£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.

But Beamish is a very long way from Alnwick! And if you get caught in rush hour traffic on the A1 it's a nightmare! I know from years of commuting.

If you are staying in Alnwick, it is really not worth trekking all the way down to the Beamish Museum. You're best heading north to Cragside, Bamburgh or even Berwick.

Also I think there is much more to see in the Castle than in the Garden.

Wild, the Duke owns the castle outright, along with most of Northumberland still. He's not making a profit of 53p a year.

The gardens didn't turn a profit for years. He just used to shuffle £5mill over to the gardens every year to keep it going, as it is the Duchess's pet project. Not sure if he still does this, as the person I knew who worked at the Gardens moved on.

We went with our 2 dc (12 & 14) keen Harry Potter fans. They loved the castle and spotting all the places that HP had been filmed. They were not interested in the gardens at all.

As others have said join Historic Houses. In that area you can also get into Bamburgh and Chillingham castle with it too. Plus loads of other places. We have had it almost a year now and definitely got our money's worth.

Apart from the Tree House at Alnwick , our children didn’t really enjoy Alnwick Gardens.
The absolutely loved going over to Lindisfarne and the wonderful rock pooling to be had. They even enjoyed the strange atmosphere of the place.
Cragside was wonderful ( National Trust) and we all loved the almost deserted beaches near Bamburgh Castle, though the trudge through the dunes can be tricky if you’re not sure of foot.
A boat trip around the various Farne Islands is a must and, depending on the time of year, you can see puffins and seals, in their hundreds or more.
Bamburgh Castle is good but our children absolutely loved Chillingham Castle... the dungeon/torture room is a must ! And you can dare yourself to stare long enough at the windows in case you see ‘ a face.’ It’s been featured on many a haunted type programme.
We loved Northumberland and look forward to going again.

Also meant to say that we loved Alnwick but we managed to do the broomstick training, the dragon thing and there was a birds of prey demo too.

I wouldn't bother with the garden, it's nice but expensive for the amount of time we spent there.

I would say the gardens are beautiful when it's warmer and the kids can have fun in the fountains, but the castle is just a bit meh imo. The tree house at alnwick castle is well worth a visit though, book in advance if you can but I think the tearoom you can just turn up to (from memory)

Cragside isn't much further than Alnwick and is much better imo. Beautiful walls/landscape/views and a great play area for children. The house is very interesting too.

Warkworth castle is nice and over the half term breaks they usually have something going on there everyday. Nice pubs/tea rooms/patisserie in the village

Holy island is really nice, lots of history there too. Much better on a dry day tbf

Amble has rockpooling/crabbing and puffin cruises if that takes your fancy

We just did the gardens when we went. I really enjoyed it, we even treated ourselves to lunch at the treehouse. I think I would say that it is worth the money. I can still remember lots about it quite a few years later

Wow that is really expensive.

www.gardenersworld.com/2-for-1-gardens/northern-england/the-alnwick-garden-2-for-1-entry/

Could work....only to the garden though

Have they got a sign up saying 'no riff-raff' as well?

Why would there be a sign saying no riff-raff?

I so want to explore Northumberland, but don't drive, even a hire car.
Wallington I want to visit to see a particular painting but there is no public transport!

Nvm on the link I just noticed it's an old link. Sorry! Where's the 'no riff raff' sign?

I had a Historic Houses membership one year. Did a holiday where I visited loads of houses which were private houses so not National Trust or English Heritage - got my money back in one holiday and also worth it to see the faces of other visitors as I got in free, as the scheme isn't widely known about.

Yes I am shallow

The magazine used to be hilarious though. It was entirely aimed at people who owned the stately homes and focussed on how they could pay the least amount of tax and open to the public for the fewest number of days. It was like they hadn't noticed they were sending it to the plebs as well!

Lindusfarne itself is great for kids. No need to go to the castle on it. There’s a beach with shells and pebbles, a little watch tower to climb and a building that is free to enter with some historic photos, plus pubs, cafes and gift shops

Where's the 'no riff raff' sign?

It's invisible - only riff-raff can see it, shortly after they look at the price.

We loved the garden and would definitely go again if we're anywhere near (we live hundreds of miles away)

Where's the 'no riff raff' sign?

It's by the entrance to the poison garden, cafe.

@Wauden public transport is pretty terrible in the NE generally, but more so in Northumberland. I'm not sure how you would get about without a car to be honest. Even getting to Alnwick is difficult because the bus that is supposed to meet the train at Alnmouth sometimes leaves just before the train pulls into the station!