning of our visit to York, making the rest of the stay even richer. We can highly recommend the tour, and Alan.
One of the best guided tours I’ve done to date! Alan was just so knowledgeable and mixed it up with his humour. The rain was a bit of an issue but did not put us off and Alan carried on regardless. Thanks to Alan for keeping us entertained for 3 hrs. This tour is a must!
We attended this walking tour on 18th October 2017. We are three generations of family who all enjoyed Alan’s tour which was well crafted, well delivered and full of knowledge. This was undoubtedly the highlight of our trip to York and I would recommend anyone interested in the historic aspects of this city to attend. We will be looking out for this companies tour in other cities.
If there ever was one thing that would cause you to pick up and read your history books it’s a tour of York with Alan. He’s forgotten more than I ever knew! A historian with a sharp wit and great sense of humour there was never a dull moment on the tour. He provided many revelations of English history completely contradicting popular theories/ movies/ TV series etc. It was a real eye opener and a tour I would recommend to anyone who has a lazy 3(nearly) 3 hours to spare.
Absolutely fabulous morning tour today. Can not recommend enough-having never visited York before im delighted we went on this tour. What a wealth of historical knowledge this guy has! Remarkable and so very very interesting. Free! But do give the guy a nice tip to keep his services going and a few pints.
David Haw was recently our guide in York. He was most knowledgeable and made our walking tour fun and informative. I would highly recommend him as your guide if you are planning a walking tour in York. Thank you David.
Judi and Jim
We visited York earlier this month and opted to take advantage of the White Rose York Tours. It was our lucky day, as we had David as our tour guide!
He was extremely knowledgeable and helpful, with a great sense of humour. David crafted to meet the interests and needs of the group and we came away with a much better understanding of York and medieval times. We’d highly recommend this tour.
Toured with David Haw on November 7 and David left no stone uncovered. He knows his stuff so to say.
Charles Lovelace in Woodstock, Georgia USA
Enjoyed this tour yesterday with David Haw,a true enthusiast for all things historical in York.Personable and flexible and willing to tailor his commentary to his group it made for a good few hours of entertainment. Would recommend.
Had a tour last Friday at 3pm with David; absolutely brilliant hewas willing to extend as long as we wished
My wife and I did the White rose free tour today with Alan, it was a marvellous ride back through the ages , his enthusiasm and knowledge of history was truly amazing, without doubt the best tour we have ever had and I would recommend it to anyone! Thank you Alan
Dave Haw
an excellent guide made the tour incredibly interesting , he brought the city of York alive with his tales of past events . Thanks for a great afternoon
Luckily, when we visited York for a few hours last Sunday, we came across David, the walking historical encyclopedia of White Rose York Tours. He was really entertaining and made the walk, which for us lasted 3 hours, actually FUN, and but for the fact we had to leave, David would willingly have continued to amaze us with his wealth of historical facts and anecdotes. He clearly loves his job and was incredibly knowledgeable about everything to do with York (and other places), pointing out many unusual and quirky things that would otherwise have gone unnoticed. David has a great sense of humour and seems to be on first name terms with everyone including the Archbishop. He certainly made the walking tour truly unforgettable and we’re only sorry we couldn’t spend more time with him.
Thank you Alan for a fabulous tour today
Entertaining and very informative – and accurate
One of the best walking tours I’ve been on
Alan is very knowledgeable about York (and other) history, and he gave an excellent tour. In fact, it was easily the best of several very good walking tours my wife and I went on during our week in the northeast of England. Alan was personable, and his 2-hour tour was not at all physically demanding. The next day we explored in more detail some of the items he had highlighted. Highly recommended!
Very thorough and informative walking tour! Lots of details and very engaging guide, David.
Could not have handled more from a tour guide!
Keep up the great work and hope many more people get the same great experience! 🙂
Great tour led by David Haw on Monday 17 October. He is very knowledgable and entertaining and made the tour a lot of fun for our small group. Best of all was the length of the tour – we had expected maybe an hour and a half but had to cut out after two and a half hours to be elsewhere – he would have been happy to have carried on for a lot longer had we been able to. Thank you Dave!
Thank you David Haw for an amazing tour on Saturday 22nd October. He was really passionate about everything and introduced us to many of his fellow friends. We got to hear about quite a few interesting and rare facts about the city which we wouldn’t have been able to find in the guide books. We would love to take the tour again when we next bring our friends to York
Alan’s tour of York is quite the best I’ve ever been on. His knowledge and delivery are second to none. He has a remarkable ability to convey historical facts through compelling story telling. I learnt more about the history of the British Isles in two hours than in any school lesson.
David was really knowledgeable and very funny. Told us lots of interesting facts about York and the surrounding area. Also lots of random facts that we felt only he would know.
His love of the history’s of York came across in abundance.
Thank you David
We have done the tour today and has been excellent, so much information presented in a didactic and enjoyable manner. We have learn a lot about the history of York, highly recommended.
Sally, John and Teddy the dog. A fabulous tour round York by Alan. He was very knowledgeable and made the city so interesting with his tales of people from the past. I think this was the best city tour I have been on!
There were four of us on the two hour tour with Alan last Friday with two of our NZ relatives we all enjoyed the tour. Alan was Amazing, the knowledge he has retained is commendable, the walk was very organised and felt quite safe as we were walking around the busy town. We would recommend the tour and we all gave him a donation at the end.
Trevor Grundy, Beverley, East Riding
On Monday 8th April (2024)my wife and I went on a two-hour (11am-1pm) tour of York with White Rose. Alan Sharp must be one of the best guides in the business. He is a bubbling fountain of knowledge when it comes to telling the enthralling story of York, one of Europe’s most historic and beautiful cities. He tells you so much in a short period of time, leaving you wanting to know more. That was our first tour with White Rose. It won’t be the last. Highly recommended.
The wife and I, who have a deep interest in history, thoroughly enjoyed this excellent tour. It was full of fascinating sights and erudite commentary. The tour was so content laden that we would want to do the tour again when we next visit York. Thanks very much to Alan Sharp.