I went to the Jorvik centre on a school trip a long time ago, but it’s somewhere I haven’t been to recently and haven’t taken my kids to yet. Every summer we start the school holidays with a weekend in York – we stay at The Premier Inn and get 2 full days of York activities in for 1 trip up and down the A1079. My son has done the Vikings topic at school and my daughter is doing it next year so I thought it was a perfect year to visit Jorvik.
On arrival you explore a room with a glass floor, looking down on where settlements were found. There are people dressed up as Vikings who have an amazing knowledge, we leaned loads from one who was actually an academic from the university working here for the summer to share his knowledge and passion! Then it is off on the main tour, which you go round in a car, much to my kids delight.
The tour really does take you back to Viking times and you see a huge range of dwellings, settings and history. It’s narrated on the screens in the car, I learned loads and my kids came off very impressed with all they had seen and learned.
After the tour you can see the displays with original artefacts and more information on what life was like. The whole thing took us an hour. You can get a ‘passport ticket’ to visit the other historical attractions in the city which works out at much better value; we added DIG and Barley Hall, each which took an hour again, giving us 3 hours of history!
DIG is a short walk away; we stopped at (N)ice Cream Factory on Fossgate on the way to refuel where they make the ice cream on the spot from cream with liquid nitrogen to freeze it and it was the best ice cream I’ve ever had! At the start of DIG we looked around the displays and drew our own skeleton, then our guide Beede met us and gave a talk about archeology, the various ages, and what we might find when we ‘dug’. He had lots of items to show us and was really engaging.
Then we did our digging. We uncovered a skeleton, some shells and a toilet! Beede was on hand to explain what we found and share more about the history of the period it came from. My kids absolutely loved this attraction, and again we learned loads too.
On our second day in York we visited Barley Hall, which I have walked past many times and didn’t event know was there! It’s a recreated medieval house with lots of rooms to walk through. We started with a short film to explain the building’s history and the restoration process then went off to explore.
Each room set up like it would have been; there things to do as we went along such as costumes to dress up in and medieval games to try. It was a great insight into what life had been like and we learned a lot about about this period of history.
Overall I would definitely recommend doing these attractions; having been to York before I had no idea about some of the history and feel like we left with a new understanding and appreciation of the city. To get the most out of them I would say its better for older children, mine are 8 and 11 and were perfect for it as they could join in and learn. The combined ticket is also good value for money so I’d suggest doing as many as possible during your time there.
It is best to book online to get the ideal time slot, more info and booking on Jorvik Viking Centre website.
Here’s some more info from Jorvik……
Take in the sights, sounds and smells of Viking-age York, explore the story behind the ground-breaking Coppergate dig and discover remarkably well-preserved Viking artefacts.
Travel around 10th century York, experiencing what it was like living in the city. Listen to a Norse couple arguing over what to have for dinner, take in smells from fish to woodsmoke and spot the famous Bogar (man on the toilet). The sights, sounds and smells of the Viking Age are brought vividly back to life as you journey back 1,000 years.
Where else can you meet a Viking? Get the most out of your visit by chatting to friendly Viking hosts and discover even more about life on the street of the cupmakers (Coppergate).
This Summer, you can discover the Silverdale Hoard at JORVIK. Part of one of the largest hoards ever found in the UK has arrived at JORVIK. Discover over 200 pieces of silver rings, hacksilver and coins of Anglo-Saxon, Viking and Arabic origin.
After you’ve visited the Viking Age, become a real archaeologist for the day at DIG, explore life in a medieval townhouse at Barley Hall and experience the story of York’s City Walls at Micklegate Bar!
The JORVIK Group make a visit to York’s top attractions even more affordable with multi-site tickets. Explore four fantastic attractions – and 2000 years of York’s history – for one great price with a Pastport ticket. Includes admission for JORVIK Viking Centre, DIG, Barley Hall and a brand-new attraction, City Walls Experience.
Find out more about Pastport tickets here
To find out more information or book visit Jorvik Viking Centre.
Coppergate Shopping Centre, 19 Coppergate, York YO1 9WT. 01904 615505. jorvik@yorkat.co.uk
