Gwrych Castle — Attraction in Llanddulas and Rhyd-y-Foel

Thank you to the castle for their polite response to my review.

In 2017/18 we visited the castle it was free to enter and no visitor centre to pay. We could walk freely in the woods without anyone approaching us to say we are trespassing.

According to the castle reply to my review it opened to the public in 2014.

They replied It’s advertised on social media and other places, it’s better to book on line beforehand.

What happens for the many people that don’t do social media, those people that have been going for years and people who drop into the castle by chance.

It’s good to hear after my review they are putting welcoming signs up at the entrance.

We parked the car outside the castle as my partner had done many times.

Unfortunately when we arrived at the castle itself we were told the castle was closing in 10 minutes as it was 3:50pm

My partner had visited the woods and castle grounds many times over 17 years, I had visited about 4 years ago, it’s very nice and it was all free.

At the castle entrance there is nothing to say this castle is now a tourist attraction and there is a charge of £10.00 per person though if you are local it’s £8.00, this was told to me by the nice lady that had worked there for 18 months.

There are no details at the castle entrance to say tourist attractions.

We were told The gates to the castle and woods were closed, so we went up the hill and sat for awhile enjoying the views.

Nothing was said to us that we couldn’t sit down and enjoy the views.

Whilst sitting down we saw a lot of cars arriving and some people getting out and walking up to the castle gates, one was a couple with a small child that went upto the castle gates around 4:10pm

On the way down I used the toilet and then caught up with my partner that was taking the track off road so to keep our dog safe from other vehicles still entering the car park this being around 4:20pm

We walked off road to circle around to the road further ahead.

Suddely we were approached by a young gentleman STOP YOU ARE TRESPASSING!! YOU ARE ON PRIVATE LAND YOU HAVE NOT PAID ANY MONEY YOU ARE PREVENTING US FROM GOING HOME !!

My partner and I tried to explain though he was not interested, he was very abusive and would not listen to anything we said.

I’LL CALL FOR SECURITY I WANT YOU TO CROSS THIS FIELD TO THE ROAD NOW !! DO YOU WANT ME TO CALL SECURITY!!

If he had not stopped us we would of been on the main track again in 50 metres and halfway back to the car !

Why did it take him so long to approach us Why did he not approach us when we were sat down on the castle grounds Why did he not come out when we were in front of the payment building Why did he not approach us when we started on the track away from the road.

This young man caused hurt to my partner and myself.

We tried many times to explain though he did not LISTEN to us.

I have been in his place many years and I have also confronted people with Respect and allowing them to speak.

I would suggest this young gentleman retrains in customer relations.

Also a person that works for someone or a company in staff position or security, that person should have some form of identification. A name badge would be good stipulating who they work for.

The lady that originally approached me had a yellow vest on say something like volunteer.

We are respectful people in many fields.

Due to taking Jazzie our dog going into the sea and Jazzie really enjoying the waves she nearly died the night before as we called the emergency vet, she had salt water poisoning and a large amount of sand inside her.

Luckilly she managed to pull through the evening, though my partner was very upset worrying about Jazzie.

Hopefully there will be a new review of the castle and signs will be put up at the castle gates saying the castle has a price to visit and also a price for walking inside the woods which leads to the castle interior.

I think it is a very good way to charge the public for the upkeep of a very beautiful building and it will be lovely for many in the future when it is...

The castle itself is beautiful, easy to reach with a 25-minute walk from the train station. The receptionist was friendly and gave us a 10% discount since we were staying in the Tan-yr-Ogo ‘Gothic Bedroom.’

The castle grounds were lovely to explore, but the staff interactions were lacking. Aside from the receptionist, the other staff seemed disinterested, and my fiancé’s coffee order was met with a frosty reception; it was very awkward sitting in the café with two staff standing there in silence waiting for time to go by.

After asking for directions to the lodge, we were told the gate on the grounds leading to the lodge was locked and we could not use it, which confused us since others had said it provided access. We followed the alternative path shown to us from both the café staff and the receptionist. Annoyingly, the path suggested led us through private property, two locked gates, and uphill winding paths…eventually bringing us back to the same locked gate, at the castle, where we had started from!

In disbelief we continued our walk, questioning why the gate could not have simply been opened if the alternative path brought us right back to where we started…only to be led to not just a locked gate, but a barricaded one. We had to double back and then walk along the main road which was awful as cars were speeding past us and there was very little pavement space.

We were not able to view the Tower as a result, which was huge disappointment.

We can only assume that there was a serious miscommunication as we cannot believe we would be recommended a path which brought us back to square one and completely inaccessible…by two people!

While the castle is worth visiting, I would caution future visitors on foot visiting the castle, then staying in the Lodge, relying solely on staff advice due to the aforementioned...

Visited in September 2019, on the last day of my Holiday in Wales. From the main road a very long and potholed track leads to the castle, where I found a security guard booth with a mobile toilet behind. I paid the entrance there and I got a map of the estate. A little further we can parking, and from there a paths leads up and left to the castle's entrance. The castle itself is ruins nowadays, and I missed the information plates around, so I was not able to read about the history. I do not know who owned the castle, or why and how was it demolished. But at some point I have seen burning marks, so I can imagine a fire. During my visit I have seen maybe 5-6 other visitors, 2 guards and other 2 person do restoration work on a room. Other than them I could not see member of staffs to ask my questions. So I just walked around to the end, took a lot of picture and felt like I am in the ruins of Sleeping beauty's castle. The view is lovely, and it was built on the side of a hill, so even from far it is very impressive and pleasing with its jaggy stone walls. It has a sad atmosphere, or at least I found it like this, because it is still visible how grandiose and imposed castle was one time, and now it is like an abandoned site with dead memories. It could be a lovely place again, but they should invest a lot of money to restore it. If we are in, to get out is not on the main gate, but from the terrace we have to step down into a room, and there is the door which leads out from the walls. No cafe or restaurant, and there is only 1 mobile toilet behind the guard's booth. They really should invest at first to fix the track, because we can get out on foot earlier than by car due to those potholes...