What is Hever Castle grounds & gardens UK like now it has reopened with Covid 19 measures in place? Is it worth going, what has changed, what is the experience like etc.? We will cover this in the video and give our thoughts and firsthand experience as a family. We will do a full tour of Hever Castle grounds and gardens in under 5 minutes.
We look at ticket prices pre and post covid, and surprisingly, there isn’t much difference.
Time codes to the Video:
0:00 Introduction
1:20 Hever Castle Itself & Forecourt
1:55 Adventure Playground & Tower Maze
2:33 Tudor Gardens 2:52 Water Maze
3:17 General Garden and Lawn Areas
4:08 Hever Castle vs Leeds Castle
4:35 Hever Castle. Is It Worth It?!
5:04 Summing Up & Closing
Transcript from the Show
G’day Everyone, Matt Elder of Family Bricks here. What is Hever Castle UK like now it has reopened with covid 19 measures in place? Is it worth going, what has changed, what is the experience like etc.? We will cover this in the video and give our thoughts and firsthand experience as a family. We will do a full tour of Hever Castle grounds and gardens in under 5 minutes.
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We spent the day at Hever Castle UK July 26th, 2020 – 3 weeks after it reopened. So it has had some time to bed in the new corona virus safety guidelines and we’ll give you a sense of if Hever Castle is worth visiting. On the screen you can see the names of different attractions pop up as we go past them.
Is Hever Castle National Trust or English Heritage?
Hever Castle and Gardens is privately owned and are not a member of the National Trust or English Heritage.
So who owns Hever Castle?
Hever castle was purchased by Broadland Properties Limited in 1983, which is run by the Guthrie family, so it is privately owned.
Here is the Hever Castle itself. The castles dates back to the 1300s and was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, who was the second wife of Henry VIII. Much of what you see today is the result of William Waldorf Astor, who purchased the castle in 1903, extended it and refurbished it to its current state.
How far is Hever Castle from London?
Hever Castle is about 30 miles due south from the center of London. So it has been convenient located for its owners to carry about business close to London.
At the moment only 43 people can go into the castle at a time, after a 45-60 minute queue. So it is said once you are in, it feels like you have the place to yourself.
But our kids were only interested in making a B line to the playground. The playground is now done in half hour blocks. So you wait til your session, then go in. At the end, everyone is asked to leave the playground for the next group and presumably a quick wipe down / sanitization occurs.
The Tower Maze is really well done over 3 levels with plenty of spaces for the kids to explore and run about. It’s a solid construction with hiding spaces and secret tunnels, and overall, its very impressive.
That was the end of our session and the queue for the next session to get in.
Back over to the castle.
What about Hever Castle Hotel?
You can stay in the castle in either Astor, Anne Boleyn or Edwardian Wing. Alternatively there is the Medley Court holiday cottage of the Astor wing.
The Tudor garden is beside the castle, along with the Yew Maze, but this wasn’t opened.
You really did notice that numbers to the castle gardens had been restricted as it is peak season, but not like previous years where there are people are everywhere.
Now just going to head around one side of the lake to the water maze. Today the queue was about 45 minutes and kids will need a change of clothes as they are almost guaranteed to get wet.
Now heading back past the archery on the right and the minimum age has been raised from 2.5 to 7 years old due to covid.
Now we’ll take a more general walk around some of the garden and lawn areas.
Is Hever Castle dog friendly?
Dogs are allowed on the 125 acres of grounds but not allowed inside cafes, restaurants, Castle or Adventure Playground (guide dogs accepted)
Hever Castle and Garden Weddings
Hever castle, like many other castles, does weddings and has 3 types. Inside the castle in a grand affair, or a country house style in the Astor Wing or lakeside location of the Italian Garden.
As with everywhere, when you go into shops and enclosed spaces, you have to wear masks. Otherwise the vast majority of people are wondering around without masks. There is obviously plenty of space to be away from people.
When is Hever Castle Open?
Hever castle is not open year round and usually runs from March to November
Hever Castle vs Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle is another castle in the area. Personally we prefer Leeds castle as think there is more to see and do, Leeds castle is more grand and interesting, grounds feel more extensive and the tickets are not as expensive.
You can also hire rowboats and go out onto the lake that we have done previously and is a fun to do.
The other change is exiting and getting in, it has become a 1 way system out through the Italian Gardens, and in through the Rose Garden and Blue Corner.
So overall Hever Castle, is it worth it?
Always good to check out castles at least once and it is quite picturesque. Crowd numbers in general feel down due to covid restrictions. Queue times for most things seem long as usual, which for little kids, is on that threshold of not being practical. Our kids spent most of the time running around the grounds so maybe a playground would have been just as good, without the expensive price tag attached.
Worth a visit, after you’ve been to Leeds Castle.
Summing Up
So there you have it, a full Hever Castle grounds and garden tour in under 5 minutes with covid 19 restrictions in place. If you enjoyed this video and got something out of it, please hit the thumbs up button as really does help the channel out in producing these videos.
What do you think? Are you going for a visit or have been recently? Sound off in the comments below.
Here is a video about Leeds Castle you might be interested in, or a video about LEGOLAND Windsor UK and is it worth visiting with new covid measures in place. Alternatively here are some other videos you might be interested in. That’s it from us here at Family Bricks and thanks for watching. Until next time when we talk about all thing’s lifestyle.
