A few weeks back my lovely fiancé treated me for my birthday to a much needed weekend away to the Cotswolds. We did this a few years back when we went to visit Diddly Squat farm after watching Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon Prime.
This year we didn’t get to enjoy the delights of Diddly Squat but we did however had a wonderful time in one of the most prettiest parts of the UK, exploring around Stratford Upon Avon and of course what the topic of this post is.
The plan the last time we came to Warwickshire was to visit the castle but sadly we had simply run out of time due to some unfortunate Job Centre rubbish, However as I now don’t have to deal with all that we booked some time off and made the most of it.
To get into the castle you do need to book tickets online, which you can find online at £22 per person but as I had saved up a lot of Tesco Clubcard points we essentially got in for free. The carpark was also free, but not because of our points and due to the fact that there was a 20 minute walk to the castle there was a free shuttle bus that took guests to the front. We decided not to get the shuttle which I swiftly realised was a bad idea thanks to pollen and the warm weather.
It was still a nice walk through the woods though..
Going into the grounds of the castle we was greeted with a beautiful sight, The castle itself stands high on a mound and originally was a wooden fort built by William the Conqueror in 1068 and throughout history changed depending on what it was needed for, There was so many fun things to do and see, lots of things for the children to enjoy including a dragon play park and maze. However we wanted to explore the history and the castle seeing as no children came with us.
We started going into one of the attractions which was The Kingmaker which was a walkthrough about Richard Neville and the preparation for a mighty battle, the experience had plenty of things to interact with and read about along with being able to try on some of the heavy helmets the shoulders would’ve worn. After that we decided to book tickets for the Castle Dungeon for a horror interactive audience experience but before that we managed to watch an amazing display of birds of prey that was put on over the river.
I wont spoil the Castle Dungeon experience but I will it does have plenty of warnings that children under the ages of 10 are recommended not to attend and that if you have any kind of health problems to not go through, it was pretty scary and they do pick on people to join in with their show, which for someone like me who has social anxiety I was a little concerned but thankfully they just picked on Neil.
We had such a lovely time like we always do whenever we travel anywhere and enjoy local tourist places, Warwick Castle had so many things to learn about and do that we simply couldn’t fit it all in, but we managed to try our hand at archery which ended up giving me a lovely bruise on my arm and Neil went up to the top of one of the towers, I chose not too as I wasn’t to keen on walking 500 steps!! And we plan on visiting in the future with my children who I hope enjoy it as much as we did.
Have you need to Warwick Castle before? To check out other fun places I have been too please check out the Days Out tag.
Sarah
I would love to spend a day visiting this castle, as I love the history of places like that. I would probably avoid the scary show, only because I know I would get picked (the curse of a redhead who always stands out in a crowd, haha). I get very anxious in those situations too, I would love to go but be nervous!
It was very nerve wracking I was like please don’t pick me hah but it was good fun. It truly is a lovely castle to visit and I’ve been too a few. It was educational but fun.
A weekend getaway – that’s a lovely treat for your birthday! I’ve never been to a historical castle myself, but your post makes me want to visit one soon. It looks like you had a fantastic time exploring all the activities and attractions the castle has to offer. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Super cool! I love history so whenever I travel, I make it a priority to visit any historical sites. Visiting the UK would be a dream come true to indulge in its history!