3 things to do in Alnwick

We had never heard of Alnwick but when we were planning this trip we saw a story about it on a home and gardening show of all things. This is 3 things you can do in Alnwick. After visiting we found, like most towns in the UK, it was certainly worth the visit.

Alnwick is a town of about 8000 in the north of England 51 km from the Scottish border.  We travelled here after York .

1. It is home to Barter Books

Barter books is one of the largest second- hand bookshops in Europe. It has been here since 1991.

It is housed in the old train station. (1887-1968). With a wonderful children’s book section where the kids could explore. There were a wooden train and benches to sit on and many different stories in this fun area.

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There were thousands of books as well as a train that ran around the top of the shelves. We are a family of book lovers and so would have stayed there for hours. So many interesting books and nooks and crannies to explore.

The other thing Barter books are known for is being where the “Keep Calm and Carry on” sign was rediscovered in 2000. Obviously, since then it has been copied and reproduced all around the world and is now one of the iconic images of the 21^st century.

There is a café in the old waiting room of the station with atmospheric fireplaces. However, we were a bit late in the day to get a meal so had to head into town to find some dinner.

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2. Alnwick castle

Alnwick castle is very big and impressive. I really liked the figures all around the roof. We had pre-booked our tickets but there was not any queue when we were there.

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This is where they filmed the flying scenes from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone. We were very excited to come here. I have always loved castles and this had some restored sections and museums. The grounds were huge for walking around.

There are lots of activities for kids here. My eldest was hoping to do archery (extra charge). Unfortunately, the minimum age is 9 with no flexibility, despite her being old enough to participate back in Sydney.

Luckily there was no minimum (or maximum) age for the “flying lessons”. The only difficulty we had was finding them. Usually the lessons are in the “outer Bailey” where the filming for the movie was. But as it was a bit quieter it had been moved to the “Inner Bailey” so there is a bit of running around to find it.

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Note to self: take a photo of the information board when you come in to make sure  you have all the current information.

At 11am two wizarding professors arrived with a supply of broomsticks to meet the students. I was excited to try it as well as both girls. There were instructions on how to pick up and mount your broomstick, the correct words and arm movements to use when riding your broom then the official training began.

I was impressed at how well I could fly by the end but the girls thought there would be more actual “flying”.

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The most disappointing thing was that we had to leave before “Dragon Quest” which was also included in the price. It looked so interesting but as we only had limited time in Alnwick we couldn’t stay at the castle all day.

I would suggest checking the timing before you arrive for all the activities you want to do to make sure that you are not just looking around the castle when the timed activities are on.

Cost

There is a cost for the castle that can be combined with the gardens on the one ticket. We prebooked our tickets as you save 10% booking online. A family ticket for 2 adults and up to 4 children is 39.60 GBP. Our combined ticket for the castle and garden cost 60.30GBP. We thought this was quite expensive but does include lots of activities if you time your visit correctly and can participate in them all.

3. Poison garden, Alnwick garden

We had to leave the castle so we would have some time to visit Alnwick gardens. I particularly wanted to see the Poison garden which is a locked garden only available to see on tours.

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We were just in time for the 20 minute guided tour. There are different plants from around the world. Some that seem quite innocuous like rosemary and are in most people’s backyards. Some were very dangerous or illegal and require special permits.  Apparently, each tour will focus on slightly different aspects of the garden as there are too many plants to cover in 20 min.

Cost

We bought our ticket to the garden at the same time as our castle ticket (see above) According to their website the tickets are 5% cheaper to buy online. The ticket includes entry to the walled garden, the woodland walk and the Treehouse. The Poison garden is no additional charge. You just need to line up to get on the next available tour.

We had to travel to our next location that day so didn’t have nearly enough time at the gardens. I was disappointed not to see the “Capability” Brown designed gardens. There was a children’s garden, shop, café and treehouse restaurant. Although we did get to run around on the suspension bridges around the restaurant. I can see why people get multiple day passes for the gardens alone.

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The Cascades when you walk into the gardens initially are so impressive and only had time to observe them from a distance instead of walk all around them.

Where we stayed

We had a family room at the Oaks hotel which was just on the outskirts of town but walking distance to the city centre and walls, castle and gardens.

The room was very spacious but had an odd shaped bathroom, luckily still functional. It included parking, cooked to order breakfast and had a restaurant that had a good reputation which after walking around town to find most places closed we should have dined at.

Alnwick was a surprise. There was so much to see there. Even the children had fun at the gardens. This was only 3 things to do in Alnwick. Next time I would allocate at least 1 full day to the castle, 1 full day to the gardens and potentially half a day for Barter bookshop.