Jorvik Viking Centre

Travel Back in Time: Jorvik Viking Centre

If you or your little ones think history is boring and dull, Jorvik Viking Centre will change your mind. Visit it with your kids to discover sights, sounds and smells of the old Viking Age and remember the experience forever. Kids will ace their next history test. 

Jorvik Viking Centre
Photo by the Jorvik Viking Centre

27 years on my bucketlist

I was 12 years old when my English teacher told us about her visit to York and Jorvik Viking Centre. She told us about a museum, where you don’t walk around the carefully displayed artefacts that are acompanied with a page long boring discriptions.

Instead you ride on a train, which takes you back in time, to a recreated Viking era.

You get to experience sights, sounds and smells of York when it was called Jorvik. 

I could just imagine it. The story left such an imprint on me, that I wanted to visit it ever since.

There was just never the right opportunity. Until there was.

Scene from the ride

All about Jorvik Viking Centre

  • It’s a museum with 22 lifelike mannequins – characters set so they depict Viking life as it once was. And you get to take a ride through and listen to the interesting explanation.
  • It is built on the very site where between the years 1976-81 archaeologists revealed the houses, workshops and backyards of the Viking-Age city of Jorvik as it stood nearly 1,000 years ago.
A scene at the Jorvik Viking Centre
Scene from the ride

Kids’ favorite at the Jorvik Viking Centre

It was of course the ride through the village.

What fascinated me about it? It’s not just an interesting way of showcasing history. I was amazed at how much work it entailed.

All of the depections are based on actual archaeological evidence found during the excavation.

The musems says: »With emphasis on recreating every detail of the experience; from the flora and fauna growing in the ground to the breeds of animals portrayed and even the splashes of natural dyes found in one of the backyards. This is truly an authentic Viking adventure.«

Kids also enjoyed the touch screen displays throughout the museum, which helped them see what archeologists do and also appreciate the artifacts on display.

Jorvik Viking Centre artefacts on display
Artefacts

My favorite

Standing over the remains of 1,000 year old houses.

Opening times and the queues:

April – October: 10am-5pm (last admission)

November –March: 10am-4pm (last admission)

Our advice: beware of the possible queues, especially during the summer months. So either come early, be prepared to wait or book a fast track. My advice is to prebook it online.

Jorvik Viking Centre touchscreens

The price?

The price for the family of four is £34.00. For more prices check out the official website of the Jorvik Viking Centre.

Visit duration?

We spent around an hour and a half at this museum.

First I admired the 1.000 year old Viking house and the kids had to try all the touch screens. Then we took the incredible ride, which made the artefacts we saw later carefully displayed come to life. We understood everything.

There were also a few demonstrations from the »Viking« staff, so we definitely could’ve stayed even longer.

What else to do in York?

There’s plenty. Jorvik Viking Center is a part of the Yorvik Group that also offers other attractions in the city: DIG: An Archaeological Adventure, Barley Hall, The Richard III Experience and The Henry VII Experience.

If you are interested in any of them, then check before hand how you can get combined tickets.

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