Visiting York Castle Museum with kids

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Visiting York Castle Museum with kids is a fantastic adventure! This family-friendly museum offers a unique glimpse into history, featuring everything from Victorian streets to discovering life behind bars in the prison.

Address and contact information

York Castle Museum
Eye of York
York
YO1 9RY

Website: https://www.yorkcastlemuseum.org.uk

Getting to York Castle Museum

York Castle Museum takes approximately 20 to 25 minutes to walk to from York Railway Station.

The nearest bus stop is on Tower Street where the number 3 bus stops. This is within 150m (164yds) of the museum.

The nearest car park is the Castle car park next to Clifford’s Tower. For more car parking information visit www.yorklive.info.

Opening times

Monday – 11am-5pm
Tuesday to Sunday – 10am-5pm

Ticket prices

Inside the museum

York Castle Museum is set into two halves, with exhibits split between the two. it doesn’t matter which way round you do your self-guided visit as it doesn’t take too long to move between the museum buildings. Permanent exhibitions include:

• Kirkgate
• The 60s
• Moorland Cottage – The Period Rooms
• 1914 – When The World Changed Forever
• Debtors’ Prison 

Just inside the start of Kirkgate, there is a great arts and crafts area for children. I think this is open daily but it’s best to check with the museum ahead of your visit. As a tourist, York can be pretty exhausting for children and sometimes they need a bit of time out. This area allowed Erin to have a bit of a rest and do something fun. It can get busy during school holidays. 

Kirkgate

Go back to the Victorian era, where Kirkgate is one of the oldest recreated indoor streets of its kind in Britain. Walk down the cobbled streets, wandering around the historic buildings and exploring things like a traditional sweet shop. Kirkgate is one of the highlights of York Castle Museum and it’s a really special exhibition. A lot of what you see on this recreated Victorian street are original items and very few props are used. At times, you will find staff taking on roles of shop owners or workers, and interacting with each other in the street. Something I really loved about this area of the museum was that it changes from day to night, and it even has a thunderstorm! 

The space where Kirkgate stands was built to expand the overcrowded York County Gaol. This area was once used as the exercise yard and the building was known as the Female Prison.

The 60s

A bit closer to where we are now is the exhibit all about the 1960s. Here, children can dress up in , historical costumes, which is idea for school groups, and learn about the decade. This area has lots of different items to look at, including a replica of the Mercury space capsule which you can climb inside, every day household items, Lambretta scooter, a Dansette record player, Beatles singles and fashion by Mary Quant. This is a really fun and bright area of the museum, a vast contrast to Kirkgate and York Castle Prisonwhich are quite dark and dingy. 

York Castle Prison

The buildings that make up York Castle Museum used to be York County Gaol, the main prison for the whole of Yorkshire. Opening in 1705, this is one of the oldest surviving prison buildings. You can learn about these 18th-century prison buildings, what they were used for and some of the infamous residents. Richard Turpin, aka Dick Turpin, was maybe the most notorious inmate. He was a legendary highwayman who was eventually tried and hung. 

What I love about this area of the museum is that it uses innovative new ways to talk about historical information. Inside the prison cells there are holograms where past prisoners (actors, of course) talk about harsh punishments, the cramped cells and stories of rough conditions at the prison. For us, this was one of the best things about the museum and we loved learning about York’s past in this way. 

How long should you spend at York Castle Museum?

York Castle Museum is quite large, with a lot to see. I would recommend leaving at least 2 hours for your visit but you will likely need closer to 3 hours. 

Would we go back?

As a family, we all loved our visit to this museum. There’s something for people of all ages, with hands-on activities and you get to discover different eras in the museum. Due to how long you can stay here, I think the entry fees are very fair. We thought the York Castle Museum was excellent value for money and provided fun as well as lots of information about the history of York. 

Other great things to do with kids in York: