Lights, Magic, a journey in to a mythical land, Father Christmas, a White Witch and a lion………. all that and more. Castle Howard has all the twinkle and Christmas spirit you could need.
Castle Howard is 15 miles north of York and has been the home of the Howard family for over 300 years. It’s most recent claim to is that is was the the setting for Clyvedon House in Bridgerton.
We decided to book our time slot for 4pm so that it would be getting dark when we visited.The ticket is a timed entry for the house but allows you to enter the grounds at any time. We arrived earlier and had a visit to Sklelf Island and the Adventure Playground. As Adventure Playgrounds go, this one is pretty amazing. Rope bridges, swings, slides and zip lines, you could loose your child for hours. Skelf Island is also right next door to the Boathouse cafe so hot drinks for the adults and playtime for the kids.!
As we walked up to the house it was already starting to get dark and very misty. Just right for a magical adventure.
If you watched Christmas at Castle Howard on Channel 4 this December you would have seen just have much time and effort went in to creating Narnia. The decorations, lighting and special effects were just beautiful and there was a few gasps as we walked around the house.
The route through the house starts with the 4 childrens’ bedrooms. Each captures their personalities and a little of their story. We’re still trying to decide which was our favourite. The toys in the children’s bedrooms are toys that have been played with at Castle Howard for generations.
Then you step through the wardrobe door in to Narnia and the snowy realm of the White Witch. I’m not sure how it is possible to create the feeling of cold with light and sound but they managed it and it was like walking through a snowy landscape to the biggest Christmas tree you have ever seen.
We visited Mr Tumnus’ house and then the woodland creatures for dinner before finally meeting Aslan and a visit from Father Christmas just like in the film.
The visual storytelling is spectacular and they have managed to get it spot on. 100% Christmas magic and 100% Narnia.
We left the house to find that darkness had fallen and the mist had come in. The Christmas trees lining the driveway were twinkling and the Christmas music played in the courtyard. There is a cafe and shop as you come out of Narnia and the shop was open in the stable courtyard as well.
This event is a bit more pricey than most but was definitely worth it as it was so well done. We will definitely be putting this on our list of things to do next Christmas.
Go everywhere, Do everything 