Visiting

Hundreds of stately homes are open to the public to visit, mostly during the summer. A guide to which houses are open and when is Hudson’s Historic Houses and Gardens, published each December for the upcoming year, which can also be viewed online by geographical area by clicking on Where To Visit (top left). Other lists include Britain Express and England’s Thousand Best Houses by Sir Simon Jenkins.

The Top 100 Stately Homes Open to the Public:

Royal residences (14):

• Buckingham Palace, London, England
• Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England
• Hampton Court Palace, London, England
• Kensington Palace, London, England
• Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland
• Dublin Castle, Dublin, Ireland
• Sandringham House, Norfolk, England
• Balmoral Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
• Osborne House, Isle of Wight, England
• Hillsborough Castle, County Down, Northern Ireland
• Frogmore House, Windsor, Berkshire, England
• Clarence House, London, England
• Kew Palace, London, England
• Castle of Mey, Highlands, Scotland

England (48):

• Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
• Chatsworth House, Derbyshire
• Castle Howard, North Yorkshire
• Burghley House, Lincolnshire
• Longleat House, Wiltshire
• Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire
• Holkham Hall, Norfolk
• Boughton House, Northamptonshire
• Hatfield House, Hertfordshire
• Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire
• Highclere Castle, West Berkshire
• Harewood House, West Yorkshire
• Houghton Hall, Norfolk
• Wilton House, Wiltshire
• Alnwick Castle, Northumberland
• Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire
• Arundel Castle, West Sussex
• Warwick Castle, Warwickshire
• Blickling Hall, Norfolk
• Penshurst Place, Kent
• Stowe House, Buckinghamshire
• Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire
• Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire
• Wentworth Woodhouse, South Yorkshire
• Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire
• Petworth House, West Sussex
• Lyme Park, Cheshire
• Knole, Kent
• Althorp House, Northamptonshire
• Attingham Park, Shropshire
• Cliveden, Buckinghamshire
• Ickworth, Suffolk
• Belton House, Lincolnshire
• Carlton Towers, North Yorkshire
• Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire
• Leeds Castle, Kent
• Montacute House, Somerset
• Corsham Court, Wiltshire
• Weston Park, Staffordshire
• Audley End House, Essex
• Holker Hall, Cumbria
• Aston Hall, Birmingham
• Temple Newsam House, West Yorkshire
• Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire
• Saltram, Devon
• Syon House, London
• Sledmere House, Yorkshire
• Broadlands House, Hampshire

Scotland (15):

• Hopetoun House, Edinburgh
• Floors Castle, Scottish Borders
• Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries & Galloway
• Mount Stuart, Argyll & Bute
• Inveraray Castle, Argyll & Bute
• Dunrobin Castle, Highlands
• Blair Castle, Perth & Kinross
• Culzean Castle, South Ayrshire
• Manderston, Scottish Borders
• Mellerstain House, Scottish Borders
• Scone Palace, Perthshire
• Abbotsford, Scottish Borders
• Bowhill House, Scottish Borders
• Brodick Castle, North Ayrshire
• Cawdor Castle, Highlands

Wales (7):

• Penrhyn Castle, Gwynedd
• Powis Castle, Powys
• Cardiff Castle, Cardiff
• Chirk Castle, Wrexham
• Erddig, Wrexham
• Plas Newydd, Isle of Anglesey
• Tredegar House, Newport

Northern Ireland (4):

• Castle Coole, County Fermanagh
• Florence Court, County Fermanagh
• Mount Stewart, County Down
• Castle Ward, County Down

Republic of Ireland (12):

• Castletown House, County Kildare
• Russborough, County Wicklow
• Kilkenny Castle, County Kilkenny
• Westport House, County Mayo
• Bantry House, County Cork
• Slane Castle, County Meath
• Killruddery House, County Wicklow
• Emo Court, County Laois
• Strokestown Park, County Roscommon
• Powerscourt, County Wicklow
• Muckross House, County Kerry
• Kylemore Abbey, County Galway

Note: The selection criteria is based on large Grade I houses with grand interiors and furnishings being open to the public on specified days each year without appointments, with the final inclusion cut-off at the Editor’s discretion, with a preference for the Palladian style. Hotels and B&Bs are excluded because they are listed on another page. Please leave a comment below if you feel any worthy house has been overlooked, suggesting which house should be removed from the list in its place (however some excluded English houses may rank higher than other region’s houses, but have been left out to allow for a representative selection from all regions).