Castle Howard, Yorkshire's finest historic house & estate

We're just back from a wonderful family weekend in the lovely English county of Yorkshire. Whilst there we visited Castle Howard. Many people of a certain age will remember this wonderful stately home as being the setting for the hit 80s TV series, Brideshead Revisited. More recently the cameras were back there again to film the 2008 movie of the same name.

Castle Howard

Home to the Howard family for over 300years, Castle Howard is a magnificent 18th-century residence set within 1,000 acres of breathtaking scenary in the Howardian Hills. As well as being a visitor attraction, Castle Howard is a thriving rural estate with many traditional enterprises such as farming and forestry.

You can visit the impressive interior of the house which features world-renowned collections, in most of the main rooms there are friendly guides who are delighted to share stories of the house and family as well as answer your questions. Their passion for the house and its history is plain to see.

Make sure you give yourself a couple of hours to enjoy the house as there is a lot to see, at the end of it you can relax over a nice lunch in the restaurant. Once you've finished take some time, weather permitting, to enjoy the landscape of the impressive gardens. You'll come across temples, lakes, statues and fountains as well as an 18th century walled garden and ornamental vegetable garden.

If for some reason you don't have the time to visit the house and gardens but are looking for somewhere to stop for a break, the lovely surroundings of the Stable Courtyard offer a selection of estate shops and cafe which are open all year round with free admission and parking.

Castle Howard is located just 15 miles North East of York, on the road to Scarborough, the A64. We stayed in the lovely city of York the prior evening, before moving onto Scarborough for a trip down memory lane in this lovely English seaside resort.