You probably already know but if you don’t, the North East is home to some of the North of England’s most beautiful castles (six of them in fact), according to new data.

Nestled in the likes of County Durham and Northumberland, some could even be right on your doorstep – what better way than to make the most of the warmer weather?

In the UK we are fortunate enough to be home to over 4,000 castles and palaces but it’s the north of the country that boasts some of the most popular to visit for 2024.

British heritage brand Fairfax & Favor wanted to list the top UK landmarks for castles and palaces that were open to the public right now, so conducted a research piece which ranked days of rainfall per location, average temperature year-round, Google visitor star ratings (out of five) and average monthly online searches to visit each place.

@thenomadsyouknow Such an impressive castle! Have you heard of it? 🏰🍃#visitnorthumberland #bamburghcastle #northeastengland #ukscenery #uniqueexperiences #thisprettyengland #visitengland #castlesofengland #englishheritage #foryoupage #fyp ♬ Evergreen - Richy Mitch & the Coal Miners

They used this information to create an index and score each place in the North of England out of 100, concluding with a top 10 list.

You can see all locations, full rankings and scores here.

6 North East castles crowned most beautiful in North of England

The six castles dotted around the North East which ranked highly (along with their total scores) were:

  • Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland (1st place) – 67/100
  • Alnwick Castle, Northumberland (2nd place) – 64/100
  • Barnard Castle, County Durham (5thplace) – 59/100
  • Raby Castle, County Durham (6th place) – 58/100
  • Warkworth Castle, Northumberland (8th place) – 56/100
  • Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland (9th place) – 56/100

Why is Bamburgh Castle the most beautiful in North of England?

Heritage experts at Fairfax & Favor commented: “Bamburgh Castle ranks as the top castle to visit in the north of England.

“Listed online as the North East’s ‘Large Visitor Attraction of the Year’, it's easy to see why this castle attracts so much interest.

“Spanning an impressive nine acres and over 1,400 years old, Bamburgh Castle makes for a great day out to take in some local history.”

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They added: “The castle, which is one of the largest inhabited castles in the country, offers visitors informational tours to learn history of The Last Kingdom, Vikings and Knights.”

Bamburgh Castle has 61,000 average UK searches and a 4.7 rating on Google reviews, the data suggests.

Admission costs start at £17 for adults and children’s tickets are free for those under four.