Highclere Castle, Yes Please
As I mentioned in the day trip article, I had high hopes to see this beautiful location in person. It was a simple desire. After all my attempts… it didn’t happen 🤪.
If you want to see Highclere Castle, and the tour is sold out, you do have an alternative. You can walk the public footpaths. There are several. Footpath 1 is the closest view and Footpath 2 has the best vantage points for an all-around good experience. There are others, but these are the two that made sense.
To play it safe, I went to number 2. The other attraction to footpath 2 is that you can park here. For the life of me, I couldn’t find any place to park to access path 1. They probably do that on purpose, and that’s fine. I understand tourists can be daunting.
Go to footpath 2. Park below the trail, it’s well marked. Begin your climb up the hill. It is very steep in some parts. It may be too steep if you’re injured or such. It wasn’t long, maybe 15 minutes to the top, but it does test the quads.
Once you’re to the top, you’ll turn around and your jaw will drop. It’s an amazing panoramic view. There are very few people around, if any. You have this all to yourself. You will most certainly appreciate the views despite being there for Highclere. You’ll see a monument in the middle, that’s the center. Continue walking forward and you’ll see Highclere off in the distance to the right. If you have a 250-300mm lens, you can capture it decently. All my binoculars are a joke, but maybe you have nice ones that you can use here.
I was very content with the journey already thanks to this hike. Yet, I was still determined to see Highclere face to face. I drove back down and went back to the entrance (which is still 1 mile from the estate). You’ll just see a single lane bridge with a sign saying they’re full or reservations only. Don’t attempt to cross here. Also, there are people that live right in that little loop of the Highclere entrance, apparently, and they get very angry, very quickly. Don’t stay around, don’t linger, don’t park, don’t even look at them 😂.
Now, you can try to circle around, or use Google Maps, and get lost. I drove the nearest inner roads to try and find a place to park, or access footpath 1. I found the church, and nearly the 1st footpath, but there wasn’t a single place to park. They do warn you that there is no parking. I couldn’t see the estate at all, no matter where I looked. After multiple attempts, and multiple circles, I threw in the towel.
It took 3 hours of trying, and failing 🤨. Although, I did get a photo from the 2nd footpath’s mountain top. That will suffice until I can pre-book that place well in advance.
By this point, we invested too much time and were off schedule. Talk about sunk cost fallacy.
If you’re an absolute diehard fan, you’ll just have to pre-book tickets long before your trip. That is the short of it. You can see it from afar, but it probably won’t be to the same effect.
Footpath 1: Highclere Park Public Walk (accessed from Highclere Estate Main Entrance at Whitway)
Footpath 2: Beacon Hill Public Footpath (accessed from Whitway Road, off the A34)
Side note: I believe you’ll see footpath #7 (Heaven’s Gate Summer Walk) from the top of footpath 2. It’s just slightly left of Highclere, in the distance. Therefore, it may be possible to view it from there as well. The only issue everywhere is parking. Hence path 2 being the safe bet. 😉
