Cotswold Little Explorers

Last Saturday, 16th December 23, we took a step back in time and enjoyed a day out at the medieval Warwick Castle.

It’s only 30 mins by car from the Cotswolds, the castle is absolutely beautiful and the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and despite my prior doubts about how suitable it would be for our family (read on for details), I have to admit we had a really fun festive family day out. Here I give my honest review of the day, from the enchanting highlights to the potential pitfalls as I want to give balanced perspective ensuring you are well informed for your own medieval adventure at Warwick castle.

Lets kick things off by recalling the start of our day, its worth bearing in mind that parking is extra (which was annoying) and you will be directed by the attendant to park in the overflow car park which is a large field, a 20 minute walk away from the castle. Accessible/blue badge and priority parking is a bit closer in a different paved car park. There was a shuttle bus available to take visitors up to the entrance but we didn’t fancy hanging about so walked up to gate.

We got through the main entrance without having to queue, we were there for opening at 10 am and it didn’t seem too busy. TIP: Arrive for opening as it did get noticeably busier as the day went on.

This is our second trip to the castle having visited last year for the ‘Stories with Santa’. The kids loved this and it was very nicely done, with Santa and Mrs Claus retelling a story to the children (it not reading a story book though) before giving a suitable present (a sword from the gift shop which my two boys loved. Every child got the same, I think this year they were given a toy dragon.) They also did an activity before hand with the elves ‘sorting the presents’ which all the kids got very involved with and enjoyed a lot! There was a group of about 20 children and there parents in the room, it is not individual time with Santa at any point. It was a very nice Santa experience and I would recommend it. TIP: try and get your own photograph’s with Santa and the kids on your phone is possible. They have a professional photographer in the room who takes a picture of each family with Mr and Mrs Claus, and I presumed this would be included in the price as seeing Santa is an extra charge on top of normal castle admission, however they were charging £25 for the picture as you leave the Santa area which quite frankly I found to be a bit of a rip off so we didn’t bother.

As we chose not to see the big man this year we headed straight for the conservatory tea room to grab a coffee. There was no queue, it was decorated beautifully and the kids loved the peacocks roaming around the grounds in the peacock garden.

We then made our way to the main castle interior seeing the great hall, which is dressed for Christmas and the trees and mantel decorations just looking stunning. There is lots to see inside such as swords, weapons, suit of armour and state rooms. The kids really loved this bit and spent a long time looking at all the displays.

After this, we headed back outside, where we saw two princesses giving out free timed entry slots to the Princess Tower experience. We didn’t have to wait long (however there were big queues later in the day), and we went up to the stairs into the princess tower. This is an interactive live theatre activity where the children help to save the princess from being frozen forever in time. Both my kids really loved this and said it was the best part of the day. The actors were very good and it was done very well.

We then went straight to the winter falconry show. This was again fabulous and the falconers showed three birds of prey, a Barn Owl, a Snowy Owl and a Harris Hawk. The falconers were entertaining and knowledgeable and the birds swooped and dived above our heads it was really fantastic. This was my favourite part of the day ! Seeing the majestic birds in flight was amazing.

After this we had a walk down by the river to the old mill and engine house which was quite interesting and had lovely views of the mill gardens, castle walls and River Leam.

We were very tired out by this point so we went looking for the restaurant which is underground in the main castle, for a sit down and some hot food. We managed to find a seat after about 5 minutes, and queued up to get some lunch. There was an average sized queue which is too be expected on a weekend in a major attraction near to Christmas, however there wasn’t a great choice of food and drinks and some of the options had already sold out, even though it was only midday. A lot of people were heading to the food vendors outside and bringing it back in as in the actual café there wasn’t that many options left. We weren’t that impressed with the food options to be honest. Luckily we always bring our own food for the kids because they are fussy! We brought a juice for the boys and another coffee us (they had ran out of hot chocolate etc) and me and my husband James decided to eat later instead. After a rest and our drinks we headed back outside. TIP: Bring your own food and snacks. It is expensive for what it is and you can avoid queues etc. You can always buy drink or ice-creams as a treat when there instead which is what we tend to do on days out.

We had walked past the Zog playground on the way in to the castle and the boys remembered it from last year and were very eager to go and play! It’s a really great play area with lots of cool Zog themed equipment to go on. The kids had hours of fun here. We actually had to drag them away when it was time to go home!

We went home about 3.30pm, and headed back to the car. The 20 minute walk was a bit trickier with the kids on the way back as we were all tired from the day, but we could have waited for the shuttle if we wanted to. We were impatient and wanted to just get going.

All in all we had a very good day out at the castle. There was more to do than I thought there would be included in the general admission price. It is a beautifully preserved castle, its extremely Christmassy and festive at this time of year and your children will no doubt love it. However, I want to be completely honest in this review as it is an expensive day out and there are some not so positives to do with the set up that were noticeable and I will mention them in the pros and cons I’ve listed below so to give a well rounded and complete account of the day.

Pro’s

• The castle is totally stunning, especially when it is dressed for Christmas. There are Christmas carols and songs playing from the speakers and just walking around it felt like a lovely Christmassy day out.
• Walking around in the grounds and turret walls is really fun, and in summer I imagine just strolling the grounds and picnicking on the lawns would be a lovely way to spend a few hours.
• All the staff we met were friendly, helpful and knowledgeable.
• The peacocks roaming around are really beautiful and cool to see. The kids really loved that.
• The princess tower event was really fun for the kids and the actors were great.
• The falconry show is a major highlight and the falconers are exceptionally knowledgeable and entertaining.
• There was plenty to do with our children included in the entry price and we didn’t even make it to the maze or the time tower as we ran out of time (and the kids wanted to stay in the Zog playground!) In the summer months when they have even more shows and events on I think you would get more bang for your buck!

The Cons

• The cost. This is a very expensive day out, with the general admission price on the day we visited being £25pp, making a family of 2 adults, a 6 year old and a 4 year old coming in at £100. This doesn’t sound to bad at face value, however, if as a family of 4 we did a Santa visit, picture with Santa, ice skating and the light trail this day trip would come in at £331 with car parking and I don’t think that is good value when compared with similar days out in the UK. For example, the ice skating rink looks absolutely stunning, but for £80 for our family on top of the entry price for a 45 minute session, it became unaffordable for us. The light trail also looked beautiful but this is also another £80 for a family of 4. The dungeon of the castle is also chargeable extra, as is the parking. Stories with Santa is £10 per person extra on top of your entry price and on top of that, if you want a photo of it they charge £25. I started to feel like I was being rinsed for money as soon as I stepped through entry and had to pre warn the kids that we would not be able to afford extras such as ice skating and the light trail.

• The Weather! We all know we get a lot of rain in the UK, and we were very lucky to visit on a dry day. However, if I had paid £100 to visit and it was raining, there wouldn’t have been much to do as the majority of the attraction is outside. The castle interiors and princess tower/time tower are really lovely but an hour or two tops and definitely not a whole day. The rain would have meant the Zog playground, castle walls, and maze would not have been enjoyable and may have even been closed, and these were some of the main highlights of the day for us. Now I know Merlin can not control the weather, but it is worth bearing in mind when planning whether to pre book tickets or turn up on the day. I believe the castle does operate a rainy day promise scheme when on poor weather days, you can return free of charge.
• The food was a bit over priced, which was expected to be honest, but there were not many options and seating was also limited. I’d definitely advise bring your own food/picnic and just getting drinks or treats.
• It was great for my kids aged 4 and 6, but kids older than 8 or 9 may get less out of it as things like the Princess Tower and playground are aimed at the younger ones in my opinion. In the summer with the trebuchet, jousting and knights tale I think it would be more value for families with older children.

Even with those ‘cons’ in mind, we will be returning to Warwick Castle in the spring and summer, that is mainly because we have a newly purchased Merlin pass that we got in the Black Friday deals this year and we are keen to make good use of it! Warwick Castle is a good day out, although without the pass, I’m not sure sure I’d pay for this day out more than once. I’ve heard good things about the summer Zog trail, archery, jousting, and trebuchet shows, so I am looking forward to seeing those events and will update this blog post when we get to go again.  Halloween at the Castle also gets great reviews, so I will try and make it to that as well in 2024.

Check our Instagram and Facebook page for more pictures and videos of this day out at Warwick Castle and other days out in the area.