Yorvik Viking Center- York England

 I purchased advance tickets for 10 am the one morning that we had in York and I am glad that I did because there was a lineup to get in.  This is a highly recommended site to take in when in York which is all about Viking history.  Extensive archeological digs took place exactly where the Yorvik Viking Center stands today.  York in Viking times was called Yorvik and was a Viking settlement.  


If you have any British or UK roots you most likely have Viking blood in you.  I thought that I was pure British Isles most of my life.  Then I took an Ancestry.com test and it showed that I am 22% Scandinavian blood or Viking blood which makes sense.  The Vikings were fierce warriors and raped, sacked and pillaged their way throughout England.  (Why did I think that my family would be the exception?) My Viking blood is courtesy of these most fearsome invaders.  At first, they took their plunder and slaves back to their lands but eventually English lands won them over (through a lot of bloodshed and a hundred years or so) and they returned to stay and form connections with the English people.  Watch The Last Kingdom series on Netflix, not only is it an amazing series but it gives you a ton of history and some serious eye candy at the same time.

The Yorvik Viking Center was well worth going to.  It takes roughly 1 to 1.5 hours depending on how much you like to read in the museum section  You get introduced to the dig site by stepping on plexiglass and seeing what and how Vikings lived going back to 980 AD. Then you move on to an actual Disney-style ride that takes you through the lives of the Vikings and also the smells.  The last section is the museum with hundreds of artifacts that help you to realize that Vikings were a lot more advanced than once thought.  They just didn't run around chopping people's heads off with their axes but they had invented or acquired many interesting engineering feats as well.  There have been many Viking hoards discovered over the years in England consisting of coins and intricate jewellery etc.  Many of these are in the gallery at Yorvik

Yorvik Center is located in the walled city of York.  Perhaps take an ancestry blood test to see how much if any Viking blood you have running in your veins.  No matter if you do or not you will find Yorvik Viking Center most interesting.


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