Alnwick Castle: Good but Costs A lot of Quidditch (Alnwick Castle)

Member Name: englishrose

Product:	Alnwick Castle
Date:	26/02/09 (49 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Location Location Location

Disadvantages: Pricey

Alnwick Castle is found in the little town of Alnwick, Northumberland. We visited this attraction, as we were holidaying in the area already.

The Castle's main entrance is accessed from within the town centre, unusually, and a beautiful little town it is too: It's pronounced 'Annick' and there are plenty of shops and little restaurants to keep visitors busy, in addition to the Castle.

It's now famous as it was used as a location for the Harry Potter films, and if you've seen them you will be thrilled to recognise some of the settings once you are inside the grounds. Apparently it was also used in Blackadder and various other films, but that seems to pale into insignificance compared to the boy wizard :)

A family ticket is currently around £30.00, a little bit steep, but you can see where the money goes: The grounds and Castle are immaculately kept, beautifully landscaped and spotlessly clean.

There is food available from a lovely cafe, where you can choose to sit indoors or outdoors under sunshades, and the snacks are high quality - this is reflected in the price though.

Activities are laid on throughout the season, with dressing-up for children and mock jousts etc. There are regularly displays such as falconry too.

Access is allowed to part of the Castle, and on display inside are historical treasures and exhibits relating to the Castle's history, and the views from up on the ramparts are far-reaching and stunning.

We had intended to do this first part of the tour as I have described above, then go on to the famous Alnwick Castle Gardens: However, by the time we got to the Gardens entrance, it was nearly closing time, and we hadn't realised that you pay to enter the Gardens seperately, which would have almost doubled the cost:

As it was , we didn't have time, but I'm not sure that we would have paid this to be honest. We were looking forward to seeing the huge treehouse in there, but didn't feel the extra price was justified.

It's open daily from 1st April, 10.00 am till 5.00 pm, throughout the season until the last day of October. Overall, it's a good day out with plenty to see, but only if you're already in that area.

Summary: Good day out if you're already in the area.