£30.25 for entry to Alnwick Castle & Gardens!

[oopsdaisy]

Looking to book a weekend away in Alnwick, amongst other things we wanted to visit the castle. It's £30.25 per adult to see the castle and gardens - so £60.50 in total for me and DH. DC is under 4 so entry is free.

AIBU to think this is extortionate? Or is it really worth it?

Is there a way to get a discount? Can't see any voucher codes for entry.

@Allergictoironing That was always my understanding but loads of places have a separate cost, I've just checked Alnwicks site and garden only entry is £12 without gift aid, £13.20 - I don't understand why!

Yes it’s expensive - we live only a 10 min walk from a NT property but have never been in the gardens as last time I asked, a few years ago it would’ve been £50 for 5 of us! They’re really not that extensive or great looking from what I can see either. Another NT place about 15 mins drive away has beautiful extensive gardens with a large glasshouse and a lake etc and is much cheaper for some reason.
If they lowered the price of the one near us many more people would visit - it always looks pretty empty. I don’t understand why it’s so expensive as it’s not in a tourist area either.

@ParkandRide Gift Aid increases the entry price at the tourist attraction local to me, too.

Craigside, Bamburgh and Warkworth are all better value and covered by NT or English Heritage membership.

When DS was little and into Harry Potter I only paid for the castle, it really wasn’t worth the price compared to other places but I have never seen him laugh so much in his life as in the free broom flying lesson. Just for that it was worth the massive over pricing.

We thought it was worth it. The gardens were amazing.

Apparently for National Trust properties "Gift Aid Admission includes a 10 per cent or more voluntary donation. Gift Aid Admissions let us reclaim tax on the whole amount paid* — an extra 25 per cent — potentially a very significant boost to our places' funds."

Sounds to me rather like they are trying to guilt trip people into paying more, as they don't claim the Gift Aid back on "standard" entry.

TBH, first I've heard of this extra charge some places have.

If you want some other suggestions then we're currently working our way through this list which has lots of castles and open air museums like Beamish on it StepBackInTimeNE

Yeah, most places now charge extra to "gift aid" your entry fee. The law must have changed. It's usually related to or worded as paying for a recurring entry ticket or a voluntary donation.

I've holidayed up there a few times but never been in the castle due to the cost. Really expensive and I've found a few English Heritage sites are like that yet strangely their memberships are good value for money. Such a shame some kids/families are priced out of visiting educational places.

We had a fabulous time at Alnwick Castle last year. We didn't do the gardens - we did them a few years ago. Daughter (8) had a fantastic time in the Castle - was well worth it.

If you have NT membership, there is a small discount on Alnwick Castle. If you are doing lots in the area, NT and English Heritage memberships are a must.

Another one here who thinks Beamish is a better option.

Alot of places seem now to do an expensive ticket that allows you to come back unlimited times in the year. It can be good value if you’re very local but doesn’t really work if you’re holidaying somewhere so I’d wish there was a cheaper one off option sometimes. It’s a shame as it’s put us off going to some lovely local attractions with friends that visit once a year as they aren’t going to use the return ticket and for a one off its too extortionate.

Get Historic Houses membership! It can work out as really great value if you use it at a few places. We use it for Belvoir Castle, Burghley House, Doddington Hall, Chatsworth, Highclere Castle etc, there is loads of really lovely places included, although some have restrictions so do check them on the website (I've got a discount code if you want to pm me )

The gardens are lovely. If you go, though, take a picnic. The restaurant is pricey and drinks especially are very expensive!

The gardens are absolutely amazing. Definitely go.

Lindisfarne yes definitely recommend also Bamburgh Castle. Beamish is fabulous you will be there all day and not do it all.

Anybody watch This Country? Kurtin would be proper fuming at that!

If you go with the Historic Houses membership suggestion, they have a £10 discount available:

mobile.twitter.com/historic_houses?lang=en#couponxoo

Oh gosh yes, Bamburgh castle is great, worth paying for that. It's privately owned.

Bamburgh and warkworth both have lovely beaches with huge dunes too.

I once took my DC there many years ago (pre Harry Potter).
I stupidly paid for Castle and Garden. On the day, however, it was a bank holiday, and there were several childrens events on in the grounds.
In my case it would have been better to have just grounds and gardens only, as having paid the ticket, the DC did not actually want to leave the jousting display and actually go into the castle, anyway.

We took DD to the castle one weekend recently and it took us most of the day, we'd do the gardens on a different day.i think given that your DC is under 4, the gardens might be more fun than the castle. DD is 9 and heavily into Harry Potter so she loved the film tour they did at the castle. I agree, Beamish is a fab day out and so worth it for the money, we went last summer and can go back again as many times as we want in the year but just haven't had time yet,or it's been the wrong weather. One of these weekends we will just go, and if it's the wrong weather when we arrive, we'll go to the metro centre. We've had to do that before!!

Might seem extortionate but electricity, water, collections, storage, staff, restorations, pest control, etc, and events for little Johnny don't come for free.

You wouldn't believe how much it costs to run a historical site. Where I work made a profit of 53p last financial year.

We did the gardens only when dc was about 3.
We’d do castle only probably now he’s 7.
But Cragside is 100x better.