Face to face with the Vikings in York! (Jorvik Viking Centre)

Member Name: nixtee

Product:	Jorvik Viking Centre
Date:	15/08/09 (92 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting, interaction, having fun whilst learning

Disadvantages: Price may seem steep to some people

Armed with our York Passes and our York Pass Guide Book Mum & I headed to JORVIK Viking Centre in the afternoon of the first day of our 3 day trip to York, having already visited Fairfax House and York Castle Museum.

JORVIK Viking Centre was opened to the public in April 1984. The centre was built on a site that had been excavated (between 1979-81 by York Archaeological Trust) and the plan was to permanently display the remains of Jorvik in that area. So while you will see items and areas that have been excavated, you will also see streets and scenes recreated to show you what life was like over 1000 years ago.

The Viking Centre can be found just off Coppergate, by St. Mary's Square in York City Centre and is surrounded by shops.

JORVIK is open daily at 10am and closes at 5pm during the summer and 4pm during the winter (opening times can vary over the Christmas period). It is open all year round, apart from 24th - 26th December (which is to be expected).

When we visited JORVIK (on a Wednesday in August 2009) there was only a handful of people in the queue in front of us, however when we passed it on the Friday morning the queue was substantial. So I would advise visiting in the beginning or middle of the week.

It costs an adult £8.50 to enter JORVIK and £6 for a child (between the ages of 5 - 15). Concessions are £7 and there are a range of family tickets available. Group discounts are also available. Tickets can also be pre-booked in advance and this will give you the advantage of jumping the queue during busy periods. However, if you have a York Pass then you can enter for free (as we did)! A printed guide of JORVIK was also available, but we didn't buy one.

Once you have paid (or presented your York Pass), then you enter JORVIK by going down some stairs (or a lift is available). Entering via the stairs takes you to a small room where a handful of people seemed to be just standing. I looked around and could see a door which said "Time Machine" (or something along those lines), we were waiting for the door to open! At this point there is the opportunity to pop to the toilets (which are to the left at the bottom of the stairs) and there is a storage facility for pushchairs etc.

Finally, the door of the time machine opened and a man in a scientists outfit welcomed us in and told us to take a seat for our journey. We chose to sit in the back row and thankfully our bench had a backrest to it (I'll tell you why I was thankful for it in a minute!). There were a few rows of benches and once everyone was seated the "scientist" explained about our journey and how we would be taken back in time. He set the machine and our journey began.......

I wasn't quite prepared for being jolted back and forth each time we "leapt back in time". Knowing me, I'd have probably have toppled backwards off one of the backless benches in front of us! At first we started by going back in decades and then it would jump back in centuries or more at a time. As we went "back in time" a screen in front of us showed a couple dressed in the suitable attire for the appropriate time and with each jolt back and forth they would merge into the next timeframe we were in. So one moment we were in the 2000's and then next the 90's, then 80's, 70's and so on, 1800s, etc and so on until we finally reached our destination in time, except we overshot and went back too far! We were in 975AD.

We were then ushered out of the time machine and into a short queue for the next part of our journey. Here we were seated into an open pod-type contraption (holding up to 6 people within 2 rows of seats) and told to select the appropriate language from a set of buttons in front of us. I can't remember exactly what languages there was to choose from, but there was around 5 or 6 and, of course, we chose English.

Our "pod", connected to an overhead track, slowly took us through the streets of JORVIK (or York how it would have looked and sounded back then). The speakers in the headrests behind us provided us with a commentary of what things were and what was happening. Although, at times I couldn't quite hear the commentary for the noises in the "street" such as one animated woman gabbling on constantly and quite loudly! The "pod" would turn and show us some scenes more closely, all while on the move. The scenes weren't just sights and sounds, there were smells too... some not too nice! One example of the not so nice smells is that animated man who was showing us a Viking example of a toilet... outside in the street! He seemed to be struggling to "go" and I could smell that scene before I saw it!

Once the tour was finished, we disembarked the pod and were then in an area where we could interact with objects and Viking people. You could try on a Viking helmet (as one lad was doing and a man was explaining all about it), a man was striking coins which you could buy, and there was plenty of other things on display. There was also an exhibition of artifacts with touch-screen kiosks to provide further insight. You could also learn from the bones they had on display (including a full skeleton!). The bones told their own story about Viking life, death, diseases and battle etc.

Finally, we came to the gift shop. It was a small shop (as are most of these types of shops), yet it was home to a wide range of souvenirs and gifts, all JORVIK themed.

While an entry fee of £8.50 might seem a lot, the JORVIK Visitor Centre have put a lot of work into this and it's not like there's a whole load of money in archeology. It's interesting and while I enjoyed it as an adult, I think it would be something kids would enjoy too, especially with the interaction of being able to touch, feel and wear items and talk to the characters there. It's always good to have fun while learning things.

Summary: An enjoyable attraction in York city centre.