How to visit Highclere Castle – the real Downton Abbey

Last Updated on January 29, 2024

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The worldwide success of Downton Abbey was quite a surprise to everyone involved. I don’t think anyone expected this British period series to become a massive hit all over the world. The success of the show brought a lot of attention to Highclere Castle, that was the show’s main filming location. Suddenly everybody wanted to visit the beautiful Downton Abbey. The castle’s everyday residents: the 8th Earl and Lady Carnarvon made it possible by opening their home to visitors for parts of the year. If you are a fan of the show, and you wonder whether or not to visit Highclere Castle, the answer is absolutely!

Even though the show ended its run after 6 seasons at the end of 2015, people’s interest in visiting Highclere Castle continues. All the opening dates and special events held on the property sell out regularly and I don’t think this is going to change anytime soon. All eyes are once again on the castle with the new second feature Downton Abbey movie coming to theaters in Spring 2022. If you need to refresh your memory, whether before seeing the movie or your visit to Highclere Castle, you can pick up this Downton Abbey Complete Series set.

Things to know before you visit Highclere Castle

• Highclere Castle is open to visitors during the summer ( closed Friday and Saturday each week ) and for a few more special events throughout the year.
• Book your tickets well in advance!
• Photography is NOT allowed in the house.
• the scenes in Downton Village, where a lot of major events happened were filmed in Bampton, about 40 miles away from Highclere Castle
• Don’t look for Mrs Patmore’s kitchen – the kitchen and servant’s quarters scenes were filmed at Ealing Studios in London
• if you visit independently, the entire trip will cost you around £100 ( ticket to the castle, train and taxi ).
• you’ll need to pre-book the taxi from the Newbury train station to the Castle and back.
• there is a little café on site selling snacks and drinks.

About Highclere Castle

Highclere Castle is the current home of 8th Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, and has been in the family since the late 17th century. Lady Carnarvon can often be seen greeting and welcoming visitors. Over the years, the Castle saw its share of Royal visitors and political figures. If you are a fan of the show, you might recall the storyline when Downton Abbey became a hospital for wounded soldiers during World War I. Well, this is actually not completely fictional, because during the Great War the Highclere Castle was also turned into a military hospital.

What to expect when you visit Highclere Castle

The Castle

Because the castle wasn’t changed too much for the sake of filming, you really feel like you are stepping into Downton Abbey. Once you enter, you follow a one way route through many rooms you will sure recognize from the show. One of the first you visit is the Library, known as Lord Grantham’s Study. This is a beautiful room with an impressive collection of over 5,000 books, with one of the oldest ones dating back to 1538. As you continue through the house on a self guided tour, you see The Drawing Room and the Dining Room, that was the center of lots of drama on the show.

Heading upstairs you will get a glimpse of the rooms used in the show as Lady Mary’s and Sybil’s bedrooms. These rooms are roped off, so unfortunately you don’t get to walk around in them.

One thing immediately noticeable when you visit Highclere Castle is that it’s much cozier than it appears on the show. All the rooms appear much bigger on TV, than they are in real life. As already mentioned, photography is not permitted inside of the house. As an alternative, there is a great book you can pick up in the gift shop, full of amazing photographs and history of Highclere Castle.

Egyptian collection

When you finish exploring the main floors of the Castle, you then have an option of heading to the cellar to take a look at the Egyptian Collection. The 5th Earl of Carnarvon was very passionate about Egypt and was involved in many Egyptian expeditions leading to the discovery of Tomb of Tutankhamun. Over the years he also acquired quite an impressive collection of antiques and works of art, that are now on display downstairs. I opted out, but if this sounds like it’s something that would interest you, it can be added to your ticket during the time of booking.

The grounds

No matter what time of day you decide to visit, make sure to plan enough time to explore the grounds. The 1,000 acres of parkland and beautiful gardens are none less impressive than the castle itself. The area is huge, and you can easily get lost there for hours. Walk along the paths, through wild flower meadow and various gardens, with sheep pastures in the distance.

One of the highlights on the estate is a pillared Temple called Jackdaw’s Castle. It was built in 1743 as a folly, to provide great views of the castle.

Highclere Castle tickets

Since Highclere Castle is an everyday home of Carnarvon family, it is NOT open to public year round. The openings are limited to a few weeks in the summer, some time around Easter, Christmas and occasionally for special events. For that reason, it’s recommended you plan your visit ahead of time and book your tickets early, as they do sell out.

In the summer 2024, the Highclere Castle will be open for tours from July 7th – September 5th ( closed on Fridays and Saturdays each week ). Book your tickets here

When booking your tickets, you get to choose from three admission times: morning, midday and afternoon. Morning ticket allows entry from 10 am – 12.30 pm, midday ticket from 12.30 – 2.30 pm and afternoon ticket from 2.30 – 4 pm. You are welcome to enjoy the grounds anytime during opening hours.

How to get to Highclere Castle from London

Highclere Castle is located just outside of Newbury, 66 miles from London and it can easily be done as a day trip. If you don’t have a car, or just don’t want to deal with driving, you can get there from London with a combination of a train + taxi.

First you need to take a train from Paddington Station to Newbury. Trains run very frequently, and the ride takes anywhere from 40 minutes to 1 hour. Prices vary depending on time of the day, but one way ticket costs around £25. There are Advance fares for less you can purchase online, but they do tie you to the particular train. You can get more information here.

Once you arrive in Newbury, next step is to take a taxi from the train station to the Castle. It’s important to pre book your ride, especially for your return back to the train station. Highclere Castle is a bit removed from the main street, so you can’t count on taxis driving by. All the ones you will see showing up are pre-arranged.

The drive from Newbury train station to the Castle takes about 10 minutes and should cost around £ 18 one way. Because this is the only way to get there ( unless you have your own car ), some taxis are trying to take advantage of people, charging ridiculous money for this short ride. One of the quotes I got was £45 one way, which is clearly a major rip off, because the distance is less than 6 miles. The cab company I used and can highly recommend is Cabco. They were very professional, on time and it cost £18 each way.

Highclere Castle Tours from London

I know my emphasis here is on how to easily visit Highclere Castle independently. But if you decide this is too much juggling on your own, there are plenty of organized tours from London. You can also choose one that combines Highclere Castle with a visit to other filming locations like Bampton, were all the Downton Village scenes were filmed.

READ MORE:

• Visiting Buckingham Palace in London – how to plan it and what to expect

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