Alnwick treehouse restaurant - is it any good?

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We will be visiting Alnwick over the holidays and I wondered if it was worth treating ourselves to a meal in the treehouse. It looks expensive, which I don't mind if it's nice quality. Have any of you eaten there ?

I don't know if it's any good because when I went I was told it is necessary to book in advance.
Alnwick was quite busy when I was up the other weekend (well, busy for Alnwick, at least!) so if you want to eat there, I would book it.
Saying that, the tickets for the gardens are valid for the whole day and Alnwick is such a small place that you can walk from one side to the other in 30 minutes! Collectables is good for food. Grannies is a lovely little sandwich shop that do a small range of meals. If you are up on a Sunday, both The Shepherd's Rest and The Oaks Hotel do good carveries. (Although you would have to drive to The Shepherd's Rest.) Are you planning to go to the castle as well?
You should go to Barter Books if you have time. It's the largest second hand book shop in Europe (apparently) and is inside the old railway station. It may not sound that interesting, but my dd and I can spend hours there!
How long are you in Alnwick for? Are you planning to go anywhere else?
Also, remember to take spare clothes and towels to the gardens :-)

Thanks for all the useful info - are you a local?

We are planning to go to the castle as well (probably on a different day though). Do children still tend to get wet in in the fountains, even at this time of year? I had sort of assumed it would be too cold for that!

Thanks for the tip about Barter Books, I had seen it mentioned quite a few times else where, but had no idea that it was so big. My dp will be in heaven, maybe he should just drop us at the gardens / castle each day and then he can spend two days in Barter books!

We have a bungalow for a week, it's on the coast a couple of miles south of Seahouses. We are planning a boat trip the Farne Islands. We are also thinking about a trip to Holy island, although I suspect my kids will be bored, apart from the novelty of driving across the causeway. We are also planning some very relaxed days rock pooling, fossil hunting, kites etc.

The North East coast is one of the few places that neither of us have visited before. I thought a week at Easter would be a great idea, but there seems to be so much to do, that I think 2 weeks during the summer might have been a better idea.

I used to be local - I'm less local now. My family still live up there though and we go up quite frequently.

I would assume that the fountains will all be on. My dd and I went to the gardens in the Autumn and it was freezing, but everyone was still messing around in the fountains! There's this one big one where the water shoots up from the floor and you can stand inside the ring where the water shoots up while the water is filling up, then it shoots up in front of you. In theory, if you stand still, you shouldn't get too wet, but all the kids always run in and out and get soaking!

If you are going to the castle as well, then it is (slightly) cheaper to get day tickets for both the gardens and the castle at the same time - for adults at least. You can walk from one to the other. Also, the parking near the castle is terrible - actually, parking in most of Alnwick is terrible! You should be ok parking at the gardens though, they have their own parking there.
Alnwick castle is quite child friendly and kids can usually dress up as witches and wizards and take part in some activities. I doubt you will spend an entire day at the castle though.

Depending on the age of your dc, there is a soft play in Alnwick (if you find yourself bored at any point. You might not, but having lived there for the majority of my life, I get bored easily!) Link:
The Lions Den

I don't really know Seahouses that well. I did work up there while taking my A levels (in a fish and chip shop ) there is a small crazy golf course and loads of annoying amusement arcades!

Holy Island is one of those places we were forced to go for a school trip as children. I suppose it was fairly boring. We just walked around and looked at the priory and the castle and bought some cheap souvenirs.
That's the problem with Northumberland generally. It's very much a walking round and looking at stuff sort of place. Although very pretty, it can be quite boring for kids. At least there are loads of good beaches. You can't go wrong with a beach!

I hope you enjoy yourselves :-)

We've been a couple of times and found the food delicious but the service a bit slow both times. I'd try to book early or late to try to get round this. It is lovely though, would like to go back soon, might decide that dp would like to go for his birthday!

We go to this area a fair bit. You will have a fantstic time.
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The sand dunes at Beadnell are great. One cottage we stayed at provided sledges for going down the dunes. That was DS favourite thing.

I really like Warksworth for a walk around. Also visit the Morwick ice cream farm which is not too far from there.

Bamburgh is also nice. Great butchers and deli if you are selfcatering.

A trip to the Farne Islands to see the Puffins and seals is a must.

I love the Holy Island. There is something magical about it and I am not in the least religous but I found it very spiritual.

I have eaten at the tree house and was slightly dissapointed. It was very dark and smoky inside as the fire was lit. The food and service were ok but not outstanding. There certainly is a novelty value to it though.

I wish we were going there at Easter now!

jacaqueen - can you link to these cottages by chance?

Yes, the one with the sledges please!!!

I've heard that the food and service aren't that great at the Treehouse - go for the novelty value more than anything. Take the DC's to Hogwarts!

www.coastalretreats.co.uk/

The property with the sledges was Nook End near Beadnell.

thanks - they look jolly nice - going to bookmark for later

We hadn't intended to eat in the TreeHouse when we visited Alnwick a few years ago, but did and enjoyed it - can't remember it being articularly special, but pleasant.

Dunstanburgh castle is another good one - lovely walk to it, and the pub does good crab sarnies IIRC.

Agree with Jaca about Holy Island. There's actually something wonderfully relaxing about going there and knowing you can't leave till the next low tide. So you explore - we went when DD was 5 or 6 and we wandered all over it, blissful. Didn't see any seals, unlike previous trip with DH before we had DD.

Ohhh, I'm . We went to Northumberland for the first time last summer and can't wait to go back. Yes, more than enough to fill 2 weeks.

We went up at october half term and it was fabtastic - there was a Harry Potter and Dumbledore lookalikes at the Castle (complete with flying hedwig) which the dd's loved - the gardens are stunning and my two loved them - they would be better in the summer when more plants are out but hey ho.

(whispers - there is a sit-in Greggs in the town centre, head out the 'back' of the castle and it's on the main street )

We stayed 10 mins from Bamburgh, the beach is fabulous but you feel as though you need to borrow a dog It was this site for the campers / caravanners - right on the Whin Sill with fab views across to Holy Island - boy that was a windy day.

Love this area of the world v of your trip.

Lucycat - we did have our dog with us

Use your tesco clubcard deals days out vouchers for the castle.

The tree house restaurant is a bit of a gimmick (the staff were very, very bored when we went) but the food is ok if pricey.

I liked the Treehouse, and it's certainly an unusual place to go as well as being very well designed. However, there is a cafe place near the entrance to the Gardens, which was also nice.

Oops, also meant to say, I didn't book in advance (Easter Sunday last year) - we arrived in the morning, and booked lunch then.

If you go to Holy Island on teh way to the causeway (mainland side) there is a lovely restaurant called the Barn at Beal here

i love northumberland - we stayed on a farm called west ord which i could recommend until the end when the owner pounced on us with a bill for £60 eleccy even though it was only a long weekend break and wed hardly been in . Still it was lovely.

Thanks, Jac, re sledges. And all for info!