Is Castle Howard worth visiting for a day out this summer?
The Castle Howard estate is undeniably beautiful and sits, peacefully elegant, with an easy charm making it a joy to behold.
As a non-member, my ticket for Castle Howard cost £25 which gave me entry to the House and Gardens. I paid an extra £5 for a guide/souvenir book meaning I paid £30 upon entry.
I think most would agree that this is quite a lot to pay for a day out. If you are a family of four as you may well have already spent £75 on tickets before any extras such as travel costs and food.
Being well situated, with fantastic transport links, Castle Howard offers the perfect opportunity for a family day out for those staying nearby in places like Harrogate. However, given the cost of the tickets, it begs the question… is Castle Howard worth visiting for a family day out this summer?
House 4/5
Whilst visiting the house, we toured the Grand staircase and China landing, an antique passage, the Great Hall, the Garden Hall, the Crimson Dining Room, a drawing room, a museum room, the long gallery and a chapel. Sadly, there were some renovations which were ongoing meaning that we were unable to see the Lady Georgianna’s bedroom and dressing room nor the Castle Howard Bedroom and dressing room. As a result of this, the personal study/library used by the Howard family was opened to the public instead.
Visually, it was an opulent demonstration of some of the best features grand houses from this period can offer and a reminder of why I love to escape into the world of stately homes and historical sites. In particular, the Great Hall was a majestic vision and it gave one the feeling of being transported to a building that should adorn the streets of Rome, Venice or Florence due to the resemblance it bears to Italian Renaissance architectural features and embellishments. Indeed, I was not surprised in the least when I learned that the Great Hall was graced by paintings from the venetian artist Antonio Pellegrini which were dated between 1709 and 1712.
Another particular favourite room of mine to visit was the Turquoise Drawing Room. With numerous portraits in the usual resplendent golden frames and walls of the most delightful blue, it was easy to submit to my imagination and envisage the inhabitants of Castle Howard in this very room, warming their face in morning sun, taking their tea and living their way through events that would become a part of history.
Something that took me slightly by surprise was the chapel. My guidebook informed me that the Chapel was and always had been Anglican, yet due to my preconceived ideas of what a Catholic place of worship looks like (based on visiting many of them), I would have, at first glance, assumed that it was Catholic. Its ceiling was richly and ornately decorated and it included detailed paintings, pillars and marble details. Once again, I found myself feeling as though I were in some magnificent chapel in the likes of Rome. Whilst not religious myself, I thought it was a nice touch that near the entrance of the chapel, you could write down something you would like someone to pray for and enter it into a sealed box for someone to read and act upon later.
Grounds 5/5
Whether attending on your own, with a partner, or as a family with young children, I strongly believe that you could spend all day at Castle Howard. The grounds are beautiful and vast enough to offer lots of opportunity to explore and truly lose yourself in the outdoor space and enter a different world. Whether your preference is to explore formal walled gardens, woodlands or take a stroll beside a lake that seems like Colin Firth would exit wearing a wet white shirt… Castle Howard has you covered. If you have children, the grounds are expansive enough that they could roam free and enjoy the outdoor space in the good old-fashioned way, however, there is also a play park and ‘Skelf Island’ which the Castle Howard website describes as a ‘treetop adventure across the dormant water of the Great Lake’ for some extra outdoor enrichment (the Skelf Island adventure is included in the price of the garden ticket).
Historical Enrichment 2.5/5
Deeply rooted in my desire to visit places such as Castle Howard is my love for history, the insatiable desire to learn more and a fascination of a time bygone. So how did Castle Howard fare?
If you are looking to visit Castle Howard with a thirst for knowledge about particular artefacts, people, rooms, objects and statues, I would not be able to guarantee that you got this to a high standard unless you paid extra for the guidebook or paid a whopping £45 per adult (£25 per child) for the guided tour. This is because whilst there is some information available, particularly on the impact of fires on Castle Howard and some information in the long gallery, there are little to no information points in other rooms. For example, when you first walk into the Grand Staircase and China landing and head towards the Great Hall, there are many ancient looking statues, paintings and China sets without any information being available to read for context whatsoever. Therefore, if you were not part of the tour and you did not have a guidebook, you would simply be in a beautiful place without detail or historical particulars about individual features. Whilst there were members of staff available to ask questions to, I always prefer to read my information and look around at my own pace unless I have specific questions to ask.
Food 3/5
We chose to eat at the Fitzroy Café which is located in the house at the end of the tour due to the convenience of it as by the end of the tour, it was lunchtime and we were both very hungry.
As a vegetarian, I could choose between a quiche, a mushroom and ale pie or a jacket potato. I selected the quiche, my boyfriend the pie and with these, we were able to add as much self-serve salad as we wished. The self-serve salad included a garden salad with the usual tomatoes, cucumber and lettuce, a quinoa salad and a pasta which was some kind of pesto pasta I believe.
The pie, quiche, and one can of coke cost £25 which for how it tasted, I felt was too much. My quiche was not very flavoursome, however, the mushroom pie was delicious. The salad was salad, apart from the pasta option which I loaded my plate with and very much enjoyed! I think perhaps had we visited the restaurant, I may have felt that the food was more worth the money.
However, the tea and cake break we later took at the same café was another story entirely. I believe it cost around £11 for a pot of tea for two and two sweet treats. My boyfriend selected the blueberry and lemon cake and I the fruit scone with jam and clotted cream. This definitely did not disappoint and we were both very pleased with what we had. The cake was moist and the buttercream fresh and the scone was served with the largest amount of clotted cream I have ever seen served. There was a truly large selection of cakes to choose from including a vegan cinnamon bun, a fruit tart, flapjacks, brownies, gingerbread and a different type of cake… we certainly took a long time to choose but when we did, it was worth every penny!
Accessibility 4/5
There is a very short walk from the car park to the entrance of the house and small foldable chairs are available for those who need them (although I am unsure as to whether these can be taken outside and into the grounds).
I noted a chair lift in operation ascending and descending the Grand staircase that leads onto the China landing and the Great Hall, this should give access to most rooms. However, electric wheelchair users or people who use scooters must transfer into a manual chair to use this stair lift (Castle Howard has manual wheelchairs that can be borrowed if necessary). It should be noted that wheelchair users may struggle to access the Chapel due to the entrance to that being off a winding set of turret-like stairs. Overall, the rooms of the house are wide and spacious enough that a wheelchair user would have enough room to enter and move around freely.
There is a paved route as well as grass and gravel pathways to make the outside more accessible, including access to shops, a café and toilets. However, according to the website Ray Wood is not deemed to be accessible for those in wheelchairs or who have limited mobility. There were not frequent benches for rest points on the walk and so visitors who fatigue easily should be aware of this.
We saw a land train making regular trips on our visit which provides free transport from the ticket office to the house as well as a café and the adventure playground which can take wheelchairs and pushchairs.
Overall, it appears that the team at Castle Howard are dedicated to making their establishment available to all which is superb to see.
Summary
In conclusion, I found the Castle Howard Estate to be well worth visiting and had a fantastic day out exploring the house and grounds. I, myself, will definitely be back. Furthermore, I would recommend a visit to Castle Howard to other people wanting a lovely day out with family and friends. However, particularly in these difficult times, I believe that there are other more affordable options that people can turn to without having to pay quite as much. Perhaps if Castle Howard made it possible to turn tickets into a yearly pass or something along those lines it would make the place more accessible meaning it could be enjoyed multiple times all year long.
Visited: spring 2022
Castle Howard – Ticket information, opening times and prices