Family Day Out : Royal Armouries Museum Reviews in Leeds

We visited Leeds and here’s our Royal Armouries Museum Reviews!

We headed to Leeds a few weeks ago for a family weekend away and stayed overnight at Leeds Marriott Hotel. Surprisingly, Leeds is a fabulous place to head to for  singles on a night out, couples on a weekend away trip or families wanting a short city break.  Whilst we were in Leeds we decided to head to the Royal Armouries Museum which is located just 10 minutes walking distance from our hotel.

This is a Free museum and the Royal Armouries Museum is the custodian of the national collection of arms and armour, national artillery collection as well as national firearms collection. The museum is also interactive with daily live shows and demonstrations hence great for children or teens.

Keep on reading to find out more about the museum and what we did there.

Here’s our Royal Armouries Museum Reviews

The Royal Armouries have three sites, the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, White Tower in the Tower of London and Fort Nelson, Fareham near Portsmouth.  The museum is housed in a modern building which which is easily accessible on foot or car with parking facilities close by.  The ground floor of the museum houses the main entrance, reception, a café, a gift shop and the hall of steel.

Each floor above houses different galleries such as the War Gallery, Asia & Africa Gallery, Self Defence Gallery , Re:Loaded Exhibition and Former Hunting Gallery amongst others.  We easily spent a couple of hours in the museum and really enjoyed looking at the various galleries and armouries on display.

The museum also does host free combat demonstrations as well as live daily shows a few times a day where visitors are able to handle objects and ask questions about the arms and armour.  The team will also share true stories behind their collection objects and bring to life the true stories to amuse and audience. We had the opportunity to watch a live demo of the swords and war garments and it was wonderful to see the war garments worn during the different time periods.  I would recommend checking about the live show schedules when you arrive at the Museum, so you can plan your tour around the live show.

Do note that some objects which are on display are not allowed to be touched as they do not want any transfer of dirt or oils which can cause damage to the item.  There signages indicated next to the display to let you know if these can be held.

The museum tries to make their collection as accessible as possible and there are regular object handling sessions with both historical and modern replica objects in the galleries.  Some sections of the museum are also interactive hence great to keep the attention of younger children/teens. My teen daughter, was totally fascinated by the fact that the museum provided gallery stools for people to sit on if they are tired and decided to use one during the visit, much to the amusement of her younger brother.

Café/Picnic

There is a café, called The Masters, located on the ground floor next to the Museum entrance and this is open 8 am to 5 pm on a Tuesday to Sunday. The café has both an indoor and outdoor seating overlooking the canal.

The Masters serves hot drinks, light bites and tasty treats, including gluten free and vegan options and a special children’s menu. The café is open to non visitors as well as visitors to the Museum and only accepts card payments.  Alternatively, visitors are allowed to being a picnic to enjoy either outside, at the Armouries Square or in their indoor picnic area on the 4th floor. Do note, visitors are not allowed to eat or drink in the galleries to avoid any damage to the collection.

FAQ

• This is a Free Museum, donations are welcomed
• You can familiarise yourself with the museum before your visit via their 3D Virtual Tour
• They have toilets on the first, second and fourth floors and a gender neutral toilet on the fourth floor as well as baby changing facilities
• Lockers are available on the ground floor that require a £1 coin to operate them, which is non-refundable. There are 25 lockers in total, four lockers sized 90 cm x 40 cm and 21 lockers sized 60 cm x 30 cm.
• Assistance dogs are welcome in the Museum. There’s lots of space outside the museum for them to take a walk and toilet, and they’ll happily provide a bowl of water to drink in their café. Pet animals are not permitted.
• Visitors are welcome to take photographs and record video of the collection but you may only use what you create for your own personal use, and not for any business or commercial or promotional purposes

Where is Royal Armouries Museum

The Museum is located at Leeds Dock and can be accessed by water taxi from Leeds Train Station as well as by bus and train.  We stayed at Marriott Hotel, and it was a 15 minute walk from there, alternatively you could park at a car park operated by CitiPark on Armouries Drive, next to the Museum.

Armouries Drive
Leeds
United Kingdom
0113 220 1999 / enquiries@armouries.org.uk

What Are their Opening Times?

Closed on Monday
Open Tue to Sunday from 10am to 5pm (during school holidays and Bank holidays as well). It is recommended for you to book your Free tickets online, but we did not, and were still allowed entry. It is quieter after 2pm or on weekdays.

How much is their entry fee?

Entry into the museum is Free (donations welcomed).  All galleries, daily live shows, and combat demonstrations are also free. Charges may apply for special events and exhibitions.

The Escape Room is open at weekends and school holidays and is suitable for ages 8+. Tickets start from £10, and family tickets are available.

About Royal Armouries Museum

The Royal Armouries are custodians of the United Kingdom’s national collection of arms and armour, comprising the national collection of arms and armour, national artillery collection, and national firearms collection. It is one of the largest collections of historic arms and armour in the world.  They are also the keeper of Tower of London history. They have three sites, the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, White Tower in the Tower of London, and Fort Nelson, Fareham near Portsmouth.

In 1990, after two years of preliminary research and deliberation, the decision was taken to establish a new museum in the north of England to house the bulk of our collection. The concept of the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds had been born. The museum in Leeds, West Yorkshire was built using the best of traditional museum design and was developed to show their collection in relation to the real world in which we live.  Their collection isn’t a closed one, but is ever growing. Through public monies they continue to collect and safeguard the nation’s heritage for future generations to enjoy and to learn from.

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Photo Copyright: Royal Armouries Museum