Castle Howard Reviews 36

A superb stately home set in beautiful grounds consisting of woods, lakes and a walled garden. The house is a delight and all the facilities excellent.

Castle Howard doesn't need 'Brideshead' credentials to stand proud and defiant as a supreme example of baroque country house splendour.

Vanbrugh truly brought his dramatic expertise into play here both inside and out . At once playful and teasing , a glorious vision reaching skywards , yet one governed by strict architectural principles. And therein lies the piquancy - controlled symmetrical design complemented by an exuberant flight of fantasy.

Take the geometric precision of the tesselated marble floor and columns of the atrium that give grace to an upward spiral of arches and surrounding balcony onward and upward towards the stupendous painted dome 70m high swathed in natural light on all sides.

This is unselfconscious opulence. Calm and assured. Soft power.

This translates into the enfilade of rooms furnished and decorated with taste and tact - a devastating fire has been miraculously airbrushed.

The gardens conform to 18th century principles without undue excess . Picturesque ideals are upheld with lakes and woodland .The Temple of the Four Winds is an exquisite example of 'less is more'. Just one perfect example , not ten assorted temples , follies and grottoes.

The guides are excellent. Engaging , sincere , thoughtful and well-grounded in the contents and history of the house. They feel proud to be a part of it.

The chapel is intriguing. An integral feature of the house , not shunted into an outlying family churchyard. An intimate familial bond that suffuses the ethos of the entire house.

Sadly not very good !
We could not believe it ! As soon as you saw the stairs and the poor display ! Not the usual fabulous entry ! The Story was difficult to follow . Just flowers . Not even Dorothys red shoes . Very sparse and the imagination was very poor . What’s happened ? Did they not have a budget ! This is the 4th year coming at this time of year and to be honest , last years wasn’t all that good . So I’m sorry to say ! We will give it a miss next year .

Have visited many Castle Howard Christmas events over the years inc Venice, Neverland, Narnia, Alice in Wonderland and all have been well worth the price paid (even though more recent events have become smaller and not utilised the 1st floor).

Sadley, The Wizard of Oz was a real disappointment.

The storyline was very difficult to follow, not helped by the displays being minimal/spartan and not depicting the story accurately, no better than many departmental store window displays!

The narratives/recordings in most of the rooms was of insufficient volume and very muffled;

There was nothing there to capture the imagination, nothing to make you stop and absorb each scene/setting which lead to the whole experience taking under 25 minutes to complete - unacceptable for the entry price paid.

Not sure we will bother attending again which is such a pity as these visits had become a much loved Christmas tradition.

My Daughter bought tickets for myself and her sister for Wizard of Oz, sadly disappointed after last year with Alice in Wonderland theme.
Shop is so overpriced, I’m sure if you reduced your prices, you would sell more, especially for the every day person, and considering you are still selling last year’s Christmas decorations.
Cafe is well overpriced for what is on offer.
My youngest Daughter requested not to be invited next year .
We worked out a rough earnings each day, and yes we realise cost of upkeep but you’re having a laugh at our expense!

Have just come back from the Wizard of Oz "experience". It cost us £76.50 for 2. That was the online price with a 10% discount. We had to wait in the rain for 20 minutes AFTER the time of our "timed ticket entry". We then joined a very long slow moving queue of people traipsing through a few rooms full of Christmas tat in the dark. Couldn't see any of the paintings, furniture, books, statues etc that we had come to see. In spite of the slow moving queue it took less than 40 minutes to get round. It was a total waste of money. Even kids didn't seem impressed. Outside in the marquee, food was overpriced and not up to much. We've been to hundreds of stately homes and never been as disappointed as we feel today.
Another thing to bear in mind is that your ticked for house and garden doesn't cover parking. They sting you for another £7 to bring a car! In spite of the fact that you can't get there without one.
My advice is, "Don't bother".

Wizard of oz was impressive. Enjoyed our day. The food hall however is different to my pervious visits. Food was served in cardboard boxes, pigs in blanket came without bacon round. I had to go and ask for the gravy which was taste less. Quality and service was much better before on plates. I am a member. I won’t be buying food if we visit next year.

I had a fantastic experience at Castle Howard this year for my annual festive visit. Castle Howard is a venue that is very close to my heart - situated in the most beautiful countryside and close to the City of York.

The afternoon tea was a vast improvement on my previous visit - more sandwiches (including top up if required) with generous fillings as well as scones and cakes. The tea was good and a top up was available, which we took advantage of. We were seated just in front of the feature fireplace which was warm and magical! The staff could not have been more attentive and it was no trouble at all to arrange a top up of tea. The festive decorations were second to none with an atmosphere to match and the Wizard of Oz festive theme was amazing! I can highly recommend a visit.

Appreciated all the work involved to make this an enjoyable visit and Wizard of Oz was well displayed. We also had a lovely afternoon tea again. Thank you to Jane and Bella and all the staff.
See you next year

Visited on Saturday for the wizard of oz Christmas. No where near as good as last time we visited for narnia.We had to queue over an hour before entering which was distressing as I have ms so standing for so long was awful! Once inside we felt rushed to get round as it was so busy. Entry is extortionate for what we got....The walled garden is closed for maintenance so this again was very dissapointing and made it an expensive visit! Coming from Manchester,We won't be returning next year!

I did really like their farm shop but just so disappointed that yet another venue has gone cashless and I do not wish to support a business that restricts people’s financial choices. We have elderly friends who always use cash and now can’t enjoy a trip out there for a walk around the gardens and a leisurely lunch in their courtyard cafe. It’s a real shame.

Paid around £200 for a joint annual membership having recently moved to the area. What a mistake. The whole set up is a shambles and the customer service is an absolute disgrace. We were previously members at Chatsworth where we received a comprehensive membership pack and the staff do everything they can to make the customer experience outstanding. Castle Howard is the polar opposite. Received absolutely nothing after joining and reasonable email enquiries are met with rude, childish and unhelpful responses. Avoid.

I bought 4 packs of kidney in the farm shop. Of these, 3 were out of date, one by 6 days. Unacceptable & dangerous - do better.

Father’s Day car show - what can I say other than overpriced entry fee - horrific queues to get in , £7 for twenty chips with a scoop of gravy , £3.50 for a can of pop and it was supposed to be a car and motorbike show - there was 6 motorbikes - I’d give this “ show “ a miss

Always feel conflicted when writing reviews on an unclaimed profile ... its always better when a business takes ownership and at least offers a reply to reviews, but then equally it's a measure of a business that doesn't care about its reviews and it's clear Castle Howard doesn't care so this is for the benefit of people thinking of visiting.

As with the reviews on here the house, gardens so infrastructure are fabulous its the management of thus place that's appalling. The fathers day car show had some amazing cars on display but they were nothing to do with Castle Howard. The bit they were responsible for was the horrendous marshaling of arriving traffic to the event, causing massive queues. Marshaling the volume of converging traffic from all directions with numerous staff members directing each car into one line and ultimately to one individual directing you into a space was mind numbing! Traffic should have been directed into at least 3 lines keeping it moving and avoiding stationary queues. NOT ROCKET SCIENCE!!
The entry price was to expensive and the merchandise stalls advertised amounted to a couple vehicles doing a car boot style offer ... very poor!
Queued 30mins for a very average BQ and got the simplest BQ food ( 2 burgers) made by so called chefs and they were RAW!
So as Castle Howard won't be reading or caring about this review this is for anyone thinking of visiting ... DONT BOTHER .... there are better managed car events to go to which are definitely better value for money!

Extremely Disappointing Experience Accused Without Evidence & Ignored by Management

My wife and I recently stayed at this campsite for what was meant to be a relaxing break before I underwent a cancer operation. Unfortunately, our experience was anything but.

Upon arrival, the receptionist was friendly, and we supported the on-site shop, spending £30 on cakes and other items. Despite the site being quiet in the low season, we were given a fairly standard pitch when a better one could have been offered. That was a minor issue, but what followed was unacceptable.

While out for lunch on our second day, we received an accusatory phone call from the campsite, claiming that my wife had emptied our chemical toilet into the disabled facilities. This was completely false”I handle our caravan waste, and I would never dispose of it improperly, having caravanned for over 40 years and always following site rules. We were also wrongly accused of dumping small gas canisters, which we have never used. The staff insisted they had seen us do these things, with a cleaner named Gary supposedly being the witness.

Despite explaining that these allegations were baseless, we were not given the benefit of the doubt. To make matters worse, upon returning to our caravan, we found that our electricity had been turned off without warning, further adding to the distress. Attempts to speak to a manager were met with excuses apparently, they were in a meeting all day and when we voiced our concerns upon departure, we were dismissed with an empty promise that the matter would be investigated. Unsurprisingly, no one has followed up.

This experience left us feeling humiliated and completely disrespected. Instead of a peaceful getaway before a major surgery, we were treated with hostility and false accusations. In all my years of caravanning, I have never had a complaint made against me, nor have I ever had reason to complain until now.

I would strongly advise fellow caravanners to think twice before staying here. A campsite that treats guests this way, without evidence and without the courtesy of proper customer service, is one to avoid. 

1.Six of us arrived at Castle Howard on a coach that had been booked for a considerable length of time and our time slot was 10 a.m which I believe was the first slot.
The coach driver kindly went to the office to collect our tickets so that he could give them out to us.
We were shocked to learn that the tickets were not ready for us and the driver had to wait for staff to print them out therefore we had to wait at least 15 mins until the staff got themselves organised.
Suggested Solution - Staff to be more prepared perhaps print out the tickets the day before.

2.The house and Alice In Wonderland theme was fantastic and clear that an awful lot of thought and effort and hard work had gone into providing a magical,detailed and memorable experience.
The staff in the house and grounds were friendly and enthusiastic wanting to share their knowledge and stories which made the visit more special and added value.
In particular the man driving the little train told us the story about the fallen tree and history about the grounds etc......

3. We visited the food hall which was very expensive and disappointing . As we were hungry we bought some food but was shocked to learn that the entire place was card only and cash free.Some of our group didn't have a card and usually pay for things with cash only. Therefore those of us with cards helped our friends. We tried to look for the Christmas market as advertised but could only find a room selling Christmas decorations.e.t.c
The fact it was described as a market you automatically expect market stalls that you usually see when visiting a festive market therefore disappointing to a degree.
Suggested Solution - Staff should inform coach firms that it is a cash free zone and only accept cards so that visitors can be prepared.Instead of marketing a Christmas market which can be misleading a Christmas Hall selling Christmas decorations and gifts would have been more appropriate.

4. We visited the gift shop and I purchased a neck scarf . I wore it for a few hours and as I got off the coach back at home the pom pom fell off. I rang the shop the next day and left a message with my phone number asking them to ring me to discuss the item I had purchased and to this day nobody has called me back. I have tried calling all departments on numerous occasions and each time I called they were all busy. Therefore this concern is still unresolved.
Suggested Solution- The customer service after care needs addressing.

Based on my experience it feels like all the effort and energy is poured into providing a magical experience for everyone in the house and grounds and that was 5 stars.
Perhaps all other areas require assessment and evaluation in particular customer service prior and after a visit aiming to achieve a 5 star all round.

A last minute trip to see the Christmas decorations, which are themed.
The booking process is easy - a bit confused that you need to book parking separately,!
The arrival was seamless - it's Very impressive,!!
The parking and reception is clearly signed and the tickets checked by staff and volunteers that are Friendly, helpful and look Happy.
The tour was Brilliant, the staff and volunteers were happy to answer questions and provide information and , despite it being a cold day, none looked bored or cold or not wanting to be there.
The catering was Excellent - delicious and good value.
I am looking forward to planning a summer visit and then a visit for Christmas 2025

1) I paid £76 for 2 people to see the alice and wonderland in the main house. I didn’t pay to queue all the way around! This completely ruined the experience for me. The tickets were timed entry so castle Howard owners should have prevented this happening. There was even a covered area outside for people to queue up outside so it appears that this was expected. 2) The main web site led me to believe there was a market. There wasn’t a market it was an area to eat expensive food in it. Thankfully we brought our own and we ate it in the overflow area, no one challenged us. There was a shop area selling Christmas tree decorations. There wasn’t actually any real information about the market or pictures. 3) I felt ripped off and taken advantage of. I do not think I will return for any other events. 4) what could castle Howard do to make it better, charge less and time the whole event so there isn’t any queuing. On the website put in pictures to show the food market isn’t in fact a market, but a place to eat.
I wrote to castle Howard to ask for 50% back still no response.

The Christmas experience was okay. I basically thought it was alot of money for what it was. Not alot to see. The food hall/ restaurant was very disappointing, plus very expensive