Castle Howard

Castle Howard was built between 1699 and 1712 for Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, to designs by John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor. It is not a castle in any defensive sense. It is a baroque country house on a scale that still catches people out, standing in a thousand acres of parkland with its own temples, a mausoleum and a lake. Most first-time visitors know it from the screen, since it stood in for Brideshead in Brideshead Revisited and has since appeared in Bridgerton. It won Large Visitor Attraction of the Year and the Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Award at the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2025, then took silver in the International Tourism Award category at the 2026 awards in Bristol on 3 June. Through 2026 the estate is running its Vanbrugh 300 programme along with the Library of the Four Winds installation, so there is more on than usual.

From Tea Time Cafe at 87 Market Place there are two sensible routes and they are much of a muchness for time. The prettier one takes the A170 east towards Helmsley and then the B1257 south, which means climbing Sutton Bank straight out of Thirsk. That is a 1 in 4 with hairpins at the bottom, fine in a car and no place at all for a caravan or a trailer. The flatter alternative runs south on the A19 and east on the A64, with brown signs picking you up from the dual carriageway. Either way it is about 35 minutes. Parking is free and there is plenty of it, though the walk up to the House is longer than most people expect.

Without a car it is doable with one change. Thirsk to York takes 16 to 23 minutes and runs roughly hourly on TransPennine Express and Grand Central, though note LNER does not stop at Thirsk. From York, the CastleLine 181 bus runs out to Castle Howard, and the Castle Howard Arboretum, formerly the Yorkshire Arboretum, sits directly opposite the estate entrance.

The House takes a good couple of hours on its own: the Great Hall, the Antique Passage, the Long Gallery and the art and sculpture collections. Outside, the Walled Garden is the formal highlight, and the walk out to the Temple of the Four Winds and on to the Mausoleum is the one that shows you why the park was laid out the way it was. A land train saves legs on the run down to the Great Lake. Children generally want Skelf Island, the adventure playground, and will want it for longer than you have allowed. There are several cafes, a farm shop and a garden centre when you have had enough.

The approach through the park is worth slowing down for, and the Great Hall justifies the whole trip on its own. The Mausoleum is the sleeper, standing off by itself with far fewer people around it than the house. For families, Skelf Island does the heavy lifting. Access is better than most houses of this age manage, with a lift inside and free entry for carers.

Book online. The saving against the ticket office is real and worth having, and the price varies with the date you choose. Remember the ticket structure: House and Gardens, or Gardens only, with no house-only option. The date-dependent yellow day discounts apply to child and family tickets only, so do not expect one on the adult fare. The site is cashless, Historic Houses cards are not accepted, and there is no over-60s or Blue Light rate. Dogs on leads are welcome in the grounds but not in the House, where it is assistance dogs only, and baby carriers can be borrowed at the House entrance. Set off early with breakfast behind you, since a full day here is a full day.