Bolton Castle Review

Great to visit a castle in almost original condition. A bit pricey entrance fee.

A good place to go whilst on holiday, could do better with the whole experience as it seemed lacking something special.

Great castle lovely scenery and great events, lovely day out.

Beautiful
We didnt go inside due to time frame but is well worth a drive to see from the outside.
Next time we will go inside

Great place to visit and easy to park. Stunning place.

Good, but nothing outstanding. I'd not travel all the way from York(assuming that this castle shows up in places to visit nearby York) to just visit this castle. However if your nearby and have plenty of time, worth paying a visit.

Had a great afternoon at Bolton Castle. Callum made it interesting with his archery talk then you had a go at it yourself, the falconry display and the wild boar talk and feeding session. Well done Callum.

Superb ancient monument in the heart of Wensleydale. Interest maintained by local guides in various parts of the castle. Excellent falconry display as part of the visit.

Excellent castle plenty to see and do Sadly the falconry was off. It was to windy and archery was off as well. Ignor the sign on the main entrance saying it is closed. Go round the side to the gift shop entrance.

Very good place to visit on a nice day, lots to do, lovely views.

Excellent castle, lots to see and explore and you can climb right to the top for the view. Bird of prey show very good and nice gardens and viees. Be careful though be cause they have events and weddings and some days it is closed so we arrived one day to find it closed and had to return the following day - check their website. Tea room very busy so we went to berry's tea room and farm shop nearby instead.

Castle Bolton is the correct name. Very interesting history. Lovely location and great to see as part of a walk from Aysgarth Falls. The views are spectacular on a clear day.

Very picturesque, although not able to go inside due to restrictions.

Great experience for me l love history friendly staff and great food

A great castle with loads of history and ruined charm. Well recommended.

Really great day out. A few activities and lots to see. Took us about 3 hours.

We visited Bolton Castle having seen it featured on Countryfile and were not disappointed.

The castle itself is an impressive pile with a suitably intriguing history, as one might expect of any building that has stood since the 1300s and housed such a colourful array of characters.

We were fortunate to visit on a bright, clear day and felt at ease to idle around the grounds for a couple of hours during which time we encountered owls, a falcon and even wild boar.

All in, an excellent jaunt.

I came here a while ago. Unfortunately Roose, the Lord of House Bolton and his son Ramsey, had their victims flayed bodies outside to let them know what their enemy's are in for.

Wonderful English castle great feeling for times of old

Fab! Castle is just great, loads to see and easy read signs to tell you about the history of the place. Tea room ok, dry sandwich bread which was barely apologised for, but that didn't spoil the day. Gardens are beautiful, falconry display lush and my fav bit, the wild boars

We saw the birds of prey show, played in the maze, wanderedvthrough the fragrant garden, the dyers garden,the vineyard and marys garden, saw wild boar and climbed to the battalions with 2 young children viewing the rooms on the way up and reading yo them as we went along.great day out had by all!

Plenty here to see very educational without being boring staff knew their stuff

This is an impressive castle/fortified farmhouse located in the Yorkshire Dales. This means it is set in some lovely countryside. A lot of the castle is still intact including the bedroom Mary queen of Scots stayed in. A real bonus is the falconry displays and the owls were magnificent in flight. This is free entry to HHA members.

Although the castle was very run down and in need of some restoration, it was atmospheric and painted a true picture of what life must have been like. The maze and the bird of prey flying added a fun dimension and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

They are ruins, nothing to do with the castle of the Boltons of the JDT series. Even so it is worth going through there if you make the route starting up the right and end up down the left of Scotland.

Great castle and great tea room. Bern to many events hear too which have all been very good.

Falconary display was interesting. Nice cafe. Kids loved the maze. Castle had many areas to explore.

Excellent Yorkshire attraction. So much to see! Nearly spent three whole hours there. The cafe is great too.

A Real Castle! - a large part is still intact, from the ramparts down to the dungeon. Five floors to explore, with occasional re-enactments, and a small group of birds of prey.

Absolutely stunning site, with plenty of informative and interesting descriptions and illustrations, in the middle of beautiful Wensleydale.

Good place for older families. Not push/wheelchair friendly. Beautiful scenery. Check website for any events that are on. Was a 2 hour knight school for the kids. Really fun & informative.

Only visited the cafe which I thought was a bit expensive and very slow service.

Beautiful place amd surroundings. The castle is very much open to view unlike other castles ive been to. Lovely little tea room for a cream tea x

Thanks to the community that preserved the charming place of culture that made me come to see, thanks from my heart.

Excellent falconery display very knowledgeable young man

Out of the way but a great place to visit whilst touring the Dales.

A great place to visit. Dramatic castle with a fascinating story to tell. The birds of prey are really worth a look and the cafe was OK if a bit above average prices. Charging to park is a bit mean I thought.

Really enjoyed exploring the castle and gardens. Good starting point for walks.

Wonderful castle. The castle ruins and the grounds are a fun way to spend a morning. The grounds and hedge maze are awesome. The food in the little kitchen area was just average and the gift shop had a limited selection.

Very well-maintained and cultured environment. You can visit them with children.

Amazing day out even during these infectious times..well organised for access and getting around the site. Beautiful old castle and stunning gardens. What an absolute gorgeous location - stunning views for miles and miles. Well worth a visit.

Really enjoyed seeing Bolton castle a nice area of out standing beauty that the castle sits in cause I arrived pretty early the castle was closed

A very nice ruin and converted into a tourist attraction. Half of the castle has been restored to a condition one might expect with the other half being left as ruins. A good helpful team of staff and the best attraction overall has to be the falconry display.

Awesome place to visit. Great looking castle with large parts still intact. Some rooms are furnished and clearly representative of their past uses over the centuries. Lookout for the haunted bed! Food in the tea rooms is recommended as is the birds of prey display.

Good value for money can walk aroh d at your own pace and go to the top of one of the towers. Amazing views once you get to the top too.

Wow! What a place! The castle had a real presence, and full of character. I also loved the birds of pray show. That was the icing on the cake. Definitely a must.

A well preserved medieval castle, well worth a visit

Great historic site. Thoroughly enjoyed this place and is a full day of activity with the family. They have a falconry display and archery for the kids. Would highly recommend a visit if you're in the area.

'Keep' style castle in the Heart of the Dales, 5-10 minutes drive west from Leyburn.

Half ruin, half preserved, the damage to the castle caused by a rather angry Henry VIII and Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentarians way back in history....

Well preserved ground floor, and surviving sections of the upper floors.

Even the rooms occupied by Mary Queen Of Scots are intact and furnished.

Access can also be gained to the surviving battlements and roof, but go carefully as it's very high and narrow. It is fenced-off for safety, but it is a very old castle after all with uneven steps and paths in places.

Definitely worth a visit.



Privately owned so don't expect free entry with English Heritage or National Trust.

Very good for kids and the animals are a different experience at a catsle, would recommend!

Very interesting, the castle was mostly complete as opposed to many "ruins" that claim to be castles. Staff were friendly and the food in the tea room was nice.

I love this place seems hardly touched by time. Great tea room/gift shop and the children love the wild boar!

What a solidly handsome castle! I was heading to Aysgarth Waterfalls when I espied this most handsome brute of a building on the right horizon. What a bonus to the day out. Unfortunately the weather turned foul, making the waterfalls at Aysgarth all the more impressive and thunderous though. A beautiful archer's bow of a too. So I just made do with a quick whizz around the castle's outside on this visit and nipped into the church opposite. But certainly left a solid imprint on the old brain.

Been a number of times,but yesterday was exceptional. Would recommend it as a great place to visit.

this is a great castle to visit , its huge and the gardens are a bonus too , tea room is reasonably priced and you can use the tea room without paying to visit the castle and you can visit garden only too

Was going to have coffee and cake in the tearoom but was told "We are closing" this was 20 mins before the advertised closing times.

Lovely period castle still in tact, enjoyed a tasty father's day Sunday lunch. Then a day of activities, falconry, archery and more. The whole family thoroughly enjoyed it!

Really enjoyed it here and the parking is fair too right nes to the castle.

Amazing place, lots of spiral staircases to navigate!

Fantastic castle steeped in history. Hard to believe you can visit the same rooms Mary Queen of Scots stayed in. Really well presented. Falconery display and maize were particular highlights.

Has both intact and ruined areas accessible for viewing. Not too busy, and amazing views.

Entertaining place for the children. Good food but very expensive. A good afternoon out.

Loved this castle, visited with our grown up children and our young grandchildren, all of us enjoyed it, the bird display was very good , also the archery was fantastic, even giving my 7 year old grandson a go which he loved, there is so much to see and do here, well worth the entrance price and I would definitely go back.