A family day trip from London to Warwick Castle

‘Is that Warwick Castle?’

Three-year-old Big Girl was pointing at an embassy building in Belgravia as we passed in a taxi on Saturday morning. We were on our way to Marylebone Station to board a train to Warwick, and she was very excited about our day trip and the potential of meeting a princess.

Our trip, which was organised and sponsored by The Trainline, was booked via their app and turned out to be incredibly smooth, starting with a one and a half hour train journey to Warwick, with one change in Leamington Spa, and then a 15-minute walk to Warwick Castle through Warwick, which Big Girl named ‘the princess kingdom’.

At Warwick Castle, I thought the most important attraction for us would be The Princess Tower– a 15-minute princess storytelling experience–so we went straight to that after arriving. Big Girl enjoyed meeting a ‘real princess’, and there was an opportunity to buy a Princess Tower-themed souvenir booklet with two photographs for £12.

After the storytelling we joined the 11.30am Kids Tour, a free guided walk in the Great Hall and State Rooms, which was educational and fun for children of different ages. We had to miss a fireball show to go on the tour, but for us this was the right choice.

Big Girl was one of the youngest on the walk, and the guide was brilliant at making history exciting for even little ones. Big Girl’s experiences from the tour, such as being allowed to hold a sword and looking behind a secret door, are now among the weekend highlights we still talk about.

Despite doing this tour indoors, I felt we’d spent most of the day at Warwick Castle outside, and there were plenty of opportunities to join activities outdoors. We watched parts of an eagle show and saw a very large group of children join a fun session where they seemed to have a pretend battle on a grass field.

At the end of our day, we attempted to walk up the steps around the tower, but decided to turn around when it got a bit steep and dark. We’ve also saved the Time Tower multimedia experience and The Castle Dungeon for when we have slightly older children, but I was surprised at how much there was to do for a young family at Warwick Castle and how special it felt to be bringing Big Girl here and introducing her to British history.

Family visitors will also like that there’s a playground, a number of peacocks that are fun to wave to, and a baby feeding area ideal for those traveling with the very youngest.

To bring history to life and enjoy a unique Medieval-themed family day out, dress up warm, jump on the train and head to Warwick Castle.

The Trainline has recently launched a brand new mobile ticketing service on their app, enabling customers to both purchase tickets on their smartphone and scan at the barrier, meaning no paper ticket is needed on some routes

Tags: Attraction, Day trip, Family travel, The Trainline, Train, Travelling, Warwick, Warwick Castle