Historic Cotswold attraction, Sudeley Castle & Gardens, is now open for the summer season and ready to welcome visitors by throwing open the doors.

The inside areas including exhibitions, castle rooms and St Mary’s Church  Visitors can discover the castles eventful 1000-year history showcased throughout the Royal Sudeley 1000, Trials, Triumphs and Treasures exhibition and take in the private family castle rooms.

Sudeley boasts a vast artwork collection and whether exploring rooms or wandering the corridors, the walls are adorned with paintings by the great masters, such as Van Dyke and Turner, as well as the Tudor Succession Planning, originally commissioned in 1572 by Elizabeth 1.

Whilst exploring the castle ground discover the 10 magnificent award winning gardens, visitors also have the opportunity to see Queen Katherine Parr’s tomb, the last and surviving wife of Henry VIII. Entombed in the restored St Mary’s Church, Katherine Parr is the only English queen to be buried on private land.

New for summer 2023 -Sudeley's Animal Ark You will encounter a plethora of wildlife as the Tudor estate takes its first steps to becoming the world’s first digital reserve. Visitors are invited on an animal odyssey across the castle grounds that begins with an Augmented Reality (AR) treasure hunt, before venturing into a brand new reserve area, where habitats from Kenya, China, Tibet, India and even the North Pole have been evoked for life-sized animal sculptures.

There are more than 50 handmade sculptures in total and other key features of the Animal Ark include the castle’s Birdsong Garden, in which visitors can hear a musical composition of British birds by the English acoustic ecologist and conservationist Cosmo Sheldrake.

The adventure playground will delight younger visitors and fuel their imaginations. It features a huge new fort full of hidey-holes to explore, levels to climb, towers to defend, bridges to cross, slides to zoom down and a climbing wall to master. Nearby is an adventure trail, 10-piece obstacle course, zip wire, swings and picnic benches.