Highclere Castle and Downton Abbey tours from London

Yes, but only on the castle's own dates, and always with a pre-booked ticket. Highclere has two periods of general admission each year, around the Easter and summer holidays. The rest of the year it offers themed guided tours and, in winter, Christmas events. Tickets are sold online only through the castle's official shop, can't be refunded or exchanged, and are valid only for the date and time you book.

The 2027 public opening dates are already on sale:

• Spring 2027: March 27–31, April 3–8, April 29–May 5 and May 29–June 3.
• Summer 2027: July 11 to September 2, Sunday to Thursday only (closed Fridays and Saturdays).

On public opening days, a Castle, Egyptian Exhibition and Gardens ticket costs £32 for an adult and a Castle and Gardens ticket £25. Visits are self-guided, and last entry to the castle is 3:30pm. Photography isn't allowed inside the castle, and large bags and backpacks aren't allowed in the grounds. Book on highclerecastle.co.uk.

"Downton Abbey tour" can mean three different things, so read the inclusions before you pay:

• Castle entry included: Brit Movie Tours's small-group tour is the only one we found that lists entry to Highclere Castle among its inclusions. Viator says it "is only available on certain times/days of the week", which in practice means the castle's open dates, so check the calendar on the listing.
• Visits Highclere, tickets extra: Barry Tours UK's private tour visits Highclere's grounds and gardens, but castle and garden tickets aren't included. You'll need to buy them from Highclere for one of its open dates.
• Village only: the Evan Evans Tours day and See More Taxi Tours's black-cab tour focus on Bampton, the Oxfordshire village that played Downton, plus the Cotswolds. Evan Evans Tours's listing says plainly that it doesn't visit Highclere Castle.

If seeing the inside of the house is the point of your trip, book only a tour that lists castle entry, or a date when the castle is open to the public.

Brit Movie Tours's tour is the one for serious fans. It leaves from Gloucester Road in a mini coach with a group of no more than 16, includes castle entry and a tour of the village filming locations, and runs about 9 hours. It's for ages 16 and up, rated 4.74 from 561 reviews, from $354. Castle entry on the listing doesn't change Highclere's calendar: book early, and only for a date the operator confirms.

The Evan Evans Tours Cotswolds and Blenheim Palace day is the budget option and the one most likely to fit your dates. It includes a guided walking tour of Bampton, a stop in Stow-on-the-Wold and a drive through the Cotswolds, and you can choose an option with entry to Blenheim Palace and Gardens. It's rated 4.50 from 1,263 reviews, from $107.

For a private day, Barry Tours UK picks up from your London accommodation and takes up to six people to Highclere and the Cotswold and Downton village locations, rated 5.00 from 43 reviews. See More Taxi Tours does a similar private day by electric black cab, with hotel pickup in central London; its bookable option covers Downton village and the Cotswolds, and entry fees are extra. Both are priced per vehicle.

Highclere recommends the train from London Paddington to Newbury, then a taxi. GWR runs direct trains: the fastest take about 40 minutes and most take 50 to 55. Taxis wait outside Newbury station, and the ride to the castle takes about 15 minutes. For the return, you'll need to phone for a taxi, because none wait at the castle; Highclere lists local firms on its directions page. From Waterloo, you can also take a train to Andover (about 20 minutes from the castle by taxi) or Whitchurch (about 10 minutes); pre-book a taxi there, as Highclere says they don't always wait at the station.

Two warnings for late 2026. Highclere says there will be no trains between Paddington and Newbury on Saturday, November 28, or Sunday, November 29. And GWR's timetable changes in mid-December, so always check your train on gwr.com before you travel. Drivers should follow the brown signs from the A34 rather than a sat nav, which Highclere says leads to the wrong entrance.

Bampton, on the southern edge of the Cotswolds about 18 miles south-west of Oxford, was the principal filming location for Downton's village scenes, according to the village's own Bampton Community Archive. Experience Oxfordshire highlights three spots:

• St Mary's Church, where Lady Mary married Matthew Crawley. Behind-the-scenes photos from filming hang by the entrance.
• Churchgate House, near the church, which stood in for the outside of Isobel Crawley's house.
• The gate next to the library, used as the entrance to Downton's cottage hospital.

The Bampton Archive's shop and exhibition, in the Old Grammar School near the church, opens daily from 10am to 4pm but is run by volunteers, so it may sometimes be closed. Bampton is hard to reach without a car, which is why most visitors come on a tour. Our guide to the villages on Cotswolds day tours shows which tours stop where, and our Cotswolds tours guide compares them all.

There's no general admission between the summer opening and March 27, 2027. The castle does open on selected winter dates for pre-booked events, and several have already sold out:

• Christmas Tours and Afternoon Teas: selected dates from November 18 to 29, 2026, £140 per adult. November 21, 22 and 27 were fully booked when we checked.
• Christmas Tours & Carols: December 3 to 6, 2026, self-guided, £65 per adult. December 5 was fully booked.
• Wintertime guided tours: selected dates in January 2027, £145 per person.
• From Downton Abbey to Tutankhamun guided tours: selected dates in February 2027, £145 per adult.

In January and February the castle gates close promptly at 4pm. If none of these dates suits you, the honest winter option is a village tour such as Evan Evans Tours's, or another day trip: see our Oxford tours, Bath day trips, or our guide to which day trip from London to choose.