Culzean Castle

Written by Jack on April 5, 2014

partlycloudy55° F

We awoke to another cloudy and rainy day in Glasgow. As much as you want perfect weather, we knew what to expect in the UK and had set our expectations accordingly.

We had planned to head to the coast and see Culzean Castle, but had a moment of hesitation at the weather before deciding to just go for it. Off we went, southwest, past Troon and Ayr down to Maybole.

Rain. Lots of rain.

It hardly seemed the most best idea to drag the kids around in the rain, so it seemed the castle wouldn’t make the cut. It also seemed silly to drive 90 minutes and not take a single photo, so we decided to at least head over and snap a picture on our way back up to Glasgow. Upon entering the grounds to the castle, we hit the toll taking booth.

£15 per adult in the car.

Nope. Not for a quick photo. We turned around disappointed and set off to find some lunch instead.

While eating at a little seaside eatery the rain stopped. The fog started to roll back. We had what appeared to be a new lease on the day. I decided to push for a return to the castle. What can I say, maybe I’m a sucker but I just love castles.

In for a penny, in for a pound, we went for the whole tour to do it right, and we were blown away. The grounds were incredible, with fields, gardens, and even a swan pond, all up against a rocky cliff which Culzean Castle towered over. Palm trees were everywhere, combined with a sand-stone look and some interesting architecture and I could have sworn the castle was straight out of Persia or somewhere in the ancient middle east.

So the castle and grounds were beautiful. Check. But how about the inside? How would the kids find it? It turns out, the people who run the castle are certified geniuses. They hid a lego minifigure in each and every room (except the staircase) of the castle and sent the kids on the quest of finding them all. If they did, they get rewarded with stickers at the end.

Seriously. If you have kids, you’re smiling right now. This just became the best thing we’ve done yet on the trip. Go Lego Go!

Oh, and the rest of the place was pretty awesome as well. We learned a lot of legitimately interesting things about the owners (The Kennedys, and no, not the American ones), saw neat antiques and other such things. A total win for the day in every category.