Adventures in Alnwick

A few weeks after I arrived in the UK, my boyfriend took me to see Alnwick castle. For anyone who doesn't know, it is a castle in the town of Alnwick, Northumberland.  You may have seen parts of it in the Harry Potter films (it was used as a stand in for the interior and exterior of Hogwarts).

If anyone is planning to visit Northumberland or lives in the area and hasn't been to Alnwick Castle, I would highly recommend paying it a visit. Luckily for us, we went on a beautiful, sunny summer day.** The castle is surrounded by miles and miles of green. There's trees and grass and shrubs and there's a little river (River Aln) that runs near it. Standing in the castle grounds looking out over the fields feels so magical. 

So pretty!

The Duke and Duchess of Northumberland still live in the castle, although I've heard they don't live there during the summer months so they can avoid the crowds of tourists. The state rooms (the area of the castle that they live in) are...incredible. I honestly can't find the words to describe it. Unfortunately they don't allow you to take photos in there but it took me back about 8 years to when I was exploring all the beautiful churches in Italy. The designs and layout of everything in the state rooms are so intricate yet delicate, they are so lovely. I would definitely recommend taking your time going through there, it's absolutely breathtaking.

It was so interesting to read about the history of the castle as we walked through it. There are some museums mentioned as you walk throughout the castle that contain some old artefacts so I added those museums to my ever-growing list of places to visit in the UK. (If anyone has any suggestions of places to go please let me know!)

Do these lights remind anyone else of Harry Potter?

It would be amazing to see the castle all lit up at night.

Events are always being held at the castle, such as a Historical Grounds Tour, a State Room Tour and Broomstick Training. They offer free admission for these events which is fab! Check out the Alnwick Castle website to keep up to date with what's on.

The price of the tickets is only about £13 for an adult which is well worth it - considering you can get it validated for 12 months & get free admission. I'm fairly sure you have to request this - they don't just offer it to you unless you ask about it (well, we did because we read about it on their website and didn't want to miss out). We will definitely be going back soon.

My monkey man ❤︎

If anyone else has been to Alnwick Castle, what do you like about it and why? I'm DYING to  visit the Gardens there too but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I'll definitely be taking loads of photos when I do though, I've wanted to go there since the last time I was in the UK visiting my boyfriend in 2011. If anyone has been there, what is it like? Let me know!

Much love!

xx

**UPDATE: After doing some research I discovered that the castle is only open to the public during the summer, so I wouldn't recommend going any other time of year because they probably won't let you in ;)