I was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to castles to visit and haunted tour type things. We were interested in maybe a castle show dinner type thing. Haunted tours of any type or haunted castles. Basically anything of this nature would be great to find out about and look into.

Thanks =)

Castle-show dinner-type thing: you have several options in the Shannon region. Bunratty is the big one, but there's also Knappogue that's not too far from there. Both are convenient if you are flying into or out of Shannon airport. You can check out the Shannon Heritage web site for details. I've been to both and enjoyed them, but it's been a few years.

Haunted tours or castles: Leap (pronounced lep, soft e) is supposed to be the most haunted castle in Ireland. It's not too far from Birr in Co. Offaly. I think they occasionally have afternoon tea or dinners that the public can attend, but I don't think they were done on a regular schedule. You may be able to schedule something if there are enough in your group, though. There's also Kinnitty Castle not too far away that's also supposed to be haunted - it's currently run as a hotel, so you could spend the night. And they at least used to offer an afternoon horseback ride to Leap for afternoon tea before heading back to Kinnitty.

Hope that helps a bit.

TripDiva: Thanks much for the suggestion --- I've always fancied visiting castles, and a truly haunted one might just be what I'm looking for.

Hi Bea - no worries; I'm a sucker for castles. And really, any of them that are old enough probably at least allegedly have a ghost or two. And I really liked staying at Kinnitty, anyway, and it's not that terribly expensive - well, compared to some, anyway.

If you're looking for a cheap haunted castle stay, there's one up in the highlands of Scotland that's actually a YHA hostel. It's a bit off the typical tourist trail, unless you're on a Haggis tour - I think all their Highlands tours stop there, but it's an amazing experience all the same. (And at the moment, I can't remember the name of it, but I'm pretty sure it's the only castle in the Scottish YHA network...) And yeah, it's supposed to be haunted, too. Our driver said she'd never seen anything, but one of the guys in one of her groups woke her up in the middle of the night one night because a woman had walked all the way around his bed - which was up against a wall. She walked right through...

Hi everyone,
I'm a French student writing an assignment about ghost tours & haunted castles tours in UK.
Could you answer these questions for my survey? This would be really helpful. Thanks in advance!

1) Why are you interested in haunted castles? What do you expect when you are visiting a haunted castle?

2) Would you visit these places if there weren't any "strange" phenomenons?

3) Do you think it's better to go visit these places by yourself or book tickets from a tour operator?