The Jorvik Viking Centre is a museum and visitor attraction in York, England, containing lifelike mannequins and life-size dioramas depicting Viking life in the city. Visitors are taken through the dioramas in small carriages equipped with speakers. You essentially go on this brilliant ride that takes you back in time to 10th Century York, and on the very site that you are standing on, they reconstruct the Viking streets! It’s a wholly immersive experience with the sights, sounds and even smells designed to give you a feel of what life was really like.
We went on a very hot Saturday afternoon, and the air con was a welcomed relief! Also the little carriages were ideal for little people. They loved them and it reserved some much needed energy. The carriages have speakers – one option being a kids tour. The girls – both 5, did the kids tour whilst us adults listened to the normal one. The kids one gave exactly the same information as ours but in a more accessible way which really engaged our children. To say they were fascinated was an understatement!
The carriages take around 20 minutes then there are other parts that are set out more like a museum. The girls seemed much more engaged with the museum side – which i think was because they took in so much from the carriage tour. Once we’d finished – I think we were there for about an hour or so, they were really looking forward to becoming archaeologists themselves!
DIG – An Archaeological Adventure is based a short walk from the Jorvik Viking Centre. DIG is a hands-on archaeological adventure giving kids the chance to become trainee ‘diggers’ and discover the most exciting artefacts from 2000 years of York’s history! With four special indoor excavation pits, all based on real-life digs in the city and filled with replica Roman, Viking, medieval and Victorian finds, children can grab a trowel and explore how people lived in these times. Your experience will also include a talk from an archaeologist and getting up close to real archaeological artefacts!
Our mini mumblers really enjoyed the talk at the start – we were worried they might be too young and not be able to concentrate but they loved learning all about the Romans and Vikings – and seeing a VERY old poo!! They absolutely loved the excavation pits and spent hours digging away! There are also outside picnic tables at DIG so we stopped for lunch before we went in.
All in all we had a fab day, the girls had fun but also learned so much – and weren’t a hot, tired, sticky mess like they usually are after a day out! We’d definitely recommend a visit over the summer .
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
Reviewed July 2022
Disclosure: We were gifted our tickets however we pinky promised to only write a truthful account. Phew, we really enjoyed them, otherwise that could have been awks!
