Castles in England

Will you be in a car or doing public transport? From London you can see Hampton Court and Windsor easily by train, though not in the same day as there is too much to see in each. I think there is a combo ticket for Hampton Court and Tower of London. Kenilworth and Warwick could be done in one day as they are close to one another. Warwick is quite large with a lot to do plus gardens, but Kenilworth is just a ruin.

From London you can do a day trip to Cardiff- nice castle in the center of the city, about 10-15 min. walk from the train station. Cardiff also has nice shopping in old Victorian Arcades and a small mall, along with a cool "market" in an old church. Dover is also a good day trip by train and you have the castle and all the WWII stuff as well as the cliffs. Tower of London and Windsor are excellent.

Check out the Great British Heritage Pass. We scored a great deal last year with a buy one/get one free offer (8 days each for the price of a 4 day pass). We organized much of our touring using the good information (sites included, hours of operation, etc.) provided with the pass.

The Tower of London and Windsor Castle would be easy to visit in one or two days. If you want the full experience, take the train to Warwick to visit that castle.

Windsor is a must and you can get there in an hour by train out of Paddington. Takes less than half day to get there and see. Combine the day with other site seeing.

Hampton Court is very worthwhile and easy to get to by train as well. It's like seeing two castles in one (you'll know what I mean when you see it). Again, only a half day at most if you take the train. You can either go out of Waterloo or take the Underground District line to Wimbledon and catch the train from there.

Easy ones are the Tower and Kensington Palace. Kensington has a new exhibit approach which I found cheesy and was very disappointing, but it is easy.

Dover and Warwick are great, but if you only have 5 days and it is you first or second trip I would see the other things as a priority. But don't miss Windsor.

It depends on the type of castles you would like to see. Hampton Court is really a palace and Windsor is excellent but is too neat & tidy in some ways. In my opinion a 'real' castle has to be old and have seen some action in war.

For example if you do take a day trip to Wales (which has more castles per square mile than anywhere else in the world) then stop at Chepstow castle which was begun in 1067 and is much more impressive than Cardiff castle. here's a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chepstow_Castle

Cheers
Steve.

Warwick Castle tops my list of "must see" castles in England. Leeds Castle was also quite nice.

Kim, In what type of castles are you interested. Do you have a base from which to see them or are you traveling point to point and want to see what is on your route? If you're staying in London, the ones already mentioned are good suggestions and while not a castle, Blenheim is a beautiful place to visit. If ruins are of any interest to you, we'll have a re-think.

You could take the train to Windsor in the morning to see Windsor Castle, from Windsor take the train to Hampton Court then the train back to London, it would back a good day.

Thanks to everyone who has posted replies. It looks like Windor Castle is the best for a "modern" castle. However, we are really looking for castle ruins. This is our second time in london, but we will only be staying for 3 days. Thanks again for the responses!

Ruined castles are scattered all over the country but most not that easy to get to from London. Bodiam Castle in East Sussex is a hollow shell set in a moat.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-bodiamcastle/

Colchester Castle in Essex was the first Norman castle to be built but is much older as it was built over a Roman temple the foundation remains of which can be seen.

http://www.camulos.com/virtual/castle.htm

Here is a list of castles throughout the UK.

http://www.castleuk.net/homepage.htm

BTW - like your description of a thousand year old castle as modern! But I think I know what you meant?

If you decide to visit Warwick Castle, it's fun to pair it with Kenilworth Castle, a beautiful ruin, which is only about six miles away from Warwick.

Having been to a few castles and palaces in France, Portugal and England, here are my recommendations.

Windsor is a must. Absolutely stunning. Windsor is also a nice little town.
Warwick is good for kids because they have some summer activities but not as stunning and frankly not as striking as some others.
Hampton Court - rich in history and home of Henry VIII
Tower of London - it is good to see it but again, nothing beats Windsor castle in my opinion.