We live quite near to WarwickCastle and for years have been picking up these 2 for 1 voucher but have never put them to good use. This year my boyfriend and me have been venturing out on a few day trips and decided last Saturday, as the weather was to be good we would go to Warwick Castle.
HOW TO GET THERE We live in Leicestershire so we used the M1 and M69 I think the most direct route is if you use the M40 and depart at junction 15 which brings you around 2 miles away. Warwick Castle is quite well sign posted. You will know when your getting near as there is quite a lot of traffic. You drive through some really nice areas with some lovely looking shops its all very much like Stratford Upon Avon, which is also very nearby. The route to the castle once you get into Warwick is easy but if you do use a sat nav the postcode to use is CV34 4QU. If you are coming from further a field the nearest airport is Birmingham and if you just don’t fancy driving the nearest train station is Warwick, which in all honesty I would have preferred to have done, then we perhaps could have spent some time in the pretty town centre.
PARKING UP We took a look on the website the night before we went to Warwick Castle and found there to be 4 car parks 3 of which were £3.50 and 1 being £6.00. We had decided to go for the £3.50 car park before we even got there but once we were driving around we had no idea which were the cheap car parks and which were the £6.00 ones but after entering the park it became very obvious which was the £6.00 car park. On our approach to the castle we saw a big sign saying Warwick castle which was just off Castle Lane with a large opening but it didn’t look like people were driving through it so we just followed the line of traffic going past and down driving further and further away which started to worry me as I thought we would have to walk all the way back to get in. Eventually we saw another big sign identical to the one before but now off Strafford Road but this time lots of cars were driving through and as soon as we saw a car parking attendant we were glad and just parked where ever he told us to which was basically a field with cars parked strategically so everyone could get out whenever they wanted. We then walked around 10 minutes to the front entrance passed other cars which were parked a but closer in the other car parks it turned out ours was the furthest away but you wouldn’t have known it felt like a 2 minute walk on the way back and the walk was nice because it was shady due to all the trees which would have also been good in the rain as it would have shielded you a lot. Once at the entrance there are some paying machines where you buy your £3.50 token either at the start of your day or at the end. We then realised the £6.00 car park was the entrance we by passed and was right outside of the entrance no walking anywhere so was probably worth the extra if you were leaving late because you would
have got home quicker. The names of the car parks were - The Stables car park, which was £6.00 - Stratford Road car park, which was £3.50 but the closest at the back still a 5 minute walk - Woodland car park the middle car park £3.50 - The car park we finally parked in was called Field Car Park also £3.50 but the furthest away.
ADMISSION Once we got to the admissions area you could tell straight away Warwick Castle was fully geared up to make money just to get to the admission area you pass 4 vending machines carrying drinks priced at £1.50 a bottle. You then pass the car parking machines priced at £3.50 the £6.00 car park was pay and display and then you were faced with a gift shop and a restaurant all before you have even paid to get in. We were on a 2 for 1 voucher and by the look of it everyone else was too which was a good job as otherwise the day out would have been painfully expensive and verging on bankruptcy for families! The admission fees were Adult £17.95 Child (4 to 16) £10.00 Senior (60+) £11.95 Student £14.95 Disabled and carer £8.95
There is also a dungeon on site, which is for over 10’s as it is advertised as so scary but the only thing that seemed to scare people off was the fact you have to pay a further £7.50 if you wish to enter! I do believe if you book beforehand over the internet you get a whopping 10% off but you also have to pay a £1.50 booking fee for the party which I find an insult advertise a reduction and then take it away with a booking fee. You cant prebook if you are on a 2 for 1 offer and the dungeon is only limited availability but once you get there hardly anyone is paying extra because in all honesty it’s a rip off.
WARWICK CASTLE Once you are through the entrance you are met with the children’s play area and then a 2 minute walk up hill past a few tents and pretend fires set up to look like people are living there like the old days and you are then in the throws of it all. As soon as your in the main area it doesn’t look very big there is a large grass area in front of you that your not allowed to sit on as I assume they use it now and again for entertainment you are the surrounded by the walls of the castle and to your left you have the entrance to the Dungeons and a little further round the gift shop and restaurant. Everything is built in together to give the feeling you are in a fort type surrounding. The food stalls are dotted around this area too. You then walk round and there is a large opening saying picnic area, which you walk through, and there is another massive grass area where you can sit and eat or watch some entertainment. If you follow round to your left you fill find the idyllic river area where there were only a few people lazing by the water and grabbing ice creams. If you crossed over the water via the bridge you could see lots of little and big fish swimming by which was nice. You are then walking by another display of tents and pretend fires this time a couple of men were there dressed up in medieval costumes talking to passers by but it wasn’t very exciting.
PAEGENT PLAYGROUND This is the main area for the kids and I think once you get them in there it would be very hard to get them out it’s a nice area with picnic spots and lots of things for the kids to do like slides, swings, rope swings, climbing walls, tubes to crawl through, high level walkways and ramps it looks great fun especially compared to what’s on offer in the actual castle I think they should bring in one of these play areas for the adults!
THE DUNGEONS Now the Dungeons was probably the highlight of our day it was good fun you are given a time allocation when to turn up to the Dungeons once you have purchased your tickets we got 1pm and considering we got there at 12:40pm it was quite convenient. Outside there was a ghoulish looking man with a bright white face with blood dripping down staring at everyone that passed by which I found really scary. You are then led through different rooms in the dark, over quite narrow steps and low ceilings which I know you cant help as the buildings are all dating back over thousand years. Everyone is then led to the first room by the scary man and then a visitor is asked to close the door behind each room and another to lead the other visitors round nice! Each rooms is done up brilliantly with cob webs, ghoulish sound affects, lots of blood splatters, lifelike dummies lying around groaning and moaning, vile smells and just a general eerie feeling. Each room has an actor in shouting at everyone and adding to the scariness. There were around 5 rooms to my memory they were all fitted out with different scenes you would expect to see in an old dungeon. All the rooms were very much what you made them audience participation is a must so if you don’t like being picked out to look silly I wouldn’t bother or stay well to the back shadows. I thought the dungeons were really good and would be very scary at night because you can book to go at night and apparently they are haunted.
INSIDE THE CASTLE The castle outside and inside was beautiful but is very deceiving it looks from the outside like there are lots of different areas to go into and lots to see but once your in and have walked round you realise when you come out you have in fact been round the whole thing. The first area we approached after the dungeons was the Bear Tower. Clarence Tower and Guys Tower this was literally 520 steps, which are not too difficult to climb but in parts very steep and others very narrow. A lot of people were struggling or out of breath and it does say if you struggle with walking don’t go in people still do and believe me they wish they hadn’t a woman in front of me nearly passed out she was that out of breath and I heard another woman worrying as she didn’t have her inhaler with her. Once you got to the top of the Towers though WOW the view was amazing I found it truly breathtaking you don’t realise how high you have actually gone but you can see for miles around and everywhere is lovely and green. There were a lot of people enjoying the views and taking in the natural scenery, which was nice for a change.
When we finally got down we entered into the castle via the Royal Weekend Party area which was very grand the interior is absolutely exquisite and it makes you wish you were born all those years ago but then you realise the sort of people that lived here and you soon know you wouldn’t have been experiencing this type of living at all. The year this area is from was 1898 and is decorated from photos they have so everything is more or less how it would have been. You have waxworks of Daisy Countess of Warwick and guests like Edward V11. Surrounded by the party rooms you see bedrooms and parlours of Daisy with her maids and her beautiful gowns each room comes to life there is a bathroom with a lady bending over the bath with the sound of running water its really enchanting if you read the placards next to each room you really feel apart of the room and it surprising to see how lavish everything is.
After the pretty and quote girlie rooms you wander through the Great Hall and State rooms and chapel which are a lot more masculine with dark garish rooms but have equal magic about them. It makes it even more eerie when you realise there was a fire that ripped through this part of the castle and it has been rebuilt and restored due to fire but you would never have known everything is so original looking with all the precious artefacts you would be forgiven for thinking someone in the 14th century had just walked out and all had remained the same.
SIDE SHOW ENTERTAINMENT This is for me the biggest let down of the day the side shows were rubbish apart from a few of them not being on by 2pm so I doubt anything was going to happen with them, by these I mean the areas dotted around set up with tents and bow and arrows etc. The main show that was on was near the lake and was a man showing birds like big eagles getting them to fly away and come back a lot of people were watching but I’m sorry this is an old thing now and once you’ve seen one massive bird you have seen them all. Where are the jousting, archery and battles going on? I was disappointed to say the least I felt really let down because I felt that you go to a place like this to see some good entertainment but I feel I had more fun on my local park watching a tug of war on mayday for free!
FOOD AND REFRESHMENTS As soon as you arrive your met with The Coach House restaurant which has outdoor and indoor seating areas and is mainly geared for the breakfast crowd and from where I was stood they were certainly getting it the prices seemed ok so people were probably getting their fill before having to fork out on something more expensive. They were serving up breakfast rolls priced at £3.95, tea for £1.60, coffee for £2.50, homemade scones for £2.50 and muffins for £1.50. If you wanted to dine for lunch you could get a basic fish and chips for £7.25, sausage and mash for £6.95, gammon in ciabatta with chips for £5.95 and pasta for £6.95. The children’s selection was pretty much the same but all charged at £4.25. The restaurant seemed nice enough but probably not big enough as people were stood around outside eating without tables which didn’t look comfortable. Once you have ventured beyond the entrance gates there isn’t much choice of food and I would recommend bringing a picnic. My boyfriend ate off a nice smelling burger stand at a cost of £4.25 for a burger or £4.95 for a burger and a bottle of coke. I personally ate a small barely cooked jacket potato with a teaspoon full of baked beans for the same price. There was also a stand selling hotdogs under the same price bracket. The service was verging on painful at each stand all the staff seemed to be on a go slow at 1pm on a Saturday afternoon which seemed mad it took 15minutes to get served my jacket potato and throughout that time there had been 2 people in front of me. The queues for food were not big and most people seemed to have catered for themselves so I assume they have been before! If you don’t feel like fast food you can dine at the Undercroft which is also where the toilets and cash point is situated so it always looks busy but actually isn’t. We didn’t venture in but could see in when on the way to the cash point. The restaurant is a British carvery theme and is priced at £7.95 for adults and £5.95 for children. The system in which you collect your food is like when in a department store everything on hot plates and everyone forming an orderly queue with a till at the end. The smell did it for me pure school dinners I am sure it would have been fine but we didn’t bother.
If you are after snacks or refreshments you need to walk round to the river area where you can purchase carte d’orice cream, waffles and crepes which all smell divine. There is also an ice cream stand positioned at the front just after the entrance which serve calippos for £1.60, twisters for £1.40 and Solero’s for £2.00 just to name a few.
OVERALL THOUGHTS The overall day out was ok not my idea of brilliant because I felt there wasn’t enough to do or look at for a whole day around 3 hours yes and they do advise to allow 4 hours for the experience so they are giving you what they tell you but for the amount of money spent on admission you would expect a little more. My main annoyance with the place is as I have said all along the cost of things and I believe once you pay an admission price that should be it not extras for other attractions. The cost of food was also very expensive and everything has to be paid for by cash besides souvenirs in the gift shop. If you haven’t bought cash along which most people don’t these days you could of course use the onsite cash machine for free if you’re an Alliance and Leicester customer but to every other tom, dick and harry £1.75 which I think is an utter disgrace. To me visiting Warwick Castle is very similar to visiting somewhere such as Bradgate Park, which is totally free of charge, and the ice creams don’t cost half as much! I have to admit before I went to Warwick Castle I knew nothing about the history or the significance it all had on the displays and I have to say I am still none the wiser. I was really disappointed with the lack of information. When you are going round the castle you are able to read snippets on what each room represents and who the people were that lived there and you could buy little tape recorders that you could carry round with you listening to the history but if you didn’t do this and couldn’t see the plaques you really wouldn’t know anything which is no good if you’re a child because there just not interested in reading I was hoping there would be more interaction with actors and people telling stories but there was none of this the best info I got was from the internet after the day out which I found annoying especially as apparently in the Dungeon there was a scene from Henry eighth with all his wives heads on sticks which I can vaguely remember but didn’t know it was all about that maybe I am just thick but I would have preferred some sort of tour for the extra £7.50 I was paying not just a few actors pretending to cut peoples heads off.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
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 ·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Warwick Castle
Jun 16th, 2009
exceptional by (36%):
very helpful by (64%):
