When in Rome do as the Romans do. When in York see what the Vikings did. To do this the best place Jorvik Viking Centre  . 

Time Team's Tony Robinson, better known as Baldrick in Blackadder says "Jorvik has always been at the cutting edge of historical and archaeological presentation but now, with the new developments, even more so. Even if you have been before, you have to come again."

Personally I think old Baldrick is over selling it, but it is worth a visit nonetheless. Essentially it's a two centre experience. The first is on foot where you do the traditional museum thing and mooch over the various old relics that were uncovered by archaeologists between 1976 and 1981. From there jump on one of the "state-of-the-art" time capsules to be taken through a recreation of the Viking settlement, where animated characters speak to you saying things like "Nordmenn er Kuker". I might have got that wrong. It's all about the sights, sounds and smells of old Jorvik, and it's an interesting ride, however I do think the smells thing is a bit overrated. It all just smelt like joss sticks or maybe incense to me.

The other thing to know is that there is always a queue to Jorvik, so it is advisable to pre-book your tickets.

Date of visit 25th August 2010.