Apparently there's a common misconception that Alnwick Castle is not a family orientated attraction.
Have a look at their TV advert here http://www.alnwickcastle.com/explore/tv-ad
So I was asked if I would like a free family ticket to go and see what I thought, well why not!?
So we set off this morning, hoping to get there for its 10am opening. We got slightly lost and it took longer than we thought, so it was about 11am by the time we arrived.
We found the car park quite easily, £3.50 for a full days parking which wasn't too bad, and then we were confronted with a problem. Where was the Castle?!
Alnwick Castle and Alnwick Gardens are 2 separate attractions, I was unsure as to where the Castle was based in relation to the gardens. I could only see a massive sign that clearly stated 'this way to Alnwick Gardens' nothing about the Castle. Thankfully there were car parking attendants so we asked them and we were told it was all in the same place.
So we set off for the reception, we walked, and we walked some more, through the disabled car park and drop off area, then some more, thankfully past some very clean toilet facilities which we took advantage of. We then found the ticket office, sorted out going in, could see where the gardens were, but again no signs for the Castle! Fortunately Hubby could spot some signs in the distance so we headed towards them, we got our tickets scanned, then we walked some more, and a bit more and we arrived!
So my first point would be that if you have a toddler you would likely need a buggy or a strong pair of arms. We had the latter.
So we entered the Castle:
Put your knightly courage to the test when you enter the darkness of the dragon’s lair. Solve riddles and face a series of challenges before making safe passage through the hall of mirrors. Will you stand your ground or quake with fear when you come face-to-face with Northumberland’s most fearsome dragon?
Hall of mirrors, fine. Riddles, fine. Potentially a big dragon statue, fine.
Not quite, they need to say in small print underneath *this is a bit scary for some*
You enter into a small cave with riddles, scary noises and flashy lights, checked T's face, ok so far, carry on, next bit was filled with dancing, screaming skeletons, and you should walk over a bridge through a spinning tunnel of skulls. T was ok with this, a couple more riddles a jumping head in a cage, fine. Hall of mirrors, bit baffling but good fun (what kid doesn't love mirrors) then you need to face the 'dragon'.....
This:
It is HUGE. It moves. There is lots of loud noise. T was clung onto Hubby shaking like a leaf. If you stand in front of it long enough, a voice congratulates you and tells you, you defeated the dragon. Awesome, tell me that after I've dealt with the nightmares, mine and his!
Fortunately Hubby managed to get T to think he'd told the dragon off and sent him to his naughty chair, but even as I was flicking through these pics, he jumped when that pic came on!
Hubby and I differ on opinions on this part, I think it was too scary for a kid his age, and there should be some kind of warning, Hubby thinks it's brilliant and who's not to say that any older kids wouldn't be just as scared? So I'll let you make your own mind up on that!
(This area could have accommodated a buggy, but not practical if it was really busy!)
We left there and went to explore the towers.
The steps up to the towers started off ok, then got more narrow, the stairs steeper, the depth more shallow, as I suppose most medieval castles do. Hubby was carrying T. Upstairs there was an interesting exhibition, and we realised we had to go down the same way we came up. This was not fun as people were trying to come up, Hubby was trying to keep T away from the people, which meant he was struggling to have a free hand to hold onto the hand rail.
We didn't hugely enjoy that experience so we missed the other towers out!
There ended our Alnwick Castle experience. The above picture shows my 2 happy boys who enjoyed their time there.
So to summarise:
Definitely family orientated, but perhaps to older children. Under 5s are free however, so perhaps this explains that it's more suitable for over 5's?
I feel they could do something a bit more in regards to people with prams, perhaps a safe pram parking area just within the castle? I spotted a irate father storming away from the state rooms with a spanking new Maclaren buggy stating he would take it back to the car, which I previously explained was a long way away!
They have so many activities on, last weekend was a Falconry display, and then Mon- Wed were Harry Potter days. We purposefully avoided them as a) we don't enjoy crowded places and b) I felt I could do a more fair review based on what was always available.
Overall an enjoyable day, definitely helped with having a nice sunny day to go on! We would look at going back maybe when T is older.
One last thing, more dragon related items should be sold in the gift shop!! T was desperate for a dragon teddy and there wasn't anything at all with a dragon on :(
So I was asked if I would like a free family ticket to go and see what I thought, well why not!?
So we set off this morning, hoping to get there for its 10am opening. We got slightly lost and it took longer than we thought, so it was about 11am by the time we arrived.
We found the car park quite easily, £3.50 for a full days parking which wasn't too bad, and then we were confronted with a problem. Where was the Castle?!
Alnwick Castle and Alnwick Gardens are 2 separate attractions, I was unsure as to where the Castle was based in relation to the gardens. I could only see a massive sign that clearly stated 'this way to Alnwick Gardens' nothing about the Castle. Thankfully there were car parking attendants so we asked them and we were told it was all in the same place.
So we set off for the reception, we walked, and we walked some more, through the disabled car park and drop off area, then some more, thankfully past some very clean toilet facilities which we took advantage of. We then found the ticket office, sorted out going in, could see where the gardens were, but again no signs for the Castle! Fortunately Hubby could spot some signs in the distance so we headed towards them, we got our tickets scanned, then we walked some more, and a bit more and we arrived!
So my first point would be that if you have a toddler you would likely need a buggy or a strong pair of arms. We had the latter.
So we entered the Castle:
We walked straight in and entered the middle section which led to the state rooms. As we entered I noticed a couple in front of us who had a tiny new born in their arms. Thankfully they had bought a carrying harness with them, and the father had to leave their shiny new pram out the front.
As we entered, an assistant came over to us and told T that in each room there was a tiny dragon and a tiny owl hidden.. If he counted them all, he would get a badge at the other end.
Cracking idea, we get to look round the utterly gorgeous state rooms, and T is also looking, although it was a bit cringy that in these beautiful, quiet, serene surroundings, T would shriek at the top of his voice 'THERE'S A DRAGOOOONNNNNN'
Each room had 2 assistants in to give bits of information and answer any questions. It's nice to see places well staffed at the minute!
As we came out the state rooms however, we passed several assistants, none which came over and asked T how many dragons and owls he'd found. Not a huge problem, but he would have been proud as punch!
After that we walked through the courtyard where they were giving broomstick lessons, a bit old for T, but the kids were loving it (for those who don't know, Alnwick Castle was used to shoot some of the Harry Potter film scenes)
We explored the dungeons a bit (bit scary for little 'uns and not pram friendly) then we went and found the cafe for some lunch.
Café was lovely and clean, albeit expensive, £18 for 2 lattes, an orange juice, 3 small sandwich rolls, a bag of crisps and some cake. But we're not picnic people, there were lots of places outside to sit and enjoy gorgeous views and munch some lunch!
From there we found the childrens' area, 'the Knights Quest':
An arena, with quoits, skittles, stocks, corn grinding and dressing up available.
Doesn't he make a handsome Knight?!
The range of dressing up clothes available was immense! With a huuuge gilded mirror for them to spend many an hour admiring themselves infront of.
We put Daddy in the stocks:
Captured a Dragon:
Pretended to be royalty:
We then saw signs for 'the Dragons Quest' described as thus:
Dragon Quest
Only the most courageous and worthy should dare to enter Dragon Quest.Put your knightly courage to the test when you enter the darkness of the dragon’s lair. Solve riddles and face a series of challenges before making safe passage through the hall of mirrors. Will you stand your ground or quake with fear when you come face-to-face with Northumberland’s most fearsome dragon?
Hall of mirrors, fine. Riddles, fine. Potentially a big dragon statue, fine.
Not quite, they need to say in small print underneath *this is a bit scary for some*
You enter into a small cave with riddles, scary noises and flashy lights, checked T's face, ok so far, carry on, next bit was filled with dancing, screaming skeletons, and you should walk over a bridge through a spinning tunnel of skulls. T was ok with this, a couple more riddles a jumping head in a cage, fine. Hall of mirrors, bit baffling but good fun (what kid doesn't love mirrors) then you need to face the 'dragon'.....
This:
It is HUGE. It moves. There is lots of loud noise. T was clung onto Hubby shaking like a leaf. If you stand in front of it long enough, a voice congratulates you and tells you, you defeated the dragon. Awesome, tell me that after I've dealt with the nightmares, mine and his!
Fortunately Hubby managed to get T to think he'd told the dragon off and sent him to his naughty chair, but even as I was flicking through these pics, he jumped when that pic came on!
Hubby and I differ on opinions on this part, I think it was too scary for a kid his age, and there should be some kind of warning, Hubby thinks it's brilliant and who's not to say that any older kids wouldn't be just as scared? So I'll let you make your own mind up on that!
(This area could have accommodated a buggy, but not practical if it was really busy!)
We left there and went to explore the towers.
The steps up to the towers started off ok, then got more narrow, the stairs steeper, the depth more shallow, as I suppose most medieval castles do. Hubby was carrying T. Upstairs there was an interesting exhibition, and we realised we had to go down the same way we came up. This was not fun as people were trying to come up, Hubby was trying to keep T away from the people, which meant he was struggling to have a free hand to hold onto the hand rail.
We didn't hugely enjoy that experience so we missed the other towers out!
There ended our Alnwick Castle experience. The above picture shows my 2 happy boys who enjoyed their time there.
So to summarise:
Definitely family orientated, but perhaps to older children. Under 5s are free however, so perhaps this explains that it's more suitable for over 5's?
I feel they could do something a bit more in regards to people with prams, perhaps a safe pram parking area just within the castle? I spotted a irate father storming away from the state rooms with a spanking new Maclaren buggy stating he would take it back to the car, which I previously explained was a long way away!
They have so many activities on, last weekend was a Falconry display, and then Mon- Wed were Harry Potter days. We purposefully avoided them as a) we don't enjoy crowded places and b) I felt I could do a more fair review based on what was always available.
Overall an enjoyable day, definitely helped with having a nice sunny day to go on! We would look at going back maybe when T is older.
One last thing, more dragon related items should be sold in the gift shop!! T was desperate for a dragon teddy and there wasn't anything at all with a dragon on :(
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