Warwick Castle Knight’s Village REVIEW
#Ad – This Warwick Castle Knight’s Village Review is based on a complimentary stay in 2019 and a self funded stay at Warwick Castle Glamping in 2022. This post contains affiliate links.
Confession time – up until 2019, I had never visited Warwick Castle. Not once – despite living right on it’s doorstep, within just a few miles of Warwick itself.
It’s something that in hindsight I now know was incredibly silly of me, as I have missed out on a whole host of days out and memories! We were recently invited for a family overnight break at Warwick Castle’s Knight’s Village and after seeing pictures of the Warwick castle accommodation and learning about the range of experiences on offer, I was almost as excited as the girls to visit!
We headed down to the Warwick Castle Knight’s Village on a late September weekend, and despite it being late in the season, we couldn’t have been more lucky with the weather! Read on to learn more about our experience, or if you prefer, you can see our video diary here:
About Warwick Castle Knight’s Village – The History
Warwick Castle has a great reputation for fun filled and action packed family days out in Warwickshire and for years has been offering the opportunity for guests young and old to discover over 1100 years of history, myths and magic; exploring the castle grounds, shows and activities.
When the Warwick Castle Knight’s Village opened in 2016, it for the first time gave visitors the chance to sleep over at the Castle itself, providing 3 different kinds of accommodation – Knight’s Village Lodges, Knight’s Village Glamping or Caesar’s Tower Suites. all nestled on the Castle grounds behind beautiful views of the river Avon.
Whether you’re sleeping in a large Knight’s village glamping tent or a themed Knight’s Village woodland lodge, The family friendly Knight’s Village provides the ideal medieval base for families wishing to extend the memories made during their break at Warwick Castle.
When staying in the Knight’s Village, guests can benefit from two days Warwick Castle entry, priority entry, free reserved parking, exclusive evening entertainment and a complimentary cooked or continental breakfast in the Banquet Hall. I literally couldn’t wait.
Does Warwick Castle have a hotel?
Warwick Castle doesn’t have a hotel itself. but has a range of Warwick Castle accomodation to choose from in the Knight’s Village, all of which are ideal for having a short break at Warwick Castle and making the most of your stay. If you’re looking to stay overnight at Warwick Castle (or benefit from an extra day to explore the grounds), you can choose from a range of Warwick Castle accomodation including Warwick Castle Glamping, Warwick Castle Lodges or even a stay in the luxurious Ceasar’s Tower Suites. We have stayed in both the Knight’s Village Glamping Tents and the lodges.
Our Experience of the Warwick Castle Knight’s Village
What time can you check in at The Knight’s Village?
When staying at the Knight’s Village the official check-in time is 3pm, however you can arrive early to make the use of the two days castle entry included with your stay.
We arrived at Warwick Castle at about 11am on the Saturday morning of our stay, and had been advised to head straight to the car parking spaces that were reserved for Knight’s Village guests. There is a large sign in the carpark which then directs you straight to the Knight’s Village entry, from which you have priority access into the castle grounds.
Despite the Knight’s Village sign being very VERY clear, we completely missed it (story of my life!) and ended up walking the long path down to the main castle entry, only to be told that we were in the wrong place and having to walk all the way back! I don’t recommend that you do this unless you are desperate to increase your step count for the day, but the one thing it did allow me to appreciate is just how much queuing time you save when you have Knight’s Village priority access! The main entry was busy, with lots of families queuing up to purchase tickets or enter the castle gates but we were able to go straight in.
Warwick Castle Knight’s Village Check-in
After our slight detour (purely for review purposes of course), we headed straight to reception where we were given our lodge number and key card and advised that the card would automatically open our Knight’s Village lodge at 3pm. We were asked at this point if we wanted to book times for our evening meal and breakfast.
For this reason I would recommend getting to the Knight’s Village as early as possible, as I am not sure how much choice of time slots there would be left during peak season if you arrived quite late in the day.
We were given a resort map and a map of the Warwick Castle Knight’s Village accommodation, clearly showing where we could find our Woodland Lodge, as well as clearly highlighting the entertainment field where we would be heading for our evening’s activities.
We were then able to get straight into the castle grounds using our key card – with a gate leading you straight into the rear of the grounds behind the Peacock Gardens and Conservatory, allowing us to head straight to the main castle square without needing to queue.
Staying at the Warwick Castle Knights Village Woodland Lodges
Accommodation in the Warwick Castle Knight’s Village is a choice of lodges or medieval glamping tents, the latter of which have a separate toilet and shower block within the grounds. We stayed in a Knight’s Village Woodland Lodge which sleeps up to 5 people and has space for a travel cot. After walking out the other side of reception, we walked through the Knight’s Village Glamping Tent block to the rear of the village to find our accommodation, where our Woodland Lodge was nestled in a little woodland area overlooking the river Avon.
The lodges are semi detached, but each one has its own outside decking area with dividing wall, allowing it to remain relatively private. There was a small bench just outside the bedroom window, meaning that in high season this would be a great place to sit out with a nice glass of wine once the children were in bed.
What’s inside the Warwick Castle Knight’s Village Woodland Lodges?
Step inside the Knight’s Village Woodland Lodge itself and it was like being transformed into ancient times, with the interior being styled perfectly to reflect a magical medieval theme. The girls both let out a little gasp of delight, before immediately running to check out the bedroom where they would be sleeping for the night.
The main bedroom featured a large double bed with wooden bed frame and head board with a large coat of arms and swords on the wall behind and draped curtains, creating quite the feature!
The girls bedroom was really lovely, with wooden bunk beds and a third bed which could be pulled out from underneath if required. There were plenty of sockets for chargers and nightlights, as well as individual lights on each bunk of the bed, offering some flexibility if you have siblings of different ages, allowing one child to read whilst the other went to sleep. The main bedroom wall featured a large medieval style cartoon tapestry print representing Warwick Castle’s history. It was a great talking point and Erin enjoyed talking through with me what was happening in the scenes, but I have to admit that in parts it a little scary for a children’s bedroom! .
Does the Knight’s Village have WiFI?
The Knight’s Village lodges come with free Wifi and we had a very strong connection – which is always a positive if the girls want some tablet time before bed or a bit of downtime before dinner. There was also cable TV available in the main bedroom, although which such amazing weather late into the evening, we didn’t need to use this.
The bathroom was relatively small but had everything we needed, including a wet room style shower, toilet and sink, all with lovely high ceilings and wooden beams above our heads.
The room comes with tea and coffee making facilities but no fridge. I felt this would have been nice a nice addition in order to keep some beer or soft drinks cold for in the evenings, however that said, you could buy drinks from the bar and bring back to your accommodation in the evening if you wished.
What were the surroundings like at the Knight’s Village?
The setting of the woodland lodges in the Warwick Castle Knight’s Village is really beautiful, lit up at night time with hanging chains of lights and although other lodges are relatively close to each other, you dont feel overlooked or have a lack of privacy.
The Knight’s Village Woodland Lodges are joined in twos, but I didn’t hear any noise from our neighbours at all.
The one thing to be aware of is that because of the wooden paths that lead to the lodges, you may hear some of the guests (particularly the kids) coming back to their lodges at night – we heard some noises up until about 9 pm but after that, it was very quiet and tranquil.
This didn’t bother us in the slightest; we were on holiday after all but if your children go to bed very early you may hear a few bangs and bumps until everyone gets back to their accomodoation.
What time do you check out?
Waking up in the morning to the sounds of all the birds chirping away outside was really lovely and check-out time was not until 11am, meaning there is plenty of time to head for your breakfast before returning to collect your belongings.
Warwick Castle Knight’s Village Glamping Tents
As we revisited Warwick Castle in 2022 and stayed in the Knight’s Village Glamping Tents, I thought it would be helpful to add in my experience of the glamping options too. The Knight’s Village Glamping Tents come with a choice of Warwick Tents (with a double bed, two single beds and storage) or the King’s tents, which are more spacious and include a four poster bed, two single beds and a larger decking with two throne seats outside.
As it was my daughter’s birthday, we opted for the King’s tent. It’s worth noting however that the standard Knight’s Village Warwick tents have recently been updated and are a bit more ‘modern’ in appearance (with either red or blue netting inside). We did love having the larger-sized decking area for the present unwrapping in the morning, however!
The Warwick Castle Glamping Tents were surprisingly comfortable. We visited in June, and the tent was cosy and comfortable – with the beds on a hard wooden floor so you didn’t need to worry about flys and bugs. The Glamping tent zipped up and came with a padlock for security. We all slept surpisingly well and we weren’t disturbed by other guests at all.
There are obviously no toilets or washing facilities in the glamping tents, but the toilet and shower block was just a short walk away and was clean and tidy. I was really plesantly surprised, as I was concerned that after staying in the lodges we wouldn’t enjoy this as much. In fact, it was quite the opposite, with pleasant weather, the girls loved the magical experience of staying in a tent under the stars.
Which is better Knight’s Village Glamping or Knight’s Village Lodges?
If I had to choose again, I’d probably pay the extra for a lodge, purely from a privacy point of view (and the TV for when the kids had gone to sleep!), but the kids LOVED the experience of sleeping under the stars.
Staying at the Knight’s Village Glamping Tents is also quite significantly cheaper than the Lodges. If you have younger children, the lodges may be preferable too.
Evening Entertainment at Warwick Castle Knight’s Village
By far our favourite part of the stay at Warwick Castle’s Knights Village was the evening entertainment which included free of charge as part of your stay. After our dinner we headed straight over to the entertainment field, where the knights and princesses were already there. The Knight’s Village evening entertainment is between 5.30pm and 7pm, and there was a number of different activities for us all to get involved with. As it was a gloriously sunny evening we really were very lucky as it was a lovely end to a fun filled day. The activities that are on offer vary depending on whether you stay in peak season. It’s worth noting that when we visited in June, archery wasn’t included in the stay, but during the summer holidays and peak season this is more likely to be the case.
What activities were on offer at Knight’s Village?
The first activity was “Have a go archery” lead by two really friendly archers who showed us what to do, helped us improve and gave us four shots each at the target – I missed the first two and then managed to get a bullseye on my forth attempt. Even Neve had a go, despite being almost the same size as the bow itself. The archers were so great with the girls, bending down to their height and helping them pull the bow back when they struggled a little at first.
Next up was princess circus skills with the friendly princess helping the children learn a whole host of skills, from stilt walking to plate spinning and even how to master Diabolo throwing!
Erin was a little bit scared to do the Sword Techniques lesson, which was a bit unexpected, especially as her younger sister literally couldn’t wait to get involved (despite the fact that again the wooden swords were almost as big as her!!) She learned how to on guard and make some gruesome battle noises as they beat their pretend opponents, before being knighted by Sir Kristoff and Sir Samuel at the end of the session.
Finally as the sun was starting to set, we watched Samuel and Kristoff battle for victory, in a show filled with lots of audience participation, laughs and some quite brutal duelling. Again the commitment these guys have to their parts is really admirable. Fair play to them all!
We headed back to our lodge about 7.30pm, by which points the Knight’s Village Glamping Tends were all lit up and it looked really pretty at night. After working off lots of pent-up energy, we all ended up having a relatively early night and with comfy beds and cosy sheets – we all slept well (in Neve’s case far better than normal!)
Exploring Warwick Castle
Falcon’s Quest at Warwick Castle
An iconic show at Warwick Castle (check if its on at the time of your visit) is called the Falcon’s Quest – which is a close up and personal bird-of-prey show. We arrived at the area just as the show was starting, and as it was an absolutely gorgeous day, we opted to sit at the top of the hill on the grass. If you arrive earlier, there are about 5 rows of wooden benches right at the base of the hill by the lake, and these would be the best seats if you want to get up really close and personal with the birds. They soared literally RIGHT over people’s heads. If you have very young children, or those that prefer to watch from a bit further away, sitting where we were was ideal.
The Falcon’s Quest show was amazing, each bird being introduced in turn before a grand finale where they all flew together above our heads. With the medieval music playing creating quite an electric atompshere, I said to Mike that I found it all actually quite emotional (to which he laughed and asked if I was pregnant again!). The birds really are magnificent, and it was just something special about them all flying around together that really touched me. Definitely worth a watch.
Warwick Castle Princess Tower
The Warwick Castle Princess Tower is a 15-minute interactive storytelling session with a real princess, and children are taken up in small groups. Slots are timetabled, so you collect a ticket and return at your given time, reducing the requirement to queue which is ideal when excited (and somewhat impatient) younger children are involved! 🙂
When it’s your turn, you are taken upstairs to a little room before being taken into the princesses tower itself. The princess tells the story of a prince who has been frozen into a picture frame just before his wedding where he has since been trapped for almost 100 years. I wont ruin the ending of the story, but children are asked to help the princess solve the riddles in order to rescue the prince. The girls absolutely loved it, really getting involved and speaking out. The princess who lead our session was fantastic, very well spoken and responded so well to the children’s questions and reactions. She would’ve made a great TV presenter! You can’t film or take photos in the tower to protect the surprises for guests, but they very kindly let me snap a shot with the princesses that wouldn’t give too much away!
Views from the Top of Warwick Castle
Climbing to the top of Warwick Castle’s towers is not for the feint hearted (literally) and involved a lot of steps and a whole lot more narrow clastraphobia inducing spiral staircases. At the point of writing this post, my legs are still recovering!
That said, the views from the top are pretty amazing, and the girls really enjoyed looking down at the rest of the castle below. You can see for absolutely miles across Warwick’s beautiful countryside and there was something strangely satisfying about looking down the gratings to see all the tiny people below!
The Horrible Histories Maze
The girls really enjoyed this educational yet lots of fun Warwick Castle Horrible Histories hedge row maze, however, at the time of our first this was probably the one part of the Castle which we felt could do with a bit of love.
At the entrance you pick up a little map and the idea is to stamp each zone when you reach it, with a large press stamp that leaves an imprint on the map. Unfortunately 2 of the stamps were either completely missing or broken during our visit, and one didn’t work, with the others leaving a very feint mark on the paper. Despite this, the girls enjoyed visiting each zone and having their photo taken in the stocks in particular.
This has recently been updated in 2022, and when we had a more recent visit, everything was working as expected! 🙂
Warwick Castle Peacock Gardens
The Peacock Garden are a really beautiful place to visit at Warwick Castle, especially when the sun is shining. It was so lovely to watch these magnificent birds wander round the beautifully landscaped gardens. We had a chat to the resident gardener who was able to tell us that there were around 15 peacocks at the castle at the moment, and just one female! They lose their big feathers in the summer once mating season is over, but were still so timid and friendly!
Medieval Banquet Hall at the Warwick Castle Knight’s Village
The medieval banquet at Warwick Castle was something I was really looking forward to during our stay – the chance to eat in medieval surroundings whilst getting guests from some of the amazing knights and princesses.
During our stay at the Warwick Castle Knight’s Village we booked in for our evening meal in the Medieval Banquet Hall which is an optional extra during the stay and costs £18.95 per adult, and £9.95 per child. (please check with Warwick Castle for latest prices).
The Warwick Castle Banquet Hall itself is set up to look like a grand medieval hall, with wooden tables and chairs and large flags hanging from the high ceilings and really did feel like quite the experience. It is however quite dark inside and after an unexpectedly warm late summer afternoon, we did find it was rather on the warm side. The tables are also quite close together, which means at times it can feel a bit squashed up.
The dinner is a self-service hot buffet, and there was a range of food options including a roast dinner, lasagne and sausage and mash as well as the usual chicken nuggets, beans, fish fingers and chips for the girls. Hot drinks and soft drinks were refillable and included in the price, but alcohol could be purchased at the bar. There was also a range of dessert options including jelly, chocolate brownie and jam roly poly. Although we don’t personally have any specific dietary requirements, I did notice they had some gluten-free and vegan options available and therefore seemed able to easily cater for guests’ specific dietary needs.
I have to be honest that the food itself was nothing special, and we felt that you are definitely paying more for the medieval experience than the food itself. That said, we both enjoyed our meals and the girls did too.
The Knight’s Village Knight’s
The best part of dinner experience for us was when the Knights and Princesses came to visit, walking around the tables and chatting to all the children as we ate. I have to say I cannot fault the staff who play these roles, as they didn’t slip out of character once (despite my partners banter). The girls loved chatting to the knights about their sword fights and Erin even went to show the princess her colouring in after dinner (she was quite taken with her!)
This part of the evening in the Knight’s Village medieval banquet hall was really spell binding for the girls, creating an authentic and magical atmosphere that made the evening experience completely worth the additional cost.
In the morning we woke around 8am (quite the lie in!) and I stepped outside the lodge to hear beautiful bird song, with lots of birds nesting in all the trees around the lodge. Despite the weather not being as good the second day, having the chance to enter the park without queuing was great and gave us chance to return and visit the parts we hadn’t had time to on the first. There is so much to see and do at Warwick Castle that having two days really allows you to relax and enjoy it rather than rushing around and attempting to cram it all in – definitely a real plus of staying over.
Warwick Castle Knight’s Village Breakfast
Before setting off to the priority entrance, we headed for our Knight’s Village breakfast in the Medieval Banquet Hall. There was a great range of items available from your traditional sausage, bacon, beans, scrambled eggs and hashbrown bites (which were amazing by the way) to your cereals, fruit and croissants. Again however we did find that the room was incredibly hot, and because of this, we didn’t stay as long as we otherwise might have.
Is the Warwick Castle Knight’s Village worth it?
Overall, we had an absolutely magical experience at the Warwick Castle Knight’s Village and for the children in particular, staying over really did help bring the full medieval experience to life. I would return to Warwick Castle Knight’s Village in a heartbeat, and with themed events for Halloween and Christmas with additional extras to enjoy, I have a feeling we will be returning in the not too distant future. It may have taken me 36 years to visit for the first time, but it certainly didn’t take me long to go back!
Pros of the Knight’s Village:
- Excellent themed accomodation which was clean, comfortable and well equipped. The woodland location and the styling inside really made us feel like we had been whisked away on a mini adventure.
- Parking close to the knights village and the priority access into the castle grounds.
- The staff across the whole site were fantastic, in particular the gardener who was really lovely and took so much time out his day to chat with us about the Castle’s history,the Knights and Princesses, who made my daughter’s weekend so special.
- The evening entertainment which turned the visit to a castle into a proper medieval experience. We all got to try something new and it really felt like a holiday.
- The Falcon’s Quest show for me personally was a real highlight, and something I will remember for a long time. Gave me goosebumps and very up lifting.
- Value for money, given the normal entry fee and the evening entertainment included, very good value for money.
Cons of the Knight’s Village:
- Overall the Knights Village itself was fantastic, the accommodation of a high quality and I would definitely stay again. If i could critique the woodland lodge at all I would say that a small fridge would have been nice (just to keep some drinks cool), and the artwork on the wall in the children’s bedroom could be a little bit scary for some younger children. Erin actually said to me “why would they put such a scary painting in a children’s room?” as she was settling down to sleep, and it was a fair point – some of the scenes were a little on the nightmare inducing side!
- The food was good but not great – so I think you need to go with an open mind and not expect Michelin quality cuisine, that said, the experience of the guests during dinner definitely made the evening meal special.
Click here to learn more about the Warwick Castle Knight’s Village, and various Warwick Castle accommodation options.
How much is it to stay at the Knight’s Village?
Prices vary depending on the time of year, and you can also look out for special Knight’s village deals and promotions. As a general rule however, staying at the Knight’s Village lodges starts at £65 per person where as glamping starts at around £50 per person.
What time of year can I do Knight’s Village Glamping?
The Knight’s Village glamping tents aren’t open all year round to ensure guests get the best experience. If you want to sleep under the stars, the Knight’s Village Glamping tents are available to book between May and September.
*Disclosure – We were invited to stay at Warwick Castle Knight’s Village including an evening meal in exchange for our honest review. All additional expenses were paid for myself. All thoughts and opinions are my own*
