BootsnAll Travel Community

I'm heading off to London in the fall with my boyfriend. It will be his first trip to Europe. He wants to see a castle, one of the fortress/rustic/drafty kinds, not a palace. Used to live in London myself and I've been to the Tower and Hampton Court. The first one doesnt work because he wants to be out of the city, the second because it's a palace. My first idea is to go to Dover and check that one out. Does anyone have any other ideas of what might make for a good day trip?

Bodiam Castle is not far from where I grew up and is one of the best examples of the medieval moated castle left standing in Britain. It's in East Sussex, so you should be fine for a day trip from London. You could always incorporate it into a trip to, say, Brighton for the weekend, too.

I really enjoyed visiting Leeds Castle in Kent near the Dover/Canterbury area. The castle was gorgeous but the grounds absolutely incredible. It was one of the most scenic places I've been to. Nearby Canterbury is a beautiful town and the cathedral there is well worth a visit, also.

There's also Warwick Castle north of London - it's touristy but still interesting and you can combine it with a trip to Kenilworth Castle. You may just want to go through this list of castles in England and pick one or two that appeal to you.

Thanks so much! I'm sure that one of these will wonderful for him!

I asume that your boyfriend is thinking along the lines of proper odd school pre 14th c castle, the kind you get in old films with erol flyn and the like.
Thus Leeds although a great place is also a bit soft, kenilworth is very good, warwick is like going to disney world - you get ripped off, hassled by prats in dress, and feel very fake and crowded, Dover another great choice - big, powerful looking, great views of the sea, network of tunnels in the cliff face and also same good museums on WW2.

my knowledge of northern castles is better sorry, look on the english heritege and national trust websites for ideas.

If you ever wonder north give me a shout and ill see if i help you avoid the traps and see some great places.

good luck

quote:

you get ripped off, hassled by prats in dress, and feel very fake and crowded,

Sounds like a typical Saturday night around here.

I agree with whereforart, Leeds Castle has beautiful grounds. It is also within walking distance of a small ancient church with a quaint cemetary. If you are lucky as we were, the school (also close by) will be having a rugby game. Very British!

Wales!!
About 2 1/2 hours from London and you will be spoilt for choice!

Have a look at:-
www.castlewales.com/home.html

They're in alphabetical order so go to 'c' and click on Caerphilly.I think it's perfect for you or 'r' for Raglan.

If it's too far and you're interested in castles then the site is worth a look anyway1

Cheers.

2 1/2 hours!
no chance mate its that to best of wales from my house and i am on the border.

Wales if worth its own holiday, if you go for a day you wont leave guys.

quote:

Leeds Castle has beautiful grounds. It is also within walking distance of a small ancient church with a quaint cemetary.

Darn, I missed the church - I love cemeteries!

Sorry but I am originally from near Cardiff and we usually do it in 2 1/2 hours or thereabouts to the outskirts of London!
We don't usually plan in stops other than a quick 'toilet break'and avoid peak traffic because M4 can be pretty bad.
It is only 160 miles!!
I do agree with you 'though it's best to spend a bit longer there as there's so much to see and do.
Maybe a 'castle tour'?

not that up on south wales, border castle wise, but the north and mid has the best 'english' castles in wales. If you where going to loop from say harlech to chirk via snowdon. it would take you a while and we both know what the roads are like off the M4.

whilst on castles's what carcassone like these days? remember going as a kid, heard its a bit tourist trippy these days. I was looking to go over in the new year.

Don't know about Carcassonne as yet but hopefully going in July to see Robert Plant as they have a festival going on there. I have been told that it is very 'touristy', I'll let you know.

Is Warwick really that bad? We were told it was fantastic and well worth a whole day's visit.

Warwick castle is fine - just a little touristy but definitely your stereotypical English castle

It is a well restored castle in great condition but is also full of tat shops, madly expensive, crowded with tour groups and there is no room to explore.

There are other castles in the country which are run more for their preservation than the american doller and I think that on the whole people should try these and see something differant and new.

Any looking for castle or other historical sites should try:
English Heritage
or
National Trust

Both have links to their scotish and welsh counterparts.

Get out of the traps and the city and find yourselfs a gem or two that no-one back home knows about.

Remember to shout up for indie advice if you need

We were thinking of doing Warwick as our one touristy-type-thing for the re-enactment stuff which the kids love....and then spending time EXPLORING other *real* OLD castles too.

Thanks for the advice.

Any comments on Lindisfarne? 8yo daughter has been captured by that one!

If you check on the english heritage site they do a lot a reinactments as well of differant kinds around the country so you may be able to get a couple more in.

Lindi good, i am the only member of my family not to have yet but they all say it worth the trip. Its a way north, will you be based in London or traveling around?

If your in the north east for any length of time vist hadrians wall (the best preserved of the roman empires borders) and Durham possibly the finest cathedrel in the country and a lovely town.

We'll be travelling for two months....this is our preliminary plan...feel free to make suggestions about things to see along the way or things to avoid....bearing in mind we'll be dragging along 8 kids aged 2-14.

A week in London
Day 1: double decker bus tour & FREE!!!! river cruise
Day 2: South Bank Walk including Tate Modern/Globe Theatre/Tower of London
Day 3: Big Ben/National Gallery Art Museum/Trafalgar Square/Picadilly Circus/Harrods/Westminster Abbey
Day 4: St Pauls, British Museum
Day 5: Buckingham Palace/Hyde Park walk as per LP
Day 6: Hampton Court Palace
Day 7: Science museum
Plus Grandpa wants to fit in Charing Cross Road Jazz Club
You could stay in London for a year or more!

4 day Oxford Canal trip to catch our breath after the mad week!

Day 12: Drive to Salisbury (visit Stonehenge),
Day 13-15: Devon/Cornwall (Looe, Penzance, Clovelly)
Day 16-17: Based with friends at Weston-super-Mare - side trips to Bath, Chippenham (gotta visit aunty for scones and cream), Wookey Hole (can't remember why grandpa said we need to go there!)
Day 18: Stratford-on-Avon
Day 19: Warwick (now not so sure)
Day 20-22: Ironbridge Gorge
Day 23-24: Wroxeter - Menai Bridge - Holyhead (Beaumaris Castle, Ty Mawr stone huts)
Day 25: Windermere (will we see Swallows and Amazons?)
Day 26-27: Glasgow
Day 28: Oban
Day 29-35: (ferry to) Coll
Day 36-37: Edinburgh
Day 38: Lindisfarne
Day 39-42: Hadrian's wall explore
Day 43: Harrogate/Leeds (another aunty to visit)
then?????
that's what we *want* to do - of course we are then stuck in the middle of nowhere, so we will obviously keep moving, we just don't have set places we want to see from that point on - though we'll be needing to end up in Poland!

That is some tour. I have lived in England all my life (30 years) up until 2 months ago and I haven't seen all of the places you are going. You will have a great time - not sure what time of the year you are going but the weather in the UK is very changeable so you should make you are kitted out with wet weather gear and are flexible in your plans if you dont want to get wet. Especially so when you get to Scotland!! Also the UK is a very crowded country so the roads and public transport can be frustrating depending on when you travel (avoid rush hour).

Also when in Harrogate or Leeds think about a side trip to the Yorkshire Dales or the North Yorkshire Moors and coast (Whitby, Filey, Robin Hoods Bay. Isle of Skye in Scotland is pretty special as well - will remind you of New Zealand!!