Warwick Castle
Courtyard at Warwick Castle
Two Digital Gypsies Rating – 3 Stars
To see the YouTube video of our visit to Warwick Castle, please click here.
Originally a wooden castle started by William the Conqueror in 1068, Warwick Castle (pronounced “WORR-ik”) was rebuilt in stone by King Henry II beginning in the 12th century. Over its thousand-year history, Warwick Castle has had more the thirty individual owners and has been Crown property under seven different monarchs.
We signed up for a bus tour to see the castle through ITT travel on the Lakenheath Air Force Base where Barbara has been working. ITT Travels is the travel agency that serves the American Air Force Base personnel. From the Airbase it takes around 2 hours to drive to Warwick Castle and the tour gives you the rest of the day to explore the castle.
If you like towers then Warwick is your kind of castle. There are:
- Guy’s Tower
- Clarence Tower
- Bear Tower
- Caesar’s Tower
When you visit the castle be sure, if you are able, to go up the ramparts and walk along the castle walls. From the castle walls you get a great view of the River Avon and the countryside.
Inside the castle there are a number of attractions geared for children:
- Merlin the Dragon Tower based on the BBC series
- Princess Tower
- Secrets & Scandals
- The Castle Dungeon
Souvenirs are available at the Kingmaker and Courtyard shops, and food is available at the Undercroft and Coach House restaurants. We ate at the Undercroft restaurant and the food there was surprisingly good.
Inside the Great Hall are a number of collections of medieval weapons and armor which I liked, but many of State Rooms off the Great Hall had life-sized wax figures that I didn’t like. If fact they kind of creeped me out. I would have rather just seen the room furnishings without the figures in wax. Caveat here, the figures didn’t disturb my wife nearly as much a they did me, so maybe I need to do some personal introspection.
Our favorite part of the bus tour was the Bird Shows on the Birds of Prey Lawn. In fact we took in two shows the day we visited. A bird handler will come out and explain the type of bird he has and then show off what the bird has learned so far in the training. Do take in one of the shows when you visit the castle.
I probably would have given Warwick Castle a higher rating if we would have visited with kids, as much of what goes on at the castle seems to be geared for younger children. Also, it seemed a little more like visiting an amusement park or a wax museum than visiting an authentic castle. For us walking the castle walls and taking in the bird shows were the highlights of the visit.
