Family day out: Warwick Castle with a toddler

I never thought I’d be using Frozen to broaden my daughter’s vocabulary. When I announced to Minnie that we would be visiting a castle at the weekend, it occurred to me that she wouldn’t actually remember going to one before.

‘Do you know what a castle is,’ I asked? ‘Yes,’ replied my two-and-a-half-year-old brightly. ‘It’s a banana.’ After a few minutes vainly trying to help her imagine a house made of stone, inspiration struck – ‘Elsa lives in one’.

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Suddenly it all became clear. And the discovery that she could also dress up as a princess at Warwick Castle made her almost implode with excitement. 31 months and Disney already has the upper hand.

Check out my post about staying at the Knight’s Village and the Zog trail at Warwick Castle for some of the latest additions

But that’s barely scratching the surface of what you can do at Warwick with toddlers. I’ve visited before but not for years – and in the intervening time, it’s transformed so there’s a huge amount to pack into a single day including the new Warwick Castle Unlocked.

Even on a grey February weekend, with many of the main attractions like the trebuchet and Horrible Histories yet to open for the season, we spent hours exploring.

First stop was the Princess Tower, partly as Minnie couldn’t wait a second longer, partly as it can be oversubscribed and partly as there were several other events on in the afternoon at the same time – check out my tips for making the most of your visit to Warwick Castle with kids.

With a trio of princesses handing out tickets, helping dress up and leading the storytelling – based around a magical picture frame, with a few activities for everyone to join in – it’s still one of the bits Minnie talks about most, despite being easily the youngest there.

Then after avoiding buying the inevitable photo, it was over to the Great Hall, the heart of the historic castle and one of the main indoor sections, along with a Victorian house party and the Kingmaker exhibition, showing the castle during the Wars of the Roses.

There’s also the Dungeon if you’re old/brave enough – not recommended for under 10s, and definitely not for toddlers – the battlements to climb and a few towers to explore, plus the grounds including archery and stocks, views of the castle’s 60 acres and the various activities and events.

From armoured horses and displays of swords, plus a very welcome roaring log fire, the Great Hall is a great introduction to the centuries of history with staff wielding huge swords, chainmail to try on, tours and plenty of explanation as you wander round.

After looping you round past the chapel, currently being refurbished and the one place in the castle where they do request quiet, you can head the opposite way out of the Great Hall where the rooms are set up for Victorian high society with one of Daisy, Countess of Warwick’s notorious house parties.

Although I prefer my history ancient, there are plenty of details to keep you interested, the occasional taped voiceover and some very unexpected decorations including a bear. Minnie loved this part, although with a few more easily grabbable items, I was on high alert.

If it’s Warwick’s medieval past that is the biggest attraction, the Kingmaker: Eve of Battle exhibition is set when Warwick the Kingmaker played a pivotal role in England’s history, first helping put Edward IV on the throne then turning on him in an attempt to return the crown to the deposed Henry VI (and power into his own hands, naturally).

If the waxworks are less than convincing to an adult eye, it was all very real to the kids roaming around – and Minnie at least was mildly alarmed by the warlike preparations.

Between exploring indoors and defrosting, we headed outside. First to brave the battlements and the twisting stone spiral staircases involved in reaching them. We weren’t the only family with a young child, so we could take the climb relatively slow and there are breaks between flights.

And the views from the ramparts were fantastic, even on a dingy winter’s day – easily worth the effort, although admittedly I wasn’t the one who had to carry Minnie.

Back on ground level there are other towers you can visit, all part of Warwick Unlocked with some rooms opened for the first time.

The four areas include the wonderfully named Bear Tower – the bear being part of the Warwick heraldic device, but also one of my many nicknames for Minnie. This one came complete with bear paws…

The Watergate Tower is apparently home to a shy ghost, although we didn’t have chance to hunt them ourselves, and sadly missed the foul medieval sludge in the Barbican Battlements too.

The climb up the Mound is less energetic but with great views of its own down to the gigantic trebuchet among other things, something I’d have loved to see in operation.

But one of my favourite parts of the day was the birds of prey show. You can also see the birds in their mews, but watching a young milky eagle owl (or Verraux’s eagle owl) swoop between posts, trees and glove was astonishing.

Newly trained, Ernie also has impeccably comic timing as he demonstrated several times how not to use those precision killer instincts by pouncing perfectly on prey but instead touching down a foot away and scuffling sheepishly across the grass to it.

A stunning snowy barn owl, older than Ernie, went on to show how it should be done – although Minnie, who had started out transfixed, had found her owl threshhold.

I’m always cautious about animals ‘performing’ for entertainment but the fact that the birds are completely free to fly away if they choose (evidently a ready supply of chicks is far more tempting) is reassuring.

With one hour left until closing, and still more to see at Warwick Castle for kids, two foes finally defeated our adventurous spirit – that dismal weather… and a happy but now rather tired toddler.

Visiting Warwick Castle with a toddler was only our first family visit – check out of review of the Knight’s Village lodges, meeting Santa during Christmas at Warwick and some tips on visiting Warwick Castle with kids.

PIN FOR LATER: WARWICK CASTLE FOR TODDLERS

 

Disclosure: Our visit was courtesy of the castle. All opinions about visiting Warwick Castle with a toddler remain my own. Contains affiliate links – any purchases you make are unaffected but I may receive a small commission.

Images copyright MummyTravels

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