Warwick Castle Reviews 

An experience more torturous than the dungeon itself
The only thing more torturous than the Warwick Castle Dungeons was enduring the ludicrous performances by the staff. And believe me, that is saying something.
I genuinely thought we were going to see actual dungeons and learn something about the history of the place. Instead, what we got was essentially a theme-park ghost train at best, with a handful of painfully over-the-top performances thrown in for good or rather VERY BAD measure.
This attraction somehow manages to take the wonderfully dark and gruesome subject matter of medieval torture and turn it into something spectacularly dull. Not frightening. Not funny. Not entertaining. Just a prolonged exercise in wondering how much longer you have to sit through it.
The staff performances were particularly excruciating. Apparently shouting, pulling ridiculous faces and behaving like they’ve just discovered comedy for the first time is supposed to be entertaining. It isn’t. It’s embarrassing. At times, it felt less like a professional attraction and more like an extremely ambitious school play that had somehow escaped and taken over a dungeon.
And it’s not even funny. Not remotely. Dull, a bore and quite frankly very, very silly. The whole thing seems to exist in the strange belief that loud scary and ridiculous nonsense is funny. It isn’t.
More seriously, there were significant concerns around health and safety, which completely undermined any attempt to enjoy the experience. An attraction involving confined spaces, theatrical effects and large groups of visitors should have safety absolutely nailed down. What we experienced left us seriously unimpressed.
Overall, an awful attraction and a complete waste of time and money. I went expecting history, atmosphere and genuine dungeons. Instead, I got a mediocre theme-park ghost train accompanied by performances that were more torturous than anything supposedly happening.
Medieval prisoners may have had the rack, the stocks and various other unpleasant contraptions. At least their ordeal eventually ended.
Avoid unless you have a particular passion for paying to be bored in the dark while someone shouts at you.
And as for the response below, NO the notice DOES NOT address any of the concerns I raised! I have reported this “attraction” to local authorities

The email I sent to Guest Services -

Hello,

My feedback from visiting today, I came with my parents, and my two girls aged 7 and 9.

I hate to be so negative, but it was honestly the worst day out I think we have ever had.

I understand that during the summer holidays you will be busy, I also understand that you probably make most of your annual revenue during this time, however the amount of people was ridiculous.

We managed to squish in on the floor to see the bird show but that meant sitting down 30 minutes early and waiting - I've not long had back surgery so can't sit for very long, and my parents are in their 60's in the same sort of predicament so not ideal at all.

Then we got to the 3:30 war of roses at 3pm only to be told it was full and we weren't allowed to watch it, and basically just tough. The main attraction and we weren't able to view it.

We didn't have time for any other shows due to the queueing we had to do for everything else, even the going to the toilet was a 30 minute mission.

Walking through the castle we couldn't see anything properly and we couldn't stop to read anything due to the amount of people shoving and pushing.

This email isn't to try and get anything for free, as we wouldn't return.

Why don't you do timed entries for things to limit the amount of people in certain places at one time? Timed entry to the castle, and you have to pick which show you see etc.

But if you know you're letting 10,000 people in but only 1000 of those are going to see the shows then surely this isn't morally right to take their money without stating that fact?

** I then sent a further email**

I'd also like to point out that we paid the £7.50 for parking as it says to do on entry, only to realise we didn't have to do that as everyone was just let out. 

** The reply I received**

Good Afternoon Rebecca-Jayne

Thank you for your additional feedback regarding the parking charge.

I appreciate why it may have appeared that parking payment was not required when you saw vehicles leaving the site without any visible checks. However, our parking system operates using ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras, which record vehicle registrations on entry and exit. Guests are still required to pay for parking as instructed, and vehicles that leave without making payment can be identified through the ANPR system and may be subject to follow-up action.

As such, your payment of the £7.50 parking fee was required and correctly made in accordance with the parking terms and conditions. I understand how this may have caused confusion, and I appreciate you taking the time to raise it with us.

Ragards

Tim | Guest Services| Warwick Castle
Email:
Warwick Castle | Warwick | CV34 4QU

*** At no point did I have to put in our registration number - So no way of knowing that was my car that I paid for - this is just another way of making money!

If you visit on a random Tuesday during term time, its probably a nice experience...

On a final note the interactions we had with staff were good, everyone was friendly - the bus driver especially.

Worst day ever!!! This was our 1st visit to Warwick Castle and I have never been treated like this. My wife and kid was allowed in but I was not. I was forced to stand out side for the whole day without explination. I had a valid ticket, my backpack was ok and I have no idea why I was not allowed in. There was no exchange of words, I was not rude, we greated them with smiles as we were excited to go in, no heated conversation, no reason given. Just left outside and not allowed in. How bad is that. No one had fun. My kid when inside, wanted to go up the tower but was not allowed. Also, there was a princess experiance that my child had a ticket for, that she was denided to do. We were drove 2.5hrs to enjoy the day. They broke up our family, reuined out day out, no explination why and no compensation.

Thank you Warwick Castle for an unforgettable experiance.

I decided to take my granddaughter after great deliberation where to have fun. Warwick castle looked good online. Parking was so far away, oh and yes the fee of £7.50! The choice was walk or hop on the transport bus, once all the seats had been taken everyone was pushed and squeezed up the aisle. I was jammed at the side of the driver (public safety out the window)!
Warwick castle is a lovely setting but sadly the biggest money making haul. The plastic children’s cup at £10 with a Warwick sticker on (which was refillable) but only at certain areas and then they closed!! Such a con! We waited 40 minutes for a show and then a gentleman said ‘don’t walk away everyone but the show is cancelled, you should have been told at entry!!! Ahh No! Shocking.
The swords and shields aimed at boys were close to £30 if you bought them both (plastic). Then you have to pay for the archery.
The medieval jousting was good but shambolic being packed into the stands. There should be benches to sit on, my poor granddaughter could not see anything, not very well organised, some decided to sit but were told to get up!
Warwick castle has much history but be prepared to spend.

We went to Warwick Castle and stayed at the Knight Lodge in 2019 was one of our best family trips. So we went again last week and we decided to try the glamping. The reason that I only give 3 stars this time is because I was very disappointed about the view of jousting and the dinner at the restaurant. The way they make the platform was limiting the view when there were too many people. We have been to see the jousting at Hampton Court, everyone were sitting down on the grass, so everyone can see it clearly. However, the jousting at Warwick castle was good but we hardly able to see it because of the way they build the platform, we were late in the morning and we couldn't get into any gap to see the show when it started. I asked the staff if they do the afternoon show, he was unable to tell me because of the hot weather, so we missed the afternoon show as my children were in the dungeon. We were charged extra £16 for 3 of them to go in. I thought that was expensive not including the entry to the castle. Falconry show was amazing. We all enjoyed it. The glamping was amazing too. Beds were surprisingly comfortable and shower bathrooms were nice and clean. I would suggest that they should have the shower trays, when we went to toilet after someone had a shower, the floor was all wet with running water around the toilet. I didn't see cleaner in the evening. So almost all bathroom floor were wet and slippery in the evening. We didn't enjoy the food in the evening at all at the restaurant and I thought that was so expensive. We had amazing evening dinner in 2019, so I booked us for dinner again this time. The food was so bad this time. Sausages, baked beans on evening menu? Inedible dried roast burnt chicken without gravy, not many choices for dinner, I don't like chilli and rice, chips were hard, soggy broccoli, desserts were bad and not many choices, just simple chocolate sponge cake, whipped ice-cream, £24 per person not including drinks were really expensive for the food they served. We were expecting roast dinner type like last time we went. We didn't look at the menu on the screen outside. We sat down at the table already, we should have just walked out to get take away outside the castle like the others. There weren't many people in the restaurant either but serving us drinks were so slow. My husband was so disappointed that they didn't have the drink mead on the menu like last time. We should have got a bottle from the castle for our evening. £140 for 4 adults and a teenage dinner, 1 drink each were very expensive for those type of food. I didn't realise that we needed to book table for breakfast. We could only get take away boxes to sit outside. Almost all B & B we have been, never heard of booking a slot for breakfast. The staff said there were no slot until 10am. My husband and I were early but they weren't serve breakfast until 7:30am. Our teenage and adults children were late, they went for breakfast about 9am, restaurant was empty. Staff offered us a table but we choose to sit outside instead because of the nice weather. So I think the slots for breakfast weren't working. Breakfast food were very good. Lots of choices from cereal to full English breakfast.

It was OK... was it worth £94.50 for a family of four? No. Was I annoyed that after paying £94.50 I then had to pay another £7.50 for the car? Yes.
In all honesty, it was OK. The trebuchet was broken (which I know is one of those things), but we didn't realise until that section began and the chap talking to us said that there were signs saying it wasn't working... I didn't see a sign anywhere even after that. The jousting - awesome... if you could see it. Far too many people in too tight a space - they need to make that section larger. The falconry display, again, great, but SO many people that the seating area was gone a long time before the performance started, as was the grass area. And when the jousting finished it was just like a sea of people that went on and on trying to cram themselves in. It feels really commercial - around every corner someone is trying to sell you some inflated priced sword or hotdog or drink... or a £7 a person have a go archery. For smaller children there seems to be a lot more stuff, for 8+, pretty scarce. Castle was impressive but really dark inside so quite hard to see.

Great for families, especially families with small children. We have been many times in the last few years for events and just for visits and have been delighted every time.

It is definitely a young families destination though- for example the bird display is amazing but the narration is entirely story based. Likewise with most of the historical activities. Which for families with under 10s like ours is perfect.

The shows we saw were really great, some of our party thought the jousting was best but some enjoyed the falconry show. A very clean and tidy environment with stewards and cast everywhere. The food was OK and not the normal rip off prices. Would recommend it as a once a season experience. Beware the parking costs £7.50 but there are parking marshals and security everywhere to justify the cost.

We had a brilliant day at Warwick Castle today and would highly recommend it! The falconry show was exceptional – genuinely one of the best live shows we’ve ever seen, not just falconry shows. Absolutely fantastic.

The kids really enjoyed the live Zog show, and the jousting experience at the end of the day was brilliant. All of the actors were fantastic and did such a great job, and the horses were incredible, especially given the heat!

A fantastic family day out and we’ll definitely be back.

UPDATE: interestingly when I said I was putting my experience on Trustpilot they gave a refund! Just watch out - no customer service they just want your money. Accidentally bought one too many tickets - despite buying many others so they had lots of money from me - told them
about the mistake - and guess what told me they have my money and nothing they can do! Appalling way to treat a customer who was paying a small fortune to visit

Had a good day out there. The falconry display was very, very impressive. The dungeon part was also well worth going to. The castle itself well preserved. The one thing I despised was the number of kiosks and gift stores etc. £5 for a cup of fizzy drink is daylight robbery and the smell of oil wafting around was unpleasant. Take a picnic and enjoy a good day out.

Went with the family today, what are a great place. Staff are welcoming and helpful, diables access also
A great family day out at good prices too.

It's outrageous to ask from a disable person to pay £7,50 for parking

We had an amazing time our family aged from 14 to 57 years old. We attended a blue light event which had a few nice touches free parking, discount in Gift shops free games/face painting for children. This was a nice gesture as being an NHS worker for 35 years this has not happened often. The staff were all very friendly and welcoming. The bird of prey show was magnificent we had to watch it twice ! The Viking horse show was entertaining and informative as it told a story that children and adults could understand along with the dungeon experience which in itself was informative . Well done all of the actors as it’s a tough job keeping everyone happy. Admittedly the food was expensive there but take a picnic and there’s plenty of places to eat it tables too and some under cover.
Well done Warwick Castle we will return as we have done many times before.

Too expensive for families, do you care about families woth low income ? And there are two many options available which makes buying a ticket a real jungle!

The checking in system isn't very clear, thankfully someone was on the desk when we arrived.
When booking it wasn't clear if needed to book the Castle separately, thankfully I booked as we would not have been allowed access.
The buffet food on the evening was nice but limited to choice, especially for the price, it hasn't particularly busy when we arrived at 5pm but the service of drinks remained slow. The buffet breakfast was much better and the food options brilliant.

The room was themed and a good size for even a bigger family. My only concern is the bunk beds provided are for small children. My child who is 11 is 5ft 6 and he couldn't fit in the bed. There was a floor pullout bed which we had to roll a blanket up to allow him the sleep with straight legs comfortably. He didn't get a great sleep due to this and after a busy day it wasn't brilliant.
The entertainment inside the hotel grounds is ok, but again very much directed at all young children. Other then a long queue for 3 shots at Archery there wasn't much else age appropriate.

It is an ok option if travelling far for a visit to the castle but would suggest finding else where to eat on the evening and be mindful of any child more then 4ft!

We went there as we were in the area , very expensive to enter The castle £60 for 2 and parking £ 7 _50 cheaper if you book on line disgusting
I would not recommend going for this price.

We went to see the winter birds of prey display and were really disappointed. The birds themselves are incredible but the poor condor. She was described as being unfit and was thrown up onto the place she flew out of by one falconer and then because she didn't want to fly and was walking around the edge of the high platform she was forced off by another falconer and then barely made it over the water, landing suddenly near the crowd where she was described as being frightened and was picked up and carried off.
Why fly an 'unfit' bird in the first place? Why force it off the platform?
Having been around birds of prey for years we were not happy and won't return.
It's also a cheeky that after paying the entry fee parking is charged on top of this!

We went here for a four night break my husband and I we had such an amazing time that we went back a week later for a three night break with our grandson. It was absolutely perfect we can’t think of staff enough especially our staff Evie and her manager wow amazing staff at reception 10 out of 10 entertainment with the nights perfect with every penny

We would like to thank Tim personally at the tavern, we had an amazing experience for Valentine’s Day here, with day at castle and a medieval banquet!
However the stand out moment was an amazing service from Tim at the tavern!!! Thanks all