Accessibility
Nottingham Castle is for everyone.
We have made an ongoing commitment to remove and reduce any barriers you may face to visiting us. We have a wide range of access tools and, together with our trained and friendly team, we aim to provide a memorable and enjoyable visit for everybody.
General access information is available below, or please get in touch to discuss any potential access concerns that you may have before your visit.
Nottingham Castle Trust is proud to be a Disability Confident employer.
Wheelchair friendly
Changing Places toilet
Support dogs welcome
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New safety measures in place
Please read the information below before you visit.
We have been working hard to make sure your visit will be safe, relaxing and enjoyable. Amongst the new measures in place are:
- Online ticketing – Tickets will only be available to purchase online to help us keep Nottingham Castle ‘Covid secure’ and minimise delays.
- Temperature checks – Our staff will check your temperature on arrival. If you have a high temperature, you will not be allowed to visit that day.
- One-way routes – There will be suggested routes for you to follow depending on your ticket type. All routes will have sanitisation stations and we are carrying out our enhanced cleaning throughout each day.
- Face coverings – Our staff will be wearing facemasks. Some will also wear visors. We ask all visitors to wear a mask when visiting too. Don’t worry, if you forget your mask, we have plenty.
- Social distancing – You will find social distancing measures in the Visitor Centre, Terrace Café, and Coffee Shop. Please help us to keep you and our staff safe by following our guidance in these areas.
- Card-only payments – We will not be accepting cash payments, so please pay by card and, where possible, contactless.
If you have any concerns before your visit, please do contact us.
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Admission and concessions
Concessions for disabled visitors are available. Your companion or carer will be admitted free of charge.
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Assistance dogs
Assistance and Support dogs are welcome in our grounds and the Castle. Water bowls for dogs are available at the Visitor Centre, Ducal Palace and Terrace Café.
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Getting to Nottingham Castle
Travel information is available on our Getting Here page, together with local accommodation options.
The Castle is located on a hill, so there are a number of steep paths (the steepest is a 1 in 10 gradient). Please note some pathways do not have handrails.
To manage the slope, as part of the visitor experience we have an accessible Land Train connecting Brewhouse Yard to the Ducal Palace, with a variety of stops along the way and an audio tour. The rear carriage has an extendable ADA ramp access for one wheelchair user per trip; access to other carriages is by one step. Rides are on a first-come, first-served basis.
At the top of Castle Road, there is a dropped kerb with tactile paving for drop-offs.
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Caves access
Brewhouse Yard has wheelchair-accessible caves on the ground floor.
We regret that all other caves are inaccessible if you are a wheelchair user or have a disability that prevents you from accessing the steep passages of the cave network. Information on the varying length and ease of the cave tour routes is available on our Guided Tours page.
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Changing Places toilet and accessible toilets
There is a Changing Places toilet in the Gatehouse next to the Visitor Centre. Two accessible toilets in the Visitor Centre, and one on the ground floor of the Ducal Palace near the Terrace Café.
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Queuing and seating
You will find benches and seating across the site, and we have a limited number of portable stools available at the Visitor Centre and Information Desk in the Ducal Palace.
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Accessible events
Object handling stations are available daily with care from our friendly and trained team, together with tactile interpretation in some galleries.
Please speak to our friendly admissions team for additional accessibility support on the day of your visit.
Visit the What’s On page to view our events or sign up for regular updates on future events.
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Playground access
Hood’s Hideout adventure playground can be accessed via a gently sloping footpath and has been designed to be as wheelchair and pushchair friendly as possible.
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Access for D/deaf and hard of hearing
We have mobile induction loops in our Visitor Centre for those who need them.
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Website accessibility
We are committed to providing you with a website that adheres to web accessibility standards. Find out more by reading our Website Accessibility Policy.
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Our team
Nottingham Castle Trust is proud to be a Disability Confident employer across all areas of its colleague teams and volunteers.
Get in touch
If you have any other needs which we have not covered or have feedback on any of the above, please let us know so that we can do our very best to give you full and equal access to our site.