Sorry I'm not about much at the moment... I am unwell. I should be better soon and will attempt my ...
Sorry I'm not about much at the moment... I am unwell. I should be better soon and will attempt my massive pile of alerts then. Love to all! Kat x
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** A QUICK HISTORY LESSON **
The origins of Warwick Castle date as far back as the year 914, when the daughter of Alexander the Great ordered the building of an earthen rampart to protect the hilltop town of Warwick from the invading Danish.
It has been visited by the like of Queen Elizabeth I, King William III and Queen Victoria to name but a few.
** WHERE **
Warwick Castle is located in (funnily enough) Warwickshire, in the picturesque town of Warwick. My other half did actually check that this was so as he said he knew that sometimes places (like Leeds Castle) are not where you might assume they should be.
I would advise that you use a route planner to find them as I can never follow directions very well and my geography is rubbish, at least with websites like www.routemap.com or www.theaa.co.uk you get a map along with your instructions.
Or why not use a satellite navigation thingy if you have one, which is how we got there… I was very impressed by this little device and kept getting excited whenever it told us to do anything (I'm easily pleased).
Even funnier was my granny arguing with the very English lady: "No we will not turn left. We shall do as we please."
Anyway, the postcode to input into either of these doodahs is CV34 4QU, or the street name is Castle Lane or Stratford Road depending on which car park you wish to use.
** WHEN **
The castle is open to the public every day, except for Christmas day. The hours are 10am until 5pm between January and March, and between October and December. You can stay an extra hour until 6pm from April to September.
We visited in May, and didn't find it overly busy, but I should imagine that it is quieter in the colder, off-peak months. I would avoid school holidays and bank holidays if you don't want to be surrounded by other sightseers.
** HOW MUCH **
These are actually a bit complicated as there are three different price bands in total - off-peak, standard and peak prices. I've included some prices here to give you an idea, you can find a more comprehensive guide on the website (www.warwick-castle.co.uk), which includes school and group rates.
The least expensive time of year to visit is the off-peak late Autumn and Winter months - from 30th October until the 7th January. An adult will pay £13.95, a student £10.75, senior £9.95, and a child would be £8.95. The family ticket is £38.00 for two adults and two children.
Most expensive is the peak Summer months - between the 22nd July and the 3rd September. You can expect to pay £17.95 for an adult, £12.95 for students and seniors and £10.95 for a child. The family tickets jumps up to a whopping £48.00 for the typical family of four.
Parking is not free either. The premium parking, which is right next to the admissions area costs £5.00 per car. The prices come down the further you have to walk, but you can still expect to pay at least £3.00 to park up.
Our day did cost considerably less that it should have as we took advantage of an internet voucher which we printed out (check www.warwick-castle.co.uk and have pop-ups allowed) where two of us got admission for £10 with a cream tea. We also used a pay one admission get one free, which I believe my mum got when she spent a certain amount in Wilkinsons. It is worth having a look about to see if you can find any vouchers as we saved £17.85 in total (and got some yummy
scones which should have cost us at least a tenner too)… paying a cool £34.95 for an adult, senior, student and child with parking. We also got eight £5 off vouchers on the back of each ticket (four admissions tickets, two cream tea tickets and two ghost tower tickets) for use at places like Madame Tussauds, Thorpe Park, and Alton Towers. Ooh! Hang on… I have found another four £5.00 off tickets cunningly concealed in our two free map/guidebooks which we received along with our admission tickets - that's a total of twelve altogether, or £60 off.
** PARKING **
We parked in the Woodland Carpark and this cost us three pounds, which was taken by a man who then directed us to a numbered booth, some of which are closer than others to the entrance. Then we had about a ten minute walk to the castle on which both me and my sister kept ourselves amused (and drove my mum mad) by quoting the worm in Labyrinth over and over. You know, the one that says: "If she had gone that way she'd have gone straight to the castle".
Actually, the walk was quite pleasant as there were lots of lovely trees and plants, with benches every so often should you need a rest before getting to the castle.
There are three other car parks, one is about a five minute walk and another a fifteen minute walk, and the aforementioned premium parking which is right next to the admissions area.
Coaches and minibuses with more than twelve seats (and obviously occupants) park for free and motorbikes can either park for free in the Stratford Road car park, or pay £5.00 to use the premium parking. Privilege Pass or TussaudsAnnual Pass holders can park for free (on production of valid pass) in the Stratford Road car park.
** EATING AND DRINKING **
There are two main restaurants - the Undercroft where we ate (see picture) and the Coach House Family Restaurant. There are also several stands dotted about the castle grounds where you can buy food and drinks.
Prices are quite high. Drinks are about £1.25 and up each, snacks like hotdogs start at about £3.00 and meals are just under £7.00 each. I have included a (bad) picture of one of the menu boards which will give you a basic idea of what is on offer and how much it costs.
Our cream tea offer was a great find, although the butter, jam and clotted cream were all from packets and the tea (or coffee if you prefer) was from a dispenser. I certainly enjoyed mine as it was my first scone with clotted cream and it was yummy.
The quality of the food was mediocre. Just the usual roast dinner, baked potatoes and deep fried offerings that take no real skill in the kitchen to make. My sister had some anaemic sausages in onion gravy with a big Yorkshire pudding, soggy roast potatoes which tasted of broccoli, and some broccoli which was a bit overcooked.
The Undercroft did serve some beer and wine also, for the grown ups amongst us.
My personal advice would be to take a picnic and your own drinks with you and save your money for souvenirs. We spent a massive thirty pounds over the whole day on basic drinks (several drinks), snacks (a hotdog and a packet of crisps) and one meal, I'd hate to imagine how much we would have spent had we all been hungry, and especially considering the near ten pound saving we made on the cream teas. We would have save a lot of money if we had brought our own.
** THE ATTRACTIONS **
There was absolutely loads to do at Warwick Castle. You certainly need a whole day if you want to have a look at everything.
You enter and exit at the Stables where you can turn right to find the Peacock Garden and the Conservatory, or left to go "straight to the castle" (he he he).
As you approach the Gatehouse and Barbican on the right you can go straight on down some steep stairs to the Mill & Engine House, which is fully functional and has some lovely river views (see picture) or turn left to go into the Victorian Rose Garden, which was unfortunately not in flower when we had a look although there is a lovely rockery and a pond with some large Koi carp and a waterfall.
We climbed some spiral steps at the Gatehouse, which were very steep and claustrophobically enclosed, and had a look about some of the rooms. You then come out on some ramparts which I found very high up and scary and you can cross to Caesar's Tower. A word of warning is that once you climb it is a one-way trip, so make sure you don't freak out at the heights as you will be stuck and will have to climb it anyway (like me) and I would advise you make sure that any children are supervised. Also, it is more advisable to start at the entrance to the ramparts walk by Clarence Tower and to do the whole walk including Guy's Tower, the Gatehouse and Caesars Tower as it is all one-way and you can't go backwards if you have missed the beginning (like we did). I am told that the views from all the towers was fantastic, but I was too scared to have a look myself - I was standing in the middle of each tower, sweating profusely and having heart palpitations, wondering how on earth people used to run about and fight battles off of these things.
When we finally got down and back to Granny (who is not steady enough on her feet to climb) we decided to have a look at the Dungeon and Torture Chamber, which was nice and flat with lots of displays to look at. I found the swords of particular interest, especially the old Scottish ones and was excited to find a plaster cast of Oliver Cromwell's death mask. There is also armour, old pistols and other weapons to look at. There is also a gift shop here.
Next we did the Kingmaker walk, which went down some steps and went through a number of rooms with topical scenes as you travelled through, from a blacksmith with a full sized horse to a fletcher making arrows to a lady embroidering. The dummies were quite realistic, which I found a bit disconcerting as I kept expecting them to jump out at me, and the attention to detail with the props made it really easy to believe that you had been transported back in time. There are also sounds and music playing, which is a bit loud a times. Be aware that there are some steps as you go through this walk and the lighting can be a bit dim at times, so make sure you keep an eye on young children or elderly members of your group. This is a good one for the kids as there is lots to look at and see.
At the other end you come out in a corridor where you will find the Undercroft restaurant and some toilets, with a basic baby changing room should you need it (see picture). It was lunchtime when we arrived here so the queue to get food was quite long and it took us about twenty minutes to get our food and be seated. The décor in the dining area kept with the rest of the castle with medieval bunting and some impressive cartwheel chandeliers. I did have a bit of a problem with the highchairs that they provided in that they were only really suitable for older children as they had no backrests, padding or five-point harnesses. After my meal I took a quick trip to the toilets which were clean and well stocked with
Next stop was the Ghost Tower, which cost me and my little sister £2.50 each and was a pleasant, if a bit terrifying, experience. See more detail below.
Me and my mum then checked out the Mound, which is one of the oldest parts of the castle. It is a reasonably steep climb along a zigzag path with some lovely scented bushes and flowers. At the top there is a flat area which is lovely for viewing the surrounding countryside. We got some lovely pictures from here of the boathouse and river, and of the town of Warwick too. We could also see the trebuchet, which was unfortunately not working at the time of our visit. This is supposed to be shooting twice daily until the 29th October and is a huge 18 meters high, weighs in at 22 tonnes and can shoot missiles for up to 300 meters… it is the worlds biggest working siege machine.
Coming down, we decided to get the big climb out of the way and do Guy's Tower, which stands at a huge 39 meters (five storeys) high. To get up and down this behemoth you will have to climb over five hundred steps, many of them up a spiral staircase, which can be dark and sometimes a bit uneven. There is a warning about this climb before you embark, and I wish that I had listened to be honest as it was taxing and I suffered (I have a problem with my hips and pelvis) in the following days. I likened the first staircase to half an hour on the step machine in the gym. Again I was told the view from the top was stunning, but I just couldn't bring myself to find out and was glad when we started the descent down another steep spiral staircase.
After another short rest, we took in the Chapel, Great Hall and State rooms, which were filled with interesting artefacts, stunning artwork and intricate furniture. Again there were dummies wearing the typical garb of the period of each room. I particularly enjoyed some of the carvings in the chapel, as well as the stunning stained glass windows. The crystal chandeliers in the state rooms and the wood and gilt (I think, that's what it looked like to me) chandelier in the Great Hall were beautiful. We spent a good hour and a half looking at everything, and I got a real fright at one point when the alarms went off when a child overstepped a boundary rope as I though it was a fire alarm (silly me!).
Then we went through the Royal Weekend Party, which was a similar experience and had plenty to look at. Everything has been recreated from photographs of the event and is an interesting look into what Victorian life was like. This took us another forty-five minutes.
With that done, we had seen most of what the castle had to offer, so we decided to go out an have a look at the gardens. We didn't have very long left as it was nearing five o'clock by this point, so we took the short walk to the Peacock Garden which was a lovely symmetrical garden simply bursting at the seams with peacocks and peahens. The males weren't shy and delighted us with opening their stunning tails and posing for our pictures. We had a seat in front of the Conservatory and gazed out on the lawns and the river further out. It really was a lovely end to a lovely day.
** THE STAFF **
I do have to give a special mention to the staff who were courteous and helpful at all times. Whenever I was served I was always asked if I was enjoying my day, which was a really nice touch!
The actors from the Ghosts Alive tour were fantastic, and when they walked through the grounds (on their way for a break I presume) they kept in character.
The show that I caught out the front of the castle was well put together and the actors were funny and articulate without sounding like they were reading from a script too much, and most importantly were loud enough to be heard without having to shout.
There were several actors in costume dotted about the castle, I watched a particularly good musician playing a medieval flute/recorder which really set the right atmosphere and kept me amused while I stood in line to be admitted. He answered questions and gave people little titbits of information about his role.
My only bad experience was in the Peacock Gardens, where an awful child was allowed/ignored by two younger members of staff to chase a bird, aim a kick at its tail and then throw several stones at it after a member of the public told him off for trying to hurt it. My own mother then had several loud words with "Claudio's" mother who also allowed/ignored this terrible behaviour. I really feel the staff should have intervened for the welfare of the poor animal, and was absolutely disgusted by the mother's lack of discipline.
** FURTHER INFORMATION **
There is a Haunted Tower which you can visit for £2.50 per person for the Warwick Ghosts - Alive experience. I won't give too much away, but expect to be scared and to climb up and down some stairs in the dark. I held onto my sisters hand the whole way through whimpering like a big baby. I wouldn't advise this for very young children, anyone affected by strobe lighting or any one with a heart condition or who is pregnant. It was a short, but sweet experience which I am glad we paid that extra for, especially considering the £5 off voucher we got for our next day out on the back.
A one hour audio tour is available. You will need a valid credit card as they will use this to cover a £50 deposit for the audio tour unit, nothing will be taken from your account unless this is not returned. It is available for £3.50 in English, Spanish, German, French and Japanese. You can also get a souvenir guidebook for £3.95, which is available in the languages above and in Italian.
All indoor areas are non-smoking, much to my granny's dismay (and to the rest of ours delight).
You are also not allowed to eat or drink within the attractions, which I can understand as there was a lot of litter poked into nooks in the wall or thrown over the side onto hard-to-reach rooftops. I was truly disgusted by this behaviour as I cannot understand the lack of respect - this is a castle that is hundreds of years old and people are scratching graffiti into the stone walls and are throwing rubbish down instead of using some of the many, many bins provided.
There are plenty of benches and seating area throughout the grounds, perfect for the older visitor and for me with my pelvic/hip problems.
** SPECIAL NEEDS **
Unfortunately I would say that much of the castle is off limits to those in wheelchairs as there are an awful lot of steps. Those in wheelchairs get free admission to the castle because of this and you would still be able to explore much of the castle grounds as there are tarmac paths throughout, and you can still get into the castle courtyard. This also goes for those with buggies and small babies as well, although free admission is sadly not included.
I did notice some special lifts in The Mill & Engine House also, and there are plenty of outdoor events like the Birds of Prey and Fighting Knights to keep you entertained.
Disabled facilities/access can be found at the restaurant called the Coach House, the Armoury and Stables gift shops and toilets at the Stables Courtyard and the Conservatory. There are free wheelchairs available on request but you are advised to book them in advance. Parking can be found at the main car parks, however there are no cost discounts available.
** CONCLUSION **
I would definitely recommend Warwick Castle as a day out for the family. It might be a bit awkward with very young children and with older people as they will not be able to go everywhere with you, so make sure you have someone willing to miss out and baby sit. There is so much to see that it certainly fills you day up, and you may even find it warrants a second visit.
Four stars out of five.
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Advantages: Nice scenery on a sunny day, plenty of picnic areas & easy to get to Disadvantages: Too expensive, you have to pay cash for everything & the entertainment is poor
gemax2 16.06.2009 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Warwick Castle
Advantages: Beautiful grounds, lots to see outside, a very popular 'must go to' tourist attraction Disadvantages: Can get extremely busy, expensive tickets (dungeon is additional)
gothic_moon 06.09.2009 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Warwick Castle
Advantages: Nice scenery on a sunny day, plenty of picnic areas & easy to get to Disadvantages: Too expensive, you have to pay cash for everything & the entertainment is poor
gemax2 16.06.2009 ·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Warwick Castle
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