Yesterday I blogged about my exciting tour of Alnwick Castle & Gardens - which I went on last year - and promised to blog about the second half of my visit where I explored the gardens and grounds of the castle. The first post is here.
If you thought the castle was beautiful then you're in for a surprise as the gardens were absolutely stunning! The Alnwick Gardens are actually described as a 'complex of formal gardens'. There are all different gardens included in your visit, which includes the rose garden, the poison garden, the ornamental garden, the serpent garden, the roots and shoots garden and finally the cherry orchard. Flowers might not be your thing but it's well worth visiting the breathtaking grounds.
I particularly enjoyed the serpent garden - it is a garden filled with hidden walkways and art. There is a maze in it (fun!) and dotted around the garden you can find different art based around the theme of water.
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| The Grand Casade which featured a fountain show each half hour |
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| Part of the maze |
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| One of the water features, yes, we managed to walk through it without getting wet! |
It was truly lovely exploring all the beautiful gardens and just gazing at the stunning arrangement of flowers and such, and the poison garden was really interesting!
However, my most favourite part of the whole day and the best part of the grounds in my opinion was the treehouse!
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| Image taken from Wikipedia.org |
Yes, they had a treehouse. How flipping cool is that?! The treehouse is one of the biggest in the world and it was so amazing. Unfortunately my camera was dying by this point so I only managed a couple of pictures which is a shame, but I have genuinely made it my aim to return to Alnwick Castle & Gardens and visit this treehouse again. It was a real hidden gem - and it was quite romantic too! As we were looking around we were unfortunately rushed for time as we didn't have long until our coach was arriving but I was still glad for the opportunity. It was getting dark as we were looking around too and the whole treehouse is decorated in beautiful, small twinkling lights which makes it seem really romantic and magical.
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| The treetop restaurant - Image taken from www.alnwickgarden.com |
Parts of the treehouse are connected by suspended bridges and there is even a cafe/restaurant inside with a beautiful roaring fire! It was amazing and I was in awe the whole time. I'd love to visit one day at Christmas and have a meal inside the treehouse when it's decorated for Christmas, I can't comprehend how cosy it will be inside next to the fire and a Christmas tree. The treehouse was the highlight of my day and I'd recommend that if you are ever in the North East, make the effort to visit this treehouse and the whole Alnwick Castle & Gardens.
As a further note - after seeing the photo of the restaurant again - I'm not quite sure if there was a fire or not - perhaps I imagined it as it was two years ago now! Nonetheless, it was amazing.
It was a really awesome day and Alnwick Castle & Gardens are definitely a top highlight of the North East.
www.alnwickgarden.com
Please note all photographs are copyright to myself and this blog, excluding the two images used which I have clearly stated where they are from.
