National Trust - Castle Drogo Reviews Summary

Castle and Grounds

Pros:

• "The house itself is quite impressive."
• "Beautiful castle, chapel and garden."
• "The gardens are stunning and I will be sure to visit in the summer when they are in full bloom to see them at their best."
• "There are some lovely walks and amazing views surround the castle."
• "The gardens and walks are absolutely stunning."
• "The Castle itself is spectacular and the grounds are beautifully maintained."
• "The gardens are so pretty. Such a relaxed calm feel about the whole place."

Cons:

• "Parking fees are pretty hefty considering you pay a lot on entrance fees."
• "To get there was a difficult task though and my tiny Vauxhall did really struggle, so bear that in mind with the single-track roads as they are very steep."
• "The approach has narrow lanes and poor road surfaces."
• "A lot of the house and gardens are not very child friendly."
• "It would be nice if there was a playground for children, as in some of the NT places."
• "Only criticism is that, though dogs are allowed, they're severely restricted and there are no poo bins outside the car park."
• "The toilets are shut by the castle due to COVID restrictions so you have to go all the way back to the main entrance."

Visitor Experience

Pros:

• "A most interesting place to visit."
• "The room guides were approachable, knowledgeable and pleasant."
• "A super place to spend the day."
• "The restaurant offers lots of hot and cold food options and a choice of drinks, with plenty of seating."
• "The guides are helpful and informative."
• "Friendly and welcoming staff in the cafe, shop and reception when we arrived."
• "The staff and guides were welcoming and well informed."

Cons:

• "What a joke, you have to pay to park then pay £14 each to have a look at the castle."
• "Castle Drogo is a complete waste of time and money and definitely not dog friendly."
• "Till staff not so much. Tables didn't get wiped."
• "The cafe was a disappointment with very long queues and I'm afraid equally disappointing food for the cost."
• "Nice staff, shame about the scaffolding. Charging full price seemed a bad move considering much of the building is not available and the outside isn't visible."
• "The only downside was you could definitely smell the toilets at the entrance!!"
• "A bit disappointing. You buy the ticket to see the castle but when you're there, the area is completely closed."

Accessibility and Facilities

Pros:

• "Great place to visit and easy to get to."
• "Good parking."
• "There is a gift shop and public toilets and parking for about 200ish cars."
• "Handy NT cafe near the car park."
• "There were plenty of parking spots, despite the fact that it was very busy."
• "Great cafe and visitor centre, clean and spacious with outside seating."
• "The cafe was large and spacious."

Cons:

• "Expensive, National Trust site, but looking past this, the walks are well trodden and that shows how popular Drogo is with all day trippers, but the grounds still feel and look young, recent facelift not blended into the location."
• "The castle itself was still being scaffolded and the furniture in the castle itself was being unpacked."
• "When visited castle was under construction and most of it covered by scaffolding."
• "Would be nice to have a few QR codes around the grounds etc to break down the information into shorter chunks rather than all the information in one."
• "Access via very narrow roads is tricky."
• "Just be prepared to pay National trust prices in the cafe!"
• "Food in the cafe is a bit limited."