Our visit to Alnwick Castle. Part 1.

A few years ago we visited Alnwick Garden and had a great day out and we have been meaning to go back to visit the castle since....

Alnwick Castle is one of the largest inhabited castles in England. Home to the Duke of Northumberland's family, the Percys, for over 700 years, it has witnessed drama, intrigue, tragedy and romance. From stunning art collections and sumptuous State Rooms to medieval crafts and Harry Potter inspired magic.....

Alnwick Castle is open daily between until the 28th October and you can get in from 10am each day....We arrived around half past ten....We didn't have to go and pay because I booked online. 

Ticket Prices

When you pay for the day you can visit free for a year, you also save 10% when you buy online more than 24 hours in advance....

Castle Adult - £14.40 (£16.00 at the gate)

Castle Concession - £11.70 (£13.00 at the gate)

Castle Child (5-16yrs) - £7.65 (£8.50 at the gate)

Castle Child (4yrs and under)- Free

Castle Family (2 adults and up to 4 children)- £39.60 (£44.00 at the gate)

Walking through the gate there was Broomstick training to the right. The professors will use their unique skills to teach every class the basics of mastering a broomstick. Learn to mount and dismount, corner and manoeuvre, and accelerate and decelerate. The sessions last about 25 minutes and are free. You book a time slot when you get there. Unfortunately when we got there the only sessions left were for after we had to leave. It was an extremely busy day though. It just gives us another reason to go back for another visit!

We decided to head to the Artisans Courtyard where there is plenty going on....The first thing we saw was Dragon's Quest....Like the broomstick training you get a ticket for a time slot but luckily for us we got there while there was no queue and the door was just opening so got ushered straight in! 

Are you brave enough to enter the Dragon's Lair? Join forces with Harry Hotspur and the Dragon Catcher to battle mystical forces, conquer challenging obstacles and come face to face with a terrifying dragon. Will you stand your ground or quake with fear when you come face-to-face with Northumberland’s most fearsome beast?

It is a walk through experience mostly in the dark. There is scary and a really freaky mirrored walkway....There is a no photo policy in there. I would have loved to have got one of the dragon....Ellie is 11 and is usually fearless but it scared her a little and there was a little boy who cried all the way around....It is not for little one's. My teen and fella loved it though....

Also in the Artisans Courtyard there is Medieval Crafts. A different craft is available to try and take home each day, Costumes which you can wear while in the courtyard....You can be transformed into a noble knight or a brave princess. It was great to see all the little girls choosing to be knights and some boys being princesses....There was also games and various displays to see. Hidden away in the corner was a little room with lots of little animals and creepy crawlies to see....The kids loved these. 

We didn't have a great time in this part of the castle....It wasn't the castle's fault...Despite me telling Ellie not to go running down a hill she did and fell over.....She didn't hurt herself, she just gave herself a fright and was embarrassed more than anything....It put her into a foul mood which lasted about an hour so. She wasn't in a joining in type of mood....Grr!

We decided to stop off for a coffee in the cafe and it was lovely....All the seating is in a courtyard outside and there were plenty of empty seats considering how many people were visiting but at the same time plenty of people sat eating....The food looked amazing but we had taken a packed lunch which I instantly regretted as nothing seemed over priced. There were pizza's, giant Yorkshire puddings filled with meat and veg and I could have really went for some fish & chips from the Stables Fryery. They smelled amazing!!!

When we visited it was Wizarding week and it was fantastic to see so many people dressed up as characters from Harry Potter...Visitors and the staff. When we had finished our coffee's we came across Harry Potter himself & a Dumbledore putting on a talk....It was so much fun! They did a bit of magic and were so funny with it.....

I think I will leave it here for now as this blog post is long enough....There will be a part two coming soon!