Like Warwick Castle without the flash.
 

I am in the early phases of putting together a family trip to England and Wales this summer. I would really like to go to see some of the activities they have at Warwick Castle - like jousting and birds of prey, but don't really want to go to the castle itself. I am hoping that some of you will have alternative locations where I can find these kind of activities as I think we would really enjoy them. I know there are some other castles which have medival festivals during early July, but don't know which ones.

The kids will be 11 and 13 at that time, and we will have two weeks outside of London with a car to travel around.

I am hoping to keep the trip south of the Yorkshire Dales, and including SW Wales, but nothing is booked so I can be talked into changing my geographical confines.

Any suggestions are welcomed. Thanks.

What's wrong with going to the actual Warwick Castle? I think it is super .. has all the bells & whistles ... when I was there we saw tons of kids that age really having a great time ... dungeons, parapets, wax figures from Mme Tussaud making the various living areas "come alive." Sure, it's a show, but based on real happenings.

Next to The Tower of London, I can't think of a castle with much more history than Warwick. Those people seemed to stick their noses into everything and usually ended-up on the short end of the stick.

They sometimes do falconry/jousting at Kenilworth.

But mainly - the places you are going to see those sorts of things are at castles and stately homes. So you'll pretty much have to 'go to a castle'.

What you'll have to do is check the websites of each place you are considering against the dates of your trip. They just about ALL do these sorts of displays, just not every day/weekend. More as special events. So to find one (besides Warwick which has Falconers and jousters actually on the payroll) you'll have to do a bit of research.

We will definitely go see quite a few castles (and castle ruins). It's not that I wanted to avoid seeing castles, I just wanted to avoid Warwick based on a number of comments I have read about it being crowded and over the top. It is also quite expensive (to me). I thought we could get the castle experience and the jousting/birds of prey separately.

I did look up one or two places that I had read along the way had medieval festivals, but the dates were not out for next summer. I was hoping I would get a couple of ideas here for good alternatives, and then keep checking back for their 2010 dates.

You can go to Warwick, tour the castle, and watch jousting, falconry, etc. without paying extra for things like the new dungeon tour. It was busy when we were there in May 2007 (bank holiday weekend), but not overly crowded.

In addition, if you are planning to buy a Great British Heritage Pass for your family, Warwick is one of the properties included in the price of the pass.

Lee Ann

dsefinitely - if you plan on seeing several places, get the GBHP. Then Warwick will be 'free' as will be most any other castle/stately home/garden. (totally included in the cost of the Pass, w/ the exception of some special exhibitions)

They now do a Family GBHP that will save you a lot of money.

I was just looking into the Great British Heritage Pass having read Lee Ann's post. It seems like a good idea, and covers many of the sites I was thinking of. Somehow I thought there was only the English Heritage Pass and the National Trust pass.

Thank you all.

The benefit of the GBHP is that even though it does cost more, it covers all National Trust properties, all English Heritage places, all CADW places in Wales, Nat'l Trust for Scotland and Historic Scotland properties -- plus MANY privately owned places like Warwick, Blenheim, Chatsworth etc etc.

So it is usually a better deal than the English Heritage, National Trust or Royal Oak passes.

Um, if you want a place with all of these midievel activities you're going to have to go to a place with "flash" - the more "legitimate" places won;t have these no longer popular activities.

There are a lot of legitimate castles (starting with the Tower of London and Windsor Castle) - but they won;t have all these festival activities that you're looking for.

Falconry displays are a standard part of many summertime festivals, free and paid-for, from mega, several-day, county shows to village sustainability afternoons. There are also a number of falconry centres around the country. Any summer weekend in England, you're unlikely to be more than 30 miles from somewhere showing off birds of prey. Just google falconry, or set your children the project of googling out falconry stuff close to your itinerary.

Jousting's tougher. Some stately homes (like Hever, Heddingham, and Leeds castles and Knebworth House) have occasional jousting stunts, and there are a number of specialist jousting companies organising public events. Winships now have a dedicated indoor jousting arena in Brockenhurst, in the New Forest, with displays throughout the summer (www.medievaljousting.com) Again, it shouldn't be impossible to find jousting somewhere near your itinerary, though it's a great deal rarer than hawking.

But set the kids onto it.

In July there is a Jousting Festival/Tournament held at Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire.

http://www.berkeley-castle.com/index.php

and flanner has given you a good website above in medievaljousting.com

>>>The kids will be 11 and 13 at that time<<<

Frankly said, I cannot imagine a better place for your kids than Warwick Castle.

It is right, Warwick Castle IS touristy and IS disneyfied (in fact, tussaudfied), but it is a gorgeous building and both the building and the activities will fascinate your kids. Go there and plan to spend there at least three hours, better four.

BTW, we have been there on a sunny summer weekend and it was busy but not crowded. E.g. no waiting in lines like in Disneyland.

We've been to Warwick and don't feel the need to go back.

If you're thinking about SW Wales there are two great castles, Chepstow and Raglan, just across the border. You would have to specifically check their websites to see if there are festivals. In fact, you may have to contact them because after a quick check I didn't see anything. I know Raglan had a festival this summer, but I don't remember when it was.

We use a great website http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/ to find castles to visit. We prefer the less touristy disneyfied castles as well. In fact, we've found the free castles are most interesting for our little family. But, we prefer to run and jump and climb. Over the weekend we had Old Wardour Castle to ourselves and spent more than an hour playing hide and seek. Our son is 4 so not at the "enjoying exhibitions" stage. If you're hoping to see big events you will probably have to go to a more touristy castle.

Hi Poutine - Check out the Birds of Prey centre in Newent (- Gloucestershire) for flying displays:

http://www.icbp.org/index.html

For family events/days out a useful website is:
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.884

Hope this helps ...

Steve

What have you people got against my Uncle George and Auntie Jenny? (They're some of the waxworks at Warwick).

There are quite a few companies that will actually teach you falconry for a day - try Red Letter Days for an example.

When I was at Chepstow in September, there were no exhibits or displays or whatever about medieval life, knights, etc., that would help kids get a full picture of what they're seeing. There's just the castle itself, with information plaques explaining the various rooms.

I think I am just too early for the 2010 festival schedules. The plan is to spend 5 nights each in the areas of Swindon and Leeds (roughly), so I can hopefully find a festival close by. I will keep checking the websites mentioned above.

As I now plan to buy the GBHP, I will likely drop into Warwick as well.

I really like the look of the Birds of Prey experience, either through Red Letter Days or the centre mentioned in Newent. That would make for a very memorable day with my 13 year old. I would like to see them hunt too, but am not sure of my fence hopping abilities these days!

Thanks very much for your help.

The English heritage calender of summer events normally only comes out in early spring where all the EH events are listed.

I love the military reenactments - particularly the civil war armies, and the Romans (not normally together - although I did walk into a pub in Battle where there was a "200 years of military history" event, to find the bar surrounded by several Romans, a couple of Saxons, three roundheads, two members of a Napoleonic French Lancer regiment and some Nazis - I will always regret not having a camera with me).

You could combine the jousting in the New forest (see Flanner's link above) with a morning at the Hawk conservancy near Andover (http://www.hawk-conservancy.org/)

I fully understand those who are anti Warwick - wonderful castle but I hated the Disneyfication.

"If you're thinking about SW Wales there are two great castles, Chepstow and Raglan, just across the border."

You presumably mean south east Wales. In which case, don't forget Goodrich Castle (English Heritage) which is on a bluff overlooking the River Wye.

The problem with British castles is that they are either ruins, or have been lived in continuously and so have become more like country houses. We have not had battles involving castles in England and Wales since the seventeenth entury.

chartley -- thank you for the correction! I did mean south EAST.

tahl -- At Chepstow there's an exhibit (on the right when you walk in, upstairs I think) that shows different Welsh knights through time. We have photos of my son trying on different helmets! I wonder if maybe the exhibit was closed when you were there?

Berkeley Castle is worth a visit. We went there one morning when it was too muddy for the walk we had planned, and really enjoyed it. It's on the Great British Heritage Pass too.

Lee Ann

I forgot to include a link to our Picasa album, which has pictures from Warwick and Berkeley, if it will help you make up your mind. :-)

picasaweb.google.com/ElendilPickle/RoundabouttheUKMay2007

Lee Ann

Berkeley Castle is worth a visit.>>>

Edward II didn't think so.

BKP -- Aha, you've just explained a mystery.

The CADW page for Chepstow Castle says (and said even this past summer) "The exhibition is temporarily closed due to essential maintenance and improvement works," and I didn't understand what that meant since the Castle was clearly open. But now I realize that the page must be referring to the exhibits you're describing, because nothing like that was on offer when I was there. (There may have been a few things in the entrance room where we bought tickets, but really not much.)

My wife and i did a similar trip last summer. We purchased the Great British Heritage Pass also, but i would suggest waiting until after the new year to do it. I waited and watched the website and they had a buy 1 get 1 free sale on the passes. I believe it was sometime in February or March. All of the castles we went to accepted the pass except Windsor. We saw the following castles:

Windsor - Plan plenty time here, saw the changing of the guard
Chepstow - Great setting along the Wye River (see Tintern Abbey also)
Coch - Small but decorated with period furniture, etc
Harlech - Must see, great wall walk and setting by the sea
Caernarfon - Another must see, climb to the top of the turrets
Conwy - Another great climb, the town is inside the walls
Carew - smaller castle and millhouse
Beumaris - smaller, never finished, nice moat with swans

Overall we had an amazing trip, Wales is simply a beautiful country, and the castles are all amazing. Have a great time!

One that hasn't been mentioned is Caerphilly Castle. It's well worth seeing.

To quote from the Cadw site "One of the largest medieval fortresses in Britain, begun in 1268 by the Anglo-Norman marcher lord, Gilbert de Clare. Concentrically planned, the rings of stone and water defences are formidable even today. Famous for its 'leaning tower'. Impressive great hall, now used for various functions."

And if you are in that area, don't forget the Roman fortress at Caerleon, just outside Newport. There are some impressive Roman baths, and an ampitheatre and barracks. We were there one Sunday and saw a very gory re-enactment of gladiatorial combat.

Cardiff Castle is totally different, but the work done on it by the Marquesses of Bute in their heyday is fascinating. Details are at www.cardiffcastle.com.

Berkeley Castle is worth a visit.>>>

>>Edward II didn't think so.<<

No, he met with a rather painful end.

Lee Ann

We saw this type of thing at Blenheim last summer - people and horses in medieval dress with jousting, birds of prey etc. It was on the massive lawn at the rear of the house so you don't have to pay to go into the house, you can just pay to see the grounds. It was fun and very colourful.

Kay

WARWICK CASTLE IS OTT! and there are certainly any number of other castles to choose from....Scotland, Wales the Cinque ports..etc etc....but if you have kids, they should like it and you get to see/do loads of stuff. There are still beautiful quiet gardens etc and if it's not raining go inside 0 if it rains everyone goes inside!

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...omment-6167715

...there's a bit about the castle in this.....

Khun, I laughed my way through your trip report only yesterday, and made a mental note to check to see if you had done one for Thailand as well. (I was thinking of going to Thailand in April of next year, but maybe not anymore!)

Based on most of the comments above, I decided to go to Warwick Castle and bought a 15 day GBHP Pass for the family. We will have the opportunity to check out a number of castles and ruins that way. Unfortunately, I don't see that they have jousting or birds of prey at Warwick outside of school holidays anymore, which for the UK won't be until after I return home. I will have to get my falcon fix elsewhere.

No falcons, but my Great Uncle George. Seems a fair swap.

I took my nephews to England when they were 10 and 12. They loved Warwick. We saw a medieval joust at Chepstow on a July weekend (first or second) and there was quite a gathering of recreators and we wandered among the tents and there were archery demonstrations and all sorts of interesting things to see. We went to a meieval banquet at Caldecott Castle and spent the afternoon before wandering around the castle precincts. Also heartily endorse Goodrich, Raglan, Berkely, Caerphilly, Coch castles, Tintern Abbey, Roman ruins at Caerlon which the boys and I also visited in our 5 days at Chepstow.

I should have said Warwick was not part of the Chepstow visit. Two other castles we visited on that trip were Arundel and Bodiam. Arundel was ok but was not our favorite. Bodiam was also fun.

I prefer the ruined castles - they have more atmosphere than those in pristine condition. Don't forget - you have to visit when it's raining for maximum medieval grimness.

Here's a link for Welsh castles, inc one of my favourites, Cilgerran :-

http://www.castlewales.com/listings.html

I went to Warwick castle last year - it was a bit of a shock....

Trip report here....


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...omment-6167715

If you want ruined - Kenilworth Castle is only 30 minutes away....complete contrast.