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Friends of ours live in the area.

A couple of years ago we visited them and stayed at the CC site on the edge of Blenheim palace.

This money grabbing policy was well known to the locals and the "head honcho" is not paticularly well liked in the area because of this and other reasons and our friends were able to walk us through the grounds of Blenheim on public rights of way without incurring this charge. apparently the charge to walk through the grounds is not enforceable and if challenged on this, those in the kiosks have to let you pass.

The only place they can legally charge for is entry to the immediate gardens of the house.

A good walk through the grounds can be had by starting out in Bladon by the church where Churchill is buried.

Cross the main road from the church turn left and walk down to near the pub/hotel. If you turn into this road there is a back entry to the palace grounds which is always left open [it has to be as its a public right of way. From here you can follow the roadway all the way around to the house, keep going past the lake and you will exit the palace grounds in Woodstock village itself.

Plenty of places here for coffee etc although as to be expected not the cheapest.

Dave

I agree with the previous sentiments. I know places like these have their upkeep costs and wages to pay etc but with the amount of visitors they must get I'm sure they could make their charges more reasonable.

The weekend before last I camped in the north Northumberland coast area and went to Bamburgh castle; I only wanted to walk round the grounds and take a few photos for my blog but it would have cost me £2 to park and £9 to get in - needless to say, I didn't bother. In comparison, I went to Warkworth castle a few miles further down the coast, it cost £3 to park and £4.95 to get in but on production of your car park ticket at the pay desk you get the parking charge refunded. I actually went in the castle and although there's nothing in there it took ages to explore all the different rooms, passages and staircases - I got some great photos from the top and more round the grounds so it was well worth the £4.95. Now that's more like a reasonable charge!

The annoying thing with Blenheim is that when people reach the Kiosk they give you the impression that you have to pay the money to walk in the parkland part of the grounds. This however is a ploy to get everyone to pay even if you don,t want to enter the enclosed part of the palace. His "lordship" apparently does not want anybody to walk the grounds using public rights of way for nothing and our friends and other walking groups in the area take great delight in walking the grounds on these rights of way.

Obviously most people not realising whats going on either pay up or turn around and leave.

If you have been to Chatsworth you will know you can walk around the grounds and even enter the stable restaurant area without paying any admission fee for the house area.

Dave

Decided to visit Blenheim whilst staying nearby. Having read reviews we decided not to bother with the Palace. Had my 79 year old dad with us who wasn’t really bothered about visiting the gardens either so, having seen comments on here regarding paying/or not to go in the grounds, we decided to go but my dad would stay in the car and read his paper. DON’T DRIVE IN THROUGH THE GATES. We drove through the first gates we came to and approached a pay booth. I explained we only wanted 3 adult tickets and that my dad was staying in the car. A rather surly man informed me that I had to pay “as we had driven through the gate.” I don’t know what I was supposed to do if I didn’t want to stay as the driveway was one way. The board with prices on said “parking was free with an admittance ticket” I should have said well I’ll pay for the parking.

Having re-read the posts on here it would appear we should have parked elsewhere and walked into the grounds.

It wasn’t worth the money anyway. We live near Chatsworth and you can drive into the grounds, pay £2 to park, and stay as long as you like, visit the shop & café and only pay if you want to go in the gardens or the house.