12 of the most fascinating museums in Yorkshire

What better way to uncover the heritage, history and culture of a region than to visit its local museums? Happily, Yorkshire has some of the best in the country. Whether you’re drawn to the Victorians, want to delve further back into Roman and Viking times or go right back to prehistory and geological eras, there’s an enthralling exhibit to satisfy your curiosity.

As well as the collections housed inside, our museums are also impressive architecturally, with thatched longhouses, Georgian mansions and crofters’ cottages all included. There’s an interactive element to all of them too, helping to evoke life in bygone times. You’ll find that these museums in Yorkshire are all wonderfully family orientated, focusing on ways to engage kids and even (whisper it) make learning fun.

If the weather is less than ideal (and even if it isn’t!), they’re a perfect place to spend an afternoon during a Yorkshire getaway with the kids. Browse our range of family-friendly cottages and plan your next Yorkshire escape. 

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Yorkshire Museum

Handily located near the railway station in York, the Yorkshire Museum is home to Yorkshire’s Jurassic World. In here, visitors will find a life-size plesiosaur hanging overhead, the fossilised vertebra of one of the largest sauropods ever found in the UK, and CGI dinosaurs walking across muddy flats that contain real dinosaur footprints.   

Elsewhere in the museum, there’s an exploration of what life was like in the Mesolithic Era and a celebration of famous fossil collector Mary Anning (of ‘she sells seashells’ fame). 

As well as the fascinating exhibits, there’s also the incredible house itself to appreciate – built in 1830, this handsome Victorian mansion, constructed in the grounds of a Benedictine Abbey, is one of the first purpose-built museums. The gardens are also pretty special – 10 acres of botanically significant trees and plants, as well as several buildings dating back to Roman and medieval times – an outdoor museum if you will! 

Ryedale Folk Museum

In the charming village of Hutton-le-Hole where sheep wander around as casually as people, Ryedale Folk Museum offers an inventive ‘pick and mix’ style museum. Housed in 20-plus period buildings set over 6 acres, each house offers a snapshot of life in that era. Check out the thatched manor house, medieval crofter’s cottage and 18^th-century longhouse all decked out with furniture and fittings of the time. 

There’s also beautifully evocative workshops, such as a blacksmith, cobbler, wheelwright and tinsmith, showing the artisan skills it took to make a living in days gone by. Check out the vintage chemist with a leech bowl and the 1950s-style village shop.

The museum is dog-friendly and a great place for families to visit with lots of interactive exhibits and vintage games to play, plus a farmyard with heritage breeds to feed, including Manx Loaghtan sheep and Tamworth pigs. 

Eureka! The National Children's Museum

Image credit: Eureka!

Guaranteed to get a big thumbs up from the younger members of your family, Eureka! is a unique museum aimed at children, with a noticeable absence of glass cabinets and dusty artefacts. Instead, there are six zones to explore, all packed with interactive exhibits. Grown-ups will also enjoy wandering around this inspiring space, where learning through play is the key message.

The imaginative galleries include All About Me – a look at health and the human body, Living and Working Together, depicted in a miniature town with shops and houses to visit and a SoundSpace, where the science of noise and music is investigated. Don’t forget the enormous sandpit outside – hours of fun if it’s sunny.

Such a well-thought-out place naturally includes a chill-out space and ear defenders to borrow in case of sensory overload, to ensure that everyone can have a brilliant day out at the museum.

Jorvik Viking Centre

For an immersive dive into the world of the Vikings, head to Jorvik. This place is less a museum, more a full-body experience, where you’re taken back to 10^th-century York, with all the sights, sounds and even smells recreated in vivid detail.

You’re transported via time-capsule carriages (like the historical version of a ghost train) that take you past scenes from life a thousand years ago and Viking animatronic figures that speak in Old Norse. Beyond the ride, you can also see Viking artefacts ranging from the magnificent golden jewellery to the more mundane socks and frying pans. There’s also the chance to examine the archaeological dig below Coppergate that started it all. 

If you visit in February, check out the week-long Jorvik Viking festival in York with lots of events and banquets to take part in.

Brontë Parsonage Museum

For all things Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, head to Brontë Parsonage Museum, a well-curated celebration of the famous novelist sisters, Emily and Charlotte Brontë. Impressively enough, nearly 100 years ago the Brontë Society bought Haworth Parsonage, so you get to transport yourself back to the lives of the writers while exploring their family home. (Rather than a windswept cottage on the moors à la Wuthering Heights, it’s an elegant Georgian building on the village high street.) 

As well as the best collection of their manuscripts worldwide, you can also admire personal items such as Charlotte’s slippers and Emily’s christening mug and the writing desk where they put quill to paper. If you can, time your visit to coincide with one of the regular events in the museum – there’s talks, workshops and children’s activities that really bring the literary family’s work to life.

National Emergency Services Museum

For an uplifting look at the history of our everyday heroes, head to National Emergency Services Museum. An old Victorian police, ambulance and fire station in Sheffield has been repurposed to accommodate a wealth of exhibits spread over three floors. The stars of the show are the vehicles, including the horse-drawn fire engine and the 42-foot lifeboat. There’s also a fleet of stylish vintage police cars and a horse ambulance (used to rescue injured horses during wartime).

Delve deeper into the collection to discover the uniforms that evolved over the centuries, and the technical equipment used during emergency callouts. Did you know that firefighters once threw glass grenades containing chemicals to extinguish the flames?

Such adrenaline-packed stuff requires sustenance, so blue-light it to the café to refuel – there’s three themed seating areas to relax in.

Whitby Museum

Image credit: Whitby Museum

Every element of life in a coastal town is covered at Whitby Museum, with a thorough investigation of the geology, history and culture of this glorious seaside resort. There are nine different collections to browse, including maritime heritage and Whitby’s enduring links with the sea. The 17,000 vintage negatives provide an enviable photographic archive with amazing shots of fishing boats and Victorian families on the beach.

Pick up a souvenir from the gift shop, including a replica of the spooky Hand of Glory, a severed hand of a criminal that was supposedly used by burglars to send household residents into a coma. There’s also a fine selection of themed stationery and tea towels if pickled limbs don’t take your fancy. As an added bonus, Whitby Museum is located in the beautiful Pannett Park, where you’ll find various themed gardens, seating areas and a playpark where the kids can let off steam.

World of James Herriot

The home of All Creatures Great and Small author, World of James Herriot, is a great place to appreciate the globally loved stories. Whether you’ve seen either of the dramatisations on TV or devoured the hilarious tales of life as a Yorkshire vet in book form, you’ll love browsing around this award-winning attraction.

Herriot’s original 1940s home and veterinary practice in Thirsk has been lovingly preserved, complete with a dispensary with a range of intriguing glass bottles containing bizarre remedies. There’s also the chance to test your vet skills with the interactive exhibits, including having a very hands-on go at examining the inside of a cow’s nether regions!

If you fancy yourself as an actor, go to the area devoted to a TV set and see what it’s like to take part in a show. The studio has been recreated from the first series, with 1980s technology and the clunky film cameras and miles of cables involved in producing the popular programme back then.  

Ripon Museums: Workhouse, Prison and Courthouse

It’s hard to believe that workhouses were once a grisly reality of Victorian England, and you can see what they were like for yourself at Ripon Museums: Workhouse, Prison and Courthouse. The brutal justice system in the 1800s is depicted from start to finish, with the harrowing journey from poverty to crime to punishment played out in eye-watering detail. Be sure to see the vagrants’ cells and inmates washhouse.

Although this may sound traumatic, the group of three museums (located 5 minutes’ walk from each other) make it both engaging and educational by bringing fully interactive features to the collection: you can dress up as a court judge or put yourself in the stocks. The kitchen garden where the inmates worked to earn their keep is gorgeously recreated with thriving vegetable plots growing heritage varieties.

Dales Countryside Museum

Part of the attraction of Dales Countryside Museum is its location – in the converted Hawes Railway Station in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. As well as the striking stone station that houses the main exhibits, you can clamber aboard a vintage locomotive and carriages and there’s also the on-site Firebox Café where you can enjoy a range of cakes and savoury treats. 

Learn about the key communities of the Dales and how they have interacted with the landscape, ranging from prehistory to the present day. There’s Viking jewellery and Bronze Age spearheads on display, plus the opportunity to learn about the region’s agricultural past.

You can also stretch your legs on the nearby woodland trail and spin some yarns in the storytelling chair. Kids will be captivated by the different activities and traditional games to play – and they get in for free! 

National Railway Museum

While quaint heritage centres have their charm, National Railway Museum operates on a much grander scale, as the largest museum of its type in Britain. The enormous halls of this Yorkshire museum are home to a massive collection of rolling stock including a stunning steam locomotive, the Mallard, and a Japanese bullet train. There’s also a miniature railway to ride around in the museum’s outdoor South Yard and a virtual reality experience allowing visitors to travel on the iconic Flying Scotsman.

In the Wonderlab, the science behind the railways is investigated, with a dive into aerodynamics using a wind tunnel you can step into. The friendly team of explainers make the (rocket) science accessible to all. Once you’ve looked around the various trains, carriages and other exhibits, you might be tempted by afternoon tea in the Countess of York dining carriage.  

Royal Armouries Museum

Have you ever seen a war elephant? You will when you visit Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, complete with the enormous (mammoth?) armour made especially for it. This thought-provoking museum showcases everything related to weapons and armour, from Samurai swords to James Bond-style walking sticks that transform into guns. 

In the War Gallery you learn about Roman hand-to-hand combat and how technology has changed the face of battle, while in the Asian and African Gallery there are decorative uniforms and priceless objects from these continents. The Hall of Steel is visually arresting, with a dazzling array of weapons displaying how they would have been in the 17^th-century Tower of London. A cunningly positioned mirror makes this a brilliant photo opportunity. Daily demonstrations and live reenactments get the pulses racing too – definitely one of the best free museums in Yorkshire. 

Map of Yorkshire museums

Plan your visit to these fascinating Yorkshire museums with this handy map:

Book a Yorkshire holiday cottage

These museums are the cream of Yorkshire’s crop – offering both a glimpse into how things were in the county in days of yore and a memorable day out for the whole family. All you need now is the perfect holiday home to relax in and prepare for the next day’s adventure.