Athlone Castle — Attraction in County Westmeath

The Adamson Castle is worth the visit. It’s a blend of history and tourism. It’s inside or rather, part of the Athlone Tourist Information Centre. If you are a historical enthusiast and castle ruins lover, a solo traveler or simply love learning new things, then this place is great for that.

A slight disappointment and initial hesitation about the entrance fee lingered the day before but nevertheless, visiting the information centre to pass some time was a great experience if you don’t have any expectations. It was €10/p.p.

It’s a little information bubble turned into a museum and the views are quite nice. You can see the Custume Place Bridge (Athlone Town Bridge), Church of Saints Peter & Paul, The Castle Inn and River Shannon.

The Adamson Castle that was built in 1129 is now a small museum with interactive exhibits, mirrors on the ceiling (if that’s your thing), and antique J.E.R.I. cans. So whether you’re passing time, or you are passing through, then exploring the castle's history, is an activity...

I want to start this review with this is not the first museum castle we have done.

The cost is a bit high for something rather small. Kids should be under £5 and adults shouldn’t be more than 10.

The interactive kids section should be moved to a larger room with more space.

Room 4 needs closed caption. It was actually pleasant to watch the movie with no sound. Very impactful. Would be better if we could read it too. I’m aware the sound was out that day.

The dark death room I think was 7 or 8. They should warn you that the sound goes off the second you go into this dark room. I’ve never seen a grown man jump so fast 💀💀💀

Staff were kind.

Construction hides the entrance which is the same side...

When I asked a local if the castle was worth a visit, I earned a confused look and the answer ‘Not sure about that… ‘.

I still paid a visit and at first was delighted to see that you could enter the castle without any fee. There is an interesting exhibition in the middle, as well as a museum and the tourist office. The lookout was nice as well, you could see a lot of the city of Athlone.

However, for me as a young adult, the castle itself was quite boring. It is really small and there’s not that much to be seen. If you happen to be in Athlone, go there and take a look at it, but it’s really not...