Arundel Castel

Arundel Castel

Hi, I hope everyone is well. I was luckily enough to visit Arundel Castel in September; I went with my husband and mother and father in law.

We decided if we where going to do this then we where going to do this right! so we brought a gold plus ticket which means you can visit every where apart from the private areas of course.

(don’t worry I’ll be putting all the ticket information at the end.)

So, I have to admit I was a little worried about going, I’m not going to lie I know that Arundel it’s self gets very busy all year round, I was anxious but it was somewhere I had always seen but for some reason never gone in. So we bit the bullet and went for it!

We arrived at Arundel around 11am as we had already looked up the opening times and they didn’t open till 10am so we where hoping to miss a bit of the rush from coaches arriving.

The Carpark opposite the Castle already had a lot of cars but there where still disabled places to park, we also noticed because it was so busy that they had opened the back field behind the carpark for extra parking.

You can use your blue badge in the carpark, but you still pay but you do get an added hour for free on top of what you paid for. (I thought this was a nice touch!)

In the car park there are toilets and a disabled toilet, but you do need a RADAR KEY, (which I have done a post on if you would like more information about this.)

Leaving the car park, you cross a very busy road so please be careful when crossing.

Once you’re the other side of the road you’re at the entrance of Arundel castle where you line up to buy your tickets, once you have brought your ticket you go up to the gate and there will be someone there, if you have difficulties walking (like I do!) they do this small cart where someone will take you to your destination, we started with the gardens, the lady we had was very good she can only take three people at a time, but she was saying that once we have walked around the gardens that if we let one of the staff no they will radio them to collect you and take you to the castle to look around there. This is free and doesn’t cost extra.

They have worked hard to make it as disabled friendly as they can.

If you are in a wheelchair or you are in a mobility scooter the grounds are wide and flat, with gravel so I would say that it shouldn’t be too difficult to make your way to the gardens. In the gardens are a couple of steps but most of it is flat. The gardens are beautiful and are well worth visiting.

There is so much to see and do there! There is a rose garden and a maze which we didn’t get to see, (I wanted to try and save some energy so I could still look around the castle) there is lots of seating all around the gardens and paths going to and from the gardens and castle.

There is also Fitzalan Chapel near the gardens which I will admit we didn’t notice till after going round the castle it’s nicely tucked away, yet it’s quite big (not to sure how we missed it!) but we did go back and have a look and it was worth going back to see, it’s very pretty.

There are steps going into the church there is no wheelchair access, but If you are able to, do go and have a look, it is beautiful.

Also while going into the Chapel, you will notice that you can see that there is a separate church connected but you are unable to access it unless you walk out of the castle grounds and walk up through Arundel street to gain access (we didn’t do this, this would have to be saved for another day).

The only reason I noticed this is because a service started, which made us ask if you can get in there or not. This is when the lady inside explained that it wasn’t connected.

So back to the Arundel Castle, what can I say it’s beautiful, for a start.

The Castle is built on a hill and there are some steep stairs and narrow passages which can make mobility difficult, if you are walking there are a lot of seats dotted around so you can catch your breath. About 2/3 of the Castle interior is accessible to wheelchairs, subject to some width limits.

The Castles ground floor lever is accessible via a ramped entrance and passenger lift.

The Castle first floor is accessible via passenger lift (24”/60cm wide) (I did ask about this they said they do offer wheelchairs that do fit in the lift if you are able to transfer from your chair to there’s they don’t seam to state this on their website, that I could find. So I was glad I asked).

A few key points to Arundel castle are that it has the following

-Lavatories /WC’s

-Adapted WC’s castle

-Gardens Partly accessible, slopes, tarmac paths

-Castle shop ground floor, level entrance.

-ASSISTANCE DOGS -welcome but must be wearing their relevant harness.

I found Arundel Castle really worth visiting, I will admit it took me a few days to recover with my own disabilities, but I thought it was really good that they have adapted the castle so it is more disabled friendly which is important. They seamed really easy to talk to as well, which helps with the anxiety side of things, I did have a couple of panicky moments it does get crowded in there, but we just went and sat on the bench outside so I could calm down again, after getting home I was really glad we went it took me out of my comfort zone alot but the experience was brilliant and I felt proud I did it. I hope if you decide to visit Arundel Castle you feel the same.

I’ve also added some pictures from my visit I hope you like them!

As I said at the start, I’ll leave all prices here this is pricing for 2019 so this could change, and I’ll be leaving links and contact information.

Arundel Castle Opening Times :2019

Open between Tuesday 2nd April and Sunday 3rd November 2019

Tuesday to Sunday inclusive 10:00am -5:00pm

Also open on the following Mondays

Easter Monday 22nd April

May Bank holiday Monday 6th

Spring Bank holiday Monday 27th May

Monday 5th August Monday 12th August

Monday 19th August

Summer Bank holiday Monday 26th August

Opening times

Gardens and grounds, Fitzalan Chapel

10:00am – 17:00pm

Castle Keep

10:00am – 16:30pm

State Rooms

12:00pm – 17:00pm

Restaurant and coffee shop

10:00am – 16:30pm

Gift shop

10:00am -17:00pm

Last Admissions

16:00pm

Tickets can be brought at the gate throughout the day

If your disabled, your carer receives free entry, for child (under 16 years) the child enters free and the adult carer pays admission price (Proof of Disability and carer may be requested)

Castle and Gardens

Gold + : adult £22.00, concession £19.50

Child £11.00, Family (2 adults & up to 3 children) £55.00

Gold: Adult £20.00, concession £17:50 child £11.00, family /£51.00

Silver: Adult £15.00, concession £15.00 child £11.00 family N/A

Bronze: Adult £13.00, concession £15.00 child £11.00 family N/A

What your tickets include:

Gold + – Gardens, Keep, State Rooms, Bedrooms

Gold - Gardens, Keep, State Rooms

Silver – Gardens, Keep

Bronze – Gardens

(this you will find on their web site.)