York is known for its world-famous Betty’s Tea Rooms, but it still amazes me that the tourists haven’t clocked onto the smaller, quainter, altogether prettier version of this York icon. Little Betty’s lies just around the corner in Stonegate, and is free of the perpetual 50-person queue that snakes around its big sister’s window in St Helen’s Square. Climb its rickety, narrow staircase, bag a window seat, order a pot of Yorkshire tea and a Fat Rascal (the most superior scone you’ll ever eat) and bask in a glorious cloud of smugness.

Photo courtesy of alalsacienne on Flickr