Goodrich Castle

Early in April, towards the middle of the week, we went to Goodrich Castle and Raglan Castle as both are less than 20 minutes away. I can confidently state that Goodrich Castle should be your sole castle choice if you're coming from a distance and don’t have much time. I previously reserved a cab for us to take to the airport. I scheduled a cab through company. My friend once mentioned to me that he uses company cabs and that their service is excellent and reasonably priced. At the airport, the driver was waiting for us. We approached him and made introductions. He greeted us, took our luggage, and put it in the back of the cab. His car was very neat and clean and he was a very professional driver as he knew some shortcuts towards our destination. The ride was so smooth and comfortable that we didn’t realise that we had already reached our destination. Then the driver dropped off our bags and left.

A ruined castle is usually difficult to visit because, for the most part, it is merely an empty shell, making it difficult for tourists to fully comprehend the castle's progress as well as its history. Raglan and Goodrich had shared experiences in the past. Both of them started as defensive buildings before becoming magnificent residences fit for the highest nobles of the time. It is up to the management of the castles to assist tourists in understanding and imagining them in their heyday as you can only view the defensive constructions at both of them today.

The Welsh Government Historic Environment Service (CADW) is in charge of managing Raglan Castle, whereas English Heritage is in charge of managing Goodrich. While Raglan presents itself to visitors extremely poorly (a few signs, and that's it), Goodrich offers a much richer experience and more information with just one additional tool: the audio guide. Ironically, people today would get excited over an audio guide, don't you think? Even though we live in a technology age with displays, apps, and virtual reality, for some reason a simple audio tour makes this trip much more interesting.

We spent more than an hour at Goodrich thanks to the audio guide, particularly the side stories it provided. There are numerous locations to find and investigate. Although we didn't bring kids, I think they would enjoy the visit for no more than 20 to 30 minutes. A beautiful coffee shop with food is also present at Goodrich Castle. We gave it a try, and the coffee was excellent. In conclusion, if you love castles, you can combine Goodrich and Raglan into one fantastic day trip. Don't schedule a whole day here if you are travelling with children or if you only have time to visit one castle. Goodrich is a good choice and will only take you about an hour to tour (the area is packed with other beautiful places to explore, so I am sure you will easily find some other places to visit).