I hadn’t planned on going away this bank holiday so today was a good day for a day out from London, especially as how we were actually going to have nice clear weather, with only a small chance of rain unlike yesterday and apparently tomorrow. We thought at first a trip to the Isle of Wight would be something on the cards but with the travel involved it wasn’t worth it just for a day trip. Somehow Leeds Castle came up at the last minute and it proved to be a great decision.

Contrary to what I had always believed Leeds Castle is not located in Leeds but in the opposite direction completely. Its just as well really because instead Leeds Castle is only an easy hour and a half bus drive south of London instead of a long 3-4 hour drive north. National Express offers combined bus travel to and ticket entry into the Castle. With this option you get to spend around about 4 and half hours there (10.30-3.00) which is more than enough time to explore the Castle plus all the other activities around the grounds.

Its fairly easy to get around the grounds and unless you go out of your way to take a different path you will inevitably visit the Castle first, then drop into the Dog Collar Museum (how unusual but the only one of its kind in the UK), walk through the few gardens, make your way around the birds in the aviary, solve your way through a cool hedge maze and then grotto, take time out to look into the vineyard and check out the birds of prey nearby.

The Castle I guess is the main reason people visit this attraction. Although there always seemed to be a constant stream of people walking through the Castle and it did get crowded at times (and yes there will be blockages) generally the pace to get through the Castle is quite good. If you don’t pick up the audio tour pick up one of the laminated guides at the entrace which will give you some info on the rooms and particular things to look out for. The interior was okay but for me once I’ve seen the inside of one palace or castle it all starts to look the same: rich, extravagant etc. (The library was cool though!)

More interesting to me were the things on the outside. The aviary, established as a memorial to the last private owner of the Castle Lady Baillie, is filled with all sorts of exotic and rare birds. She was actually the first to bring black swans, from Australia!, into the country and you’ll find these swimming in the Castle Moat. The tour is definitely something I recommend, only taking half an hour at the most, as although a lot of the birds are nice to look at it was good also to hear a bit about their personalities … in fact one of the birds apparently even thought it was a human! And whilst we’re on the subject of birds be sure to make time for the falconry show. Its always great to watch birds of prey and as the handler will tell you – owls do not make it a practice to deliver mail …

The hedge maze was fairly fun and when we actually started to pay attention we found to our surprise that we’d reached the middle of the maze without taking too many wrong twists and turns (don’t ask me to do it again though!) It was actually pretty funny to hear people calling out instructions to some of the lost souls! Once you’ve solved the maze you head downstairs to this area called the grotto which are some strange caves/tunnels where, if you pay attention to the surrounds, what you see may just surprise you.

Overall, it was a great relaxing day out from London. I’m just thankful the weather was gorgeous enough for us to really enjoy ourselves.