Britain's 20 best castles to visit this summer, from wild ruins to living palaces – as chosen by Dan Snow
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‘Another smashed house,” shouts my daughter from the back seat of the car as we pull into a car park. Above us looms a magnificent ruin, a survivor from a different age, a fortress palace more than 500 years old… a castle.
She has been to a few. From Dunluce, hanging precariously over the jagged Antrim coast, to Ardvreck in the Highlands of Scotland to Portchester on the south coast, we have travelled as a family across these islands, using castles as our way points.
On this occasion, she was too quick to dismiss Rhuddlan Castle and her enthusiasm was quickly restored by the imposing gatehouse, and then a climb up perilous steps to the tower with its views to the sea to the north and the mountains of Snowdonia to the west.
We are blessed with our stock of castles. They are testament to a turbulent past. A time when occupiers imposed their rule upon reluctant subjects in stone and iron, and magnates shielded themselves from rivals with vast and magnificent fortresses.
Some of these castles were abandoned, others were destroyed by foreign invasion or domestic rival, some were cannibalised for building, others demolished by a nervous government.
Some have thrived and changed. Alnwick was transformed into a magnificent Victorian stately home, Dover has had a longer continuous military presence than any site on earth.
An Iron Age fort, Roman bastion, Saxon settlement, Norman castle, and so on until it was designated the regional seat of government in the event of a nuclear strike.
They sit across the country from the Isles of Scilly to Dover, Anglesey, Caithness and Co Fermanagh, from isolated moorland and hidden valleys to the very heart of our greatest cities, London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Nottingham.
You are never far from a castle, and thus never far from a place where you can sense the past in a way no book or programme can convey. They are places to explore and play, but also to learn if you fancy it. They are so popular because visitors can set their own level of engagement.
Some come to immerse themselves in the history, others to run through the grounds, crash through a wall of gift-shop shields with a wooden axe (or is it just me?), or gaze upon picturesque ruins at illuminated by a winter sunset.
Some castles look nice but played only a marginal role in our story. The eye-catching Bodiam is really just a smart house masquerading as a castle, where little of note happened, but it does not stop it being the nation’s favourite.
Others like Lincoln, Dover, Stirling, Carrickfergus and Caernarfon were the backdrop for moments that forged our world.
There is no better place to explore, to imagine and to soak up history than at a castle. My daughter has a few more “smashed houses” to visit before the blessed onset of adulthood delivers her from my obsession.
Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire
This preposterously ornate edifice is one of those castles that were quite plainly built for showing off. To be fair, it works: Bolsover Castle is one of the most impressive in the country.
It has a busy calendar of tourist-friendly events, including, until October, six performances each weekend from the Cavendish Horses. It is neither the horses, who display some of the 17th century’s most complex equestrian skills, nor the castle’s many ghosts, who are known by the nickname “The Beast of Bolsover”: that’s the redoubtable local MP, Dennis Skinner.
Dover Castle, Kent
If you ever meet Henry II, don’t make the mistake of telling him that in 2019 there are some Anglo-French tensions around Dover.
He will point to the enormous, flinty castle that he expensively augmented in the 12th century, adding to a site already so ancient that it contained (and still contains!) a Roman lighthouse.
Intense military activity continued for centuries: it was from Dover Castle that the Dunkirk evacuation was orchestrated. Speaking of military operations, if you need help coaxing a video game-loving child to Dover, there are castle-building Minecraft workshops on July 20 and 21.
Tintagel Castle, Cornwall
The best time to visit Tintagel, the fabled seat of King Arthur, was probably back in King Arthur’s day.
But the second-best time will surely be the end of this summer, by which point they’ll have finished building the beautiful cantilevered bridge that will connect the Cornish mainland to the rocky headland on which the ruins sit. No more step-climbing!
Harlech Castle, Gwynedd
On the topic of step-climbing, Harlech Castle is at the top of a hill that features, pending a Guinness World Records review, the world’s steepest street. Gulp.
Make it to the top, however, and you’ll find a magnificent medieval castle with gorgeous views over Ceredigion Bay over one side and Snowdonia on the other. Truly this is a one-stop holiday shop.
Beaumaris Castle, Anglesey
Like Harlech Castle, Beaumaris Castle was built by Edward I in the hope of subjugating north Wales. Low, large and moated, it’s a model of geometric perfection, despite having fallen into a state of semi-ruin since the 17th century. You’ll find it on the island of Anglesey.
Caerphilly Castle, Caerphilly
This is the biggest castle in Wales, by acreage, and the second-biggest in the UK (Windsor is the biggest). Caerphilly probably has the most ambitious moat system of them all, as well as a tower that leans even more dramatically than the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
It’s in a state of medium ruin but is still imposing. There’s lots of Welsh-flavoured history here, and enticing events over the next couple of months, such as archery and a temporary planetarium in the Great Hall.
Caernarfon Castle, Gwynedd
“A brute of a fortress,” salivates this castle’s website, as if admiring a greased-up powerlifter. “Caernarfon Castle’s pumped-up appearance is unashamedly muscle-bound and intimidating.
Picking a fight with this massive structure would have been a daunting prospect.” Caernarfon is yet another massive castle built by Edward I, and, like the rest of the king’s “Iron Ring”, it sits on the shore.
The castle was designed to be a residence for the Prince of Wales, and although Prince Charles for some reason doesn’t live here, it was the scene of his investiture in 1969.
Warwick Castle, Warwickshire
Not sure William the Conqueror intended this when he built it, but Warwick Castle is now essentially an enormous castle-based theme park.
And it’s a good one too: apart from all the stern medieval architecture, there’s a dungeon tour, a Horrible Histories maze, daily birds of prey shows, restaurants, medieval suites to stay in overnight, and even, as of July 20, live-action jousting. Just what William would have wanted.
Rochester Castle, Kent
Here is a fun bit of fairly gross trivia about Rochester Castle: when King John was besieging some rebel barons there in 1215, his forces used the fat of 40 pigs to explode the foundations of the keep’s southern corner.
They’ve just about cleaned the mess up by now, which is fortunate, because the castle is hosting a series of concerts this summer, including, on July 13, an instalment of the Proms. And for all of King John’s efforts, the keep remains one of the best preserved edifices of its type in Europe.
Carrickfergus Castle, Co Antrim
Having been besieged over the course of its 800-year history by the Scots, Irish, English and French, Carrickfergus Castle would seem to be long overdue a Welsh invasion. It’s one of Northern Ireland’s great historic buildings, and it sits picturesquely on the northern shore of Belfast Lough in Co Antrim. This is a madly scenic part of the country; several scenes from Game of Thrones, that undisguised paean to massive castles, were filmed nearby.
Dunluce Castle, Co Antrim
One of those Game of Thrones filming locations was Dunluce Castle, also in Co Antrim. It’s on the cliffs – too close to the cliffs, really, since part of the castle fell into the sea on a stormy night in 1639. The Thrones castle this place inspired, Pyke, takes liberties – it’s composed of precarious stacks connected by rain-lashed rope bridges, which I am confident would fail tourist health and safety tests going – but is pretty much true to Dunluce’s epic, ghoulish atmosphere.
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Framlingham Castle, Suffolk
Ah, yes, Framlingham Castle, made famous first by King John, who successfully besieged it in 1216, then by Mary Tudor, who was proclaimed Queen of England here, and then Ed Sheeran, who wrote a song about it 700 years after King John’s siege.
Castle on the Hill, which was released in 2017, discusses Sheeran’s teenage years, which he spent in this part of Suffolk, and it prompted a surge of visitors. You can walk around its ramparts, visit the workhouse that employed local paupers until the 19th century, and, as with Dover Castle, attend a Minecraft workshop (be quick – it’s on today).
Stirling Castle, Stirlingshire
James IV of Scotland wanted Stirling Castle to rank among the great European palaces, and, as such, it’s visibly more ornate than other castles of the same era.
Despite several sieges, it’s well preserved; the best parts of it to visit include the Chapel Royal, the Great Kitchens, and Queen Anne Gardens. If you visit today, you’ll be able to learn about the Battle of Bannockburn, which began this day in 1314, and ended with Robert the Bruce overcoming the army of Edward II of England.
Crathes Castle, Aberdeenshire
Not really a castle you’d want to defend – so many large windows and delicate falderals! – but definitely one you’d want to live in.
Crathes Castle, which was built in the 16th century and has acquired many adornments since, sits in verdant Scottish countryside roamed by roe deer and, um, kids whizzing across the adjacent zipwiring centre.
The castle’s highlights include its walled garden, its painted ceilings, and the Horn of Leys, given to Crathes’ owners by Robert the Bruce.
Alnwick Castle, Northumberland
You might recognise Alnwick Castle from the first couple of Harry Potter films, from Downton Abbey, or even Transformers: The Last Knight.
When you include its other film credits, Alnwick must be one of Britain’s most prolific film stars. Sprawling and stately, Alnwick is still inhabited by the Percy family, as it has been for most of the past 700 years, but has a busy tourist offering.
In July, there’ll be outdoor performances of Shakespeare, jousting, and cinema under the stars.
Stokesay Castle, Shropshire
Have you ever wondered what a traditional English cottage would look like squashed on to the top of a turret? Wonder no more. Stokesay, according to English Heritage, is one of the finest and best-preserved fortified medieval manor houses in England, which is a dry way of referring to this charming hybrid. Once you’ve made it to the top of the cottage bit, you’ll enjoy lovely views over the Shropshire countryside.
Urquhart Castle, Inverness-shire
There’s not that much of it left, which in some ways makes Urquhart Castle even spookier. Its ruins overlook Loch Ness, making it, subject to conclusive proof of the existence of Nessie, the loch’s premier tourist attraction.
