Dover Castle is a gorgeous location. We spent a warm and sunny summer day there while on our first family camping trip. We wandered around the grounds and inside the castle. As always, I have taken lots of pictures from Dover Castle to share here on my blog.
The rooms inside were decked out in furniture, and you could imagine what life must have been like in the castle back in the day. I was wondering out loud to a member of staff that it must have been freezing in these big, wide and tall stonewalled rooms. Apparently however, as Kings held court from their bedroom, the room would have an open fire and lots and lots of staff dealing with the court business, it actually got pretty warm, even on the coldest winter days.
We had a picnic on the grounds, and grabbed a coffee from the cafe. And we walked around the moat, picking flowers. There was also a show, with actors, for the kids. A queen invited all the children to come and compete in medieval target shooting. It was quite good fun for the older children. We also had a look at some of the wartime exhibitions - although we did have to miss out on them as after hours of running around our toddler started to get quite unmanageable and we thought it would be best to call it a day.
We enjoyed our visit to Dover Castle a lot. The staff were really friendly and knowledgeable, and the scenery breathtakingly beautiful. Lucky me also discovered that I have a corporate membership to English Heritage so we got off cheap this time. Due to the newly discovered membership I think we might visit lots more of castles this coming year!
Top tips for Dover Castle:
- Pack a picnic. There are lots of nice places to eat outside, and you save a few precious pennies.
- Take the whole day - the grounds are huge and there is lots to see.
- Have chats with the staff minding the rooms- they are incredibly knowledgeable and can tell you loads about history and old customs.
- The Underground Hospital stages air raid simulations - this means the hospital tour is a bit too scary for the youngest children but should be thought-provoking for older kids.
- Consider a family membership to English Heritage - for two adults and two kids (+5 years old) the yearly membership is not much more than one day tickets and you get to visit as many castles as you want for a year!
You might also like: Our first ever camping trip as a family and Visiting Farnham Castle in Surrey