Royal Armouries

This was one of the most amazing museums we visited in England! Leeds is a gem and this unique museum sure takes the cake! I realized not a lot of people use Yelp in that country, but I'm glad I have a place to review this place.

There are so many artifacts and displays in this museum! I love the swords hanging from the ceiling near the stairs. The entrance and the gift shop are so good. We were bummed we couldn't bring a bunch of wooden swords home, because they wouldn't of let us bring ''weapons'' on the plane.

One of my favorite events here was the live demonstration of sword fighting! The man and woman really entertained us and explained everything in their performace/show. Such a great place. I cannot express how cool this entire place was, there were many shows and events going on. Loved the different exhibits of other cultures as well.

Definitely check out this museum if visiting Leeds. Tickets are even free. Free activities happen throughout the day too. Since shows can take place outside of the museum, wristbands are handed to permit re-entry. We attended two events. I highly recommend the horse show, which happened at 12 PM and 3 PM.

-----
[11:15 AM] Japanese Samurai Demo at Floor 4, Oriental Gallery, Dojo
Learn how the legendary Japanese Samurai "fast draw" sword attack was developed.
-----
[12:00 PM] Horse Show: Elizabethan Riding Skills at Outside, Tiltyard
Watch as some of our experienced riders display their skills in sword cutting and archery as they prepare for the hunt.

The horse stables are open for thirty minutes following the show to allow visitors to meet the horses, ask questions, or take pictures.
-----

As for the museum itself, there are five floors, but a couple of them function as viewing galleries for people to view from above when seats are filled for a demo. Exhibitions primarily occupy two floors with a good range of armory and historical categories. My brother's only sadness was that the glass was not anti-reflective, making it difficult to take clear photos.

We stayed for roughly two hours. There was a number of folks on a Friday, but the museum is spacious enough that it never felt crowded. Guest Wi-Fi is available.

A real jewel of a museum. I really didn't think there would be much to interest me here as I'm not really into weapons and killing but it was so much more. Full of history and fascinating incites into how weapons and war developed which allows us to address how they can be avoided too.
Even my young niece enjoyed her visit.

A great free museum with a lot of weapons and armours from all ages.

A mixture of live events plus a variety of exhibitions

I have spent hella time in Leeds Royal Armouries for many different purposes.

I love history, I love military history, I love wearable history- and this is all of them.
I've been here as a normal visitor, I've spent days at a time here sketching for my degree, eaten at the cafe here, fought in tournaments here, and eaten at lovely gala dinners here- it is a cracking setting for them.

If you can, organise a behind the scenes tour of some of the things that aren't on show- prepare to wear some white gloves and be amazed. I've done a couple, and both were excellent, with some true treasures of artefacts.

The lion suit is of course a must see, and the elephant. Henry VIII suit nasa looked at for spacesuits, things Vivienne Westwood studied when she used to sketch things, and things that have clearly inspired things like costume design on GOT.
I can, however, give you a full list of my favourites on every floor- you need to really have a look round and check the detail on things- it's worth really spending some time in here.

Although the gala food here is rather good, the cafe is pretty basic- I'd recommend a picnic, or going somewhere in the centre for lunch/dinner.

Lovely museum. I was visiting a friend in Leeds and it was somewhere she had always wanted to visit, so we went along. Entry is free, which is always a bonus. The museum is quite large. My favorite part was seeing all the weapons that were on display in the Hall of Steel and the section looking at different cultures and their weapons in the oriental gallery. There was also an interesting section on the police, which I really enjoyed.

I was impressed to find that the museum has activities that take place throughout the day, including jousting in the tournament gallery and I discovered that a jousting league exists and there are competitions outdoors at various locations around the country in the summer months! I would be interested in learning more about that! Definitely an interesting place to visit and a good rainy day activity.

On a windy Sunday with no desire to go shopping, the Royal Armouries was our destination of choice.

To be honest, we actually started our visit with a trip to the cafe - ever thinking about our stomachs before culture! But who can really soak in facts about swords on an empty stomach? The food is simple, paninis and the like, with staff who probably would rather be anywhere else, but cheap (especially considering how expensive some museum/gallery cafes can be).

We went to the top of the museum and worked our way down via the stairs, and I think we actually missed some floors out. These stairs are far too confusing - but look up/down and they have an amazing display of armour, so worth using.

The displays, as Kaleigh P. mentions, were largely quite tired and overused; a pair of armoured gloves, for example, were completely worn down and unusable. Exhibitions were interesting, including one about the swords of Middle Earth, which the other half loved.

A good hour or so spent out of the cold, but a bit of TLC needed.

This museum was right across the street and Ibhad delayed seeing it but when I walked in... and explored a couple of levels I was left in awe. There is an excellent collection of arms and vests and even the modern day warfare materials.

The museum has 6 levels I guess and there are various exhibits to keep you busy for hours

The reviews of residents of the UK will likely provide more detailed accounting of the coolness that is the Royal Armouries, I want to draw your attention to the seminar offerings being made available to the public.

Covering a variety of topics to broaden and deepen your understanding of the collection and its relevance, the seminars (some of which, at least, take place after hours) provide a rare opportunity to hear from the Armouries' subject matter experts.

I was fortunate to be able to coordinate my travel to Leeds to sync up with an excellent presentation given by Thom Richardson (Keeper of European Armour and Oriental Collections) discussing Japanese gift armours as part of the 400th Anniversary of British-Japanese Relations. I'm literally still talking about the evening three months after the fact... Go a little further on your next visit and come away with much more!