I was hesitant to come here as the pricing seemed a little high, and it wasn't the only castle I was planning on visiting while I was in Wales. It was well worth the price, however, as the castle gardens and museum are pristinely kept, and the staff knowledgeable of the histories surrounding the artifacts and paintings within, it was a very enjoyable experience.
You're not allowed to photograph any of the interior of the castle, as per the wishes of the castle's resident as he is still technically the owner, but I really wish there were some sort of virtual tour available online so I could get a better look at some of the paintings and pottery. The entire castle is very dimly lit, probably for the purpose of preserving the art from light damage, and it was very difficult to see much as there were rope barriers barring patrons from getting too close, which I'm sure is just good housekeeping as many of the floors were decorated with priceless Persian rugs. I really wish there were some museum quality lighting, most of the ceilings were painted with either battle scenes or scenes from Greek or Roman mythology.
The gardens were gorgeous, and I was surprised to see regional plants from California and the Rocky Mountains. One of the best parts of the gardens was our little friend James, a cat that resides at the castle for general rodent control. He followed us around for head-scratches, but then disappeared for a while. We saw him again when we were exiting the gardens, lying next to a large blood stained patch of earth where one of the stewards said he'd recently disemboweled a mouse. read more