Tracy Collins [00:00:00]:
If Downton Abbey has inspired you to visit Highclere Castle, this episode is for you. This week, I share exactly what you need to know before you go.

Intro [00:00:09]:
Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast. Your host is the founder of the UK travel planning website, Tracey Collins. Each week, Tracey shares destination guides, travel tips and itinerary ideas, as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation. Join us as we explore the uk from cosmopolitan cities to quaint villages, from historic castles to beautiful islands, and from the picturesque countryside to seaside towns.

Tracy Collins [00:00:39]:
Before we get started, we'd like to thank our sponsor Walks and Devour Tours. If you're planning a trip to London, you'll already know the challenge. There's a lot you want to do and only a limited amount of time to fit it all in. That's where the right tour makes all the difference, because you want experiences that are the best use of your time, with more access, less waiting and a deeper sense of the city. That's why we recommend Walks and Devour Tours. They offer walking tours and food tours designed to make your time count, often with early or after hours entry. You'll also be with exceptional local guides who add the stories and context so you leave with a richer understanding of what you're seeing in a trip that feels genuinely memorable. If you're visiting London as a couple with family or you simply prefer a more intimate experience, Walks and Devour Tours also offer private tour options.

Tracy Collins [00:01:27]:
To learn more, you'll find the link in the show notes. Now let's get into this week's episode. Hi everybody and welcome again to this week's edition of the UK Travel Planning Podcast. I do have Doug here again.

Doug Collins [00:01:40]:
Hello.

Tracy Collins [00:01:41]:
He seems to be on the podcast more and more, but she's good. I think you enjoy it. Yeah, well, I couldn't not have Doug on talking about Highclere Castle. So this is obviously the follow up to our episode 185 where we talk about set jetting, which Doug had no idea what it meant. But if you're planning, if you're. If there's somewhere in the UK that you are inspired to visit because of movie or TV series or literary connection, that's episode listen to because we talk about all the different places we visited with that and also what's happened in 2026 because there's some quite exciting stuff out. So. So pop back and listen to that episode.

Tracy Collins [00:02:16]:
But this episode we are focusing totally, totally on high Claire Castle, aka Downton Abbey. Now, Doug and I, we visited three years ago. Is that right? About three years ago. Oh, my goodness. And I visited in October 2024 with my friend Melissa Jones. From now, I actually have got Melissa later on in the episode and she's going to share about her experiences visiting Downton Abbey. Hi. Hi, Claire.

Tracy Collins [00:02:46]:
So listen for that, listen out for that. And also at the very end, I kind of give you those essential tips, things that you should know before you visit. So, you know, what is it about Hercule Castle? I mean, it is the set for Downton Abbey. So there you go. That's kind of.

Doug Collins [00:02:59]:
Yeah, it is. It was also on a program before that that I knew.

Tracy Collins [00:03:03]:
Yes. Yeah. It was a Jeeves and Wooster series from.

Doug Collins [00:03:06]:
Was it the 80s called grief. That's going.

Tracy Collins [00:03:08]:
I love that. Well. Oh, well, for most people, I guess you're listening to this because you are a fan of Downton Abbey. Now, the actual Highclere Castle is a private home. It's lived in by our Lord and Lady Carnarvon. It was built, I believe, in the 17, late 1700s. 18 something. It became what we recognize as kind of Highclere Castle now.

Tracy Collins [00:03:30]:
And the, the actual grounds in the gardens, which are beautiful. We loved that, didn't we? Really were designed by Capability Brown, who was also very famous. There's lots of other places in UK that he, he, he was, you know, there. Anybody had money, they would have their gardens designed by Capability Brown. Yeah. So, okay, so let's talk a little bit about, you know, what you need to think about when you're planning to visit. Because we know we, I mean, we do when we have consults, it comes up a lot. Doesn't really does it does, yes.

Tracy Collins [00:04:06]:
It's a very, very popular day trip from London. So first of all, I'll say that you can do. Do you can visit High Clare Castle on a day trip from London. But, but, but, but there are things that you needed to know if you are considering this. So if you are going to the UK and you got. I'm going to go and visit Downton Abbey, I absolutely love it. You need to know it's not open all year round.

Doug Collins [00:04:27]:
That's right. It's quite a home to start with.

Tracy Collins [00:04:29]:
Exactly. You must book your tickets beforehand because dates sell out quickly. Yeah.

Doug Collins [00:04:34]:
To save disappointment. You really need to look at that.

Tracy Collins [00:04:36]:
Yeah. And they do have different types of tickets. Okay. So depends on the time of year and what they're doing. So they do have general admission days, they have guided tours, they have special themed events. They have options that. Where you can add an afternoon tea in. But for all of these, you need to book them pre.

Tracy Collins [00:04:55]:
You know, pre. Book them online. And I will put a link to the. To the High Claire Castle actual official website where you could go and check it out what you want to do. But bear in mind they book out early. They really do. Yeah. Because it's so popular now.

Tracy Collins [00:05:08]:
I've just actually looked for April. So I may, I may just take the A guide. It's actually not a guided tour. It's just a general. The same. Same as we did actually in July when we went a few years ago. Now the one trip I did with Melissa was actually a guided tour of the house and we had an afternoon tea. So it was a slightly different experience than the one that we had.

Tracy Collins [00:05:25]:
But it was so good. But also. And one question we get. I think one. A couple of things that have come up that I wanted to mention right off the bat is you can't just pitch up. No, that's.

Doug Collins [00:05:36]:
That's true.

Tracy Collins [00:05:37]:
Yeah. You can't.

Doug Collins [00:05:37]:
You can't just pitch up for a visit house. And also you'd be disappointed if you're going to drive to the gates and take a photo.

Tracy Collins [00:05:44]:
Yeah. Well, that's the thing and we do hear that quite often that people think it can kind of. Kind of just drive by and take a photo. Actually for a start off you have to drive down a long driveway through that. Through the kind of the. The castle grounds. That's right. So it actually takes a few minutes before you actually even see the castle.

Tracy Collins [00:06:01]:
Now you. I guess you could. I don't know. This is not official, but I'm just. I guess you could if it's official opening days. So do not do this. When the castle is closed. You could guess go to the car park because you can see the castle from there.

Tracy Collins [00:06:14]:
But there is a fence.

Doug Collins [00:06:15]:
Yes.

Tracy Collins [00:06:16]:
And there is like a ticket booth where you've got to go and. And present your tickets before you can actually even get in the grounds.

Doug Collins [00:06:22]:
Yeah.

Tracy Collins [00:06:23]:
So you could potentially get a photo of yourself without number in the background and you know, high click castle in the background. But it's not that easy. I. I would honestly recommend it's just worth going really. If you, if you want it, you.

Doug Collins [00:06:35]:
Know, if you're a fan of it.

Tracy Collins [00:06:36]:
Yeah. In a fan. You wanna. Yeah. If you're a fan. You want to go and you want to go and inspect that house. You want to go and see all the places that you recognize.

Doug Collins [00:06:43]:
Play the music well.

Tracy Collins [00:06:45]:
Yes. Okay. Well, should we talk a little bit about our summer trip? So we went in the summer. We went in July.

Doug Collins [00:06:51]:
We did.

Tracy Collins [00:06:52]:
We actually ended up changing our plan. So we had been down in, in Devon and Cornwall and we were planning to spend the night in Newbury but unfortunately, and actually my parents were coming but unfortunately and very unusually for the uk. It was hot. It was really, really hot, wasn't it?

Doug Collins [00:07:07]:
Yeah, it was. I think it was into the 40s.

Tracy Collins [00:07:09]:
42 de centigrade. It was. Which is for those of you who use Fahrenheit still. It was 107 degrees Fahrenheit. It was hot. Yeah. In fact I remember actually distinctly going to get us an ice cream. We sat underneath because it's beautiful, beautiful trees that you can sit under and by the time I walked back to it, I think my hands were just covered in ice cream because it literally just melted.

Tracy Collins [00:07:32]:
I have got some beautiful photos of me sitting underneath the trees with the castle background. Oh yeah, they're some of my favorite photos actually. Anyway, let's tell you a little bit about what we did. So we pre booked the tickets. It was just their general summer opening at that point in July. So that you have a choice with that. You can book the actual castle and the grounds or you can add in to go and see the exhibition which is the Tutankhamun exhibition. Because if.

Tracy Collins [00:08:01]:
I don't know if you know, I assume you might do that actually that the 5th Earl of Carnarvon was involved in the discovery of the tomb of. So that's. So there is actually an exhibition on the like lower floor. So it's like where you would think the downstairs bit would be. Not the upstairs, the downstairs where the servants are. That's where the exhibition is there. So you've got an option if you want to do that or not. So we chose not to.

Tracy Collins [00:08:27]:
Yeah. So we went and we got the ticket that was just the, the house with. Not a guided tour but it was like a self guided walk through there.

Doug Collins [00:08:35]:
In plenty of time. That's why we sat under the trees and.

Tracy Collins [00:08:38]:
Yeah, well it was, it was really hot. So we spent a good few hours. Now you have to kind of book a slot. I think it was either morning, afternoon and I think we had afternoon because we were driving from. I think we're in Devon actually. So we're driving. Yes. So I think what, what would summarize your kind of impression when you went down that drive?

Doug Collins [00:08:57]:
Excitement.

Tracy Collins [00:08:58]:
It was, wasn't it? And, and of course, and I talk about this later with, with Melissa Actually, you have to play the Deltnobi music because if you aren't playing it, you're singing in your head.

Doug Collins [00:09:07]:
We definitely did, though, didn't we?

Tracy Collins [00:09:08]:
We did. We had it playing.

Doug Collins [00:09:11]:
People who watch the series, you know that the house comes into view.

Tracy Collins [00:09:14]:
Yeah. You just have to have. If, Honestly, if you don't play it in your car or on. In the taxi. Taxi. You're going to be humming it in your head anyway. So just do it. It all adds to the experience.

Tracy Collins [00:09:26]:
It really, really does. So obviously we know. We kind of know. Hi, Claire. Because we've seen it in Downton Abbey. I mean, it's been in three movies. There was 56 episodes of a six series. I mean, you got me into it because I' I wasn't a big period drama fan.

Tracy Collins [00:09:42]:
And you were like, oh, we need to watch this, we need to watch it. And we literally just kind of binge watched the whole thing, didn't we? And I actually saw the last film with my daughter over in Perth. You haven't seen it yet?

Doug Collins [00:09:52]:
Have you not seen the last one yet?

Tracy Collins [00:09:53]:
No. Anyway, okay, let's talk a little bit more about our experience. So you drive down the driveway and you park. There's a car park. Yeah. Then there's like a booth. You have to go and show your tickets. So otherwise they're not gonna let you in.

Tracy Collins [00:10:04]:
And then after that you've got. You'll have a time when you can go into the house for your tour. Yeah. That they'll allow you because obviously they can't let everybody in all at the same time. So depending on when you arrive, you. You kind of have a slot then to go into the house. So we, we kind of. We went to the gardens first, didn't we?

Doug Collins [00:10:21]:
Under the trees and then we had a stroll around.

Tracy Collins [00:10:23]:
Yeah. Yeah. And it was. It was really, really. It's a beautiful time of year. Okay. It was extremely hot, but there was so many flowers in the garden, other wildflowers. I've got some.

Tracy Collins [00:10:32]:
Again, some beautiful video of the meadow and with all the wildflowers in it and, and, and high Claire Castle in the background, which actually have made a YouTube video just showing that. So you can check that out on our YouTube channel, UK Travel Planner, if you want to see what that looked like. I actually should put something more together because I've got. I've got so much of the different times I've been. But that will give you an idea of what, you know, what it's like, because I will say. And I was going to mention this, after Zen, you can't take any photos in the house. That's right. Yeah.

Tracy Collins [00:11:01]:
That's not like. Because it is a private home and you'll see photographs, like, private. Get family photographs everywhere. So they obviously don't want those.

Doug Collins [00:11:07]:
But you will recognize bits as you walk around the home, particularly the. The sort of sofas and the.

Tracy Collins [00:11:11]:
Oh, yeah, that's what. Yeah, I love that, being in that. The library is the. Is the area where you kind of always think of them sitting with the fire and. And chatting and you've got, you know, the. The desk and everything, you know, and. Yeah. And just imagine a Labrador sitting underneath the desk, don't you?

Doug Collins [00:11:29]:
That's right.

Tracy Collins [00:11:29]:
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's just. Just it. It's amazing. So what. So we did that. So we walked around the gardens first.

Tracy Collins [00:11:35]:
We then sat underneath the trees, just cooled down a bit, waiting for our kind of slot to go in the house. Now, say, it wasn't a guided tour when I did it with Melissa, it was a guided tour which I actually appreciate and enjoyed more, to be honest, because I learned a bit more. But however, if you. If you're in a time of year where you can't get a guided tour because they're kind of different times, then it just. Just take the one way. You kind of just do it yourself, because we did and it was fine.

Doug Collins [00:12:00]:
That's it.

Tracy Collins [00:12:00]:
Yeah.

Doug Collins [00:12:01]:
You. When you booked your holiday or vacation, though you might not have much of a choice.

Tracy Collins [00:12:06]:
Yeah. What's available. Yeah, exactly. But the nice thing was because you go in and you recognize everything is they do have these big pictures are kind of on like easel boards and you can see where. How it was for the set, how.

Doug Collins [00:12:17]:
To set it up.

Tracy Collins [00:12:18]:
Yeah. And that was great. And obviously the hall is amazing, like that big atrium because you've got a big skylight in it. And so that. That was beautiful. On the staircase. I just loved walking down the staircase. Yeah, it was just.

Tracy Collins [00:12:29]:
It really is a lovely experience. So you can. So you've got to follow the route round. So you can't. You go around. You. You. I think you don't start in that hall, do you? Kind of go around.

Tracy Collins [00:12:39]:
And you start in kind of like a little room before going into that main library. Then you kind of go through. There's a dining room. I can't remember off the top man, exactly the order. But after that you go upstairs, don't you?

Doug Collins [00:12:50]:
That's right. Where the bedrooms.

Tracy Collins [00:12:52]:
Yes. And then you look down on that kind of whole atrium, don't you? So you see some of the bedrooms and then you come back down in the main hall. And then for Melissa and I, because we were doing the. The tour of the exhibition, we went to that. There's like a different door that you go down to that to see that. Otherwise I still think, I still have a feeling we went downstairs and exited viral. There's like a cafe.

Doug Collins [00:13:17]:
Did we go back down through the kitchens?

Tracy Collins [00:13:19]:
Yeah, it was like. And there's no kitchens down there. It was like a cafe because I actually went down there. Melissa and I did the. Yeah, we did the. We come out in the courtyard. That' Right. And then there's a shop.

Doug Collins [00:13:29]:
Oh, it's always a shop.

Tracy Collins [00:13:31]:
The high class shop was excellent. I've bought a lot of things in that high care shop.

Doug Collins [00:13:35]:
Even I had to go in the shop to get out the sun.

Tracy Collins [00:13:37]:
Oh yeah. But it was great just to go in the shop because the shop. Anyway, I will say to you, you will buy things in the shop because they have really, really cool things in there. So. Yeah. So do, do plan that into your time when you're there. Fridge magnet. And I just bought stuff for her ladyship on, you know, because, you know, I'm posh.

Doug Collins [00:13:53]:
You are her ladyship.

Tracy Collins [00:13:54]:
Bearing in mind actually that if I had lived at this during these times, I would have been downstair. I would definitely be. Listen to my accent. Do I sound like Lady Mary? No. Oh well, no, no. So I would have been downstairs because.

Doug Collins [00:14:05]:
I've been the chauffeur.

Tracy Collins [00:14:07]:
Not sure. To be honest. I think you would have been a gardener.

Doug Collins [00:14:10]:
Oh yeah, that's right.

Tracy Collins [00:14:11]:
Because you like gardening, so. I do. Like, I think you would have been a gardener. So. So that was that kind of. That tour. I don't know how long it took us to the house with it. Maybe about 30, 40 minutes.

Tracy Collins [00:14:21]:
Doing the tour.

Doug Collins [00:14:22]:
Yeah, probably about.

Tracy Collins [00:14:23]:
I think that was about it. Yeah. And then, you know, there were. There were places that you could go and get some refreshments. But we were there in the summer so we just. There was like an ice cream van. Like it's like stall, not a van.

Doug Collins [00:14:35]:
With melting ice cream.

Tracy Collins [00:14:37]:
Yeah. And you could get drinks. I could get various drinks. I think I probably got pims. Always have a pims and lemonade in the summer when it's hot.

Doug Collins [00:14:44]:
Well, I'd have been driving, wouldn't I?

Tracy Collins [00:14:46]:
Yeah. So then. Yes, you were driving so well. Yeah. So you didn't have anything. I don't know, maybe just a cool drink or water because it was that hot.

Doug Collins [00:14:53]:
I don't drink any.

Tracy Collins [00:14:54]:
Yeah, so but all in all we really enjoyed the experience. Enjoyed it so much actually When Melissa Jones was going again and she sent me a message going do you want to come with me to High Club? I was like, yes please. And when we were talking about this last night you said you'd go again. Oh yes, obviously because you enjoyed it. So obviously we included it as part of a road trip that we were doing and we found it really easy once we booked it. All the instructions of actually how to get there are on the Highclair website itself.

Doug Collins [00:15:23]:
I was going to point out that the car park is on the flat as well so if any issues as regards mobility it is purely on the flat, isn't it?

Tracy Collins [00:15:31]:
Yeah, it is. Yeah it is but the guy gardens, I guess you could kind of walk down to the goddess paths. Down paths. Yeah. Yeah. Okay so let's talk about some of the logistics because once you've got your ticket again I would go on to the Hard Claire website. It does have. It's really.

Tracy Collins [00:15:46]:
It's actually very helpful because it will list what is still available. I was just on before, just checking to see what was available and at the moment there is some. Some in April that I could go to but I was also looking for. There's nothing in June at all that I could see except account the more expensive option which is where you have the guided tour and then you have an afternoon tea I think it was. But again it varies with price and you may not have a choice as in the time that you are. You can go is. Is. Is less the kind of just open and kind of wander around yourself to a bit more of a guided option with, with afternoon teas and things like that included you can't buy an afternoon tea box if you just have the, the general kind of.

Tracy Collins [00:16:30]:
I think it's about 25 pound option. I think that's 79 pound for a afternoon tea box and that's for two people. We didn't do that but I am, I, I think I would do that next time.

Doug Collins [00:16:41]:
I just wonder what's included in that box.

Tracy Collins [00:16:43]:
Oh well, well this. You can choose whether it's like vegetarian, vegan, regular. I think there's, I think there's champagne included in it so I could have both of those.

Doug Collins [00:16:50]:
Oh you should.

Tracy Collins [00:16:51]:
I've just actually also found out that they sell gin so I'll be trying the gin if I go because I, I do enjoy, I do enjoy. I do enjoy trying different gins as a travel around Everywhere does their own gin these days, don't they?

Doug Collins [00:17:05]:
I'll stick with my tea and cake.

Tracy Collins [00:17:06]:
Well yeah, you do that. Right. So logistically driving was fine. There was plenty of places to park. We didn't have a problem with it.

Doug Collins [00:17:11]:
We didn't have a problem.

Tracy Collins [00:17:12]:
No, no that was fine.

Doug Collins [00:17:14]:
You went by train the next time.

Tracy Collins [00:17:15]:
Right. So then when Melissa and I we went by train so we went from London Paddington. So because you're the train expert I'm going to hand over to you so you can explain a bit more about the true.

Doug Collins [00:17:23]:
Should explain really where Newbury Highclere is.

Tracy Collins [00:17:28]:
Yes, that's good, good point.

Doug Collins [00:17:29]:
If you visualize London, it's depending how you want to look at it from which part of London cuz London's pretty big.

Tracy Collins [00:17:35]:
But if you're looking at the map of like the UK it's sort of.

Doug Collins [00:17:37]:
Sort of south, southwest.

Tracy Collins [00:17:39]:
Yes.

Doug Collins [00:17:40]:
So it's about 65 miles I think from London. Depend again whereabouts you are starting point.

Tracy Collins [00:17:46]:
Yeah.

Doug Collins [00:17:47]:
For driving time I guess is probably about. About an hour and a half to two hours again depending what time.

Tracy Collins [00:17:52]:
It depends where you are in London again. Yeah. And also I wouldn't be driving from London anyway. It was only because we were doing a road trip that we included it so I would not be driving. If you're in London you a we always say don't hire a car in London and secondly I would say if you're in London do it as a day trip.

Doug Collins [00:18:06]:
Just take the train, Always take the train.

Tracy Collins [00:18:08]:
Which is why. Yeah, I was asking you to share about the train dude.

Doug Collins [00:18:11]:
So from the train perspective the direct train is from London Paddington.

Tracy Collins [00:18:14]:
Yeah, yeah.

Doug Collins [00:18:15]:
The fastest journey currently is 39 minutes which is very, very. That's great. Great Western Railway service. There is alternative stations you can come from in London, London Waterloo but involves changes and it's going to take you close on to two hours.

Tracy Collins [00:18:31]:
Yeah, it's a bit longer. It's a bit of a longer trip.

Doug Collins [00:18:33]:
Yeah.

Tracy Collins [00:18:34]:
To do so it's actually Newbury is easy and that's what, that's exactly what Melissa did actually we just had tickets, we've got tickets from Paddington to Newbury return. I think we, yes, we had a specific train booked to come back as well so we didn't have like an open return. We booked our tickets and knew what time we're leaving and what time we're coming back. Yeah. Based on the time of our tour. So I will just talk a little bit about what happened for Melissa and I because I know if you're planning to do this and you're going to take the train, which I would advise, it's really easy to Newbury. Now when you get into Newbury, they're generally, I'm not going to promise this, but they generally are taxis waiting because they know, and our taxi driver, we, we came, we came out the stat, there were taxis waiting and bearing in mind this is October, so I will kind of put that proviso and it was a weekday. But he said to me, they know when the trains are coming in from London Paddington and they know that 90% of the people arriving on that train are wanting to go to High Castle.

Doug Collins [00:19:31]:
I guess. And I guess depending how many people are getting off the train is, you know, if there's, you might have to wait for a taxi for somebody to come back and collect you. So yeah, if you'll get there and there's no actual taxi, don't be disappointed. Just hang on.

Tracy Collins [00:19:44]:
Well that, yeah, but I think the other option I would say, and, and we didn't do this, it was October, as I say it was midweek, is that you can pre book a taxi. And I know that there is a list on the Highclair site of local taxi companies that you can.

Doug Collins [00:19:58]:
Yeah, book.

Tracy Collins [00:19:58]:
Because if you're nervous about this, like, you know, I don't know if your tickets are 11 and you arrive in at 10:30, it takes about 15 minutes to get to Harcair, right? Yeah, pretty close. But if you're hanging around for 15min waiting for a taxi, you're going to get a bit nervous.

Doug Collins [00:20:13]:
Yeah, I'll catch an early train if you.

Tracy Collins [00:20:15]:
Well, yeah, but if you book a taxi, you don't have to worry about that. But the other thing is to know is that when you come out after you've done your tour or whatever, there's no way you can get a taxi at Highclere Castle. So you need to organize that. So now when Melissa and I jumped in our taxi, the guy said, do you want picking up this afternoon? Yes. So we said yes. For some reason, I have no idea why we didn't last cruise WhatsApp, we didn't even exchange any of that. We just went, yep, perfect, we finish it this time. This is the time we're catching the train.

Tracy Collins [00:20:44]:
Can you pick us up? So we finished our tour, we stood in the car park and we were just like, oh, I hope this guy turns up. And he did, he did, he did. He turned up, took us back to the train station. Lovely, lovely guy. So you can do that. That's what we did. And we had no problems. But I would suggest if you're going a very busy time of year, the summer or a weekend or a Sunday, that you maybe consider pre booking.

Tracy Collins [00:21:07]:
Because I just think it would stress me out. Yeah, potentially it would stress me out if I got there and I was like, what happens if there's no taxi? Anyway, we drove one time, the second time was a taxi and it was fine. But I just want to mention that. And you know, if you were a planner and you would get a bit stressed, you're better off just booking the taxi. And you'll know, kind of give yourself plenty of time depending on when your tour is. Just give yourself plenty of time to explore the, the garden, you know, go and explore the shop, because you're going to, believe me.

Doug Collins [00:21:35]:
Or basically what I'm going to say is explore the gardens and the grounds. But really what that's all about is you want to look at the house from every possible different angle that they've used in the TV program.

Tracy Collins [00:21:46]:
Yeah, true, true. And, and, and I think you will. I understand that you can't take photographs in the castle. It's just like you really, you know, and you really want to. So it's kind of like. Because you're like. So you, you kind of have to take them, those photographs with your mind and just remember it. And I can.

Tracy Collins [00:22:03]:
And because, to be honest, you will recognize it so much anyway because it's.

Doug Collins [00:22:08]:
If you've seen the series, you'll know exactly.

Tracy Collins [00:22:10]:
Exactly.

Doug Collins [00:22:10]:
The whole setup of the house.

Tracy Collins [00:22:12]:
Exactly, exactly. It's really interesting because the discussion with Melissa later on and that she remembers far more about the upstairs than I do because I couldn't remember which bedrooms we saw. But she remembers the colors and some of the artworks that she saw. It's just funny what different people kind of remember and what they.

Doug Collins [00:22:28]:
The, the true, you know, dedicated fan would even name episodes when things.

Tracy Collins [00:22:34]:
Yeah, that's true. I mean, what I think was, I'm sure some of the family photographs, there was pictures of Lord and Lady Carnarvon with the late Queen. I'm sure there was. That's something that is in my head.

Doug Collins [00:22:43]:
But I'm thinking of Jeeves and Wooster in there. Oh, well, it was cut. It wasn't High Clown. It wasn't Downton Abbey, was it? Tottenham Towers?

Tracy Collins [00:22:52]:
Something like that. Yeah. Well, anyway, but everybody listen. Unless you're. You've listened. You know anything about children, which I really enjoy. Yeah, well, you've gone off on a tangent, as always, about stuff that you enjoy. But Anyway, we'll go back to.

Tracy Collins [00:23:03]:
Hi, Claire. I think really we. You know, like I said when we talked about it last night, would you go again?

Doug Collins [00:23:10]:
Yeah, I definitely would.

Tracy Collins [00:23:11]:
Yeah. You know what I'd really like to do is go at Christmas.

Doug Collins [00:23:15]:
Ah, that'd be really good.

Tracy Collins [00:23:16]:
Because can you imagine how beautiful it is when it's.

Doug Collins [00:23:19]:
I can well imagine when it's.

Tracy Collins [00:23:20]:
I mean. And a lot of the stately homes in the UK do such a good job.

Doug Collins [00:23:25]:
You're thinking of Chatsworth.

Tracy Collins [00:23:27]:
I am, I am. They just do. They're just magical. I mean, the chance that you won't get snow, it's very, very unusual.

Doug Collins [00:23:33]:
It won't be 42 degrees, but it.

Tracy Collins [00:23:35]:
Yeah, no, it certainly won't be that hot. But. Yeah, I think so. So. So, I mean, maybe. Maybe this year we'll get back again. If I do, I will put that onto my Instagram. I'll put that onto YouTube.

Tracy Collins [00:23:44]:
So, again, follow us on those channels because you don't want to miss that. I'm going to leave it there with Doug. Is there anything else you want to say or anything you kind of want to share with people about visiting?

Doug Collins [00:23:56]:
I think just on the general topic, in reality, bringing your TV programs and things that you actually really enjoy watching to life to visit them, I just think is just magical.

Tracy Collins [00:24:07]:
It is. And that's exactly what that whole set, why it's becoming so popular. People actually want to go and see these places, you know, so if. If that is something that interested in, definitely go back and listen to episode 185 as well, because we share lots of different places.

Doug Collins [00:24:19]:
Jet setting.

Tracy Collins [00:24:20]:
No. Set jetting.

Doug Collins [00:24:22]:
Set jetting.

Tracy Collins [00:24:22]:
Set jetting.

Doug Collins [00:24:23]:
Oh, there you go. You learn something every day.

Tracy Collins [00:24:25]:
Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I will. I'm gonna be back after the segment with Melissa and I'm going to just recap and share some of those tips again. So you haven't missed anything. And anything else I can think about that you need to know if you're planning to visit Downton Abbey. Okay. Hi, Claire.

Doug Collins [00:24:40]:
Yeah.

Tracy Collins [00:24:41]:
Okay, thanks, Doug. Let's see what Melissa has to say about her trip.

Doug Collins [00:24:45]:
Yeah, I'll be interested to hear the.

Tracy Collins [00:24:46]:
That. Melissa, it's great to have you back on the podcast. You were on episode 127 where you shared all about your solo trip to London, where actually I met up with you on that trip. And we. We did some day trips, including the visit out to High Clare Castle, and we do talk about it in that episode. But I thought it would be perfect to have you back on this dedicated episode all about Highclere. Just ask you a few questions about your impressions and how you found it. Obviously, we went together on that day and we had a really good time.

Tracy Collins [00:25:20]:
I know you're a Downton Abbey fan and I'll let you introduce yourself again quickly. But the first question, once you've kind of said hello is what was your first impression? When we arrived at Highclere, driving down that driveway, it was pretty cool.

Doug Collins [00:25:35]:
Well, hi, Tracy. Glad to be back and have an opportunity to talk about one of my favorite things that we did while we were there. My name is Melissa, and this trip, trip that I met with you, met up with you, was my very first trip to London. I've been back since and I'll be back again this year. But I would say for me, when. When we were coming up the drive, I think it surprised me that it kind of stands there alone from a distance. You don't see anything around it. And it was just very stately looking.

Doug Collins [00:26:09]:
The color was magnificent. And as you can imagine, as we were coming up the drive, the Downton Abbey theme was just playing through my head on repeat.

Tracy Collins [00:26:17]:
Absolutely. I have to. I think. I don't know if I played it as well when we were doing it, because I remember saying, when Doug and I drove down that drive the first time we put the music on, because you just have to. And it's quite a long drive down before you actually see the castle. And it is a pretty amazing sight. And you just can't not think about Downton Abbey, can you? It is Downton Abbey, isn't it, when you see it?

Doug Collins [00:26:41]:
Yes.

Tracy Collins [00:26:41]:
So obviously, as a Downton Abbey fan, because that's why you went to Highclere. How did it compare to what you'd seen on the TV series?

Doug Collins [00:26:50]:
So I think that some of the rooms felt smaller than they looked on tv. For me, that sort of surprised me. But the furnishings and the decor inside were just absolutely amazing. It was really colorful. There was lots of different colors in the different rooms, especially the bedrooms. Some of the bedrooms had a lot of pastel colors that I really appreciated because I felt like the kind of downstairs main area was a lot of kind of heavier, darker, kind of Victorian looking colors.

Tracy Collins [00:27:20]:
Yeah. And it's like the set, isn't it? You kind of recognize when you're walking into different rooms, you kind of go, oh, I know this one. I know that one especially. I think for me, it's like that. The library, when you walk in there, and it's amazing. And then the fact they've got those. They've got kind of screenshots of what it looks like when it's set up. But you can.

Tracy Collins [00:27:40]:
Honestly, you can sit there and imagine yourself talking to Lady Mary. I think that's. Yeah, I think I was put. Yeah, I think I was putting the accent on. Though I. I do say that if I had lived during that time, I would have been downstairs. Unfortunately, I would not have been upstairs, that's for sure. Probably same year now, we did a guided tour, which I actually really enjoyed.

Tracy Collins [00:28:00]:
How, you know, what was your thoughts about that experience?

Doug Collins [00:28:04]:
You know, I thought it was really interesting because, you know, you and I have talked about this before. I appreciate a tour. Sometimes I appreciate being on my own, but I think with the tour, you get to learn a little bit more. So we had an opportunity to walk through various parts of the house. And I would say that, you know, one of the favorite parts is. And I don't know what you call this area, but we were upstairs and we walked sort of through the hallway and we looked down into the center of the house, and I just felt like I could visualize all the people that live there, the parties that must have happened, what the holidays look like, family gatherings. And as we approach the staircase, which you see in Downton Abbey, repeatedly as we're walking down the staircase, I kept thinking about, like, Mary and Edith coming down in their wedding dresses is all I kept thinking about. So I think the tour really helped to just engage you in the experience.

Tracy Collins [00:29:04]:
Yeah, I must admit, I thoroughly enjoyed the tour and actually learning a little bit more about kind of the history as well, because it is Highclere Castle. We kind of think of it as Downton Abbey, but obviously it's got a long history as Highclere Castle and the home of Lord and Lady Caernarfon. So there's a lot of history around that as well, which is really interesting. Was there anything that surprised you about the visit either, inside the castle, outside, anything you weren't expecting?

Doug Collins [00:29:32]:
Yeah, I would say outside is the really beautiful trees that are on the ground. Some of these trees are absolutely huge, and they were magnificent. I don't know what type of trees they were, but they were just so beautiful. And I can only imagine how long they had been there. And then I would say inside, the artwork really stood out to me, especially when we were in the dining room and they talked about during filming that they had to remove some of the artwork because it didn't line up with the timeline. And so I really enjoyed that. And I Would say, lastly, we had kind of an afternoon tea after the tour and that was really nice to just kind of be able to sit and absorb and talk about what we had experienced.

Tracy Collins [00:30:15]:
Yeah. And then we, I think we both then went to the shop. Didn't we have to say that Downton Abbey shop is fabulous? I should try and avoid it because every time I go I buy something usually with her Ladyship written on it. You know, you know that bring home.

Doug Collins [00:30:28]:
It was really beautiful.

Tracy Collins [00:30:30]:
It's amazing. Now I'm going to share some tips anyway in this podcast about, like how we got there and, and, and, and things to know. Because often people will just think they can book or actually not even book, just kind of go to Downton Abbey and go to Highclere, but it's actually not that straightforward. You actually can get caught out with that and you need to think ahead because it's not not open all year round and they do have different types of tours. But I will talk about that in a bit more detail. But for anyone from your point of view, Melissa, if anyone planning their first visit, is there a tip that you would share to make the day go smoothly?

Doug Collins [00:31:08]:
So when I started to plan my trip, there was nothing on the highclair site showing that they had any dates available for the time I was going to be there. So I emailed the highclair office office and said, this is when I'm going to be here. Are there any potential events or tours that are happening at the time? And they actually said yes, they just hadn't published them yet. And they gave me a separate link to go and book tickets. So if you find that you're going to be there at a time when isn't listed as a kind of an opening visiting time, I would suggest you contact the office just in case there's something upcoming that hasn't been published. And I would just say from a visit standpoint, take a moment. When we were outside, we sat on a bench. I have a picture that you took of me sitting on a bench.

Doug Collins [00:31:55]:
Just take a moment to sit out there and absorb and just kind of take it all in because it's absolutely gorgeous. And if I could add one more thing in, it would be sort out your cab situation. When we arrived, we went outside, we were able to grab a cab, but our driver was so great that that we arranged with him to come back and pick us up so we didn't have to try to contact another cab to come out. And that really just kind of took some of the worry away. Of trying to get a cab to get back to the train station.

Tracy Collins [00:32:26]:
Yeah, it's, it is, it is pretty easy. And I know he mentioned to us that they, they know the trains that are coming in from London. They, they know that majority of people are going to be going to Highclere. So you generally can find a taxi. The other time of year that Doug and I went was in July and we actually drove there ourselves so we didn't have to, to kind of negotiate public transport. But it's an easy day trip from London, isn't it? It's, it's, it was smooth.

Doug Collins [00:32:50]:
Absolutely. It was a simple, you know, train trip. It, it went by really fast. I got an opportunity to see some of the countryside and some of the sheep on the side of the road. So that was really enjoyable and it went by really, really quickly.

Tracy Collins [00:33:03]:
Yeah, I really enjoyed it. I have to say. I've been twice and I, I would happily go again. And so we are actually. Melissa. Well, while you're on, I'm going to just mention as well to people is that Melissa and I are going to be traveling together May when Melissa's coming over again later on this year. So you visit basically every year. So we are doing some travels in London.

Tracy Collins [00:33:25]:
We're also going to be up in, in Edinburgh for a while and then back down in London. So we've got some exciting things planned. So Melissa and I will come on in probably June after Melissa's done a trip and just chat about some of the things that we, we did and we organized. So I have to say thank you to Melissa for letting me gate crush your trip.

Doug Collins [00:33:45]:
I'm really looking forward to it. I think we're going to have a lot of fun and you and I are going to get to experience some things that you haven't done either. So it'd be fun to enjoy it together.

Tracy Collins [00:33:54]:
It's going to be a lot of fun. Thanks Melissa for coming on there and sharing some, some of your thoughts about your visit to Highclere Castle, AKA Downton Abbey.

Doug Collins [00:34:02]:
You're welcome. Thanks Tracey.

Tracy Collins [00:34:05]:
Thanks again to Melissa for coming on and sharing about our trip, which was, it was also fun. It was actually really good to have gone in two different times a year because I say with Doug we went in the summ and then with Melissa I went in the autumn. So completely different experiences, completely different types of tour as well because the one I did with Doug was literally you just walk through the house. There's no guided element to it. Whereas with Melissa that was a guided tour. And then we had afternoon tea, so which is really lovely. So I enjoyed both. It depends you.

Tracy Collins [00:34:30]:
There's lots of different types of ticket, as I've mentioned earlier, but these are things that I want you to know. So I just want to kind of go through these things again. Check your opening dates early, book tickets online in advance, build your itinerary around ticket availability. So don't do your itinerary and then kind of think, oh, I'll go to Highclere on this Thursday or go on this Tuesday without check in. You need to check if it's open, you need to check if there's actually any tickets available. So it's one of those in advanced places that if you're going to go there's. If it's a must do for you, add that into your itinerary and work other stuff that can be moved around around that choose the right ticket tab. So again, it's looking at what is available when you can go.

Tracy Collins [00:35:15]:
So do you want to go and see the Tutankhamun exhibition or do you just want to go at the house and garden? So there, there's your options for some of them. Other ones, do you want to add on an afternoon tea? So just have a look at all the different options that they've got. They've got. They've got so many different types of chairs. So definitely have a look. If you don't have a ticket, don't just turn up. I have heard that sometimes they have tickets that they'll sell on the day but honestly do not depend on that because I can't imagine that this. They have many tickets and that might be sometime in, I don't know, low season that that might happen.

Tracy Collins [00:35:53]:
But please, please, please just don't turn up at Highclere Castle to hoping you're going to get a ticket because it's just not going to happen. Remember there's no photography inside so I' that because you're not disappointed when you get there and you want to do that once you've got your ticket books plan, your transport plan, how you're going to get to Newbury and then how you're going to get to the castle. As I say, there are taxis waiting outside Newbury train station. But if you want there, I will put a link to the Highclere website where they've got a list of the different train companies that you can book if that makes you feel better. Trying to think what else that I could share. I think think really I think that's about it. Those are the main things that I wanted to kind of put across in this episode. Don't, as I say, if you really want to go, don't be disappointed if you can't.

Tracy Collins [00:36:46]:
If you don't book ahead and you can't get a ticket. Also, just be aware that there are times when it's actually not open to the public, so you just need to check that out as well. There are some guided tours that from London, but they tend to be more going to the villages as well at Bampton, which is part of where Downton Abbey was was filmed as well. So I will put a link to some of the guided tours that you can take otherwise, thanks as always for listening to this week's episode of the podcast. Get in touch via Speak Pipe have you visited Highclere Castle? Are you planning to visit Highclere Castle Castle? How did you enjoy it? What is it you're looking forward to the most? Let us know and Speak Pipe that will be the link is in the Show Notes. As always, you can find all the information we talked about in the links in the show notes@uktravelplanner.com forward/episode187 but that just leaves me to say until next week. As always, Happy UK Travel Planning. Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of the UK Travel Planning Podcast.

Tracy Collins [00:37:51]:
Podcast. As always, Show Notes can be found@uktravelplanning.com if you've enjoyed the show, why not leave us feedback via text or a review on your favorite podcast app? We love to hear from you and you never know, you may receive a shout out in a future episode. But as always, that just leaves me to say until next week, Happy UK Travel Planning.