Key facts
- Operator
- English Heritage
- Condition
- Ruin
- Access
- Staffed, ticketed
Pinpoint
Dunstanburgh Rd, Craster, Alnwick NE66 3TT
Telephone 01665 576231
Website www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/dunstanburgh-castle
Possible Opening hours
Opening times change. Always check the official website before you travel.
| Monday | 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM |
| Tuesday | 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM |
| Wednesday | 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM |
| Thursday | 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM |
| Friday | 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM |
| Saturday | 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM |
| Sunday | 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM |
A 14th-century ruin on a headland above the North Sea, reachable only on foot - the walk in from Craster takes 20-30 minutes across fields and rocks, longer from Embleton. What's left is substantial and dramatically sited, even if reviewers who've seen abbeys and priories with more surviving fabric rate places like Kenilworth above it for sheer intactness.
Worth the trip
The coastal walk itself - several reviewers say the approach across the headland, with the ruins growing larger ahead of you, is the best part of the whole visit.
Before you go
It's genuinely a walk-in site, not a drive-up one, and can be tough going for anyone with mobility issues over the uneven fields and rocks; it isn't free even with the walk, so bring an English Heritage or National Trust card if you have one.
Reviewers consistently describe Dunstanburgh as one of the most dramatically situated castles they've visited, with the coastal walk from Craster and the views along the way rated as highly as the ruins themselves. Several note the walk is a genuine hike of a mile or more each way across fields and rocks, which could be difficult for anyone with mobility issues. One reviewer compares the ruins unfavourably to more intact sites like Kenilworth, but even that review still recommends visiting for the setting alone.
National Trust owned, EH managed; coastal walk access; also listed under National Trust
“An epic location and impressive from which ever way you approach it. You really get a feeling what this was like in it's prime, views for miles and the North sea cliffs giving some protection. Easy enough to walk to…”— john tilley, visitor review
