Yuletide Vikings Mini-Break

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Is it just me, or does it get harder to buy gifts for each other once you have kids? We don’t really want for anything, and we barely have enough time to pursue our own hobbies anyway! What brings true happiness to us both now, is watching Bertie’s enjoyment.

So, this year, we decided our main Christmas gift to each other would be a mini-break to Leeds to visit the Yuletide Viking event held by The Royal Armouries.

There was an added complication of rail strikes this year, so we checked out all the dates for planned strike action, and worked out when we could travel around this. We booked our train tickets through the Trainline app – a return from Hull-Leeds for 2 adults (Bertie goes free!) was £24.80 which I think is a fab price – it’s always the station parking where you get stung, but Brett took care of that on the day.

Finding a suitable hotel within budget was a bit of a challenge – we needed a room for 3, family-friendly, breakfast included, easy walking distance from the train station and to the armouries, all within our £100 budget! I used Trivago to explore options. Previously, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express which is next to the armouries, but this time they didn’t have any rooms for 3. We settled on the Hampton by Hilton – I signed up to their membership scheme on the off chance we ever stay with them again – but at £92.01 for 3 in a family room with breakfast included it was a no-brainer.

Hotel and train booked. Now we just had to wait for the event!

For the first time, ever, we were up and out of the house on time. We grabbed a McDonald’s breakfast and headed to the train station.

The train was pretty busy but we managed to get a seat. Bertie loves looking out the windows on the train so he sat on Brett’s knee in the window seat asking every five minutes “where are the sheep daddy? Are they having a party?”. More and more people got on at every stop – they were standing in the aisles – and we did find ourselves in conversations with strangers, wondering whether there was any kind of “safe capacity limit”, and whether they’d stop more people getting on at any point. They didn’t!

Once in Leeds, we headed to Wetherspoons where we met my Dad for lunch. It was nice to have a bit of space to move and breathe, and the food was (as always) cheap and cheerful – there was no gravy though and Bertie was very upset he had to eat his sausages without! After lunch, we walked to the hotel, and although we were too early to check in, the very kind lady in reception showed us to a room where we could leave our bags. Feeling much lighter, we headed back into Leeds to have a wander around the shops.

As always, we went to the Lego shop. It was the busiest we’d ever seen it, and it was hard to look around so we just headed to the brick wall and had fun choosing a pick-and-mix of bricks to play with later. We visited a few of our other favourite shops and enjoyed some of the Christmas displays, before heading to Kaspas for some pudding. Having never been to Kaspas before, I had high hopes, but unfortunately, they didn’t quite live up to them. Nevertheless, we were full and content as we headed back to the hotel room.

After an easy check-in, we went up to our room and found it very spacious with a queen and a fold-out large single. The room was very clean and welcoming (can you tell we’re new to blogging? I forgot to get any photos of the room!). The only downside for us was that the toilet and roll were very low down. As a 6’2″ man and a 26-week pregnant woman, this was a little bit of a challenge for us both, but it was clean and that was the main thing.

It was, as always, a nightmare getting Bertie to sleep – he struggled with being in a new place (asking repeatedly if we could get the train home now), on top of his usual struggle to switch off and nod off. But, once he was asleep, we enjoyed some time watching all the trash TV that is inevitably on in the Christmas-New Year period, and once we were ready, we fell asleep quickly and all had a decent night’s Kip.

Breakfast the next day was decent, but nothing special. I was excited at the prospect of breakfast waffles, but they were dry and inedible. Bertie did eat 5 croissants, so he definitely made the most of it! We then gathered our things, dropped our key cards into the express checkout pot, and headed straight for the armouries. So long, hotel!

It was a pretty windy walk across Leeds to the armouries and we managed to arrive before they even opened! We hung around in the courtyard and Bertie had some fun exploring the cannons outside. We popped Bertie’s new Viking outfit and helmet on and he had lots of fun brandishing his sword and axe (similar can be found here)! We saw some of the Vikings arriving and Bertie enjoyed waving at them all and asking a million questions about them!

We then queued up outside (yes, really!) the doors and waited for the security guard to open them. We were the second group into the armouries which was a bit of a surreal feeling! We headed straight for the lockers which are a great size. They cost £1 (non-refundable) but this was well worth it to keep our overnight bags safe rather than dragging them around with us!

Despite his enthusiasm, Bertie was nervous once we were actually at the Vikings, so we took it slow and wandered around some of the galleries while he built up some confidence. We spotted a few people with painted faces so headed to investigate. There was a lovely lady offering Viking “war paint” – Bertie had never had his face painted before so we weren’t sure how it would go, but he sat incredibly still and let her use the stencil to paint a tribal-style pattern on each of his cheeks. We then spotted the axe throwing – Bertie was too young (you had to be 8) but he enjoyed watching Brett play and then had a go throwing his soft axe at the kids’ target.

These seemed to help him build up some confidence so we went to see the weaponry and Bertie listened intently to one of the Vikings tell him all about the weapons and let him hold them – this is always one of his favourite parts! The Vikings were excellent with all the children and made sure they all got to have a hands-on experience with the weapons and helmets regardless of age, ability, or (in some cases!) interest.

Watching the Viking battle is always a favourite part of the day out for all of us – a lovely blend of listening to information about the weapons and fighting styles, and demonstrations of the battles themselves. Usually, at the armouries, the reenactors hang around for a little while to chat with the audience, but the Vikings didn’t really do this. I suppose this was mitigated by the fact they hung out in the Viking village all day and so you were able to chat with them there.

The Viking village was pretty wonderful – a small section of the gallery was sectioned off and tents and tables were set up to display a range of Viking artefacts and handicrafts with Viking reenactors dotted around to explain and to demonstrate. Here Bertie spotted some of the Viking children and immediately offered them a fight. Of course, the kids obliged and Brett and I managed to rest for an hour while watching the kids run around and play together. We chatted to some of the parents (Viking reenactors) and were seriously considering joining – it’s just too far for us to travel, unfortunately.

There were a couple of meltdowns when it was time to leave, but others were leaving too which helped Bertie to understand it was time to finish. He fell asleep on the walk to the train station but woke up the minute Brett and I sat down for a Starbucks! It was a much quieter train back home, which was nice, but I do wish I’d booked for an hour earlier as it made for quite a late evening for us all and I, for one, was exhausted!

All in all, another fantastic experience for us at the Royal Armouries and with the Vikings. We’ll hopefully be seeing the latter again soon at the Viking festival in York. We then need to have a serious discussion about attending the joust at the armouries in March – Bertie would love it, but it might be too close to my due date!

Mummys highlight: watching Bertie play “vikings” with other children

Daddy’s highlight: not being kicked all night (he slept in the spare bed while Bertie and I shared the queen)

Bertie’s highlight: seeing my friends the Vikings