Belvoir Castle Avis 158

We went to see the circus in a bell tent which was fine. Parking was easy. Had a drink and a small bite in the Avary which was also nice but expensive. Staff didnt listen to our specific requirements but it was fine. Overall it was good couple of hours. Areas of interest are very spaced out and not flat so elderly will find it difficult. Otherwise good but not the wow factor.

Went to the circus. It was brilliant my kids absolutely loved it. Was well worth it.

Visited the castle and gardens for my mum's birthday and we had afternoon tea in the Aviary tearoom which was absolutely delicious!
The guided tour around the castle was brilliant, and the rose garden is a must see - although with the heatwave it was too hot so we didn't hang about.
The Retail Village was great to look around too, the farm shop in particular was great, I already can't wait to come back.

we had a lovely woodland walk in glorious spring sunshine led by Belvoir forester Dave. Dave has over 40 years experience managing some 1700 acres of forest and loves to share his knowledge.
A wonderful experience. Thank you Dave

The guided tour with Cheryl was exceptionally good. I really enjoyed it and was very impressed by the castle, its contents and how much was open to the public.

I am extremely frustrated with this parking system. I received a parking fine even though I paid the full fee and clearly displayed my ticket. The machine never asked me to enter my vehicle registration, yet it accepted my payment and printed a ticket anyway. This is completely the machine’s fault, not mine, and it is unacceptable that I am being penalised for a system error.

I have never been so disappointed. I booked afternoon tea at the Aviary in Belvoir Castle as a special experience for my young daughter in law who has a brain tumour. I was told the Aviary was beautifully decorated for Christmas. It wasn't. I pre-ordered sandwiches and yet had to give our order to the waitress. We waited for ages for our hot drinks and then a further wait of around 40 minutes for the afternoon tea. The sandwiches were dry the scones were tiny and not nice. Tea was served with no saucer and wasn't hot. I watched other customers wondering where their drinks were and when their afternoon tea was going to appear. A total waste of money. I do not recommend this it is overrated.

We visited the Christmas event at Belvoir Castle today and had a genuinely wonderful time. I was feeling a little nervous beforehand, as we had such an excellent experience at Hever Castle last year and, having read some mixed reviews, my expectations were fairly low. I was, however, more than pleasantly surprised.

The reindeer were a fantastic start to the day. My son loved being able to stroke them, which immediately set a lovely tone. We then did the mice trail, which was an absolute game-changer. My son is only five and can lose interest quite quickly, but searching for the mice kept him happily engaged throughout. This meant the adults could properly enjoy the beautiful decorations and the stunning rooms within the castle.

The staff were consistently friendly and helpful, which made the experience even more enjoyable. We stopped at the tea rooms and had excellent cakes and pastries before making our way up to Santa’s grotto inside the castle.

Santa himself was brilliant, very engaging with my son and taking the time to interact properly, which made it feel special rather than rushed. The toy he was given was also excellent quality.

Overall, we left feeling really happy with the experience and are already planning to return in the summer with grandparents. A truly lovely day out and a great Christmas experience for young children.

We had a nice visit for the Christmas Lights and decorations, and the choir was wonderful. BUT, this has turned out to be a much more expensive trip than planned though due to issues with the parking lot. We duly paid the full £3 for all day parking even though we were only there from 3pm, we wanted to make sure we were covered. The machine refused to allow us to enter our full registration number and only accepted the first two letters, but still spat out a ticket, which we displayed. Lo and behold though I have received a parking ticket which even though I have proven outright that I have paid the full £3 for all day I have still had to pay £20 because the machine only registered yhe first two letters of my Reg Number which was not our fault because it would not let us enter any more digits! Needless to say, sorry Belvoir Castle, we will NOT be returning, ever, because your parking has let us down and by principle I feel this is discraceful! You have lost at least 5 of is as customers for any future visits.

Very disappointing! I’m sorry to say it was awful. Could not hear any music when the fire works went off no fun count down for the kids. They were delayed anyway so kids got bored waiting. If we are comparing to other events we have been to before I’m afraid the fireworks were a let down. No one helped with leaving the car park. It was a complete nightmare how there were no serious accidents I don’t know. I’m not one to complain normally but it was such a shame we travelled an hour to get there and was so excited but just wasn’t worth it in the end. It took that long to get out of the car park through the mud and sliding about we did not get home until nearly midnight!! Never again.

Disappointed event visit, extremely poorly organised, police were called to allocations and people were seriously injured. Refunds denied to all as the duchess is a insane money grabber.

Bonfire night was utter chaos. Long traffic queues in and out. Delayed display. Dangerous site, overpriced and pathetic fireworks. Never again.

Went to the fireworks display 2025. It was a shambles. Understaffed, undercatered for thousands of people. Inadequate toilet facilities.
Piss poor bonfire and fireworks.
Delays going into hours, cars becoming stuck and sliding round fields. Very dangerous with children and elderly. Disgusting and hugely disappointing, underwhelming event.
Refused to refund anyone who went.
Absolutely robbed the guests completely and have the audacity to put on a Christmas display. Hahaha NO THANK YOU!!!!!
DISGUSTING AND SHAMEFUL!!!!

Fireworks were incredible! Yes the queue on the roads was bad, but we were warm in our car with the music on. Loved that The fireworks werent too loud for my kids and it was impossible not to get a good view! So much spave, went ruddinton previous year and felt tunneled in and trapped! Had wellies on and enjoyed the huge bonfire. Definitaley going next year.loved it!

Dangerous and unorganised and not willing to accept fault or refund

Posting on here because my Google Review along with 20+ other reviews have been deleted on Belvoir's Google profile

I thought i’d give Belvoir another chance after my experience at the Engine Yard a few years ago… Yeah and the Bonfire Event was another comically awful experience

My review on Engine Yard a couple of years back:
Catching out regulars, fantastically shocking business sense
Use the “under 1hr free parking” often while spending money at the Engine Yard. I went last weekend and then get a £60.00 fine through the post for parking there for just 30 minutes while buying food at the Engine Yard
Their rules have changed and they have not even changed the sign posts indicating this, deliberately making the signs A4 sized with a paragraph of terms and conditions like anyones going to read that, unbelievable.

Money grabbing, unprofessional and dangerous. Don't recommend

I also sadly attended the shambolic firework display on Friday 7th November. Where do I start?

Despite arriving within 1 mile of the Belvoir Castle main entrance at 6:45pm, we were still 0.8 miles away at 7:21pm with a line of gridlocked traffic in front of us and had to park m partner’s van on a grass verge and walk to the event. This was actually 1.6 miles from our starting point just before the cross road at Long Lane to the actual event (which was a further 0.8 miles from the main castle entrance). This meant a 3.2-mile round walk there and back!

When we got there, it was an absolute mud bath despite being dry weather. We also couldn't get any food as the queues for EVERY food and drink van was ridiculous. This meant my partner, who came straight from work and picked me up en-route, had no tea and had to grab food on the way back home to Nottingham.

When the fireworks finally started, they were an anti-climax and pathetic (I’ve seen better displays on the estate where I live), so we decided to leave and make the 1.6 mile walk back to the van. We’re glad we did as we could see the volume of people who were at the event was incredibly high and, coupled with the mud, it would have been a nightmare leaving when it finished.

On leaving, we saw cars stuck in mud and experienced people speeding past us as we walked in the dark country road back to the van. Although I appreciate this wasn't the Castle’s fault, it was clear people were eager to leave and I question whether the event tickets were capped looking at the number of people who were there and horrendous traffic and food van queues.

The whole night was disastrous and, as someone with a marketing and event management background, I question the organisation of this event. The numbers of food vans were inadequate for the footfall and the footfall was ridiculous (and unsafe) for the access roads. It struck me as an event where there wasn't a cap on numbers and little thought went into the logistics and safety.

I requested a refund and their response was equally as appalling as the night.

To not even offer a partial refund or future event discount, in light of how shambolic the whole event and evening was, is not good enough and shows Belvoir Castle doesn’t care about its visitors and just cares about profit.

How a company handles complaints says a lot about them and this speaks volumes considering how horrendous the WHOLE night was. It wasn't just a traffic issue. The display was beyond disappointing, the set up and food vans were inadequate for the foot fall and the mud was horrendous for such dry weather. For Belvoir Castle to make out the event was a success and it was just a traffic issue in their PR response in news articles is laughable. Take responsibility. Admit mistakes were made and put it right. Don't bury your head in the sand (or should I say mud?) and refuse any compensation.

Visited the castle many times throughout my life and it’s always a great experience!

If I could give minus stars I would. Fireworks on 7th Nov a total shambles. Luckily for us by the time we arrived (after queing in traffic for over 2 hours) their steward advised us the car park was no longer safe and we'd be better off finding a road verge to park on and walking back to gain entry. We decided this wasnt safe and went home instead. I gather people who actually attended reported no tickets being checked, too many people on site and inadequate lighting to name a few things. Worst thing is having received coverage across multiple local papers, regional news and social media with photo evidence everywhere of their negligence and failure to provide a safe event Belvoir Castle then chose to respond to the complaints they received with a generic copy and paste claiming many had enjoyed the event and they would not be issuing refunds. They didn't even read the complaints and ensure their generic response made any sense as a reply. We won't be renewing our membership or visiting again and will find somewhere else to support!