Wara great castle... (Warwick Castle)

Member Name: pookie_rabbit

Product:	Warwick Castle
Date:	12/08/01 (221 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Enjoyable History, Pretty good value

Disadvantages: Can get busy

I dare says its pretty hard to impress kids these days. Adults too. Lets be honest there are castles, castles and castles. I remember as a kid been dragged onto a school trip all exited about seeing my first castle only to stumble into a field with a few bricks that resembled the building of a housing estate in the first few weeks of its conception.
On the other hand my niece has been to Disney - now theirs a castle. OK so it's not real - tell her that. She has now seen a castle and its not going to be beaten.
And then there are castles - 'real' castles that would even give Disney a run for its money. Welcome to Warwick Castle.

Now just a quick bit of geography. Warwick is pretty much in the midlands, which means to you and me it's pretty easy to get to from anywhere in England at least. We visited the castle as part of a long weekend in Stratford (just time for a quick sell to see the review on Stratford also!) which is only a 20-minute drive away.

Anyway end of geography, start of history. Contrary to popular belief the Tussauds Group did not build the castle in 1068 as a tourist attraction. No that was William the Conqueror who built the castle to consolidate his conquest of England in the midlands and north. The Tussauds Group, famous for Madame Tussauds and Alton Towers amongst other attractions, bought the castle in 1978.

Apart from the attraction of the castle itself then what is there to see? Well plenty really. The tourist literature recommends at least a 3-hour visit. We managed 5! Before doing anything however make sure you check your 'today's entertainment' guide to see what time the various shows and displays will be on.
My first tip would be to visit the dungeon and torture chamber as soon as the castle opens. At that point you should be able to get straight into it - it can only hold around 20 people at any one time. Although interesting I dare say you would wonder why you had queued 3
0 minutes to get into it.
Next to the dungeons is the interesting display called 'Death or Glory' which is an armoury amongst other things. Most chilling is the actual death mask of Oliver Cromwell - his face was covered in plaster after his death to provide a physical reminder.
Perhaps the flagship attraction of the castle is 'Kingmaker'. This is a walk through history with the smells and sounds that go with it. If you had to compare it to something think of it as a cross between the Disney 'pirates of the Caribbean' and the Jorvic Centre in York - but you have to walk. It's pretty good actually.

By this time you should be about ready to see one of the little shows on offer around the castle. This includes the Warwick Bowman (perhaps the best), the Ratcatcher and the fighting knights. Each display lasts around half an hour so you can easily see how the amount of time spent at the castle can add up.

After all of this you should be about ready for some dinner. My advice would be to nip back to your car and get a packup or exit the castle and get some dinner in Warwick. Warwick centre is literally a 5-minute walk away from the castle. Either way make sure you get your hand stamped so you can re-enter the castle. The food in the castle (provided at a number of places around the park) isn't cheap but at the time not ridiculous compared with some touristy locations.

At this point I would recommend a walk over to the river island and its nature walk to burn off some of that food. Even on a busy day there seems to be hardly anyone on the nature walk along the River Avon. Apart from nice views of the castle you can also do a bit of Chub spotting (that's a fish!) in the river. The island also hosts the mediaeval festival during the summer months where you can watch craftsman make there wears.

And so back to the castle itself. If you have a head for heights you should do the Ramparts Walk to visit
the towers and also the The Mound, the oldest part of the castle. After that you can finish your day viewing the Ghost tower, state rooms and the 'Royal Weekend Party'. Don't get too exited about the Ghost tower it really isn't scary - maybe that's not a bad thing if you have kids. The state rooms and weekend party are both elegant and interesting - I dare say this will appeal most to the more silver hair brigade.

From my one and only visit I would also give a couple of tips. Firstly we went on a Tuesday and it was pretty busy. I dare say that on a weekend it is really busy - try midweek if possible.
Next try getting a good deal on your tickets. We paid £11.50 for our tickets (adults each). I noticed on the Warwick castle web site the tickets are £10.50 (http://www.warwick-castle.co.uk/) and apart from anything else you wont have to queue for your tickets.
Because Tussauds also own a number of other attractions you can also buy combination tickets. So if you intend to visit anything like Thorpe Park or Alton Towers in the same year this is possibly worth investigating.

Overall then a good day out for all the family, whatever there age.

If I can help you with anything else on the visit just leave me a comment!

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