On the road to Strangford on the shores of the lough hidden off the road lies Castle Ward a stunning castle surround by lush parkland and forest sitting beside the shoreline. I knew about this place having looked it up for Game of Thrones, and as a potential mountain biking location. Little did I know what it had to offer…… this place is huge and we only touched half of it on our visit.

 

Turning off the main road and driving through the gates to the grounds, you are lead down the roads through the trees to the first of the castle buildings. There is an adventure play park and all for the kids but we are here for the castle. We decided to drive on down and park in the trails carpark. Even the view from the car park is stunning across the lough to the far shore.

The paths are all well marked as we headed towards the castle and the various other buildings around the ground. We took a tour of the working water mill, and a few of the castle towers then headed for the shore to follow the yellow walk. This leads you along the waters edge to Audleys Tower. The walk is very picturesque with lots of boats zipping about on the water.

As you emerge from the treeline the tower appears in the distance perched on top of the hill over looking all. Carry on round the coast past the quay and you make the left turn and head back into the forest again. This is a gentle walk with not many challenging hills along the way. Eventually you have made your way around to the back of the tower as it appears through the trees. Another gentle walk through the field takes you up to it, again this tower is open to the public and you can look around it. As you crest the brow of the hill the views from it are amazing looking down on the full length of the lough with Strangford in the distance, well worth taking the time to go and dander to it…. only took us about 20 mins. All that you can see before you is water and the castle grounds dotted with trees. Word to note tho… walk around the side of the castle on the left to the open gate, the first gate you’ll come upon is locked.

From there we set off again this time following the narrow country road around back into the castle grounds and back to our courtyard starting point. Looking at the map we then headed off in the direction of the interesting sounding “Temple Water” and wow.

This lake set in the grounds was stunning with great views everywhere you looked. The water was filled with water lilies and flowers. There was lots of places also to sit and admire the view…. we thought this is maybe why it was called temple water, because it was so peaceful until we saw a narrow path up some steps leading into thick trees……

What we stumbled upon we did not expect, the Temple, perched high on the hill side over looking the lake below. Stunning views all around of the countryside. Now we know why it was located there, peace and quiet everywhere.

We walked a little more each turn offering something new from walled gardens to standing stones to tree tunnels and we still only touched on half of it I’d say.

Castle ward should be on your list of places to go visit, bring a picnic and enjoy the scenery, or be more active hire a bike take a Game Of Thrones tour, really anything you want…. a must visit.