Frog and I went to Warwick Castle on Saturday along with what seemed like half of southern England – the castle car park was full and massively chaotic but we found a completely empty car park just down the road – hooray! The maximum time limit was 4 hours and I thought that’d be ages….until I saw the castle…
There was a queue to get in but Warwick Castle has loads of people in costume wandering round to entertain the kids so it didn’t feel like too long. We had a voucher from the hotel giving us two for one entry, only when we got to the desk the ticket guy said it wasn’t actually a voucher! We had to argue and eventually he gave us the discount but it was a big FAIL from the hotel (more on them later). We also couldn’t go in the Dungeon because it was booked up till 3pm by which time our parking ran out – I’d definitely recommend booking ahead so you get to see everything.
Since it was Easter there was loads on including falconry displays, trebuchet, cannon, archery, soldiers doing mock fights and all sorts. There was also a huge amount of castle to explore and you could go right up to the top of the big tower. To be honest after going up the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona I wasn’t worried about the height but it was still pretty cool 
All the public areas are clearly laid out so it doesn’t feel like exploring so much as a guided tour. Other castles I’ve been to are more open but I think Warwick is so big they have to do it that way.
One of the most interesting bits was the part of the castle that was lived in during relatively modern times. In the 19th/20th centuries Churchill amongst others lived in Warwick Castle and a mansion-sized part of it is kitted out with wood panelling, window-seats, four-poster beds and all the other trappings of an Edwardian country home. They must have been massively rich to maintain the rest of the castle too even if they just lived in one part of it.
There was so much to see I think we needed another couple of hours at least to fit it all in. We didn’t get to go in the Dungeon or see the trebuchet in action 
I think getting there really early would be a good idea to get a space in the car park – either that or go on a weekday when all the kids are at school. It’s an awesome place though and if I’m ever down near Warwick again I’ll definitely give it a visit
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