Highclere Castle

For fellow Downton Abbey fans, this is a must! We absolutely loved it. It was a great experience to be where this amazing series was filmed. The inside is beautiful, and surreal to imagine that all the episodes were captured within this beautiful building. The actual owners still reside there, so no internal photography allowed. Definetly worth a visit for fellow Downton Abbey fans.

· via Google

Great place to visit. Very busy. However they have some silly policies regarding backpacks that they blame on security. No photography atall in the house. Limited food options. We arrived early. Went round the house at 10am. Being a Downton Abbey fan this was so cool to see. It was great to hear about the history from the guides in the various rooms. The guides were really good. I'm surprised the tour is guided to be honest because they have the staff to do it. I think it would be more informative. There is a ridiculous policy regarding backpacks. It seems inconsistent as we saw many people with bigger bags than we had. Many people with push chairs with stuff stacked underneath. Yet even in the grounds you are not allowed to bring in a backpack. All the food establishments provide pretty basic food and if you have allergies or dietary restrictions like us it's difficult. We had our lunch in the car park which is disappointing. Tip: if you have a booking slot at 10am go for 11am because everybody has gone through by 11/11:30am and you'll have the place to yourself and be before the second timed entry

· via Google

A great place to visit we spent about 11/2 hours walking around the gardens. The paths are very easy to walk and there’s lots to see and explore. We had several stops for tea , coffee and ice cream. All were very reasonable prices and very tasty . The house is just as I imagined from Downton Abbey. With lots of friendly and helpful staff. How ever if you want to go upstairs leave any Walkers outside and use your stick. As my partner was not allowed to use the stairs even though she can. Because she had a walker. The Egyptian exhibition is extremely well done we spent quite some time in there. There are plenty of toilets including disabled. All are very clean and well maintained

· via Google

Fabulous day out. The castle is very impressive in every way but above all the homely family atmosphere made it stand apart from other stately homes. The mixture of modern portraits and photos of the current Earl and Countess along with those from the past gave it a feeling of being loved and cared for. Modern books, fresh plants and flowers and other personal items in all the rooms, which were flooded with sunlight on the day we visited, added to this. The gardens are beautiful, full of blossom and spring flowers, plenty of seats where you could relax and enjoy the serenity of the moment.

· via Google