Take hold of the past and explore the excavations which first unearthed the Viking-age city in our brand new exhibitions.
The remains of 1,000-year-old houses are revealed beneath your feet, objects taken from the excavations are explored, and Viking-Age timbers are brought before your eyes.
New audiovisual displays help you to investigate all of the information gathered from the 5-year-long dig at Coppergate and piece together the jigsaw of where the Vikings came from, why they came here, how they lived and died, and where they travelled to.
At JORVIK Viking Centre you are standing on the site of one of the most famous and astounding discoveries of modern archaeology. Between the years 1976-81, archaeologists from York Archaeological Trust revealed the houses, workshops and backyards of the Viking-Age city of Jorvik, as it stood 1,000 years ago.
These incredible findings enabled them to build the JORVIK Viking Centre on the very site where the excavations had taken place, creating a groundbreaking visitor experience that allows you to experience life in Viking-Age York.
As you travel around the Viking-Age city of Jorvik aboard our state of the art time capsules you will encounter the Old-Norse-speaking citizens, see inside their houses and back yards, experience a blast of smoke from blacksmith’s furnace and enjoy the smell of home-cooked stew inside the home of our amber worker.
At the end of an unforgettable journey, visitors disembark at the JORVIK museum where they can see some of the fascinating Viking artefacts that were once buried under the centre, including a full Viking skeleton.
And don't forget to visit DIG, the archaeological adventure attraction based at St Saviour's Church, York, which offers visitors the opportunity to take part in an excavation, discover genuine artefacts from ancient civilisations and also understand how archaeologists recreate the past. It is this type of investigation that enabled the archaeologists to reconstruct what life was like in Viking times at JORVIK - so now it's your time to try!
Opening Times:
| Apr - Nov |
10:00 - 17:00 |
| Nov - Apr |
10:00 - 16:00 |
Closed 24/25/26th December
New Years Eve: 10:00- 14:00 (last admission)
New Years Day: 11:00 - 16:00 (last admission)