Last weekend, we headed to Warwick Castle for our first visit in years! Warwick Castle has over 1000 years of history, a number of themed walk throughs and a few shows too so we were VERY excited to get to experience what the attraction had to offer. Here’s how we found it.
Arrival
As with everything at the moment, we pre-booked our Warwick Castle tickets the week before our visit online and were emailed all the details, as well as a map and showtimes the day before we went which was a nice touch. So when we arrived we were fully prepared! We were parked in a field which was about a 15 minute walk from the entrance but this was clearly routed, taking us past the Knight’s Village accommodation (which looked adorable) and through the trees so we didn’t mind at all. When we got to the castle, we had our temperature checked, our bags looked through and then we were in. It was super smooth, really easy and took no time at all.
Queues
To accommodate for social distancing, each indoor attraction has a limited capacity meaning that you need to queue up to enter each area. As the last weekend before the summer holidays ended for most kids, this meant that it was pretty busy even with a capped capacity so the queues were very long. Actually, the queues were so long that they went beyond where the 2m floor markers were which meant there was not a great deal of social distancing happening further back in the queues which was a shame. There were, however, actors, all wearing beautifully themed masks to match their costumes, keeping the queues entertained and ensuring social distancing where possible, all while in character. This was really cool and a nice touch when queues were getting so long. I think the longest we waited was about 40 minutes, which wasn’t too bad as the weather was nice and we could have our lunch in the queue. I would be wary though if you have children that it can be a pretty hefty wait for some of these indoor attractions. On the most part though, this turned out to be a good thing as the limited capacity for each area meant that there were less people in the attractions and you could really take in everything. Masks are required inside all attraction areas and hand sanitiser is provided as you enter and as you leave as well.
Indoor Attractions
The Kingmaker was my absolute favourite attraction of the day which tells the story of the preparations for battle at Warwick castle in 1471. This is a lovely themed attraction with smells, wax models, sound effects, and authentic sets and scenes. As this was kind of tucked away between the queue for the gift shop, the queue for the Great Hall and the exit for the castle walls, this didn’t have a queue at all for most of the day. This meant that we could go straight in and experience this attraction without having to worry, taking our time to read all the information which can get very busy on usual days.
We queued longest to go into the Great Hall and State Rooms. This had a big queue all day but was probably shortest during the time when the bird shows were happening as this dulled the crowds in the main area of the castle. This was really fun and worth the wait in my opinion. There was so much to look at and again, more models and scenes were awaiting us throughout this area as well as some gorgeous artwork, architecture and craftsmanship. This section functioned more like your traditional museum where you weren’t allowed to touch anything but, with the current measures, this actually worked really well.
We also waited to go up the castle walls and stand at the top of the towers to admire the views. Be warned that there are a lot of steps and these are mainly enclosed as spiral staircases. Wearing a mask, being asthmatic and wearing glasses that steamed up made this a fairly unpleasant and claustrophobic experience…but the views were lush and the reduced capacity meant that there wasn’t a queue of people behind or infront of me on any of the staircases so I could take my time.
The castle also has a few other areas that weren’t open due to the government guidelines, understandably, as well as a Dungeon attraction that needed to be booked in advance that we didn’t experience on this trip.
Outdoor Spaces
Warwick Castle has 64 acres of space to explore as well as an outdoors Horrible Histories maze, a bird show, and skills demonstrations to watch or experience yourself. We loved walking around the gardens, seeing the peacocks and seeing the Trebuchet (though this currently isn’t firing). There was a bowman who was shooting at targets and you could pay to have your own bow and arrow experience as well. It was really nice to see so many activities going on.
The Horrible Histories maze was brilliant. They’ve changed it from an actual maze in which you can get lost into a one way route to minimise the risk but this is great because it means you don’t miss any of the sections. We did still manage to get lost somehow though…don’t really know how we did it but we did go round in circles a bit! This maze takes you through time as you explore different periods throughout history. As with the books, this is all very funny and aimed at children but it is still good fun for the adults too. Each time period has a different activity or area to explore with trenches to show the Frightful First World War or a castle to storm for the Stormin’ Normans. It was a lot of fun and though there were a few times we had to wait for people to move on from the area in front of us, it was never too long and there was always something close by to read.
The Falconer’s Quest was an absolute highlight of the day. If you come to Warwick Castle, I highly recommend you take half an hour out of your day to go and watch this bird show. You will not regret it. We opted for the afternoon show which was at 3:30pm and arrived about 5 minutes before. If you want to get a proper seat on the benches, I would suggest arriving earlier but for us, we didn’t mind sitting on the floor so it wasn’t an issue. They had drawn squares across the lawn and each group was required to stay in their square (some bigger groups were given 2 squares). This worked really well to keep everyone social distanced. We loved this show. The birds of prey were magnificent and beautiful. Watching them fly around, swooping and diving above our heads, was an absolute delight. The storytelling was really good as well, following the story of a young fisherman’s son who wants to help bring back the birds of prey to Warwick in exchange for becoming the castle’s Master Falconer. The grand finale was just spectacular.
Overall Thoughts
I had an absolutely brilliant day at Warwick Castle. There were a lot of people there but with it being the last weekend before schools went back, this was understandable. I do think there could have been better social distancing in the queues but that was up to the guests rather than Warwick Castle itself. The way they set up the indoor attractions worked really well and I was very impressed with their offering. I highly recommend anyone who is going to watch the bird show as it was really a great time for everyone there. Make sure you’re prepared with masks and ready to wait in some lines too. The gift shop had a hefty line all day so if you’ve got souvenirs you want to get, make sure to visit early. Otherwise, we just had a lush time and definitely would recommend a visit.
Mission Theme Park 
I have always wanted to go looks class
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It is a lot of fun! Such a good day out 🙂
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👍👍
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