It is twenty five years since Yorvik, the Viking Centre in York, opened. I think I was one of the first visitors all those years ago. The memory of stinky animals (and worse) is still etched in my brain. Children study the Vikings in History Key Stage 2 and nothing will bring the history of that time more alive than seeing the weapons they used, what they looked like and how they conducted daily life.

Emily and I decided to take our children Daisy and Josh (ages 9 and 8), who had already studied the Vikings, and Jemima and Ruby, who hadn’t. I had recently read that the Vikings have been given an unfair reputation as rapers and pillagers so I was eager to put this new opinion to the test.

We had heard there was a Hotel du Vin in York so we booked in there although you could do the trip in a day. The train journey was an astonishingly short one hour and 50 minutes – barely enough time for us to skim the Rotten Histories’ Vicious Vikings. Although only a walk away from the station, we were surprised when we headed in the opposite direction of the old townto the hotel. It turns out that it is on the way out of town and very convenient for the York Races. Kids’ suppers are free, which is an attractive perk. So, after a quick turnaround, we were off exploring. We picked the hottest day of the Easter holidays for our visit: after a wonderful lunch in the sunshine looking over the River Ouse, we headed to the wonderfully named Coppergate street. In recent years, Yorvik has expanded to include an archaeology centre down the road. So some hands-on science first: how the archaeologists went about dating and identifying objects, working out what they were used for to build a picture of the thriving community that lived in York a thousand years ago. The upside of the recession for us was that, whilst money for new digs has dried up, we had a bona fide archaeologist giving an animated tour. The kids got their hands dirty in a replica dig.

The Yorvik Centre itself is a few hundred metres away, on the exact spot of the Viking settlement. A time machine (state of the art 25 years ago, and now a bit tame), takes you back through the ages to 800AD. You are then ushered into a ‘train’ for the main part of the exhibition: a reconstruction and commentary of life in a Viking settlement, complete with a blacksmith’s home made from wattle and daub, a ‘new’ home made of oak, and traders packing up their boats to export as far as Europe and Asia. You get a really good feel and smell of what life was like at the time. After the train there are some real Viking artefacts: we loved the helmets and horned drinking vessels. The kids bought a replica Viking coin, stamped in front of them.

Our opinion about the Vikings after visiting Yorvik supports the new idea that they were a civilised group of people, who took pride in their homes, were adventurous and innovative when it came trading and expanding their horizons. They looked after their children and respected women (indeed many were allowed to fight). And fight they did, with much emphasis placed on weaponry and armour but not much more than any other age.

On our way out of town we thought it would be fun to see the York Dungeons with their new Viking exhibit. Attraction manager Helen Douglas says: “Vikings are an integral part of York’s history but, unlike other York attractions, The York Dungeon wants to show what the Vikings were really like: rampant, savage killers who would stop at nothing to vanquish the Saxons and seize their land.” Well, our group of 6–9 year-olds lasted less than five minutes before they came running out – be prepared, it’s scary!

Jorvik Viking Centre and DIG
www.jorvik-viking-centre.co.uk
Tickets: adult £11.25; child 8.50 (under 5s free);
Family tickets available

York Dungeons
www.thedungeons.com
£14 adult; £10 child

Hotel du Vin
www.hotelduvin.com
01904 557350
Check website for latest offer

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