Description: Culzean Castle (pronounced Cul-ain) is located in Ayrshire in Scotland, it is owned by the National Trust for Scotland, it is a magnificent castle, set in a huge country park.
Admission Times and Prices (takenfrom the website for ease)
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Country Park: all year, daily 9.30am - sunset.
Walled Garden: all year, daily from 09.30am - 5.00pm (sunset if earlier)
Castle: 1 Apr to 1 Nov, daily 10.30am - 5pm (last entry to Castle 4.00pm).
Visitor Centre and all other facilities: 1 Apr to 1st Nov, daily opening from 10.00am - closing from 5.00pm
Visitor Centre, Gift Shop and Restaurant (Off Season): 2 Nov to 29 Mar, Sat/Sun 11.00am - 4.00pm.
Castle and Country Park Combined:
Adult: £13
Family: £32
1 Parent: £25
Concession: £9
Pay and Display: £2 (after 5.00pm)
Country Park Only:
Adult: £8.50
Family: £21
1 Parent: £16
Concession: £5.50
Pay & Display: £2 (after 5.00pm)
(Where it says 1 parent it means a 1 parent family).
Attractions
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Castle
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The main attraction of course is the castle. The castle is located at the far side of the estate overlooking the sea. It is an 18th century castle which has been restored over the years so it looks almost as good as it would have when it was new. It was designed by Robert Adams (a famous Scottish architect and designer), and inside the castle there are several collections dedicated to Adams. You’ll also find collections belonging to the Kennedy family and items belonging to Eisenhower. Of course there are paintings and tapestries galore within the castle. They also have a large collection of armour in the Castle Armoury.
Grounds
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There are several gardens within the grounds, firstly a Victorian Walled Garden which features herbaceous borders, as well as including the kitchen garden and the pleasure garden. They have also restored a Victorian vinery. Behind the Walled Garden you’ll find the herb garden and the wildlife garden.
The second largest attraction, after the Castle is the Swan Pond, which is a 13 acre lake, with a children’s playground close by and a picnic area. There is also a small aviary close to the lake and a pagoda.
All around the grounds there are different walks, such as the cliff walk and the keepers walk. You’ll also see the deer park as you walk or drive through the grounds which house a small herd of Red Deer.
There are also caves in the cliff face below the castle, we never actually went down there so I’m not sure whether they are accessible to the public all the time, but the National Trust do guided tours of the caves on certain dates during the year.
Shops
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There are several shops and kiosks in the Castle grounds. Close to the castle there’s the Castle Shop, which sells all manner of souvenirs, and opposite the shop you’ll find the Old Stables Restaurant.
A short walk from the Castle you’ll find the Candies@Culzean kiosk which sells homemade sweets and fudge, a second hand book shop, the visitors centre and Smiddy Toy Shop and Home Farm Restaurant, all within about 10 minutes walk of each other.
Carrying on around the main drive way and the Walled Garden also has plant sales, and finally the Swan Pond kiosk sells refreshments.
Accommodation
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You can stay at the castle itself, although it’s a luxury that doesn’t come cheap. Staying in the Eisenhower apartments will set you back £25,000 for the week of Monday 13 to Sunday 19 July 2009, but fear not that price includes your breakfast! For the less well off, the Royal Artillery Cottage and the Brewhouse Flat come in at a mere £3,500 per week, self catering.
Weddings
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The Castle also allow you to marry on the premises, and I can imagine the experience would be fantastic, but at £6,000 for the cheapest package it’s not for everyone.
Other Information
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Dogs are welcome in the grounds but not in the buildings, any dogs in the grounds must be kept under control at all times.
There are four car parks; one at the visitors centre, one at Camellia House (and straight opposite the deer park), one close to the walled garden and finally one next to the Swan Pond.
My Thoughts
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It’s not often you can describe a place in one word, but ‘stunning’ would be a great place to start. The castle itself looks amazing, you get the best views of it as you’re walking over the bridge toward it and it just looks like your stereotypical fairytale castle. Walking around the inside of the castle you get a great sense of history, and the rooms are just magnificent. As a child we’d often go around castles and I’d be bored stiff, but luckily Culzean Castle make the experience very child friendly, and have quizzes and little competitions for the children to do on their way around. When we went they had put a small Lego figure in every room, and the children had to try and spot the figure. This not only gives the children something to do, but leaves the adults free to read the information leaflets and look properly at the room and its contents. Or that was the idea behind in, in my case it actually led to lots of ‘mum, I can’t see it, where is it?’ meaning I’d have to stop what I was doing and look for it, but that all added to the fun.
The Swan Pond was absolutely beautiful, we went for the full walk around the pond, and at a couple of spots there are hides for watching the birds and the wildlife, although my two don’t stay quiet long enough for any animals to stick around, but there are supposed to be red squirrels and foxes which inhabit the area. Of course the kids made good use of the children’s play area, which is quite large, so there’s not too much of a problem with overcrowding. We visited during the school holidays and it was busy, but there was still plenty of room in the playground for all the kids to play nicely. The pagoda was a strange little building, set out of the way and surrounded on three sides by tree, it seemed to serve no purpose apart from to look nice, however I have read since that it may have been home to a monkey of some sort when if was first built.
We were able to walk from one end of the park to the other, although it looks quite a distance on the map, it isn’t really that far. But for anyone with mobility trouble the car parks are spaced nicely so you can visit one area, hop in your car and move onto the next.
Although I really enjoyed the castle and the Swan Pond, my favourite area was the Walled Garden, the entire area was blooming as you’d expect, and the variety of flowers was wonderful. Luckily it was a beautiful summer’s day when we went and this made the colours in the flowers seem that much brighter, and the scent was heavenly. The kids didn’t enjoy this area so much, but then they don’t share my love of nature.
We stopped for lunch the Old Stables Restaurant; they were serving your average lunch time fare of soups, sandwiches and light snacks, and of course teas, coffee, cold drinks and ice creams. As it was such a nice day we sat outside to eat, looking across the castle walls to the sea, we were treated to visits from bull finches who came to share in our lunch. They weren’t a nuisance though, and for someone like me who lives in a town centre and rarely sees anything but pigeons, it was very cute.
Later we stopped by at the Swan Pond Kiosk for ice creams, which despite asking for small ones, were absolutely huge!
Culzean and its grounds are so varied, there’s something to suit everyone, whether you’re a nature lover, a history buff, enjoying walking or like my two kids, enjoy climbing and running around and generally having fun. The National Trust have attraction days throughout the year, these range from nature walks, to craft fairs, to medieval fairs with jousting etc and outdoor plays, one this year I believe is Romeo and Juliet, and I can’t imagine a better setting for the play.
Although it may seem a little expensive at first glance, it’s actually great value for money, and I’d recommend it to anyone.
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