Lowther Castle & Gardens

This was a last minute idea to go here and what a lovely surprise it was. Beautiful garden and forest walking. The Japanese Gardens and Rose gardens were beautiful. We also went to the restaurant, which was busy and the food was very very nice.

A wonderful day out.

Fabulous visit! Great food in the cafe! Lovely welcoming, friendly staff in the shop/ticket office. Well laid out displays in exhibit. The gardens were amazing! Lots to do for children...tree swings were a big hit! Great adventure play area. Would highly recommend!

Stunning place to visit. The castle and ruins have been finished beautifully and allowed some narrow to grow in the ruins themselves. Lovely garden walks. All very dog friendly, and the cafe had some delicious cakes and coffee on hand. Could easily come back and explore more as the estate is huge. Recommended

A very interesting castle and grounds. Restoration is currently ongoing and the gardens are a work in progress, however still a very enjoyable day out. Great for kids as there is lots to do and a huge castle play park.

We had a brilliant day out at Lowther. It was perfect for my 10 year old and labrador. Dogs need to stay on leads in the estate. There's a mix of woodland walks, around the estate wider walks, gardens and features to explore. We spent about 4 hours there and could have been there longer. The kids play park is the best we've been to for a country house. It's independent so not part of NT or EH. Prices were reasonable for the full day and the ice cream is great!

Lots to do for all ages. Nice exhibits, walk in the gardens, fun play area for the kids (the lost castle) and a great cafe. We had a great time and would recommended it for families.

Beautiful castle & gardens- a truly perfect family spot with endless activities upon entering, from the museum, castle, gardens, children’s play area and the walk up to the castle & cafe, everything is accessible for all and dog friendly making it a perfect day out filled with gorgeous views, and restored, well kept and respected history to learn more! We did not get a chance to fully explore this location within 2 hrs and would recommend half a day here to fully see it all!

Lowther Castle & Garden in Lake District National Park is one of the most intriguing visitor attractions in the UK. Dramatic ruins, gardens within gardens and adventure playground to rival the best in the Lake District. Lowther family has lived here for 850 years. It's very good place for kids to learn history and stories about them. There is a cafe too, where you can get delicious food.
We went there in January. We went with family. We loved the place. Plenty of car parking spaces available outside. Best is buy tickets online. Cycles are not allowed inside.

This wonderful site with the impressive gardens and park area is magnificent. It's absolutely worthwhile visiting. The garden area is divided in multiple sections and each one is so beautiful - there is the rose garden, japanese garden, the gardens in front of the castle and in the ruins as well as wonderful rhododendron in between the gorgeous trees and the forests.

The park is huge and has some nice surprises in store for visitors. In addition to an impressive rose garden, an Asian garden and an exciting woodland area, there are nice opportunities to view the surrounding countryside from various view points. We were most impressed by the children's playground. There are challenges here for children of all ages. For us, it's clearly one of the most innovative castle playgrounds we've visited so far.

It's fabulous, genuinely one of my favourite places to visit.
They have fantastic gardens & grounds to walk round and often have an exhibition or installation on show.
The cafe is a lovely place to have a well earned refreshment after getting your steps in.

HUGE grounds with lots of gardens to explore. Currently under restoration, but still lots to see. Castle also having restoration work carried out but there is plenty to see here too. Cafe / shop / toilets all on site.
There is a play area at the far end of the gardens for (cough) children ( adults too !! ) with zip lines, slides, climbing frames, mazes, slides.. lots of fun !! Buy tickets in advance and get a discount if English Heritage member.. 👍🏼

Absolutely incredible place. There is so much to do and see. It's all beautifully kept. The areas for the kids are fantastic. We ended up getting annual passes because it was such good value for money and we want to go all the time.

The castle is brilliant, nicely hidden away just outside Keswick. The grounds are amazing too … but the park … oh my me the park. I didn’t see my 8 year old daughter for hours!! We had a great time. Great place to stretch your legs, learn a little and have fun. Really nice cafe in the grounds too.

Lovely place with fantastic gardens and a lovely cafe. Will be busy during the High season and plenty of parking but the overflow car park was nearly full by 11.30am. Quaint toilets and Kimis Gelato which is a favourite of ours. They have a special Lowther Honey and Toast flavour. Lots of people clearly take their dogs there for a walk. You have to pay for gardens etc but there is plenty to do for free.

It's a shame it's a ruin, but it's now my favourite castle of all time. Such a beautiful castle. Lots of walks around the grounds, and you can pay to go in. Very dog friendly and they had a cafe too.

The castle and gardens were absolutely beautiful. The site is dog-friendly with the exception of the children’s play area. Staff were very friendly and helpful.

I visited with my husband and two young children, we had a lovely time (which was only improved by the fantastic weather we had for the trip). There's a lot to see here and we could have easily stayed all day (as it was we were there for about five hours), the gardens are lovely to walk through with some nice variety to the planting and paths. I actually think we could have spent all our visit exploring there if we had been visiting without the children.
Our children (14 months and nearly 3 years old) had a wonderful time in the play area, they would have played up there for the entire duration of our visit given the chance. The zip wires designed for younger children were a real hit with our two and something we haven't seen anywhere else before, but also the large castle play structure was amazing for keeping our toddler happy with lots of different pieces to be climbing over and slides to go down.
If you are visiting with children it is worth asking if the cafe by the play area is open, it wasn't on the day of our visit and it's worth being aware that it's quite a walk back from the play area to the main cafe for little legs (luckily we were told when we entered so we could plan accordingly).

We came to visit in July 2021 during our honeymoon, totally by accident! It was the best decision ever. The place is stunning, very well managed, and great for kids and dogs. We were extremely happy that we could take our terminally ill dog with us. Highly recommend!

Really beautiful gardens within the ruins of the castle. Extensive grounds to explore and a lovely cafe or takeaway away snacks.