Belvoir Castle Avis 158

We visited as part of the Paranormal Eye group.

As you drive up to the Belvoir Castle Estate you can't help but be impressed. Everywhere looks majestic and well looked after. The imposing castle stands up on a hill overlooking the estate, where you'll find self-catering accommodation, petting zoo, and retail area.

We stayed in the Lodge and this was a super plush but comfy venue - there were lots of bedrooms (I lost count), several relaxing living room areas and a very well equipped kitchen, perfect for social dining.

The gated parking area was nice and secure, but more importantly, made the Lodge super private.

We had room 10 and it was absolutely stunning - super comfy beds, and bedding and everything you needed in the bedroom from robes to a mini fridge and coffee machine (Google the instructions if you're not sure how to work it, it's really easy when you know how!). The towels are fluffy and the bathroom was huge - its worth noting that is no shower facilities, but who cares when you have the deepest bath to sink into.

We spent the days of our stay exploring the wider Estate and enjoyed leisurely lunches in the onsite Bistro, a browse in some lovely artisan shops in the retail area, and refreshing walks around the Estate. We did pop to the castle, but sadly we didn't have enough time to really explore as much as we would have liked. Never mind, its a great excuse to return. What a gem of a place!

We took another couple with us on the vineyard tour, tasting and supper. What a wonderful experience! Full marks to the whole team for making it happen. We enjoyed delicious food from Jane and Nicola, Belvoir wines served by Ru, and a great introduction to the vineyard from Mark. Plus, the Estate Bus ride was a real highlight. We dined al fresco amongst the vines, gazing at the most fabulous castle view set in the Capability Brown landscape, and with Hereford calves gambolling on the parkland nearby. A memorable evening.

The Flower Show 2025 we arrived at the car park which we thought was free parking but it was £3 all day some of the machines were not working and there was just one car park attendant on there was another
Girl who was doing absolutely nothing so we had parked towards the top of the car park we went to the ticket machine to pay some of the machines
were not working so the car park attendant said there are more machines on the other side he said just keep your ticket you do not have to go back to
your car today we have received a £70 fine a very
expensive day out it cost £39.60 to get in Belvoir
Castle to the Flower Show we will not be returning
A total Rip Off.

Flower Show 2025
On arriving at the show we were directed to a parking space by a authorised steward,he informed us we didnot need to pay for parking.
After the event we received a fine of £70 for not paying for parking,reduced to £40 for fast payment or non payment a debt collection agency.
Upon consulting the parking company who adopted a "pay or else" approach we contacted Belvoir castle who stated yes we have had several of these complaints but there is nothing we can do.Thanks for that!
My advice is to either not go or ignore any official guidance as inaccurate.

This is the 4th castle I have been to this year and the most disappointing. There accessibility to the castle is pathetic and in the castle your limited to downstairs. There are 14 bedrooms only 1 you can pass through 2 you peek around the door. There are information points in areas and only found one member of staff who you could discuss points of interest in the rooms. The gardens only manageable if you are able bodied. Think the price point is to high for what is available. Edinburgh castle Sandringham house much better experience and well worth the money

The car park shambles continues. We are Friends of Belvoir so it should be free. But no, you have to pay BUT it’s refundable against coffee etc. Ah, past tense, no more! Been today 19 May 2025 and having paid we were informed it’s no longer refundable! AND we could have parked 50 metres away at The Engine Shed for free! Over the past few years they have consistently altered this money grabbing income (huge empty car park 10am Monday, not school holidays or anything) AND the awful potholes across the entrance will soon take somebody’s oil sump off. Very shortsighted as we’d always spend money on food and drink if only to get car parking cost back. We will not be renewing our Friends membership, not that I imagine they’ll chase it, reception was disorganised and power was off … shambles

*** NOT WHEELCHAIR OR SCOOTER FREINDLY ***
Worst home Ive ever visited, all the garden paths are deep soft gravel, I can say home many time Ive had to push my scooter today, everything is on a steep bank, the one patch that was compacted I could drive on had rocks and dirt half way stopping any further travel , Ive seen ZERO gardens today, wish I'd saved myself all the stress and gone to a National Trust.
COMPLICATED... you go to the entrance then they send you back down the road to a car park to pay your admission to get a gate code, then you drive back ,I missed the never small wooden sign and ended up on a 40 min detour around the grounds then back out onto the main road again to then drive back again...STRESS !

I have really pontificated over the past week as I do not write reviews but as it has been continually on my mind, here goes!
Ourselves and three children have been to all the trails at the castle and it is an understatement to say how truly disappointed we were with the Easter 'trail' Have you changed the provider (help will someone please ask the previous supplier if they are willing to return) The trail itself looked as if it had been built by a nursery class (sorry nursery class) The trail itself was obscure and when clues were found made no sense, also where are all those lovely actors that brought the trail to life with their smiles and antics, it was so lifeless without them. I will not even begin to mention the awful grammar on the instruction sheet, even my twelve year old was commenting on it!
Extremely disappointing we will definitely be finding another venue next time we need to spend our hard earned pennies!

What a fantastic day. Our guide, Ruth, was exceptional, she was friendly, informative and very knowledgeable. It really feels like a much loved family home especially with all the family photos. The only minor suggestion I’d make would be for better signs for the meeting place tours, gardens and the car park. Otherwise, a thoroughly enjoyable day.

An expensive, underwhelming attraction, lining the pockets of the greedy rich in my opinion. Once you've left the car park, another expense, there are no facilities apart from toilets which are right at the top by the castle. The walks are fairly nice but all quite or very steep. The shopping outlet is also expensive making even more money for the wealthy.

Booked this after being told it was really good with Christmas markets, no Christmas market ffs paid £28 for family of 4, was massively disappointed searched for the markets nothing seemed to be going on :/ grounds were dead, did the trail for the kids to receive a tiny packet of haribos, everything was over priced in the indoor shop, just really disappointing my first time, and last, my son and partner had been before and said it’s terrible compared to last time they went, expected a day out to get that festive feeling and walked away after an hour thinking what a waste of time:(

Went to meet friends for coffee & cakes at 11:30 on Sunday nowhere to sit indoors even though there were empty “booked” tables.
Really cold under the canopy outside & had to shout at each other due to the choir & band singing carols. After 15 minutes still no food & drink, complained to the manager still took another 10 minutes for 4 drinks & 2 slices of cake to appear, drinks were lukewarm warm at best. Restaurant was still pretty empty when we left at 1. Since the pop up cafe in the parking lot left there is nowhere for a quick hot drink for dog walkers, cyclists etc you’re forced to go to the Engine Room. Badly organised & get some heaters for outside!

Once again very disappointed. Went to Bonfire night. Complete chaos. Everyone didn't know where to park the queues wer3 horrendous. The fireworks were over half an hour late. Not enough food vendors. No directions where everything was. Half the shops were closed. People were leaving early. I'll never go there again. I won't recommend that place to anyone.

Firstly entrance fee too expensive, at £26.4 on-line £23.4, £18 and £16 more likely. The £5 trip round the estate is not worth taking all fields and trees.
Now The Aviary Tearoom is vastly overpriced, with soup at £10.50!!!! sandwich at £13.95!!!! more like £5 and £8
Had to have a sandwich or trek downhill to Vale View cafe and back up steep hill. Whoever sets these prices is seriously out of touch.

Had a gift voucher for castle, gardens and afternoon tea. Went yesterday, murky overcast day. Tea boomed for 3pm. I concur with other comments about car park ticked machines, you need to pay close attention to what you are doing. At least they listened to all the complaints about people getting fines, it is now£2 all day and if you purchase anything at the castle you can get that £2 taken off the bill on presentation of the ticket. I had been before but it was in 1967, then one could drive up to the castle as not so many visitors as they get now, only blue badge holders I believe can drive up now but don't quote me on that. Managed the steep climb with my wife, took it slow, some huffing and puffing but not too bad. We enjoyed the castle itself, staff approachable and knowledgeable. There were a couple of guided tours going on and had to wait a bit sometimes to view things but no real inconvenience. We were a bit early for our booked tea so had a short stroll around the rose garden but not impressed really, looked a bit scruffy we thought. Went back to tea room and it looked very busy, thought we would have to wait as we were over 10 minutes early for booked time but once we showed the booking confirmation and were checked on her computer we were shown to a table with drinks menus. The assistant returned within a few minutes, we opted for the tea. That came quickly and then the sandwiches and cakes, nice selection. A bigger teapot would be nice, only about one and a quarter cups each. Have seen comments about this before here and on TripAdvisor. So pleased with the service despite it being extremely busy, think the tour groups had descended on the tea room together. Did not bother with any other garden walks but enjoyed the experience on the whole.

Extremely overpriced and underwhelming. Extremely steep up to the Castle, seemed to take forever to get in people working on the gate are very slow and the most over complicated car parking ticket machines I have ever had the misfortune to come across. Staff once inside are very knowledgeable and polite. You do get the feeling you are funding a rich family's lifestyle which is unfortunate as the experience could be much better with some thought and effort.

Underwhelming
Visited to tie in with Flower Show. Parked easily though struggled along with others with poor pay machines
Had paid in advance but the queue to scan was endless. Just two people who were sooo slow and unconcerned by ever growing queue
Be aware very steep walk up to Castle. We had a baby in pram but saw many elderly and people with walking aids having to navigate up.
At the top poor signage. headed for tea rooms only to find only available to those who have paid for castle entrance. So instead we had to join another lengthy queue for an instant coffee served in a hut with little seating.
Gardens slightly underwhelming. Gardens at varying levels of maintenance.
We chose to go to the Engine Yard for lunch. Lovely courtyard, shops and bistro but the service was very slow. We were warned there was a 25 minute wait but it took 50 mins. Nice food when it came.
All in all the management and owners need to go to Burghley House to see how it’s done. Seems I’m not alone. Wish I’d checked reviews first.

Probably a pleasant enjoyable experience if you don’t have your dog with you.

However we had our dog with us, in which case not so good, Anita, a nice lady in the ticket office took our £20 fee, (she should work for the NT) she explained about the wrist band in that we could go in the shop, obtain food from the cafe etc, we may however miss-understood that we could take our pet with us.

The rose garden was lovely, as was the Lilly pond, the Japanese garden was the most unkept one I’d seen and sure any Japanese visitors would think this either a joke or an insult. Returning to the castle we went in a side entrance to visit the loo and to explore the cafe & maybe the shop.
Hot tailing us was a very abrupt red faced lady who informed us that dogs were not allowed ANYWHERE inside. Explaining what we thought was right, the reply was “who told you that?” this resulted in her hot-tailing a security guard who then radio’d what seemed like an alert that a beast had intruded into a tiled corridor.

Some advice, anyone who has a dog unless you are happy paying car park charges, plus £20 a couple to enter to experience mainly poor lower mediocre gardens, with no cafe facilities in the grounds for dog owners or outdoor seating, it was a lovely day but outdoor ice cream kiosk was closed, by the way if it rains you’ll also have to stand in the rain taking turns to go the loo, god forbid to let a beast step inside.

Plenty of more pleasant places to visit, where staff actually have manners and people skills.

What a fantastic day out. Today we went on the tour up to see sheep cows and grape vines. Was so informative and interesting should be on every weekend. I am 62 and this was my first visit even though I only live 20 miles away. Food excellent quality and the farm shop is full of excellent produce. I will be going back soon. Thank you for a lovely day.

Overpriced and underwhelming. Gardens very poorly maintained, overgrown, littered, waste bins not emptied, dead trees, poor signage, and generally very disappointing.