What’s your favourite UK castle to visit?

[Littledidsheknow]

I love a castle (and a cathedral, but that’s another thread 😀) and since I’ll be holidaying more in the UK now I’d like to hear about your favourite castles.

Mine is Conwy! It’s big, has ramparts, walkways and towers and gorgeous views. 🏰

OTOH, Despite its dramatic presence, Edinburgh castle doesn’t do much for me.

Caerphilly :)

I love Warwick Castle. So much to do there.

Scotland has thousands.
Eilean Donan is the most photographed castle in Scotland (which is indeed impressive) but there are so many more at every turn if you travel around Scotland.

My favourites are Conwy, Stirling and Caerphilly. I liked a few of the German ones too, and the French!

Culzean Castle Ayrshire, surround by water, magnificent views.

Well yes, of course there are millions of amaaaazing castles in Germany and France, but they don’t belong on this thread!

Old Wardour is my absolute favourite - it’s so peaceful! Amazing civil war story too about Lady Blanche Arundell!
I absolutely hated Rochester Castle, it was so spooky and gave me the absolute creeps and a feeling of pure doom. Couldn’t get out quick enough - a relative of mine who visited on another date had exactly the same feeling too.

what are your favourite cathedrals, OP?
mine has to be Gloucester!

Bodiam is absolutely beautiful and apparently you can park at Bodiam Boating Station, hire a canoe or kayak and paddle upstream to it and moor up.

@whatfreshhellisthisnow Ooh I love creepy, doom laden places, so I’ll have to add Rochester to my list!

I was going to do a separate cathedral thread, so I won’t get into that here.

(but I love Wells, Lincoln, Gloucester, Winchester and York Minster 😀)

I think my favourite I've already visited is Stirling. Hoping to get to Rockingham this week - long been on my list to see although Bamburgh is at the top of that list!

Conwy and Caernarfon

Harlech, Caernarfon, and Conwy are my favorites in the UK. North Wales is castle country!

Matsumoto and Matsuyama Castles in Japan are nice. Very different from European castles but still recognizably castles with moats and narrow windows for archers.

I second this. Culzean is brilliant.

I have orchestrated a trip to Bamburgh and the other one mentioned next to it as we have a family holiday coming up soon and I have asked DH to swing that way on the journey south - so excited!!!!😃😃

User1476613140 - have a great time!

I want to tie in Bamburgh with walking across the sands to Holy Island. That takes a whole other level of planning though!

Definitely do Rochester castle( not hip to a doom laden vibe personally. It was my local childhood castle) the Cathedral is practically next door. I visited that every year for school carol services and Founder's day services.

Warwick Castle in the Midlands - usually birds of prey displays and jousting ! But also themed events at Xmas or Bonfire night - check the website to see what's on and ticket prices. Great Armoury rooms and also dungeons!

• Themed Dining - Dungeons Banquet: Special immersive evening banqueting experiences hosted on selected dates through the year inside the historic setting.
• Castle After Dark: A separately ticketed Halloween evening event (running select October dates from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM) featuring scare mazes, live stage acts, and spooky entertainment.
• Overnight Evening Entertainment: Guests staying overnight at the resort get exclusive evening activities like knightly storytelling and medieval character interactions.

Bamburgh is amazing!

By the way you can stay inside Pendennis with English Heritage and have it all to yourself in the evenings once the toilet cleaning man's finished!

Leeds castle, that is not in or near Leeds but in Kent.

It's good to know that Hever castle is so popular. I was thinking of visiting it last summer but it didn't look like it's worth the 2 hour journey. I'll make sure I go in the Spring.

I thought it was genuinely in Leeds🤦‍♀️

If you're taking DC then wait for a warm day and pack swimming things and a towel. The water maze is brilliant.

I did enjoy visiting Caernarfon castle, but I got two stairs up one of the spiral staircases in a tower and completely froze. I absolutely could not force myself to go any further. No idea why. Even my 2 year old went up there with his dad. I've definitely been up spiral stairs in other castles.

Just been to Braemar Castle. Very much as all castle and a family home but interesting.

Like a pp I too have been inspired to start a castles bucket list .

Glamis and Braemar are on my list .

A quick Google has informed me that these are part of the Historic Houses scheme, which can make it a bit more cost effective.

Off the top of my head , Alnwick and Bamburgh are also part if it as is Raby Castle .