# Things to Do in Alnwick: Castle, Garden and Barter Books

*A Hogwarts castle, a garden where kids go free, the north's best secondhand bookshop and free parking. Here's how to do Alnwick, and what's left once the castle shuts on 20 October.*

By Dan Fitzpatrick, Bairns & Beaches. Updated Sunday 4 October 2026. Canonical: https://bairnsandbeaches.co.uk/guides/things-to-do-in-alnwick.html

**The short answer:** The top things to do in Alnwick are Alnwick Castle (open until 20 October 2026), The Alnwick Garden (up to four children free on a Garden-only ticket), the Lilidorei play village, Barter Books in the old station (free, 9am to 7pm daily) and free walks in Hulne Park. All of Alnwick's council car parks are free, and the castle and garden share a £3.75 car park.

Checked 4 October 2026. Dates and prices change, so the organiser's link is the one to trust.

Things to do in Alnwick, in one breath: a castle that played Hogwarts, a garden with a poison bed and a treehouse you can eat lunch in, the best secondhand bookshop in the north (I will not be taking questions), a free estate park for long walks, and a heritage railway on the edge of town. That's a full weekend for a family, and a decent day for grown-ups who'd rather browse than queue. The catch this month is timing. Alnwick Castle shuts for the season on Tuesday 20 October, before Northumberland's half term even starts, so if the castle is the point of your trip, the next fortnight is your window.

Below is everything we'd actually consider, roughly in the order most families would want it, with the prices, parking and loos we could check, and what still works once the castle has locked its gates for the winter.

## Things to do in Alnwick: the short list

- Alnwick Castle, until 20 October 2026: broomstick training, state rooms, a jester in the last week.
- The Alnwick Garden: kids go free on a Garden-only ticket, up to four of them, with the Pumpkin Garden from 10 October.
- Lilidorei, the play village next door: separate ticket, Spookydorei from 10 October to 1 November.
- Barter Books in the old station: free to walk in, open 9am to 7pm every day bar Christmas Day.
- Hulne Park: free walks on the Duke's estate, no dogs, no bikes.
- Aln Valley Railway from Lionheart station, with a Halloween weekend on 31 October and 1 November.
- Bailiffgate Museum for a cheap, dry hour: £1 a child at the door.
- Market Place on a Thursday or Saturday, when the market is on.

## Alnwick Castle (closes 20 October)

### Alnwick Castle (Alnwick)

The big one, and a proper working castle, still home to the Percy family. Kids come for the Harry Potter connection and broomstick training (included in the ticket), grown-ups come for the state rooms, which are absurdly grand and open 10.30am to 4.30pm. The castle says allow at least two to three hours, which in our experience of six and seven year olds means three, plus snacks.

The last fortnight has extras included in admission: Tastes Through Time in the Victorian kitchen on 10 and 11 October, Northumbrian pipes and a Heritage Craft Day on 17 October, and Tom Fool the jester doing shows at 11am, 1pm and 3pm in the Inner Bailey from 18 to 20 October. Then the gates close. The castle's own FAQ says it reopens at the end of March, with no 2027 date given yet.

Buy online if you can. It's about 10% cheaper and the ticket works as an annual pass for open-season days, so if you're back next summer you've already paid.

- Price: Online: adult £22, child 5 to 16 £11.60, family £64.20, under 5 free. Gate: adult £24.45, family £71.35
- Parking: Shared castle and garden car park, £3.75 a day, card only
- Buggy access: Pushchairs allowed, but cobbles, gravel and stairs in places
- Check first: Last day of the 2026 season is 20 October; only assistance dogs allowed
- Website: https://www.alnwickcastle.com/plan-your-visit

## The Alnwick Garden and Lilidorei

Two attractions, one car park, two tickets, and a pricing system that confuses roughly everybody in the queue. Here's the version that matters: a Garden-only ticket lets up to four children in free with each paying adult. Lilidorei, the giant play village, is extra and charges children too.

### The Alnwick Garden (Alnwick)

The Grand Cascade is the bit everyone photographs, and the Poison Garden (guided, behind locked gates) is the bit our two would talk about for a week. From 10 October to 1 November it becomes the Pumpkin Garden, with a scavenger hunt included in garden entry and harvest games over half term.

Opening hours shrink as the year goes on: daily 10am to 5pm until 23 October, 10am to 4pm over half term, then Thursday to Sunday only from 2 November, with Winter Lights in the evenings from mid November. From 4 January to 7 February 2027 it's weekends only. Tickets are non-refundable, so look at the forecast before you book.

- Price: Garden only: adult £17.90 (£19.70 with Gift Aid), up to 4 children free
- Parking: Shared castle and garden car park, £3.75 a day
- Toilets: On site
- Check first: Dogs only on Thursdays and Sundays until 15 November, on a short lead
- Website: https://www.alnwickgarden.com/the-garden/opening-times-and-prices/

### Lilidorei (Alnwick)

A huge wooden play village with towers, slides and enough rope bridges to lose an afternoon. From 10 October to 1 November it's Spookydorei Days: dressing up, a Spooky or Not So Spooky trail, storytelling and optional trick-or-treat bags. The evening version, Spookydorei Nights, runs 5pm to 9pm from 23 to 31 October, and the garden pitches that one at older children, 11 to 15, with mild jump scares. Know your child. Mine would be under the table.

- Price: Garden and Lilidorei: adult £20.30, child 3 to 16 £16.65 (more with Gift Aid)
- Parking: Same shared car park as the castle and garden
- Buggy access: Mostly outdoors on paths, with climbing frames the buggy won't manage
- Check first: No dogs in Lilidorei; Spookydorei Nights needs booking
- Website: https://www.alnwickgarden.com/events/spookydorei-days-lilidorei/

### The Treehouse Restaurant (Alnwick)

A restaurant in what the garden calls the largest wooden treehouse in the world, built around 16 lime trees. You don't need a garden ticket just to eat there. Until 2 November it does lunch every day and dinner Thursday to Saturday; after that it closes early in the week, so book. It's a treat rather than a quick refuel, and prices reflect that.

- Price: Not listed on the booking page; £5 a head deposit for tables of 6 to 9
- Parking: Shared castle and garden car park
- Toilets: Check on arrival
- Check first: From 2 November it's closed Monday to Wednesday
- Website: https://www.alnwickgarden.com/visit/dining/the-treehouse-restaurant/

## Barter Books, the bit locals actually go for

### Barter Books (Alnwick)

A huge secondhand bookshop in Alnwick's old Victorian railway station, and home of the original Keep Calm and Carry On poster. Model trains run along the tops of the bookshelves (look up), there's a children's corner, and in winter the fires are lit, which is the closest Northumberland gets to a hug. Free to wander, impossible to leave without a book.

The Station Buffet cafe in the old waiting rooms is good and busy, so go early at weekends. If it rains, this is where half of Alnwick ends up.

- Price: Free to browse
- Parking: Car park at the shop; free council car parks in town are a short walk
- Toilets: Check on arrival
- Check first: Open 9am to 7pm daily, cafe 9am to 6pm, closed Christmas Day
- Website: https://www.barterbooks.co.uk/

> The rule in our house: everyone gets one book from Barter Books, and the person who takes longest to choose buys the scones.

## Free and cheap things to do in Alnwick

### Hulne Park (Alnwick)

The Duke of Northumberland's walled estate park, open to walkers for free. The routes are long by little-legs standards: the waymarked loops are about 4 miles to Brizlee Tower and nearly 5 to Hulne Priory, so with small children pick a target and turn back when the moaning starts. You go in at Ratten Row, at the bottom of Northumberland Street past St Michael's Church.

The estate's page says it's open 11am until 4pm, when the gates close, and that it sometimes shuts for estate business. No dogs and no bikes, which is the single most common surprise people have here.

- Price: Free
- Parking: Small free parking area by the Ratten Row entrance, or walk from town
- Buggy access: Paths and estate roads; fine with a sturdy pushchair if you stick to them
- Check first: Closure dates on the Northumberland Estates page; no dogs or bikes
- Website: https://northumberlandestates.co.uk/the-estate/walks-trails

### Bailiffgate Museum and Gallery (Alnwick)

The town museum, in a former church just along from the castle gates. It's small, cheap and dry, which on a wet Alnwick afternoon is three good things. The current exhibition, Streets to Sea by Kev Oldham, runs until 1 November. Lifts to every floor, a disabled toilet and baby changing.

- Price: Adult £6, child 5 to 16 £1, under 5 free (10% off online)
- Parking: 2-hour street parking outside; free all-day car park nearby at NE66 1DL
- Buggy access: Pushchair and wheelchair access to all areas
- Check first: Tue to Sat 10am to 4pm, Sun 11am to 4pm; closed 13 Dec 2026 to 11 Jan 2027
- Website: https://www.bailiffgatemuseum.co.uk/visit

### Alnwick Market (Alnwick)

Yes, Alnwick has a market. It's in the Market Place every Thursday and Saturday, with a farmers' market on the last Friday of the month. Not a huge one, but it's a good excuse to wander the old streets and the cafes around Bondgate.

- Price: Free
- Parking: Free town car parks; short stays need a £1 disc
- Toilets: Public toilets at The Shambles, 6.30am to 6.30pm, with baby changing
- Check first: Stall numbers vary with the weather and season
- Website: https://www.visitnorthumberland.com/explore/things-to-do/shopping/markets/alnwick-market-day

### Aln Valley Railway (Alnwick)

A volunteer-run heritage railway from Lionheart station on the edge of town, with steam, heritage diesel and old Pacer trains depending on the day. Running days vary week to week, so check the calendar before you promise anybody a steam engine. The Halloween Weekend is 31 October and 1 November, there's a Christmas Fair on 29 November, and Santa's Steam Train Adventure runs on weekends in December. Dogs ride for £1, except on Santa trains.

- Price: Return: adult £12.50, child 3 to 15 £6, family (2+2) £33
- Parking: At Lionheart station, NE66 2EZ
- Toilets: Tea room and shop at the station
- Check first: The running-day calendar; not every day is a steam day
- Website: https://alnvalleyrailway.co.uk/tickets/

### Alnwick Playhouse (Alnwick)

The town's theatre, cinema and arts centre on Bondgate Without, with a cafe (the Playhouse Kitchen) that's handy for a hot chocolate. For half term there's Gaby Gulliver's Travels, a 45-minute shadow puppet show for ages 5 and up, on Friday 23 October at 11am and Saturday 24 October at 11am and 1.30pm.

- Price: Gaby Gulliver's Travels: £10, child £6
- Parking: Free town car parks nearby
- Toilets: In the venue
- Check first: The kitchen is closed on Sundays
- Website: https://alnwickplayhouse.co.uk/

## Halloween and half term in Alnwick

Northumberland schools break up on Friday 23 October, and by then the castle has shut. Don't panic. The garden and Lilidorei carry on daily through half term (10am to 4pm), and the pumpkin action is spread across town.

### Alnwick Pumpkin Patch (Alnwick)

Pick-your-own pumpkins at Broxfield Farm, on three weekends: 10 and 11, 17 and 18, and 24 and 25 October. Booking is through the farm's Facebook page, and the listing says it's pet friendly, with parking and toilets. Wellies. Trust me.

- Price: Not published on the listing; check the farm's booking page
- Parking: On site at Broxfield Farm, NE66 3RQ
- Toilets: Yes, per the listing
- Check first: Weekends only, and the field gets muddy after rain
- Website: https://www.visitnorthumberland.com/explore/things-to-do/events/family-events/alnwick-pumpkin-patch

## Where to park in Alnwick

Good news, for once: every council car park in Alnwick is free. The short-stay ones (Bondgate Hill Cobbles, Clayport Street, Fenkle Street, Market Street and a few more) have time limits of between 30 minutes and three hours and need a £1 parking disc, sold at the tourist information centre and shops in town. For a full day, use one of the free all-day car parks that need no disc: Dispensary Street, Roxburgh Place, Pottergate New Row and Greenwell Road B, C and E.

Where to park for Alnwick Gardens and the castle: the shared car park off Denwick Lane costs £3.75 a day, opens at 9am and takes cards. It's the closest, by a short walk. If you'd rather keep the £3.75 for an ice cream, Greenwell Road's free long-stay car parks are a few minutes' walk from the garden gates, uphill on the way back, naturally.

Public toilets with baby changing are at The Shambles and on Greenwell Lane, open 6.30am to 6.30pm.

## Nearby: Warkworth Castle and the coast

### Warkworth Castle (Warkworth)

If Alnwick Castle has closed by the time you arrive, English Heritage's Warkworth Castle is a short drive south and stays open: daily, 10am to 5pm, last entry 4.30pm, when we checked. It's a ruin, so the kids get to run about the walls rather than tiptoe past paintings, which is a better fit for some families anyway. The Hermitage across the river opens Sundays and Mondays, 11am to 4pm.

- Price: Check the English Heritage page; 15% off booking in advance
- Parking: Car park at the castle, free for English Heritage members
- Toilets: Yes, on site
- Check first: Winter opening days from November; dogs not allowed at the Hermitage
- Website: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/warkworth-castle-and-hermitage/

Alnmouth's beach is a short drive away for a blow-out after a day of indoor stuff, and the X18 and X15 buses link Alnwick with Alnmouth station and the coast.

## Is Alnwick worth visiting?

Yes, and more so than most market towns its size. It has two of the county's biggest paid attractions side by side, a bookshop people drive an hour for, free parking, and enough rainy-day options that a wet forecast doesn't sink the trip. Out of season it's quieter but thinner: from 21 October there's no castle, from November the garden goes to four days a week, and January is weekends only. A summer or early October visit gets you the lot.

If you only have one day with kids, I'd do the castle in the morning, while everyone's legs still work, garden or Lilidorei in the afternoon, and finish at Barter Books, because it's open until 7pm and somebody will need to sit down.

## Questions people ask

**Is Alnwick worth visiting?** Yes. Alnwick has the castle (open until 20 October 2026), The Alnwick Garden and Lilidorei, Barter Books and free Hulne Park, all within walking distance, and its council car parks are free.

**Where to park in Alnwick?** Every council car park in Alnwick is free. Dispensary Street, Roxburgh Place, Pottergate New Row and Greenwell Road B, C and E are free all day with no disc; short-stay car parks need a £1 disc.

**Where to park for Alnwick Gardens?** The shared castle and garden car park off Denwick Lane costs £3.75 a day and opens at 9am. The free Greenwell Road long-stay car parks are a short walk away.

**Does Alnwick have a market?** Yes. Alnwick market is held in the Market Place every Thursday and Saturday, with a farmers' market on the last Friday of the month.

**Is Alnwick Gardens worth visiting?** With children it's good value, because a Garden-only ticket (adult £17.90 without Gift Aid) lets up to four children in free. Lilidorei costs extra for children, at £16.65 each without Gift Aid.

**Is Alnwick dog friendly?** Partly. Dogs can go to The Alnwick Garden on Thursdays and Sundays until 15 November 2026 and ride the Aln Valley Railway for £1, but not into Lilidorei, Hulne Park or Alnwick Castle (assistance dogs only).

**Is Alnwick Castle open in October?** Only until Tuesday 20 October 2026, when the castle closes for the season. It reopens at the end of March, and no 2027 date has been published yet.

## Sources

- Alnwick Castle: plan your visit: https://www.alnwickcastle.com/plan-your-visit
- Alnwick Castle: FAQs (closing date, parking, dogs, pushchairs): https://www.alnwickcastle.com/plan-your-visit/visitor-information/faqs
- Alnwick Castle: opening times and ticket prices: https://www.alnwickcastle.com/plan-your-visit/visitor-information/opening-times-ticket-prices
- Alnwick Castle: Tom Fool: https://www.alnwickcastle.com/whats-on/tom-fool-oct
- Alnwick Castle: Tastes Through Time: https://www.alnwickcastle.com/whats-on/tastes-through-time-1
- Alnwick Castle: Heritage Craft Day: https://www.alnwickcastle.com/whats-on/heritage-craft-day
- Alnwick Castle: Northumbrian pipes: https://www.alnwickcastle.com/whats-on/northumbrian-pipes-oct
- The Alnwick Garden: opening times and prices: https://www.alnwickgarden.com/the-garden/opening-times-and-prices/
- The Alnwick Garden: the Pumpkin Garden: https://www.alnwickgarden.com/events/the-autumn-pumpkin-garden/
- Lilidorei: Spookydorei Days: https://www.alnwickgarden.com/events/spookydorei-days-lilidorei/
- Lilidorei: Spookydorei Nights: https://www.alnwickgarden.com/events/spookydorei-nights/
- The Alnwick Garden: Dog Days: https://www.alnwickgarden.com/events/dog-days
- The Alnwick Garden: The Treehouse Restaurant: https://www.alnwickgarden.com/visit/dining/the-treehouse-restaurant/
- Barter Books: https://www.barterbooks.co.uk/
- North East Family Fun: Barter Books children's corner (2022): https://www.northeastfamilyfun.co.uk/2022/01/barter-books-childrens-corner-alnwick.html
- Bailiffgate Museum: visit: https://www.bailiffgatemuseum.co.uk/visit
- Northumberland Estates: walks and trails (Hulne Park): https://northumberlandestates.co.uk/the-estate/walks-trails
- Wikipedia: Hulne Park: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulne_Park
- North East Family Fun: Hulne Park guide (2022): https://www.northeastfamilyfun.co.uk/2022/05/hulne-park-alnwick-guide-to-visiting.html
- Aln Valley Railway: times and tickets: https://alnvalleyrailway.co.uk/tickets/
- Alnwick Playhouse: https://alnwickplayhouse.co.uk/
- Alnwick Playhouse: Gaby Gulliver's Travels: https://alnwickplayhouse.co.uk/event/gaby-gullivers-travels/
- Visit Northumberland: Alnwick market day: https://www.visitnorthumberland.com/explore/things-to-do/shopping/markets/alnwick-market-day
- Visit Northumberland: Alnwick Pumpkin Patch: https://www.visitnorthumberland.com/explore/things-to-do/events/family-events/alnwick-pumpkin-patch
- Northumberland County Council: Alnwick car parks: https://www.northumberland.gov.uk/parking/parking-locations/alnwick-car-parks
- Alnwick Town Council: car parking and facilities: https://alnwick-tc.gov.uk/car-parking-facilities/
- English Heritage: Warkworth Castle and Hermitage: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/warkworth-castle-and-hermitage/