York Castle Museum

Incredible journey through time! If you’re visiting York with friends, York Castle Museum is an absolute blast! It’s not your typical "look but don't touch" museum—it’s totally immersive and actually fun. The highlight for our group was definitely Kirkgate, the Victorian street. It’s a full-scale recreation, and walking through it feels like you've stepped straight into a movie set (or Diagon Alley!). The attention to detail in the shops and the atmospheric lighting make for some epic group photos. Then there’s the Prison section, which is located in the original 18th-century cells. It’s creepy, atmospheric, and honestly a bit of a thrill to explore together. Seeing the holographic prisoners tell their stories on the cell walls is super cool—it adds a "ghost story" vibe that’s much better when you’re there with your squad to share the shivers! Pro Tip: Give yourself at least 2–3 hours. There’s so much to see, and you’ll want time to joke around and take pictures on the cobblestones. Highly recommended for anyone who wants history with a side of adventure!

YCM is one of the most fascinating and rewarding museums to visit in York. Located near Clifford’s Tower, the museum offers an immersive journey through British social history, making the past feel vivid and relatable. One of the highlights of York Castle Museum is its exceptionally creative and realistic displays. The reconstructed Victorian street is particularly memorable, complete with original shopfronts, period sounds, and atmospheric lighting that truly make you feel as though you’ve stepped back into the 19th century. The fashion galleries are equally impressive, showcasing clothing from the 18th century to the modern day and offering fascinating insight into how styles and everyday life have evolved over time. The former prison section of the museum is another powerful part of the experience. Walking through the preserved cells and learning about the lives of prisoners adds emotional depth and authenticity to the visit. Rather than simply displaying objects, the museum tells compelling human stories that help visitors understand the social realities of different eras. York Castle Museum is suitable for all ages: adults will appreciate the historical detail and storytelling, while children are often captivated by the interactive and lifelike exhibits. With its central location, rich collections, and engaging atmosphere, this museum is a must-visit attraction for anyone exploring York.

Absolutely loved our visit there. The prices are affordable and you can visit for a year with same ticket. There is plenty to see- from history to beautiful Christmas decor and even the actual jail and dungeons. We spent 3 hours here and thoroughly enjoyed our visit. Wheelchair accessible, good cafe and gift shop and friendly staff. Clean toilets.

Your ticket is valid for a year, very good to value. It is a good practice to learn York’s history and also a nice family day out. Recommend to stay 1.5-2hrs inside.

Excellent museum well worth spending several hours going through. It's housed in the former Female Prison (1780) and the Debtor's Prison (1705) both of which have Georgian architecture. I had gone here 50 years ago and remembered the streets and shops of Victorian York they have. It was nice to see it again. The signs are very informative - if you have the time read them.

Great experience, our second visit and we will be back again. Well worth the visit and staff are amazing so helpful and full of information about the museum. We spent a good few hours there taking our time to take in the history. Such an interesting place

I am not really one for museums but being on a trip to York it seemed like the Castle Museum would be a good place to go! We spent almost 2 hours in this place and particularly loved the old cobbled street- especially with Xmas decorations! We also really enjoyed the prison with the film clips and some of the interactive activities. Well done for a great museum!

Super fun afternoon spent here! Best museum Ive been too. Loved all the interactive bits with the dress up boxes and old games. £17 per adult isn't bad at all considering you can keep returning for 12 months with the same ticket. Will definitely be recommending this attraction.

This place was full history and it is set to tell a different story in every room. It was a nice interactive museum with plenty of staff giving speeches to inform the audience of different perspectives of history. It was a nice experience but it did smell a bit funky in there. Pro Tip, use your London Pass for "free" entrance and you will ultimately save yourself a few bucks.

This castle is the coolest because anywhere you go in York you can see it because it's high on a hill. We did walk up all the steps to the castle and it was a bit disappointing. They had all these ugly supports that just ruined the aspect. It was really sad. My husband walked upstairs to the second level but I didn't bother...

Service is amazing and so much fun! They have things for children to make it fun but educational, they have live shows running throughout the day that involves the crowd and endless entertainment throughout, kids get handed a map to full in while looking through providing a wide selection and value is great. Only negatives was prices which is inevitable no matter where you go. General place is amazing

I adore the castle museum and would have loved to stay longer but the Victorian street and the prison areas were too scary for my daughter so we rushed through the Victorian area and had to turn back rather than walk through the prison area. The 60s exhibit was my new favorite. How candy in a toy gun that you point into your mouth got through to production is beyond me.

The castle museum is situated near Clifford's tower and I was first in the queue and I kind of raced round the other exhibits to get to the Victorian street before everyone else piled in but I wish I had taken my time to really enjoy the whole experience because there was so much interesting things to see but of course the highlight of this museum is the replica of a Victorian street with cute little shops, I especially loved Barton's confectionery where I bought a load of traditional sweets and chocolates served by a lady in traditional Victorian style clothes. I loved the cobbled streets and old lampposts, and the the horse and cart, it was such a beautiful authentic setting, very festive and I loved it. I think this is one place in York that should be high up on your to do list.

Pretty interesting museum. Really enjoyed the recreated Victorian street. The debtors prison was cool. Some of the video re-enactments reminded me of US college students whining about paying their college loans. Really long walk through, well worth the money. 60s love section was boring to me, but I wasn't really a Beatles enthusiast. The war and prison parts were great. Some nanny trigger warning signs about for those who would rather erase history. Highly recommend.

York sure has great museums! This one, in part of the old women's prison, is on grounds that have been used for military and justice purposes since the Norman conquest. The exhibits covered a diverse spectrum, from the history of the prison and the creepy old cells to insights into the human body and culture across decades and centuries, to a fascinating perspective on the Great War from Yorkshire experiences. Oh, and there was the charming Victorian street scene, which is perfect for selfie age. I can see why this place is packed with school kids, but us two American tourists enjoyed our visit, too.

Firstly I would say you pretty much need to spend the day here in order to visit all the exhibitions that are on offer. There is so much to see, read, do and learn about and they have an amazing array of artefacts across the three exhibitions we saw. The olden street is incredibly recreated and the WW1 stuff is mind blowing, well worth a visit for the whole family with plenty of interactive elements for the kids. The cafe is well priced with a wonderful array of food and drink and the shop isn't half bad either. Worth a visit for a rainy day or just in general.

It is fantastic museum in terms of how the information is displayed, and recreating full Victorian rooms and streets. It's great for kids and adults alike. The only potential negative is early in the museum one exhibit doesn't seem to clearly link to the next, but otherwise great.

This was a fine museum. It's in a great location across the street from the Clifford Tower and near the River and City Wall. It was an okay way to spend a couple of hours. My favorite part was the Victorian street. There is a new section on World War II which was very interesting. It really helped to have guides in costume explaining things. We were even able to touch old military helmets and compare them (while wearing gloves of course). Going through the old prison was also interesting.

If you're looking for a castle museum you should keep looking, because this has nothing to do with castles, despite the appealing medieval Clifford's Tower just across from it that unfortunately is not included in the museum admission fee. A more appropriate name for this museum would be 'Random Collection of British Artifacts from 16th to 20th Centuries'. They had exhibits on fashion, toys, nutrition, prisons, a Victorian street replica, war in the trenches, and nothing whatsoever to do with anything medieval or castles. We came to York looking for sites and exhibits associated with its rich medieval history. This was a complete waste of time. If you want to get more out of your time in York, spend twice as long in York Minster and stay away from this random, bizarre museum with no real purpose.

This is a weird museum. The first part of the museum feels like some pack rat collected stuff from yardsales and put them on display in "the museum" - all kinds of random junk, packed in there. I guess it would be interesting to kids but "Oakland Museum of California" quality it ain't. Some of the costume displays were empty and if you want costumes - definitely go to the Bath Museum of Fashion for far superior clothing exhibits. But then... after going through the cheesy dioramas overflowing with creepy glass eyed stuffed animals in front of fake fireplaces, littered with old toys and tea towels - you end up in the Victorian Street. This is truly Dickens Fair worthy -- a cobble stone street with different shops full of period goods and such - really fun and I could see a Dickens Fair here would be a great time. And then - the prison museum. Ugh. Yuck. Horrible. Empty cells with multi media displays all playing projections of character actors repeating their monologues over and over again - over top of each other. The best multimedia display was the last room where it showed the evolution of York in a little animation. This would be a great activity on a rainy day - don't take it too seriously and don't get trapped in the gift shop. Most of York seems to be oriented to shopping opportunities for tourists to fork over their cash. If you're looking for more authentic English experiences - York Castle Museum and most of downtown York won't have much to offer in the month of August.

I was very surprised to see that the museum of broken relationships exhibit here. I saw it in Los Angeles two years ago. You can get lost in this museum. Be careful. There are no visible signs.

To me this place really isn't a museum...most of it was like walking in my nans bedroom...or sometimes even mine...I mean a cabinet full of psones, sega megadrives and dslites..I might as well turn my house into a museum :p The only redeeming feature is the ''Victorian street''..This is literally a stretch of cobblestones with little quaint shops displaying Vicotrian apparel...I only wish that some of it was for sale!.. But personally I would not come back here in a hurry..luckily I did not have to pay to get in ;p

For some reason the map will not recognise York. This is a truly excellent and huge museum. Great for kids too. York Castle sood on this site. The museum's past as two prison buildings is explored with a look at conditions in 18th century gaols and every child wants to know about its most famous former prisoner - highwayman Dick Turpin, who was hanged in 1739 for horse stealing. Turpin spent his last six months in the Debtors' Prison, which was built in 1701-5, and today houses half of the museum's displays. The other half of the museum was originally the Female Prison, built in 1780-83. It is best known for its recreated Victorian street, Kirkgate, which combines real shop fittings and stock with modern sound and light effects, to evoke an atmosphere of Victorian Britain. There is a sweet shop, a candlemakers, a fire station, a butchers and often these are manned plus many more shops and a handsome cab and horse. The street was named after the museum's founder, Dr John L. Kirk, a North Yorkshire country doctor who collected everyday objects and wanted to keep them safe for future generations. The museum's room settings include a Victorian parlour, an 1850s Moorland cottage, Jacobean and Georgian dining rooms, a 1940s kitchen and a 1950s front room. It has one of the largest collections of costumes anywhere plus a room full of 1950s items and recently a 60's display was added. Outside is a watermill where you can buy flour. Adult - £7.50 Child - £4 Under 5s - Free Concessions - £6.50 They also do family tickets and joint tickets with the Yorkshire museum. Best is if you buy a ticket it is valid for a YEAR. Go back at any time. An excellent few hours.

This place is ah-maze-ing. I was originally going to head to the Viking museum, but long lines put me off and so I headed here as a back up. Wow, just wow. I was blown away by the cheap price, and then the quality of the exhibits. Such a diverse collection to see, with many different eras covered. The Victorian Street has been gushed over already by many others, and for good reason too. It's an outstanding recreation that has to be seen to be believed. If you're in York (and if you haven't been yet, why the hell not??), go here right after you wander through the Shambles. It's a great day out for the whole family. Age is no consideration.

Great, short history laid out in the men's and women's side of the prison. The Victorian Street is pretty neat- smells included (of the stables, candy store, sewers, etc). Some of the stores are open and functioning. The history of chocolate was interesting and the WWI part, too. Honestly, gathering impression from the museum it's nice, but very much geared towards children. It it educational.

Tickets cost us £8.50 for adult and £7.50 for student. These are valid all year long. The first thing we did was to walk through the victorian street which was beautiful and surreal. There are various victorian characters whose life in a day can be experienced by picking up slates at various locations along this street. There are various shops and people enact various roles and give you interesting anecdotes about life back in the day. There is also a police station with a jail cell. needless to say we got our pictures taken. The whole street setup is complete with dim lighting and sound effects of horse carriages and barking dogs. We then went up to the section where various victorian implements and tools of trade were exhibited with description of what they were used for. There is also a section showing the evolution of the modern kitchen. There are galleries showcasing birth and death and how weddings were then. There is also a comparison of a menu from victorian times and a present day wedding menu. A very interesting insight! This section of the museum also houses the evolution of children's toys over the centuries with meccano and lego etc and wooden toys from the ages. We came to the end of this section with victorian living room exhibits. The other wing contains the York castle prison depicting life for prisoners and how prisoners were sent to the colonies as an alternative form of punishment. There are some poignant stories there. Take a moment, read them and contemplate. Following on from there was my favourite bit. The sixties gallery. This place is a stark contrast to the rest of the museum. Full of colour, life, liberation, the hippy culture, beatles, vespas and so on and so forth. From here we moved to the prisoners' courtyard and to the water powered flour mill and then back to the main entrance. A remarkable experience and definitely recommended!

This was our second visit to York Castle Museum, this time with kidlets weaving between our legs, and it made for a very enjoyable day out! The museum catalogs (or "catalogues" in England) the history of the city in a series of scenes that are populated with artifacts from each era. Visitors follow a well-laid-out path around the museum, stopping to peer into shop windows from the early 1900s, reproduced kitchens from the 1980s, living rooms from the 1700s, and so on. This makes for an intriguing and educating journey through time. Down in the dungeon, a new exhibit chronicles the characters who stayed in York Gaol, some of which is quite ghoulish. It's a very different style to the rest of the museum, and the change is quite jarring; I'm not sure it works so well, but it's ambitious and is interesting all the same. The little cafe in the museum served the needs of our whole group of 14, which was a minor miracle. Highly recommended for all ages!

What a nice day! Set aside at least three hours to take in this great museum! The indoor city was crazy accurate and so much fun!

OK, so it was in 1964 that I was here but it has left a lasting memory, I shall, on the strength of it being in Qyoe, definitely be visiting this year :)

I'd allow a good three hours to wander round this museum. I took two and a half hours but that was skipping the fashion section and the marriage/babies part (no interest in either!) The most interesting part of the museum for me was the Civil War room. I'd never really learnt the ebb and flow of that particular war and following it through someones diary was fascinating. I spent a long time poring over the details. The replica Victorian street and the 60s room were the other parts that attracted my attention the most.

The York Castle Museum was next on our trip to the U.K. This particular musem was founded in the 1930s and is located in prison buildings built in the 18th century. The prison was built on the site of York Castle, built by William the Conquerer in 1068. It shows how people used to live by displaying thousands of household objects and rooms. It even has a recreated Victorian street named Kirkgate, after the museum's founder. I couldn't make up my mind which exhibit I like best, the Sixties or the Prisons. The Sixties exhibit was particularly awesome. Anyone who knows me knows I like vintage and retro clothes (although I'm not sure I wanna go that retro). I loved the art, fashion, record players, Beatles singles, cars (gotta love the original Mini!). And the music? Hey, I grew up in the 1990s. You know--grunge, alt-country, Gin Blossoms, Nirvana, Pearl Jam. But I loved all the Beatles' and Stones' records and discovering how pop music and pirate radio (great movie, BTW) persuaded the BBC to launch Radio 1, when the Beatles dominated the world. And yet on the other hand, I also loved seeing the York Castle Prison history exhibit too! I've got this almost Dickensian fascination with prisons--at once fascinated and repulsed by them. The old Castle was at times a women's and a debtor's prison. The prison system was brutal and crooked, and yet of course absolutely necessary. I got to "meet" their most notorious prisoner, the legendary highwayman Dick Turpin. The Prison also highlights the last woman to be burnt at the stake and still maintains an active prisoner database. All in all, this was a pretty cool place to visit.

This museum is packed full of interesting exhibits, we visited late in the day and did not get a chance to see everything. My favourite parts of the museum were the exhibitions about how people used to live; there was an old fashioned prison cell with recordings of a prisoner's letters to his family and a whole Victorian Street with real shops, stock and sound effects. Next time I visit York I will be sure to visit York Castle Museum again to explore it again and to see the exhibits I missed.

This is another great place to visit when in York especially if its raining, great street life exhibition, look back to how we used to live in the Victorian & Georgian era, and don't forget to visit the castle dungeons.

The Castle Museum is one of York's must-see attractions. I spent many happy hours in there as a child, and have always made it a priority on return visits. The museum is fascinating for people of every age. There are vivid recreations of Edwardian and Victorian streets boasting great attention to detail. A personal highlight for me was always the old-fashioned machines and mechanical toys that you put a few coins into and get to watch a little show. Quite mesmerizing as a kid, and even as an adult! It's a fairly big museum, and you could easily spend the whole day there if you wanted.

This is my favourite museum in York, and one that we have been to twice in the last year. This is certainly worth a visit, and once you have bought a ticket you can use it again for free entrance within a 12 month period. I would recommend this museum to others without hesitation.

We absolutely loved York Castle Museums and wish we could give it 6 stars. It has so much to do and see. Whilst Kirkgate (the Victorian street) is a highlight, there is so much to see. Highly recommend to everyone visting York.

Love this place, from the old streets to the prison, you really get a sense of what it was like. When it's busy you tend to go with the crowd a little, so pick a quieter time if you can. Definitely worth the admission price.

An OK regional museum, a bit tired and 1970s. Horrendously overpriced at £10 per adult - would still be a bit steep at half that. I'd live to know where all the money is going as it doesn't appear to being spent on the museum.

There are so many places to visit in York, but this is a must for any visitor. I particularly recommend the 1920's street as this is a superb reproduction - it seems as though someone has found a long buried street and cleaned it all up. Fascinating to see some of the products of my childhood - no, I'm not that old, but most of them lived on until the 1960's.

This museum is a wonderful exposition of everyday life over the ages. It has several wonderful sections - my favourites are the birth to death sections, which record how children were born, brought up, married, and buried over the centuries in England. What makes the displays special are real records from local residents. A fascinating one was the record of wedding expenses from a local woman for her own wedding and also for her grandmother's 50 years previously. The other exceptional section is the recreation of a York street in the 20s. It is realistic and very interesting and educational. A must visit in York.

I just love York Castle Museum,it is a realy good day out and is so interesting for all ages.From the reconstructed York Street to the exhibitions of how we used to live.From cradle to grave as it were with all that's needed in between.If you want a bit of nostalgia and more please do visit this museum.You won't be sorry.

I love the Castle Museum, even though I have been numerous times throughout my life I still like going there. They have really interesting exhibits and a full reconstruction of a victorian (I think) street. I think that children as well as adults would enjoy the Museum. There are fun bits, interactive bits, even spooky bits when you get to the Condemned Cell where Dick Turpin spent his last hours. Part of the museum is inside the old Debtor's prison, which adds a strange, but interesting atmosphere to the place. It's a really interesting place for people from York or Tourists to enjoy and experience life in days gone by.

Superb Museum, Its been two days since I have been to it. I am still thinking about it. Being the first time I have been to York I would recommend this to anyone regardless of age. Admission is GBP£7.50 for an adult (Mar'09), but this gives you a one year admission to the exhibit. So a great price. The wife and I spent at least three hours in there and looking back through the era's and how we used to live from 17th century to the 1960's was great. Top marks is for the Victorian street, Kirkgate. What a superb set up. At lot of people walked through quite quickly, but we took our time and sat on the street. The street goes through a whole 24 hour cycle in about 20 minutes. Just listening and a few times looking over our shoulders as it sounded like horses going past. Just hearing the goodnight at night to what's on at the theatre that night. The night time sounds to early morning and hustle and bustle of the day time. Just listen and it makes the journey complete. Some shops are manned by people dressed up in period clothing and selling period items. Including a period policeman. However, we both felt that towards the end, the displays run out of ideas, maybe because they had such a good start of the tour and had problem living up to it. I would recommend this to anyone, who is in York.

My husband and I really did enjoy walking around the museum. especially as we used our York Card and we got in free as we live here. the museum is a must see for all ages and is an eye opener. also takes you back. Well worth a visit.

I've been to the Castle Museum loads of times and as a York resident I am entitled to free entry with a York card which is great. The museum has loads of different sections including an indoor street with different old shops down it. There are also various interactive areas and small films to watch. Lovely staff on the reception desk too and nice little gift shop at the end.

This place is great. You wouldn't believe it was there from looking at the building. Lots of history information and original structures. Very good.

This museum is a great day out and a fabulous place to take children. It has complete imitation Victorian and Edwardian streets of shops, featuring a cobblers, pawnbrokers and old fashioned sweet shop among others. Children absolutely love this feature. I also vividly remember playing with a mangle in this museum when I was little, in other words there are features that you can interact with. As well as being fun and interesting it's also educational. It also hosts special exhibitions; at the moment there's one on the 1960s. This really is a must-see attraction in York.

Even though I live in York and can go for free I always like to go check whats been updated from time to time. Love the Victorian street and the prison downstairs. Great day out! Can spend hours in there!

I love this museum. You could actually feel the atmosphere of the old town while you walk around the castle museum. Brilliant.

Having been 'into' history all my life so very knowledgeable on the subject I would normally poo poo'd this type of exhibition leaving it fir children or adults with no knowledge BUT I have to say how impressed I was its really very very good and well worth the admission charged!

the best thing about this place is, when you pay to get in, thats you paid for a whole year, you get giving a ticket and you can as many times as you like for the next year. this place is nice for a day out with the kids, or for a school trip. i love the wee street they have, it makes you feel like your back in time, in the olding days. i was here last month, when i went down to vist my boyfriend in york, he had never been before, so it was a new experence for both of us. since you get a ticket to go back again, its great for the summer holidays for the kids, or a on a wet saturday afternoon when you dont have much money, as your ticket is already paid for. the staff are friendly and helpful, and there great in suggesting other places to visit. its a great place, pop in next time your passing, you wont be disapointed!!

If you are looking for places to visit in York the York Castle Museum is a top choice. My partner and i visited last year with our daughter (aged 14). We all really enjoyed it and there was plenty there to keep us all entertained. Our daughter does not really look forward to museums! but this one had lots of stuff going on, so she actually thought it was quite 'cool', which is a big compliment from her! Our favorite part was the Victorian St, also liked the idea of the free victorian style newspaper from the St. Rating this as a 5 too!

I cannot praise this museum highly enough. The exhibits were displayed in room and street settings which really brought the history to life, and included items from the more recent past. It was really fascinating.

The York Castle Museum is a great family day out as it encompasses everyday life through time. The recreated victorian street is wonderful, and they often have actors and activities going on in this part of the museum. It's a large museum, and does take quite some time to go through in depth. If you're going tp visit with younger children you might want to breeze through some areas and just focus on a few of the ones most interesting to them, as there really is alot to see. The museum is right next to another York favourite - Cliffords Tower. Its also very near the river ouse which has a lovely path to walk.

A beautiful building set in beautiful gardens. Not only can you visit the museum which has a variety of exhibitions all year round but you can also relax in the gardens. Its also very close to the river. Although i would say to check which exhibit is on before you visit.

Wow! Just wow. Educational and entertaining, with incredibly creative designs for all exhibits. My personal favourite was the Dinosaur Exhibit. :) Fully recommended.