Valentine's Cocktails at HIghclere Castle

We were touring the UK in the winter of 2023.  I wanted to show Robert some of my old haunts and discover some new ones.  We had rented a car to drive from London to Scotland so we were mobile.  We'd found an absolutely brilliant home exchange in Epsom (outside London) and were wandering around Surry and Somerset seeing whatever took our fancy. 

We made local friends who took us to an awesome local pub and recommended some fabulous restaurants in the area.  We were a little more aimless that we wanted so Robert started looking on the web to see if there was anything special we might want to do in the area and perhaps something special for Valentines Day which was a few weeks away.

He happen to look at the HIghclere Castle website to see if there was anything of interest and came across a notice that there was a Valentines Luncheon and Cocktail Party at the Castle.  We were great fans of Downton Abbey (which was filmed at Highclere Castle) so he asked if I would like to go for lunch or for cocktails at Highclere Castle for Valentines Day.

Are you kidding?!  He booked the cocktail party for Valentines Day which was over two weeks away.   I'm sure he was dead chuffed at having found the perfect way to celebrate valentines day.

We continued our trip to Scotland where I feel madly in love with Edinburgh and the Highlands.  

From Scotland, we drove south to Hampshire and found a darling Bed and Breakfast near the castle for a few nights stay.  The proprietors were lovely. We explained that we were going for cocktails and had no idea if there would be much food at the event.  They said they would save something for us, just in case.   As it happened there was an abundance of fabulous hors d'oeuvres and way too much champaign.

Lord and Lady Carnarvon could not have been lovelier as were the staff.  There were local volunteers to answer questions about the history of the castle and estate.   We were invited to wander the public spaces of the castle seeing where Downton Abbey was filmed.  There were family photos on the piano including those with Elizabeth !I to remind us that this was their home.  It might be a castle with an ancient history but at the end of the day it was their home, they kindly reminded us as they welcomed us.

It was a really lovely evening, which when we returned to  the Bed and Breakfast for the night I think our hosts were a little surprised and pleased to hear.

It was absolutely the best Valentines Day ever full of charm, beauty, love and copious amounts of excellent champaign.