Visiting Alnwick Castle: Opening Times, Tickets and Getting There
A castle somebody still lives in has a season, two closing times instead of one, and an admission price that moves three ways through the year. All three change what you should book.
The season, and the date it ends
Alnwick Castle opens to the public from the end of March and the 2026 season closes on 22 October. It is a family home as well as an attraction, which is why there is a winter at all — the Percy family live here, and the building goes back to them when the gates shut. Book a day trip for a date inside that window and the rest of Northumberland is still there in November; the castle is not.
Opening hours, and the second deadline
The grounds run 10am to 5pm every day of the season. The State Rooms keep shorter hours and stop admitting a full hour before the grounds close, which is the detail that decides whether an afternoon coach stop sees the paintings or the courtyard. Take the rooms first and the rest of the site waits for you.
| What | Opens | Closes | Last entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Castle Grounds | 10:00am | 5:00pm | 3:45pm |
| The State Rooms | 10:30am | 4:30pm | 4:00pm |
| The Great Kitchen | 10:00am | 4:45pm | — |
| Winter | Closed | Closed | The season ends 22 October 2026 and reopens at the end of March |
Hours as published by Alnwick Castle and checked on 26 August 2026. Confirm the date you are travelling on the castle’s own site before you set an alarm.
If your coach reaches Alnwick after two o’clock, walk to the State Rooms first and do the courtyard afterwards. The rooms stop admitting at 4pm; everything else is open until five.
What admission costs in 2026
There are three adult prices, not one, and which you pay depends on when you book and when you travel. That is the whole reason the tour listings disagree with each other about the figure — each was written against a different band, and none of them is wrong.
| Ticket | Online | At the gate |
|---|---|---|
| Adult (17–59) | £22.00 | £24.45 |
| Concession (60+ and students) | £17.90 | £19.90 |
| Child (5–16) | £11.60 | £12.90 |
| Family (2 adults + up to 4 children) | £64.20 | £71.35 |
| Single-parent family (1 adult + up to 4 children) | £43.10 | £47.90 |
| Under 5s | Free | Free |
Alnwick Castle’s own 2026 rate card, checked on 26 August 2026. Booking online is cheaper than the gate on every ticket type. Under-5s go free. Confirm on the castle’s site before you travel.
Between 25 June – 1 September a summer band applies, at £19.25 adult online. So an adult can pay £19.25, £22.00 or £24.45 for the same castle depending on the week and the channel, which is worth a minute of arithmetic before you decide between a ticket and a coach seat.
One ticket, two ways of selling it. Booked direct through the castle, an online ticket is an annual pass — valid twelve months from your first visit, with unlimited returns during opening hours. The same castle’s listing on a booking platform is sold as a one-day ticket. Both are the castle’s own words on different channels, so check which you are buying if you expect to come back inside the year.
Entry on a day trip: the two that include it, and the eight that do not
This is the single most expensive thing to get wrong here. Most of the coach days out of Edinburgh carry you to Alnwick and stop; the gate is a second payment you make on arrival. Two listings are different, and one of those only when you pick the right option at checkout.
| Tour | Fare | Time at the castle | Castle entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alnwick Castle, Northumberland and Borders Small-Group Tour | From $89 per person | 3 hours | Only with the package option |
| Alnwick: Alnwick Castle Ticket | From $29 per person | Not stated | Yes |
| Alnwick Castle and Rosslyn Chapel Day Tour from Edinburgh | From $138 per person | 2 hours | No — pay at the gate |
| Viking Coast and Alnwick Castle Very Small Group Tour from Edinburgh | From $95 per person | 2 hours 30 minutes | No — pay at the gate |
| From Edinburgh: Day Trip to Bamburgh and Alnwick Castle | From $78 per person | Not stated | No — pay at the gate |
| From Edinburgh: Holy Island, Alnwick Castle & Northumbria | From $78 per person | Not stated | No — pay at the gate |
| Harry Potter's Alnwick Castle and Scottish Borders Day Trip | From $75 per person | 2 hours 30 minutes | No — pay at the gate |
| Harry Potter, Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Seals Tour | From $926 per group (up to 4) | 1 hour 30 minutes | No — pay at the gate |
| Edinburgh: Holy Island, Alnwick Castle & Kingdom of Northumbria | From $80 per person | 2 hours 30 minutes | No — pay at the gate |
| 1 Day Alnwick Castle, Holy Island & Scottish Borders | From $81 per person | 3 hours | No — pay at the gate |
Fares are the operators’ own, captured 26 August 2026, and every one refunds in full up to 24 hours before departure. Castle admission is set by Alnwick Castle and is separate wherever the last column says so.
Compare every Alnwick Castle tour
Work out what the day really costs
Add the gate price to the fare and the order of these ten changes. Every option compared on what it covers, how long it leaves you at the castle, and what is still to pay when you arrive.
How long you need
Alnwick Castle recommends at least two to three hours, and that figure is the one to hold a tour against rather than the length of the day out. A nine-hour coach day is mostly the A1.
| If you have | Do this | Leave out |
|---|---|---|
| 90 minutes | The State Rooms, then the Outer Bailey | The museums, the Great Kitchen, the courtyard |
| 2 hours | State Rooms, Outer Bailey, one museum | The Great Kitchen, Dragon’s Quest |
| 2 hours 30 | The above, plus the Great Kitchen and the courtyard | The second museum |
| 3 hours | All of it at a walking pace, or the castle and the garden split | Nothing, if you start with the rooms |
| A full day on the castle’s own ticket | Everything, twice, with lunch | Nothing |
What fits, against the stops the listed tours actually give you.
Getting to Alnwick
The castle sits less than a mile off the A1, thirty-five miles north of Newcastle and eighty miles south of Edinburgh, with parking on site. There is no railway station in Alnwick itself: the East Coast Main Line stops at Alnmouth, about three and a half miles away, and a taxi or the local bus covers the last stretch.
Almost every listed tour leaves Edinburgh, from six different points around the city between 8:15am and 9am, with check-in closing fifteen minutes before departure. None departs Newcastle or London, which surprises people given that Newcastle is less than half the distance — the full picture, including the routes that have no tour attached to them, is in the guide to getting here.
The Alnwick Garden is next door, and separate
The Alnwick Garden and Lilidorei are their own attractions with their own tickets, on ground adjoining the castle. A castle ticket does not include them and a garden ticket does not include the castle. Several of the coach days here give you one block of free time and leave the choice with you, so it is worth making that decision before you step off rather than at the gate.
The Alnwick Garden is closed on 12 and 13 September 2026 for a flower show. The castle stays open on both days. If your date is one of those two, the choice makes itself — and every tour here refunds in full up to 24 hours before, so switching to a different Alnwick Castle tour date costs nothing.
Access
The castle provides wheelchair access, accessible parking, accessible toilets and scooter hire. Getting there is the harder half of the problem: almost every coach listing states it is not wheelchair accessible, and the two that bend will carry a collapsible chair only when a companion travels to help with boarding. The castle’s own entry ticket is the one listing that carries an accessibility attribute, which makes driving or a taxi from Alnmouth the practical route for most wheelchair users.
Assistance dogs are welcome at the castle on a short lead; other dogs are not. One coach day goes further and carries no animals at all, assistance dogs included, so check the listing rather than assuming the castle’s policy travels with it.
Rules, food and the practical bits
- No photography in the State Rooms. Video too. Everywhere else on the grounds is fine for personal photographs, and drones are not permitted anywhere.
- Picnics are allowed in the grounds, which is useful on a coach day when lunch is rarely in the fare. There is also the Courtyard Cafe, a Pizzeria and The Armoury Takeaway on site.
- Only assistance dogs. Guide, hearing and registered assistance dogs, including those in training, on a short lead.
- Broomstick Training and Have-a-Go Archery run to a timetable set on the day. Ask as you come through the gate rather than looking for it later.
What there is to see once you are through is set out on the things to do page, the film locations have their own page, and every way in is compared on Alnwick Castle Tours.