Culzean Castle — Attraction in Great Britain

This is one of the truly great castles of Scotland and it's outstandingly picturesque location on the West Coast makes it even better. The Castle itself looks beautifully imposing perched atop it's clifftop location and the architecture of the building looks breathtaking and wonderfully pristine and immaculate and the interior of The Castle is just as breathtaking as the exterior with an array of amazing and spectacular rooms to see with The Armoury and The Unique Oval Spiral Staircase the particular rooms of spectacular note. The Armoury is one of the first rooms you see as you come and is absolutely outstanding as the collection of flintlock pistols and military Swords weave beautifully to make display patterns and are great on the eye and particularly iconic & The Oval Staircase is mesmerising as you look up from the bottom to the top and see and the wonderful skylight and the width of it leaves you with the feeling of being endless and there are also some outstanding portraits to see along the way. In the other rooms of the Castle there is outstanding furniture, ceiling decorations and paintings and portrait paintings and also the immediate room you come into from the Oval Staircase you can see and enjoy breathtaking views towards the Isle of Arran and The Firth of Clyde. The final area of mention is the Kitchen which has the usual outstanding furnishings and looks amazing. In each of the rooms there is some information cards detailing the history of the room, it's use and the items you can see. Located a short way from the Castle is The Gas House where is an informative exhibition about Gas Lighting and the history of it and in another building not far from The Gas House there is a nice interesting exhibition about William Murdoch and his creation of the beam engines with James Watt which played a key role in Coal Mining. The Gardens located in close proximity to the Castle are brilliant with great array of colour from the flower borders and these blend in beautifully with the Palm Trees creating a nice lovely exotic feel and mix. The Walled Garden at Culzean is one of the best around with more amazing flower borders with a great array of colour on show with the Gladioli particularly delightful and again there are more Palm Trees which again beautifully blend with the flower borders and there is a lovely Cottage Garden and also Kitchen Garden to see. The greenhouse within the Walled Garden deserves a great mention as it is in great condition and there are some interesting plants to see such as Grapevines and there is some interesting facts about the history of the Greenhouse. The Country Park at Culzean is brilliant as there is some enjoyable walks to enjoy amongst the woodland but also there is also the Swan Lake which makes for a lovely relaxing walk around and enjoy some great views across it where you can see some interesting features such as The Sea Monster and there is also another interesting feature within the Country Park which is the Pagoda and blends in well with the environment. The Country Park also has walks that lead down to the beach where you can enjoy the imposing sight of the Castle from above perched on the rocks but also views beautiful views of The Ayrshire Coastline north and south and also The Isle of Arran from another angle. There is also a lovely Deer Park where you can see Fallow Deer, Red Deer and Llamas. There are Gift Shops at the Castle and Home Farm selling a decent range of souvenirs at reasonable prices and there is a Restaurant at the Home Farm and Cafe at Swan Lake selling a delicious range of Food and Drink at affordable prices. Overall this is an absolutely outstanding and amazing place to visit to see one of the best Castles in Scotland and makes for a wonderful, delightful and enjoyable day out. Well worth a visit in the...

Beautiful historic castle with stunning grounds and sea views. Culzean is a castle overlooking the Firth of Clyde, near Maybole, Carrick, in South Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland. It is the former home of the Marquess of Ailsa, the chief of Clan Kennedy, but is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland. The clifftop castle lies within the 240 acres (97 ha) Culzean Castle Country Park, which also contains a walled garden, other estate buildings that are open to the public, shops and cafés, and a playground. The castle is open to the public throughout the summer, and the wider estate is open all year. There are eight self-catering properties available for holiday rental within the country park, include the Brewhouse Flat which is located within the castle itself. The castle can also be hired for private events.

From 1972 until 2015, an illustration of the castle was featured on the reverse side of five pound notes issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

In 1945, the Kennedy family gave the castle and its grounds to the National Trust for Scotland (thus avoiding inheritance tax). In doing so, they stipulated that the apartment at the top of the castle be given to General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower in recognition of his role as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during the Second World War. The General first visited Culzean Castle in 1946 and stayed there four times, including once while President of the United States. The armoury contains a propeller from a plane flown by Leefe Robinson when he shot down a German airship north of London in 1916.

To the north of the castle is a bay containing the Gas House, which provided town gas for the castle up until 1940. This group of buildings consists of the gas manager's house (now containing an exhibition on William Murdoch), the Retort House and the remains of the gasometer.

There are sea caves beneath the castle which are currently not open generally, but are open for tours throughout the summer.

The castle grounds include a walled garden, which is built on the site of the home of a former slave owned by the Kennedy family,...

A brilliant day out for all the family at Culzean castle and country park. COVID-19 level 2 restrictions. Masks, sanitiser and distancing from staff on display at all indoor locations but most of this is outdoor with hand sanitizer at entrances to each area like the adventure playground etc.

The castle itself is magnificent in good repair and well maintained throughout with great displays. Staff are stationed throughout to answer questions, help maintain COVID guidelines and point out elusive lego figures from the lego trail. Very informative and worth listening to! Each area is well presented and has relevant information to view and describing the owners and various people who stayed and worked at the castle. Definately worth going in to see if only for the incredible display of weapons in the first room! Toilets are available at the end of the tour or you can nip in the door beside the bins and mortars to the right of the main entrance. From here you can go to the main lawn with it's fountain and ice house, the gas house and beach or take a path in to the country park itself.

The park has miles of paths for walking delineated by the path names/signs. We parked at the Swan pond and based from here. The paths can be graded mostly as easy but there's a few more difficult ones doen to the shore near the dolphin house.

The play park adventure cove is amazing. 5+ and be prepared to lose kids as they run through areas you have to stoop or crawl. Everything is adult friendly too so don't worry about the perspex in the tunnels. It CAN support you. lol. There are some tough bits so wee ones will need adult supervision of course and help resetting the ziplines. Still brilliant fun!

Finally have to mention the Aviary shop which sells hot and cold drink, ice cream and food. Right near the play park so fed worth a visit if you have wee ones and didn't bring a picnic for the grass.

Great family day out (give yourself the whole day!) and...