Since opening its doors to the public in 1984 the Jorvik Centre in York has attracted over 15 million visitors and won numerous tourist awards, establishing itself as one of the UK's major tourist attractions. Despite regular visits to York I only visited the Jorvik Centre recently having been ... Read review
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Advantages: Lots to see Disadvantages: Expensive, the queues
...the public in 1984 the Jorvik Centre in York has attracted over 15 million visitors and won numerous tourist awards, establishing itself as one of the UK's major tourist attractions. Despite regular visits to York I only visited the Jorvik Centre recently having been previously discouraged by the huge queues.
When I visited I arrived early and the queues weren't too bad but it often extends for well over a hundred metres and with no ... ...if the weather is bad. After paying your entry fee you walk down into a holding area where you have to wait your turn for the tour. There are some toilets in this area but to be honest this holding area looked a little bit shabby despite the dimmed lighting and I couldn't help but notice some green mould on the corrugated roofing above.
Each tour consists of about 30 people and tours take place about every 10 minutes throughout the ... more
Since opening its doors to the public in 1984 the Jorvik Centre in York has attracted over 15 million visitors and won numerous tourist awards, establishing itself as one of the UK's major tourist attractions. Despite regular visits to York I only visited the Jorvik Centre recently having been previously discouraged by the huge queues.
When I visited I arrived early and the queues weren't too bad but it often extends for well over a hundred metres and with no shelter it's not the best way to start your visit if the weather is bad. After paying your entry fee you walk down into a holding area where you have to wait your turn for the tour. There are some toilets in this area but to be honest this holding area looked a little bit shabby despite the dimmed lighting and I couldn't help but notice some green mould on the corrugated roofing above.
Each tour consists of about 30 people and tours take place about every 10 minutes throughout the day. After a wait of only a few minutes we were greeted by a chap dressed as a Viking who invited us to follow him on a journey into the past to the year 975AD and more intriguingly to a specific date within that year. We all followed like sheep and were seated inside a small room, this room was referred to as "the time machine" and this is from where our journey began. I won't describe what happened in detail for feel of spoiling it for others but it was an interesting start to the tour.
Having travelled back in time over a thousand years we were then greeted by another authentically dressed character who loaded us all into carriages which would take us on our tour of York as it would have looked all those years ago. Each of the carriages are like small cable cars connected to an overhead track, they hold either 4 or 6 people and travel along at a very slow pace, twisting and turning to ensure that you don't miss anything along the way. Before you begin you journey however you select your preferred language for the tour by pressing a pad in front of you and lean back into your seat. There is a microphone inside each headrest and this provides an audio tour. I was sat right at the front of the very first carriage that I would suggest is probably the best place to sit.
The tour moves along through the streets of York as it would have looked at and there are smells to accompany each scene. Numerous life size and very realistic looking models create each of the scenes, which accompanied with the smells and the audio sounds gives a real sense of being a part of the action. It should be noted that some of the smells are not very pleasant. The tour lasts about 20 minutes and at the end of it you walk through an area where there are replicas of some of the items seen. Here you can try on a Viking helmet or hold a shield. This is the only part of the centre where photographs can be taken.
The final part of the journey is a museum where you are free to wander around the exhibits that have been unearthed during archaeological digs in the city. These are displayed inside glass cabinets and include tools, utensils, clothing and weapons and there is even a full size human skeleton.
Not surprisingly at the very end of the tour, just before the exit there is a large gift shop that you have to walk through on your way out. I resisted temptation and walked straight through having just enjoyed a very memorable experience.
The Yorvik Centre is open 7 daily from 10am to 5pm during the summer and from 10am till 4pm during the winter. Admission prices are £8.50 per adult, £7 concessions and £6 for children so whilst family and group tickets are available it can be quite an expensive day out. However the admission charge of £8.50 per adult was never really an issue for me since this is the sort of place that I would generally be happy to pay that sort of fee as a one off experience.
Advantages: Interesting displays with a lot of interactive possibilities. Disadvantages: the Journey of Yorvik streets is short and could be slower.
...I would like to say Jorvik Viking Centre was the most interesting and enjoyable place I visited. I’m comparing it to sites, such as Clifford’s Tower, National Railway Museum, York Castle Museum, and York Minster, etc.
General information
Jorvik Viking Centre is located within the Coppergate Shopping Centre, just by St. Mary's Square and surrounded by many shops. The building itself looks like an ordinary shop too. In fact most of the building on ... ...around 10,000. By the way Jorvik is a name that comes from old English and Scandinavian languages and eventually morphed into York. From 1979 to 1981 archaeologists supported by York Archaeological Trust excavated the remains left by Vikings around these area. Like the proverbial Roman City, Jorvik Viking Centre was not built in a day. The original Centre was open in 1984 and refurbished in 2001. This re-opening reflects the wealth of detail recovered ...
happysh2009 24.10.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Jorvik Viking Centre, York
Advantages: Interesting format, interactive exhibits, you get to sit down! Disadvantages: Little expensive, can have a bit of a wait
...paying to inside to the Jorvik Viking experience. However, my husband had been as a child, was terribly frightened and is to this day teased by his family. So we really had to go back to check it out and allow him to redeem himself. We left our visit until early afternoon and expected there to be queues as it was half term break. The museum is very much in the centre of the city centre and a little bit hard to find despite the signs. We were very ... ...front of us! Jorvik Viking Experience is open 7 days a week except for over Christmas and opens at 10am daily except for New Year's day. It costs £8.50 for adults, £6.00 for children with family rates and group rates available. Tickets can also be purchased as parts of packages with DIG and Barley Hall. For more information they have a website www.jorvik-viking-centre.co.uk. On entering we were directed down stairs to wait with about a dozen other ...
Mountainlilly 03.07.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Jorvik Viking Centre, York
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Advantages: education, relaxing, future, Disadvantages: smell , long ques,
get a coffee at the vikingcentre . but very expensive there are shops close by.
http://www.jorvik-viking-centre.co.uk
the viking cenre is easy to get to Once in York, i would recomend using the city's Park & Ride service to travel into the city centre. it cost us for a Standard day return £2.00 - which you can buy on the bus . ...
Advantages: Very good attraction!! Disadvantages: Expensive!
The Jorvik center is if you didn't know, situated in the center of York, Yorkshire. Its one of the main attractions in the city and brings in hundreds of tourists and school visitors.
The JorvikCentre (pronounced Yorvic), is a real acheaology site, where the Vikings of York lived thousands of years ago.
Its a museum with a twist though, as with "normal" museums, you walk around, you read signs and miss most things, especially if you have kids with you! But, this place is very different, when you enter, your taken into a "time machine", where you sit, and your told a short story, and a scientist takes us back in time to 975AD when the Vikings lived in York.
Upon leaving the "time machine", you notice you've been transported back in time, to the old streets of York. You are then taken to a "ride", I say ride, but its not ...
Advantages: transport links, in a great city Disadvantages: very boring, expensive
We decided to have a day trip to York a few months ago as it was the school holidays, and everyone had a bit of money to spend and was looking forward to a good day out. A few days before the trip, my Mum won some tickets to get into JorvikVikingCentre in the centre of York for free, and as it was free we decided we might as well go.
We had had a nice morning in York, visiting plenty of the shops and we also went to Café Rouge for lunch. Then after lunch we thought it might be a good time to use our free tickets, thinking that everyone would be having lunch. It is located right in the centre of York, five minutes walk away from the train station and situated in the middle of plenty of popular shops and restaurants, both chain and individual as well as being a minute or two?s walk away from York?s market with a variety of stalls ...
