Oystermouth Castle — Attraction in Mumbles

An interesting castle to visit. The castle has undergone much alteration from the 12thC to the 14thC interspersed with extended periods of neglect. Despite its condition, it offers a fascinating insight into life as far back as just over 900 years ago. Entrance fees are modest and concessions are available. The castle is open daily from late March through to the end of September but weekends only in October. Plan your visit accordingly. Visitors are issued with a free 15 page guide book on entry. You'll also be offered a laminated sheet with various QR codes presumably for each area but it does assume that a) you know where you are in the castle and b) have a decent mobile network signal! There's a very useful 10 minute video presentation of the castle which is invaluable if your visit doesn't coincide with a guided tour. As a constructive suggestion, I'd think a directional arrow system guiding visitors around would be very beneficial. Otherwise, unless you've visited before or time your visit to coincide with a guided tour or carefully study the free guide leaflet, you may simply walk around aimlessly from room to room. Some rooms have info plaques, many don't. The views from the Castle curtain walls are spectacular. There's a gift shop next to the ticket office. Toilets are in the castle grounds just to the right as you enter. Didn't use them so can't comment. Parking is available along the Mumbles and also in the Underhill car parks. We walked to the Castle so can't comment on parking either. Staff we encountered were welcoming & helpful. Summary: plan your visit to coincide with a guided tour if you can. Spectacular views from the Castle walls. A worthwhile...

We simply followed the path up the hill towards the castle. We saw 2 signs saying 'Tickets' with an arrow leading up to the shop. We approached the shop and an old woman stood up to meet us -

'Come to visit our castle?' She asked

'Oh, no thank you, not this time. We'd just like a quick look in the shop' we replied

We entered the gift shop. She followed. Another old woman was behind the counter.

'2 adults?' She immediately asked (no hello!)

We repeated that we just wanted to peruse the gift shop and maybe see the castle next time.

'Well you should have paid for tickets before coming here' she announced. The first old woman agreed.

'We didn't see any signs saying that we needed to' I responded.

'No' she stated, bluntly. 'There are signs as you come up saying to buy tickets'

(There were only 2 signs directing to the gift shop to buy tickets. No signs saying to buy beforehand)

I immediately left the shop. I've worked in sales and that is NOT the way to speak to people. If we had been greeted properly and politely, we may have changed our minds and bought tickets. But fine, they didn't want me to look around the shop or potentially change my mind about tickets, so I left.

My girlfriend told me she bought a fridge magnet, but the old lady behind the counter resisted at first. My girlfriend actually had to convince her to make the sale!

Apparently, these are volunteers. Just because you don't get paid doesn't mean you can talk to potential customers like that. If we'd simply received a 'hello, please look around' or whatever, who knows? We were literally...

Visited with my mum. Arrived just in time to join a tour (no extra cost), which was expertly done, with fascinating insights into the lives of those in the castle from 1106 to the 1300s. She took us step by step through the development of the castle - highlighting the choices made and some of the mysteries. Got caught up in the story of Alina who was married at 7, became the lady of the castle a few years later, then off to the Tower with her little boy when her husband was killed, and then built the gorgeous chapel when she was restored to the castle. Fascinating! And really great to see the chapel up close with great views over the bay and faint remnants of the original paintings from over 700 years ago. There are quite a few steps around the castle - lovely winding staircases and some steep straight ones. My mum is 80, so some were a challenge! But we managed to keep with the tour and hear everything the tour guide was saying - wonderful! Hardly noticed the rain that came in fits and starts 😉 - not a lot of cover. Congrats to the volunteers and to all the work that has been done on...