Castle Howard

We enjoyed it. The castle is beautiful, its historic and the gardens were lovely. It does depend on what interests you, personally. Some people are just not interested in castles and palaces and that's ok. There are a lot of abbeys in the area that we thought were interesting, lovely on a sunny day. We also drove around the Moors which I highly recommend.

We enjoyed our visit to Castle Howard because I was an Art Major and we liked to see antiques in home settings. We drove ourselves and were amazed at the size of the Estate. Don't miss the seaside villages in York. We enjoyed our stay in York where we walked the Wall and visited York Minster with it's spectacular Rose window. We were staying by the Railroad Museum which is interesting. Sometimes the best things are those that are not planned. Don't miss Hadrian's Wall! P.S. As following posters have mentioned, Chatsworth is fabulous, but is well south of Yorkshire near the Peak District. Look up English Treasure Houses for more furnished grand houses. We tried to see as many as possible in 2 trips.

We did Castle Howard and enjoyed it very much.

Thanks for the replies. It's good to have different perspectives.

I'm going to offer the opposite view - I was terribly disappointed by Castle Howard. I felt it was very over rated especially copmpared to places like Chatsworth. There are much better places to visit - and no, I don't think you are missing something!

Thanks wasleys,

Your perspective was one of the comments I had seen and was taking into account. I'm wondering, if you don't mind, what it was about Chatsworth that you particularly enjoyed. I'm not a fan of stately homes per se. I often enjoy the gardens the most.

If you enjoy gardens, the gardens at Chatsworth were better, larger, more colorful than Castle Howard. In that area, don't miss Rievaulx Abbey. Very interesting museum and ruins.

Castle Howard is nice enough and if you're in the area with time to spare it's a good option , but it's not remotely in the same league as Chatsworth. Especially so if gardens are a priority for you.

Of course, if you can't easily get to Chatsworth then that's a bit irrelevant.

So, I was feeling bad, how did I miss Chatsworth? I checked out google maps, are you all talking about Chatsworth, 2 hours southwest of York? If so, that certainly explains why I missed it.

Great! Thanks for all the input. I'm putting Castle Howard on the back burner for now. Malton has caught my interest and I'm going down that rabbit hole now.

Castle Howard is very nice but important to know that they suffered a huge fire there about one hundred years ago and they are still restoring it. Some rooms have been returned to their original state but some are still a bit bare. I enjoyed visiting, including the grounds, but I agree Chatsworth has more to see.

Malton is a lovely place- we were there this summer. Very easy to get from there to Castle Howard. We also took the train to Bridlington for a boat ride to see the Bempton Cliffs and then visited the cliffs themselves. That whole area of north Yorkshire is beautiful.

You can do Malton in 10 mins. It's basically a square with a food market on certain days in summer. There was a roman fort there but not much to see of it now. If Chatsworth is not your thing, then Sledmere House is at least a nice ride up into the Wolds (quiet roads too).

Cat- thanks for your response. I'm glad to know you thought Malton was lovely. We may stop there on our way from York to Pickering. As foodies, we are intrigued to check out why it's being billed as the food capital of Yorkshire. Also, I've been wanting to see some Robert Thompson carvings and apparently he did a lot of wood work at Priory Church of St. Mary's in old Malton.

If you're wanting to see Robert Thompson mouseman work from York there are several other options-

1) Two Churches in Beverley- either a train ride via Hull or a 90 minute direct bus ride on the X46/X47 every 30 minutes
2) Ampleforth Abbey- it requires planning on public transport but it can be easily done on the X31 bus to Helmsley
3) Helmsley All Saints Church- again requires planning, but it can be done as a grand round trip to Pickering- the X31 to Helmsley, the 128 to Pickering and the 840 to Malton and York (or the 128/X3/X28 to Scarborough for the train or bus to York)
4) On a Monday and Friday you can even get to the mouseman Visitor Centre and St Marys Church at Kilburn (his home) by bus via Thirsk (the #59 from Thirsk). Then do James Herriot afterwards while you are in Thirsk. Clearly numbers 2 to 4 are easier by car, but can be achieved by public transport.

Katie, I visited Castle Howard in 1996 on my first trip to Europe and enjoyed it a lot, especially the grounds which were beautiful. But it's pretty pricey now, and on my last trip in 2024, I decided not to go. As I had a choice between that and Chatsworth, I wound up going to Chatsworth which I really loved. Honestly, I don't think you're missing anything by not visiting there.

And I highly recommend Cat's recommendation for RSPB Bempton Cliffs. I spent part of the day out there on my trip and thought it was wonderful, especially standing at the top of the huge cliffs and seeing all the birds (the puffins, the cormorants and so on). It's easy to get to (it's a nice little drive there). Once you get there, there is a car park and then you walk down a slatted boardwalk to get to the cliffs. Bring binoculars if you have them. There is a small cafe there and a very nice gift shop. I spent some dollars there. 😊

BTW, I don't know if you're getting farther north, but if you do, definitely stop at Cragside House which was probably one of the most interesting places I've been to. I loved it there. The setting was gorgeous with lots of walks you can take through beautiful gardens and woods, and the interior was really fascinating.

Hi Mardee

Thanks for the response and all the info. We won't have a car in Yorkshire so we won't be making it to Bempton Cliffs :(. But we do have a Farnes Islands/Holy Island boat trip scheduled (and a back up scheduled in case of bad weather) so we will get to see the birds! We decided to rent a car in Northumberland for 4 days because the things we wanted to see up there were pretty far apart. Cragside is definitely on the itinerary along with Bamburgh, Alnwick, Durham, the boat trip and a bit of time in Newcastle upon Tyne. We are big Vera fans so we thought about taking a Vera tour. There was one that was a half day tour this year but I can only find a private one (expensive!!) for next year. We will see if that happens.

Castle Howard appeals to fans of the Brideshead Revisited adaptations, as it "stars" as Brideshead, the country home of the Marchmain family. The 1981 Granada TV production is a superb adaptation of a classic novel, starring a young Anthony Andrews and a young Jeremy Irons. Highly recommended.

But we do have a Farnes Islands/Holy Island boat trip scheduled (and a back up scheduled in case of bad weather) so we will get to see the birds!

Oh, that's great—I loved Holy Island! I think you will, too. I will be interested in your take on Alnwick Castle. It wasn't one of my favorites (I liked Bamberg much better), but I think I'm in the minority.

Hi Stuart,

Thanks for all the Mouseman details. We are going for Malton because we are going right by it on our way to Pickering but we'll keep the others in mind, in case.

Hi Mardee,

Yeah, I'm mixed on whether we will actually pay to go into the castle at Alnwick. I definitely want to see the gardens. And, of course, I'm planning away but who knows where whim and circumstance will take us in the end.