Goodrich Castle — Attraction in Goodrich

Set on the banks of the Wye, Goodrich Castle is a stunning example of a castle built in the 1200s and 1300s with history running though to the late 1600s and beyond. Definitely worth a visit. There's plenty of old castle to wander round and admire. The free audio guide is worth doing. Starting at the Visitor Centre, I would allow about 90min-2hrs to complete the self-guided audio tour. It's full of interesting snippets - and it was well worth climbing to the top of the old Keep to hear what the audio guide has to say about it.

Logistics.... There is a large car park with stepped access to the Visitor Centre; though there is a separate car park for those with mobility issues. I suspect that the main car park could get full at busy times in high season - but today at 10:00am it was virtually empty. Before we visited, I struggled to find any information about the cost of parking and the ways available to pay. So - I've added some pictures. I think that £3 for the day is reasonable (for non-members). We paid with coins. You can pay by card, but, by English Heritage's own admission, that can be a bit flaky. Or, go into the Visitor Centre and get a token. The toilet facilities in the Visitor Centre are excellent. They're clean, well presented, and well stocked with the essentials.

Food and hot drinks are also available at the Visitor Centre. It looked to be a good selection of food, but in the event we just stopped for tea, which was nicely presented with a proper cups and saucers, milk in a jug, and tea in a teapot. Milk was an issue: it seems you can request oat milk, soya milk and a range of others - but not standard, skimmed, cow's milk. A shame, as I felt they let themselves down a bit there. You are also free to eat your own pic-nic at the tables.

Saving the best for last - the staff in the Visitor Centre were absolutely wonderful: personable, polite and friendly, knowledgeable, and very helpful (other companies should take note!!).

Would we go again?...

A great castle to visit. Lots to see, and the ubiquitous English Heritage commentary makes it all so much more real.

This was a quick visit for us - on the way home from visiting family, and, as the day was beautifully sunny, but MURDEROUSLY cold, we stayed rather less time than we normally would do.

The castle itself is a fine example of ( insert period here) castle building; and most importantly, it is astonishingly complete, making that little leap of imagination to the past, so much easier. We will certainly visit on a less inclement day and take our time 'viewin' the ruins'.

And now for the rather sad part of the review. We had left our hotel in Newport before breakfast and were understandably peckish by the time we reached Goodrich (around 10:40am). The EH sites always have good catering facilities, so we decided on a simple (!) Wild boar sausage on toast, with tea and coffee to match.

"Sorry, we aren't quite ready to serve hot food yet. Could you come back around 11:30? It being Sunday, we let this slide and went for our visit to the castle.

On our return, at just shy of midday, we made the same request, and were greeted with the same response - "we aren't ready". Maybe it's me, but I think that rather smells of either laziness, "Jobsworth" mentality, or just plain bad planning.

Whichever it is, catering staff, you HAVE done a disservice to your highly professional colleagues elsewhere in the property. DO try and pull...

Pros: good parking, excellent views /scenary, you could almost imagine you were back in time with this imposing castle which is mostly complete. You can walk around the battlements and the main keep. Cafe /shop is good with friendly staff and reasonable prices.

To consider: some parts of the castle are dimley out or have no lighting at all. I needed to use my torch at times. The dungeon has no lighting so you can imagine how bad it must have been for the doomed souls imprisoned in there. Perhaps that's why no lighting? Uneven surfaces, risk of big (BIG! ) drops especially with young children who need to be watched at all times as they can squeeze through the bars.

The narrow claustrophobic spiral staircase where you hang onto a rope for dear life as you meander toward the keep, Was both terrifying and exhiliterating far from today's health and safety obsessed world.

If you have a wheel chair, limited accessibility unfortunately but that is just how the castle is built. I doubt there is much EH can do.

Barbed wire on either side of the path leading up to the castle, just watch if you have young kids.

If you are not a clumsy fool and can be responsible as to where you place your feet and manage your kids you will be fine.

Overall, a throughly enjoyable experience and I would like to go again in summer when all the leaves are...