Highclere castle, Home to Downton Abbey. Incredible place to visit. So much history. Very covid safe. We went to a festival held there most events outside which was lovely. Tour through the castle was great easy to navigate and not rushed. Egyptian exhibition was wonderful. Grounds perfect. Would highly recommend for a day day out.

Have been to Highclere several times and undoubtedly this was the best so far. Lucky enough to get an invite to 2021 Highclere Castle Festival. Lots to do and see, all in support of Charities. However, the House never fails to impress, whether your there because of the Downton Abbey connection or just the love of history, this Castle is glorious.I must mention the staff of Highclere and all those speakers and exhibitors who made it so interesting, they were all friendly, informative, helpful and, of course dedicated.A truly great day out.

Easy access from road adjacent to the A34, easy to park with helpful guides. The house was interesting and the guides were very helpful and friendly. There was a bit of a queue to get into the house, and progression through the house was limited by the slowest person due to social distancing etc. The gardens are very nice with many great vistas.

As stately homes go HighClere Castle is quite small and in its present form only dates back to Victorian times. There are knowledgeable guides in each room, but I felt written explanations of what the items on display are would have been helpful. Also, youre not allowed to take photos.The gardens are attractive and we passed very pleasant couple of hours sitting under one of the enormous cedars enjoying the late summer sun.

Totally amazing place to visit, especially inside the house . We even visit the exhibition which situation under the house . The grounds were also amazing with a secret garden . So much to see 👀 .you make the effect to visit this amazing House you wont be disappointed. This is also were Downton Abbey was filmed 🎥 as well

Highclere castle was a great place to visit. We went there en-route to Devon from our home in Suffolk. The castle is very impressive and imposing, particularly on the walk up to it from the free car park. We were booked in for the afternoon session starting at 1pm but arrived at midday in the hope of having a picnic. Unfortunately, the weather was against us, so we had to have our picnic in the car. I understand picnics are not allowed in the grounds, but are allowed on the lawned car park.We waited about ten minutes to go in the castle. It was very interesting to see, particularly with the Downton Abbey connections.The grounds are absolutely beautiful, particularly the Secret Garden and we enjoyed walking around them even in the poor weather.The shop had nice items, but was quite small and crowded, which wasn’t great in these more socially distanced times. All staff we encountered were very pleasant and polite.Would definitely recommend a visit to Highclere.

A marvellous place to visit and enjoy, with plenty of information about Downtown Abbey. The Egyptian Collection is a wonder in itself and the gardens too are magnificent. Most poignant is the memorial, The Airman.

Great day out - must book early. Doesnt disappoint. Highclere fully embraces being converted to Downton Abbey. Great to see photos of the film set using the castle as it is, interior paintings and furniture all complete. An elegant afternoon tea - well worth incorporating into your visit.

Lovely to see location Downton Abbey filmed. It was quite busy the day we went and had to queue for nearly an hour to get into house. Lots of places to eat but if you taking your own food very little places to sit and eat it

Very enjoyable day. Staff are knowledgeable, and kind. Lots of information about Downton Abbey and about discovering Tutankhamens tomb. Would have liked more on the architecture of the building. Gardens are lovely especially the wild flower meadow.

Day out with my wife a gift from our daughter. Beautiful house and grounds, well worth a visit. Food coffee drinks ice-cream etc to buy. Great day out. Loved it. Would definitely recommend a visit.

Lovely experience at Highclere Castle, such a beautiful setting. The staff were very friendly and happy to answer any questions regarding the home. Free parking. I highly recommend the picnic afternoon tea, it comes in a gorgeous box with plenty to offer inside. The gift shop is great! Excellent.

Beautiful grounds, castle... staff are very welcoming. Limited food options but very good quality!

An amazing place to visit with so much to see. The house itself is so interesting and the staff are really knowledgeable and friendly. The Egyptian artifacts are well worth seeing and are much larger than I expected. The grounds are really extensive and there are plenty of places to get food and drinks, including a cocktail bar where you can buy glasses or jugs of Pims, so you can relax and take in the scenery. We was lucky with the weather, but there arent many places outside the house to shelter if the weather was not very good. All in all, a really lovely day out.

A great day out, house is amazing, gardens are lovely. Bit disappointed with the food on offer not a lot of choice, and you can’t take your own picnic, so unless you pay the extra to have the afternoon tea don’t expect too much.

This has been on my list for a long time, so have finally been. A lovely day out. A beautiful house, lovely to see it for real, though it looked smaller inside than it looks on the television. The Egyptian exhibits were very interesting. The downside was a lot of queuing to go in the house and the exhibition, I assumed going mid week during the school term would reduce the number of visitors, so I imagine they would be higher at other times. However, the house and grounds are worth seeing, would recommend.

Amazing place, so interesting even if you dont watch Downton Abbey. Loved the Egyptian section and the gardens too. Thoroughly recommend this very enjoyable day indeed!

Such a lovely experience, we were transported back in time, and also we walked around a real life film set. The staff at the Castle were very pleasant and always ready to answer any questions. The gardens were highly manicured, and a pleasure to walk around. This was a present for my mother for Christmas 2019. We booked for April 2020, but unfortunately we all had to stay at home. We were offered a voucher to use, which Im so glad that we did. The icing on the cake for my mother was that she got to speak to Lady Carnarvon

Lovely day out! Fantastic to experience the real Downton Abbey inside the castle and the grounds are beautiful. Gift shops is lovely too 😊

Lovely castle and of course with its connection to the series of Downton Abbey makes it even more interesting. Gorgeous gardens and vistas. Unfortunately our coach company had not advised that we needed to get a separate ticket for the exhibition so was not able to see it.

Stunning house / castle with beautiful views and gardens. Whilst you book your visit time you still have to que, but the time markers for the que are quite accurate. Staff very knowledgeable and friendly when asked questions during the house tour.

Thoroughly enjoyed my visit. As a fan of Downton Abbey, its a must. I wish wed had more time so that we could explore the beautiful grounds more.

Never watch Downton Abbey, but the castle is breath taking. Beautiful period rooms packed with historical articles. Lovely gardens to wonder round.

This is a wonderful house to visit.. Particularly if you are a fan of The TV series Downton Abbey. In this case many of the rooms and furniture is instantly recognisable.On a fine day the grounds are a delight to wander .

A nice day out . Nice picnic. Egyptian museum good. A bit too much Downton abbey stuff. Needs a bit more restoration to the bedrooms. Some nice bit of art work. Impressive hall & stairs

We visited for a tour with a limited number of tickets sold and it included afternoon tea. It was a lovely tour, but the afternoon tea was outside in the wind and rain. Great for summer but could do with more indoor seating for autumn and winter.

The inside wasnt really worth it for me. They play so heavily on the Downton thing, which is understandable I guess. Would of liked more of the history of the place. Its almost like a cattle run when you go through , like a queue within a queue ,marched through looking at pictures of the cast. Very strange. The outside gardens are nice though

Lovely day out. Booked for the full package. Guided tour and tea. The tea was lovely but was surprised to find it all in a self service cafeteria. So 4stars.Oh also pleased it was a dry day. Had to wait outside for 15 minutes .

A brilliant place to visit. Especially liked the Egyptian exhibition. Beautiful 😍 gardens. The house is amazing 👏

Simply the best great house to tour in the UK. Set the TV show stuff aside to explore the gardens of a house that’s still the home of its original family. Lady Carnarvon actually took our group of visitors on a tour of the gardens! Unlike so many other houses this has not been turned into a theme park but rather is still a love letter to the English countryside.

Amazing castle. The staff are polite and very approachable. Plenty of notes to be socially distance. The que inside the castle is well organized. The incharge inside the castle as we enter is very lovely she instructed the guest very clearly. What a shame no pictures the castle but we’ve got plenty of it outside of it. The interior is very astonishing and well preserved. Definetely we’ll be back again.

Great day out with the family. Very well organised with all the safety restrictions in place, this in no way delayed or impacted our visit to the house. Took a picnic with us but unable to eat it in the grounds as we hadn’t brought a pre ordered one from Highclere, so we sat near the car.Poor signage from the car park to the entrance.

A fantastic day out for all downtown fans and if your not a downtown fan its still a great day out. Highly recommended 👌

Amazing building full of character. Not just for Downton Abbey but history going back hundreds of years. A few surprises as we toured the house. Absolutely loved our day there.

Brilliant day at the Highclere Festival.Staff were friendly and so helpful, lots to see and do! Got an afternoon tea box 📦 and was just delighted with all the items, delicious 😋 got to see inside the castle and the Egyptian tour!Was very fabulous day! Would highly recommend to anyone especially Downton Abbey fans!

Amazing heritage property. Beautiful castel with lots of history surrounded by lush green gardens with beautiful flowers and trees. Was able to visit this property because I bought tickets from the Highclere official website. Bought the Mid Summer Highclere castel guided tour. The tour lasted 3 hours + 1.5 hours of enjoying their lovely delicacies included in the tour plus a free stroll around the propertys gardens. The tour included: a signed copy of the book At Home at Highclere and yummy sandwiches, soup, quiche, scones and other sweet dessert accompanied by coffee or tea. The guide was lovely and answered all our questions and showed us throughout the castle, we even saw the Tutankhamen exhibition which was lovely. After the tour we had our yummy snacks by the Coach House and then strolled around the gardens of the property. A marvelous experience for Downtown Abbey fans, would definitely recommend!

Lovely visit house was interesting and just as you see it on TV the gardens are ok but nothing amazing well kept and in full summer bloom but they are smaller than I expected. Still worth a visit though. Not a full days worth.

Had a wonderful day out. House and Gardens were stunning.

Great place to visit would go back again .staff helpful and friendly .

Absolutly stunning castle, outside and inside. Wonderful scenery and atmospere.

We had a brilliant time at highclere staff were very informative and the policeman greeting us was a bonus he was full of fun and made the visit even more worthwhile,

Waited years for this experience and it did not disappoint, beautiful !

Loved it, very organised, and great seeing where they do all the filming. Well worth a visit.

Brilliant day out, my family equally enjoyed the experience

Obviously if you are a Downton Abbey fan you need to visit.. You need to pre book well in advance and we got a morning ticket for the house which allowed me to get the iconic driveway picture and also to sit on that bench without lots of people about.. There are no photos allowed inside but you get to see more iconic locations.. The gardens are beautiful and there are places to eat and drink.. We spent around 3 hrs there..

Beautiful house and home staff in the house very knowledgeable polite and curtious made us feel welcome this place is well worth a visit and hopefully that is what we will do again some day thank you all xxx

Beautiful place, lovely castle inside and out

Wow what an amazing experience. We got to go into a lot of the rooms they were just stunningly beautiful. The whole house was just fantastic, The views and the castle are breath taking. Its so amazing that they have opened their home to the public. It was a truly magical experience. I could write pages and pages of compliments about the whole day. Staff were fantastic too

How exciting to visit Highclere! What a location for such a stunning castle. Loved the knowledge of all the staff, very organised and covid-friendly set up throughout. Would have happily enjoyed cocktails from the outdoor bar had the sun stayed out; bit chilly to enjoy all those outdoor amenities today! Beautiful gardens to wander around, would highly recommend a visit.

Awesome place the rooms bueatifull and the gardens are a wow highly recommended for any one

Lovely day out, we did the guided tour followed by gorgeous afternoon tea in the grounds.

Very well organised. Gardens and grounds were immaculate.

Well worth a visit, only disappointment was no indoor photography. Food and drink plenty of choice.

Fantastic history, great cafe with beautifully presented food. Stunning grounds.

Had to be done and we werent disappointed. Much more relaxed visit due to covid restrictions, not so crowded. Glad we couldnt get before as they are usually packed when in the house.

Fantastic castle in beautiful location, helpful and friendly guides, great experience

Some of the commentary notes difficult to read....and could have more detail .. many simply said do not touch; combination of glare due to shiny surface, reduced lighting (accept this necessary) and positioning of signs in terms of distance - would have appreciated more historical information on individual pieces. Enjoyed touring the home..beautiful furniture and paintings.

Hoghclere Castle is open for a summer season and at Christmas. You need to book in advance. Entrance is free to Historic House members at certain times.If you love Downton Abbey this is a great place to visit. Many scenes were filmed here. The hallway is particularly familiar. The kitchen scenes are filmed at Elstree Studios. The outside of the house is elegant. Like many great houses it has been changed over time. Egyptoligists will appreciated the optional Egyptian Exhibition in the basemant.The grounds are attractive and the small gardens bursting with summer blooms.Arrive early as the house is best appreciated with fewer people. Large bags arent allowed in the house and picnics arent allowed in the grounds only in the car park. You need to put something on the ground.

Delightful house with lovely grounds and wonderful treesThe concert was really special.The down side - wet chairs for the afternoon tea and stale cakes in the beautiful tea box large bones in smoked salmon sandwiches.£150.00 each

Great day out. Recently visited with the family and everyone had a great time. The house is interesting and the gardens are beautiful. Allow a whole day if possible. Make sure you try the gin cocktails if you have a chance - superb. Hoping to visit again soon.

I cant even begin to describe how wonderful it was to visit this location! We did the tour and tea, a great combination. Both were very enjoyable and high quality. Prebooked tickets are a must.

Fantastic place to visit especially if your a Downton Abbey FanThe gardens and grounds are stunning highly recommend a visit

Famous for the Downton Abbey series, Highclere Castle is the place where you can find an oasis of peace just an hour and a half from Londons chaos.

Lovely day out. Took about an hour to get in to house but policeman did a great job entertaining everyone.

My sister and I had a thoroughly good day and the castle was beautiful. Although extremely grand, it was also very homely and is obviously a much loved and used home to the family. The surrounding grounds were totally magnificent and a joy to walk round. We found the whole experience very pleasant. There were plenty of refreshment areas and a little gift shop too. Apart from the long queue to enter the castle, all was wonderful and I would highly recommend this as a place to visit.

Amazing day from start to finish:)

Beautiful house, very knowledgeable staff. Fantastic gardens, well organised COVID safety measures in place

Absolutely stunning interior, shame you cant take photos inside. Could happily stay here all day.

Had a lovely day here with my Mum and sister. The tour of the house was great and the Egyptian exhibition was fascinating. Picked up a good few things in the gift shop too! A lovely day out and well worth a visit.

Wonderful place, people very polite and nice introduce you inside and through the rooms. Get a car to reach the place because it is a bit an isolated place. But you can eat in different tea rooms or having a picnic on the gardens around the castle. Lovely place and worth the price

The most beautiful place to visit and enjoy the house inside due to the Downton abbey connection, amazing relaxing gardens.

The suites are awesome..fine furniture. Beautiful antique lamps .Great accent pieces. I would love to live here.......if. You go please go during the summer.....winter hours are shorter....the castle is historict.The formal gardens are stunning,I recommend you stay here.g

Wonderful day. Afternoon Tea was excellent.

We paid the extra £7 to enter the Egyptian exhibiton which I enjoyed and thought it was absolutely worth it.The house and the grounds is absolutely stunning to explore. Unlike other stately homes I’ve visited there are plenty of pictures of the current owners and occupants. It gives it a lived in feel which we really liked. There are toilets, gift shops and plenty of take away food options which is pretty decent. Parking on site.If you are a huge fan of Downton Abbey then you should try to visit the nearby National Trust site at Basildon, it was another filming location. We got to Highclere in the morning and spent about 3.5hours including lunch before heading to Basildon which was about 35-40mins drive.

Very nice day out good to see the Carnarvons / Granthams home.

My friend took me for my birthday. Absolutely brilliant time. Highclere is steeped in so much history.Afternoon Tea was really good. Cant wait to go back and spend more time in the beautiful gardens.

Lovely day out. Some info on furnishings available and room guides helpful.Egyptian exhibition a bit busy but with enormous amounts of info that was not surprising.Gardens beautiful and gardener very informative.

Just as in the TV drama. Lovely gardens and the Castle was besutiful

Downton Abbey Fans, this is an Amazing day out, and COELIACS be AWARE ! ! They serve the best Gluten Free Cream Tea my wife has ever eaten in 30yrs of looking.Try It

Exquisitely beautiful,well maintained, warm & welcoming home & gardens. I cant wait to visit again. The castle is stunning architecturally, obviously made even more special by giving you the feeling of being there in Downton Abbey descending the staircase like your favourite characters. The gardens are beautiful in an understated & natural way, my favourite being The Secret Garden. There is a fabulous gift shop with a wide variety of very lovely things at reasonable prices. The food & drink options are also extremely elegant & enjoyable. Highly recommend.

Lovely day out.

The Castle was very well kept and lots of information. The grounds were lovely and lots of space.Outside tables well spaced out and a good selection of food available.The shoo had nice gifts to suit all.The best part of the day was the polite, helpful and knowledgable staff, they made the visit for us.

Grounds are amazing & the house everything I expected. A present from my son that moved 3 times but well worth the wait. Excellent day out.

Great day out .. Even if you have never watched Downton Abbey.Knowledgeable staff, fantastic and richly decorated stately home , interesting Lord Carnarvon Egyptian artifact display also. Would have 5 rated it but it is a little pricey and you will struggle to get more than 2-4 hours entertainment out of just the basic house and Egyptian exhibits. It is set in beautiful countryside and I feel more could be done with the grounds to add value. A number of events are held at the site and its worth coinciding your visit with one of these additional attractions. We had a display of vintage cars, 40s theme, military displays/cocktail bar and other 40 entertainment. This was excellent and made this a full day activity. Please also note... You will not be allowed to picnic in the grounds.

Great to go to Battle Proms at Highclere Castle.

What a shame it rained heavily. The house and experience is wonderful. The staff were amazing and couldnt do enough to help anyone that needed it. The sun came out after we had a spot of lunch in the marquee so we took the chance to walk round the outside grounds and take in the views. What a stunning place to be especially during this horrendous time. We hope to be back in the summer.

A must for Downton Abbey fans. Be sure not to miss the gardens which are glorious.

Fantastic place to visit. Very friendly staff and very informative.

What a lovely place!! So well kept, and well run, particularly in the present circumstances. What a treat to enjoy the house so familiar in the TV series. Beautiful grounds too. An absolute pleasure!!

Most visitors are, I think, Downton fans & there are set pictures in many rooms which is nice, especially to show the various bedrooms. The house, some rooms, are probably smaller than they appear to be on telly & some parts, such as the kitchen scenes, are filmed in studio. The grounds are lovely and you do get that iconic view of the house as you come up the drive. The Egyptian exhibit in the cellars is well laid out & quite interesting. My friends & I had the afternoon tea which was served in a marquee, there are some tables in the coach house but due to social distancing not as many as usual are being used.

Great day and a great day to visit, unfortunately the weather wasnt kind for us, but hard to plan visiting the castle as you have to book so far in advance.When visiting the house it would be nice to have lists displayed of the many family photos on display.Also, I would knock the team room at the end of the castle tour in to one big gift shop the extend the area with a new tea room with full width glass folding doors which when opened would give great views of the surrounding landscape.Also in the new extension I would include updated restroom facilities.

Fantastic house to visit even if you arent a Downton Abbey fan. I absolutely loved it, loved seeing the pictures in the rooms of the film sets. The grounds are stunning, loved the meadow. We thoroughly enjoyed our picnic afternoon tea box. Really delicious and such a pretty box. Would visit again if down that way.

Wonderful house and gardens.Didnt pay extra for the exhibition so it took us an hour to walk around the house. During normal times (before the virus) it might have taken a bit longer, but we didnt feel rushed. Fantastic to see the filming locations for Downton Abbey, will come back to see the exhibition.The gardens were beautiful, though I imagine in the spring and at the height of summer they will be even more beautiful. Saw the main formal parts of the garden in about an hour, but would recommend proper walking shoes if you want to explore more.Didnt feel comfortable in the gift shop however, as no social distancing measures were in place and its quite a tight space.The tearoom was reasonably priced with hot drinks and cake.Had a wonderful day out.

Wonderful experience- beautiful house and stunning grounds. A minor complaint is that food at outside cafe could have more variety - maybe consider offering picnic baskets as we couldnt have our own on the grounds. Loved the relaxing music playing outside while we ate.

Just wow me and my husband thoroughly enjoyed our visit here at Highclere Castle 🏰 definitely do this again. The staff were really helpful. And the social distancing was good , not to busy and what we also loved was there was anti bacterial stations all around on the grounds and inside the house itself. Very impressive :D parking was easy. Everything about our day was lush !!!! 10/10 worth a visit !!! And being on the grounds where Downton Abbey was filmed just amazing!The Egyptian exhibition was excellent and very exciting information. Again throughout our visit it was just fabulous!

This was a fabulous birthday present. Very interesting tour of the house and Eygptian exhibition. Lots of information told to us by the guide about the family current and past and info about the Downton Abbey tv series. After the tour this was followed by an enormous cream tea. Really worth the visit and I would go again.

Wry informative guides. Allow at least two hours for a visit to see the house, the Egyptian Exhibition, shop and cafe

The famous castle lives us to its on screen reputation. And the grounds are a fantastic. I cannot recommend a visit enough, particularly for a Downton Abbey fan.

Wifes a big fan of downton abbey so the the house was great. The grounds are spectacular and we had a few drinks outside on the lawn. All In all a really nice day out

If you cannot physically visit Highclere, to get a feeling of the atmosphere, try following Lady Caernarvons blogs. She writes clearly and with interest, varied subjects raised, historic points of view expressed. It does give insight.