JORVIK Viking Centre York : Days Out Review

About JORVIK (The history bit)

The present JORVIK Viking Centre is actually version 4 of the attraction. To understand how this all started we need to go back 48 years.

In 1976 The Old Craven’s Sweet Factory, in an area of York known as Coppergate, was due to be redeveloped into a new shopping centre. When the excavators started digging out the basements, archaeologists discovered preserved Viking-age timbers – the first traces of Viking buildings.

Handily the recession of the 1980s caused a funding gap and a pause in the shopping centre development. So, archaeologists from York Archaeology (then known as York Archaeological Trust) carried on their dig for the next 5 years, finding over 40,000 objects. This dig created huge interest, so in an effort to move the public away from peering through holes in hoarding, to something more immersive, JORVIK Viking Centre was born.

JORVIK Viking Centre, Version 1 - 1984

When designing JORVIK, the team decided that they wanted to immerse the public in Viking life, rather than putting exhibits behind glass. The team created a narrative of what a 10th Century city street would look like (based on knowledge at the time). Electric vehicles took visitors back in time to reveal the houses and backyards of the 10th Century city. Visitors experienced the stalls and workshops of Thorfast the bone carver, Lothin the wood turner, Snarri the jeweller, and Svein the leather worker - all revealed by a commentary by TV presenter and historian, Magnus Magnusson.

JORVIK Viking Centre, Version 2 - 2001

By the late 1990’s it was time for JORVIK to once again to move with the times. Out goes the electric car and static displays, in comes a new suspended capsule ride.

Visitors would get to see newly designed street scenes of JORVIK set in 975 AD, encompassing the latest research, more realistic and animatronic displays, not to mention recreation of what Viking York would smell like! Magnus Magnussen was replaced by TV historian, and Viking enthusiast, Michael Wood.

JORVIK Viking Centre, Version 3 - 2010

It was once again time for the JORVIK Viking Centre to refresh the visitor experience. A £1 million refurbishment created an even more lifelike exhibition of JORVIK. Seven state-of-the-art animatronic figures were installed which interact with visitors in Old Norse. New displays of previously unseen artifacts from the Coppergate excavation were introduced, and a new glass-floored gallery was created. Visors experience this gallery first and can see the original Coppergate excavation site underfoot, providing a first-hand look at how the past was uncovered.

JORVIK Viking Centre, Version 4 - 2017

The floods of 2015 caused severe damage to the Viking Centre. Artifacts were saved, but the exhibition ride was lost. The city rallied to help to keep the Viking story alive and exhibitions in York St Mary’s, York Theatre Royal and York Minster’s vast under croft, meant that Viking life carried on.

Eventually, on April 8, 2017, after a £4 million renovation, JORVIK Viking Centre reopened. Not just consulting with historians, the centre had taken visitor feedback into consideration and made some adjustments to the experience, such as adding an extra 3 minutes to ride through Viking age York. The cityscape was rebuilt and new animatronic characters added, with a total of 31 now on display.

In 40 years, JORVIK has welcomed over 20 million visitors

When the Vikings settled in York, they clearly had trouble saying the Saxon name for the city: Eoforwic (which is thought to mean wild boar settlement), so decided to call it Jorvik (thought to mean wild boar creek).

- Source JORVIK Viking Centre

Our Experience (The Review bit)

JORVIK Viking Centre works on a timed entry process, this means that booking is essential.

A family of four visiting in 2025 would pay £49.00

Team Hedgehog booked using the York Pass, a very economical way of experiencing all the major attractions of York.

On a crisp February morning, we made our way to the JORVIK Viking Centre. We found it just a few mins walk from the centre of the city, nestled within the Coppergate centre. Thinking it was like any other museum we attempted to walk in a little early only to be stopped by a Viking patrolling outside who politely asked us to return closer our time slot. Vikings, it seems, are very punctual people!
Upon our return we were ushered inside to verify our York passes, and then promptly asked to wait back outside, in a makeshift roped off waiting area.

It became clear that JORVIK does not have any space inside for visitors to wait. It was 3 degrees outside and we were glad it wasn’t raining! I noticed a sold out today sign had been placed near the queue pen, good job we booked.

After a few minutes, a different Viking came out to inspire the gathering visitors. Obligatory questions such as - has anyone visited before? and are you excited to see some Vikings? were asked, the growing crowd acknowledging with enthusiastic responses. The Viking then went on to tell us about 3 exhibits that JORVIK was obviously most proud off.

A Frying pan, a glass floor, and a fossilised Viking Poo! Yes you read that right JORVIK are showing off a great big Viking turd

We were then sent in, directed down some stairs, as we descended, I could see some timelines marked on the wall, we were literally stepping back in time. A couple of friendly Vikings greeted us as we entered a large room decorated in a rich maroon colour, images of JORVIK’s excavation decorated the surrounding walls.

‘It’s ok you can step on it’’ said a Viking encouragingly, it was then that I noticed the large glass floor (that was mentioned earlier). Underneath this protective glass floor was the remains of a Viking house, its foundations clear to see.

The Viking then started giving a history lesson on JORVIK, pointing out key features of the house we here standing on. For instance a toilet was pointed out (they seem obsessed!), and a large red area. Not blood but red dye from plants. The Viking then picked on Team Hedgehog calling one of our number ‘common’, much to the amusement of both us and the gathered crowd. You see this particular member of Team Hedgehog had decided to wear head to toe ..Grey.
Grey shoes, grey jeans, grey coat. In Viking time to wear dark monotone clothes indicated a common status, whereas bright colours like red for example, indicated privileged status, as you had the means to dye clothes. Our team member was heard muttering for some hours afterwards about not being common, and wearing £300 quid’s worth of Superdry. I have to say the Jury is still out on that one😉.

Once this introduction was over the Viking guided us to the ‘ride’. While waiting for the ride the Viking warned us that the ride recreated Viking age smells, The houses were covered in a mud and poo mixture, and not to hold our nose as it would make the smell linger. Having experienced hotel breakfast for the last couple of days, I was sure I had already experienced something much worse, so I was not worried.

Within seconds a small Viking ship shaped capsule appeared. It was suspended from a track above, had two tiered rows, so that all passengers could get a good view. When I entered I noticed a video screen in front of me and a pair of speakers angled just by my head. This thing had a better stereo system than most cars, I thought to myself. After selecting a language on the screen we were off.

What followed was a gentle glide through York AD 960. The smell was immediately apparent. Allegedly there should be 16 different smells as the ride move around, however they all seem to merge into one, hard to describe smell. It was not as unpleasant as we were lead to believe, but you wouldn’t want to buy the scent for your house. The ride moved around various scenes from the Viking age city, from Slave Traders, to carpenters, to grocers. They have 22 animatronic characters, all miraculously created as close to Vikings as possible. One of them is an old lady complete with Arthritis stance. She was in fact based on a real person who was excavated and her bones are on display in the museum bit. As well as this sight and smell, sounds were played throughout, with characters speaking in old Norse and seagulls by the ship and someone listening to music by a fire. While this sensory overload was playing out, an actor called Richard Hawley provided a voice over commentary on the scene laid out and objects displayed on the video screens. Now this is significant for one single reason. Richard Hawley sounds freakily like Sean Bean! However as a Viking earlier pointed out, this is not Sean Bean for two reasons.
1 They could never afford him. 2 he would be murdered half way round the ride. So Hawley it is.

Something else to mention about the ride, is how it has changed with each refresh. The floods of 2015 enabled the sets to be rebuilt using the latest knowledge and research. For example environmental remains found by microscopic analysis of soil samples has lead to the centre adding moss to buildings and showing weeds growing. They have also added the world’s first Viking two story house.

When we visited in February, winter was still present at JORVIK, the Exhibits all presented with snow and ice all added to the ambiance.

Once the ride was over, we disembarked the capsule to enter the museum gallery. I was looking forward to this part, but sadly it was also the most disappointing. The gallery houses a few Viking exhibits, broaches, combs, that sort of thing, but on prominent display was the bones of the old lady. An interactive video microscope on hand for people to explore her arthritic bones. Sadly there had been so many people booked in this time session, and the area was so tiny, we had no room to stand and look and felt the pressure to move on. Directly opposite the lady, was the aforementioned fossilised poo - wow that thing is huge, it looks more like a horse created it than a human!

The Fossil Poo

The rest of this space houses a corner for Vikinsg to do talks, and a few display cabinets with a Viking frying pan displayed prominently. Its display reminded me of one of those kitchen shops you find at designer outlets. Lastly there was a lady stamping out Viking pennies for £3 quid. Obviously Team Hedgehog decided to buy one for a memento.

And with that we exited up some stairs, and straight into what every self-respecting tourist attraction has ..a shop.

JORVIK Viking Centre Overall Thoughts...

It’s certainly an experience visiting JORVIK Viking Centre. The glass floor is a great start with the recreation of the dig and a quick talk about Viking life. There is no doubting the attention to detail and miraculous recreation of Viking York is astonishingly realistic. But it is all over in the blink of an eye, ready for the next batch of timed guests to arrive. It’s only now while I write this that I realised If you really wanted to see everything presented to you in Viking JORVIK it feels like you would need to visit a few times. Then there is the museum part, for us a bit of a letdown. For 20,000 unique pieces excavated, there seem little in the small space to show for it. Not the museum that Team Hedgehog expected. The Viking Centre has a couple of other shortfalls too. You would think that a major tourist attraction that has seen millions spent on it, would have plenty of toilets and even a cafe, but sadly not. It had one ladies toilet and no cafe.

The question is then .. is it worth it. Well as subjective as that question is, you cannot knock that as a visitor attraction, JORVIK has been around for over 40 years and over 20 million people have visited, so there has to be something in it.
For us, the starting talk and the Viking tour through the city are the highlights of this experience.
The museum bit was the disappointment and as we walked back up the stairs we did have the feeling of .. is that it?, something left us feeling a little underwhelmed.

That said, I’m sure if I was 6 years old and looking and smelling Vikings for the first time I would absolutely love JORVIK, so can understand why this makes the perfect family attraction. You also have to appreciate the time, effort and dedication put into the ride exhibit.

From Team Hedgehogs experience do not visit JORVIK expecting a grand family day out, instead visit as part of a days’ worth of activities in and around York and it will make a good memorable experience. We were in and out in little over an hour. The saving grace is that your tickets are valid for a year, so you can return to experience the bits that you may have missed, or go back to look at the exhibits that you may have rushed through previously.

Team Hedgehog have had our fill of Vikings for now, but who knows we may return again if we find ourselves up North!

The Silver Hedgehog Rating: 3 'Average'

Value For Money
🦔🦔🦔
Visit Experience
🦔🦔🦔🦔

Attraction Facilities
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You also have to appreciate the time, effort and dedication put into the ride exhibit.

Words: Garry
Editor: JJ
Photos Lichfield Photographic

Review Extras

Visit Jorvik

York Pass

Lichfield Photograpgic

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