There’s a moment when you step into the main hall of the Musée d'Orsay where you stop walking. Maybe it’s the golden light filtering through the arched glass ceiling. Maybe it’s the towering clock at the far end, still keeping time over what was once a bustling train station. Or maybe — most likely — it’s the realization that you’ve just entered one of the most beautiful museums in the world.

It’s hard to miss York Minster. Literally. One minute you’re wandering cobbled alleys and timbered lanes of old York, and the next—*bam!*—a colossal Gothic masterpiece rises in front of you like a stone ship frozen in time. York Minster doesn’t whisper its presence. It commands it. And once inside, it completely takes your breath away.