The Royal Armouries, Leeds, for families
The Royal Armouries in Leeds covers castles, famous battles and armoured elephants. There’s more for children to enjoy than you might expect.
Why visit the Royal Armouries in Leeds?
The Royal Armouries in Leeds is a museum about arms and armour, and hosts the UK’s national collection of arms and armour. Part of the collection is in London, housed inside the Tower of London, but the bulk of it is inside this purpose-built dockside building in Leeds.
The Royal Armouries is arguably the primary single tourist attraction in Leeds, although it is really of niche interest. Crucially, however, significant efforts have been put into making sure the Royal Armouries has appeal to a wider audience than just war nerds.
What could have been a big collection of old weapons is granted much more thoughtful presentation. The War Gallery breaks down how warfare has changed over the centuries, while there are several quirky items inside the Self Defence Gallery, including vampire-hunting kits and movie props from the Lord of the Rings films.
Visiting the Royal Armouries with children
The subject matter means the Royal Armouries is not going to be an immediately obvious hit with children. However, there’s a good chance they might surprise you by getting engrossed in a video about castle design, or wanting to know more about battlefield dioramas.
The best single artefact in the building, however, is on the fourth floor. The life-sized model of a traditional Asian battle elephant is undeniably cool.
Royal Armouries review: The best bit
You can try to persuade children that they ought to spend more time reading displays about the peaceful resolution of conflict, but chances are they’re going to be much more excited by the live conflict demos.
These conflict demonstrations take place daily at the Royal Armouries, and range from knights duelling with longswords to Romans clashing with Celts.
Infants, juniors or secondary?
The Royal Armouries isn’t a museum that particularly skews its presentation towards younger visitors, and secondary age children are more likely to be absorbed in the displays and themes.
Royal Armouries entry prices
Entry to the Royal Armouries is free, although donations are requested and there are usual charges for special exhibitions.
Prices were last checked and updated on 11 October 2024.
Full day, half day or a couple of hours?
If the children genuinely get into the exhibits at the Royal Armouries, you can probably get half a day out of the visit. It’s a big museum with a lot to see. However, the content doesn’t click with them, expect to be pestered for a visit to the café pretty soon.
Attractions near the Royal Armouries
You can combine the Royal Armouries with a visit to other nearby attractions, such as…
- Tropical World in Roundhay Park.
- Harewood House in Leeds.
- Leeds City Museum in the city centre.
Nearby cities
The Royal Armouries is in Leeds, but it’s within a 90 minute drive of other UK cities. These include Manchester, Doncaster, Sheffield, York, Bradford, Wakefield, Hull and Preston.
Is it open on Mondays?
The Royal Armouries is open Tuesday to Sunday most weeks, but opens on Monday during the school holidays and on bank holidays. If planning to go on a teacher training day that falls on a Monday, check the museum is open before showing up.
More information
For more information, visit the Royal Armouries website.
