The Tudors stamped themselves onto England’s castles in ways that were political, personal, and occasionally unhinged. Some of these places were power bases, some were gilded prisons, and a few were actual crime scenes.
Today, you can still walk through rooms where Henry VIII wooed women, where rivals were dragged out in chains, where Mary Tudor seized a crown, and where Elizabeth I paraded.
This isn’t a list of pretty castles with Tudor wallpaper. These sites earned their place because something actually happened there — a death, a coup, a royal stay, a confiscation, an execution, or a desperate bid for legitimacy.
Some are intact, some are ruins. But all of them were touched directly by Tudor ambition, paranoia, or survival.
Here’s a quick look at the Tudor castles in England worth a visit for obsessed Tudorphiles.
- Power Bases & Rebellions
Framlingham (Mary I), Ludlow (Henry VIII & Henry VIII) - Royal Residences & Courtly Drama
Hampton Court, Windsor, Richmond (ruins), Leeds Castle - Queens & Marriages
Hever (Anne Boleyn), Sudeley (Catherine Parr) - Ambitious Nobles & Entertainments
Kenilworth (Dudley & Elizabeth), Thornbury (Buckingham & Henry VIII)
Tudor Castles To Visit
1. Hampton Court Palace (Surrey)
If you had to pick one place that sums up the Tudors — ego, ambition, breakups, and all jazz — this is it, Hampton Court Palace. Built by Cardinal Wolsey, seized by Henry VIII, home to multiple wives, and frequently visited by Elizabeth I.
Cardinal Wolsey built it to impress Henry VIII. It worked a little too well. And Henry basically took it off his hands and turned it into his favorite power residence.
You can still walk through the Great Hall where tapestries brag about his victories, stand in the chapel where he dumped Catherine of Aragon, and wander the kitchens that once fed a court of a thousand people.
Anne Boleyn’s falcon badge is carved into the ceiling of the Great Hall, even though he tried to erase it and her.
Elizabeth I also used Hampton Court for diplomacy and image management — she held court here, dodged marriage negotiations, and hosted ambassadors who were there to judge her health and fertility like she was livestock.
The Tudor parts are intact enough that you don’t need to imagine much.
If you only visit one Tudor site, this should be it.
>>> Click here to book a half day trip from London
2. Tower of London (London)
The Tower of London turned ugly under the Tudors. Henry VII’s regime used it as a prison and execution ground.
But the real horrors arrive during Henry VIII’s reign: chamberlains, queens, and courtiers walked in through Traitor’s Gate only to leave via scaffold. Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell, Anne Boleyn, and Catherine Howard all ended up inside those walls.
When Henry VIII abandoned the Tower as a residence, it became a tool of control. Tudor victims were dragged through its gatehouse, imprisoned in bleak towers like the Salt Tower, and often executed on Tower Green.
Three queens—Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, and Lady Jane Grey—met their ends there, away from the crowds but inside its jurisdiction.
A few Tudor touches survive in the structure. In St. Thomas’s Tower, Henry added timber framing and ceiling beams during his courtship of Anne Boleyn.
The Queen’s House, built around 1540, is a half-timbered Tudor building right in the complex. It replaced some medieval fabric with something more contemporary to Henry’s time.
Inside the Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula are the burials of the three queens. Headless remains ceremoniously reinterred.
It’s all a brutal reminder that the Tower wasn’t just theater. It was a narrative about royal wrath, public power, and ultimate obedience.
This is an incredibly popular attraction in London. I wouldn’t go without pre-booking a timed entry ticket.
3. Windsor Castle (Berkshire)
Windsor Castle may look mostly medieval and Georgian today, but the Tudors left their fingerprints all over it.
Henry VIII used Windsor as a working residence and political stage, hosting ambassadors and holding court there when it suited him.
He treated it as one of his principal power bases, not some ceremonial backdrop. Some of the State Apartments still reflect choices made in his time, even if later monarchs redecorated.
Portraits and heraldic displays in certain rooms lean on Tudor-era imagery. Not by accident, but to signal continuity and legitimacy.
The architecture itself is layered, but traces of Tudor taste survive in the layout of rooms, ceiling treatments, and collections. Even when the interiors were later remodeled, the Tudors set the precedent.
If you’re walking through the rooms associated with royal audiences or processions, you’re in spaces that Henry VIII and his court actually used.
Just down the hill, St. George’s Chapel is where the Tudors become literal. Henry VIII and Jane Seymour are buried in the vault beneath the chancel, alongside Edward VI.
The chapel isn’t just a royal accessory. It’s a Tudor mausoleum embedded in a medieval shell created by Edward IV. The heraldry, carved stalls, and stained glass include pieces installed or restored under Tudor patronage, reinforcing their dynastic message.
>>> Click here to pre-book a ticket
4. Kenilworth Castle (Warwickshire)
Kenilworth Castle became Tudor drama central when Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, turned it into an extravagant royal appeal.
Elizabeth I had repeatedly refused his marriage proposals. So the earl refashioned the castle lavishly in her honor.
Guest lodgings, gardens, impressive banqueting halls, and waterways designed to impress.
She didn’t marry him, but she did show up with an entourage and turned it into the most expensive “maybe” in English court history.
Parts of his renovation still stand, even if his dignity didn’t. Architecturally, much of what you see now is later ruin or restoration, but underlying structure and layout still reflect Dudley’s Tudor vision.
The tiltyard, the Water Gardens, and the Great Tower are major features that align with Tudor garden aesthetics, recreation, and staging.
The terraces and promenades weren’t medieval leftover. They were part of Leicester’s concept of showy courtly architecture.
>>> Click here to book a Kenilworth ticket
5. Hever Castle (Kent)
Hever Castle is the place where Anne Boleyn grew up. It’s her childhood home and the stage for Henry’s courtship.
It wasn’t some backwater residence either. Her family owned the house and invested in Tudor updates.
After she became queen, Henry gave it to Anne of Cleves as part of their annulment settlement. So the castle stayed in royal orbit long after Anne Boleyn’s downfall.
The structure itself blends medieval core with Tudor remodeling. You’ll find Tudor chimneys, timber frameworks, and traces of Elizabeth I’s influence around the windows and service wings.
The original moat is still there, water-filled, framing the castle pretty much exactly as Anne would’ve known it. Only now the gardens demand as much attention as the walls.
Inside, the rooms tell several stories. There’s the Boleyn bedroom (tour favorite), Tudor-era workrooms and kitchens, and 20th century revival decor layered on top.
Paintings and period furniture help you parse the history, but you never lose the sense that this was a private home before a royal trophy.
On top of the interior, the grounds are part of the draw: the formal Italian Garden, the maze that nods to Tudor garden patterns, and the expansive lake Anne would’ve paddled in.
You get the sense that Anne’s sense of enclosure—moat, walled garden, hidden paths—wasn’t just aesthetic, but lived experience.
6. Sudeley Castle (Gloucestershire)
Catherine Parr survived Henry VIII, but she didn’t get long to enjoy it. She married Thomas Seymour — the king’s dodgy brother-in-law — and moved to Sudeley in 1548.
She died there not long after giving birth, probably from childbed fever.
Her tomb is still on site, which gives the place more Tudor credibility than half the “royal” castles people rave about.
The castle itself isn’t some pristine fairytale relic. It was partly wrecked in the Civil War and then patched back together in the 19th century.
But the Tudor traces haven’t vanished. You can still walk the rooms where Parr lived out her final months and see the chapel where she was buried and later dug up by curious Victorians.
The owners love to market the “romantic ruin” bit. But the better angle is this: it’s the only castle in England where a Tudor queen is buried in situ.
Henry VIII never visited, but his last wife died under its roof, and that’s more interesting than whatever rose garden copywriters keep raving about.
7. Framlingham Castle (Suffolk)
Framlingham Castle looks like a picturesque ruin now, perched above its old mere. But in Tudor history it was anything but sleepy.
For centuries it belonged to the powerful Howard family, the Earls and Dukes of Norfolk. When Thomas Howard landed himself in trouble (again), the crown confiscated the place and it eventually landed in the hands of Mary Tudor.
That accident of timing turned Framlingham into ground zero for a succession crisis. When Henry VII’s son, Edward VI died, he tried to skip over his Catholic half-sister and named Lady Jane Grey as his heir.
Mary didn’t roll over. She rode to Framlingham, gathered her support, and essentially turned the castle into a launch pad for a coup-in-reverse.
It worked. From within those walls she received word that she’d been proclaimed queen in London.
The ruin you see today is the place England’s first crowned queen secured her throne. Not by marriage, but by force of will and a well-chosen stronghold.
Framlingham is where the Tudor dynasty nearly rewrote itself, and where Mary I proved she wasn’t a footnote in someone else’s succession plan.
8. Thornbury Castle (Gloucestershire)
Thornbury Castle was begun by Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham. He was one of the highest-ranking nobles in England and a potential rival to Henry VIII.
He started building it around 1511–1521 as a palatial residence and fortified statement of status.
It wasn’t a proper defensive castle. More of a showpiece power house with battlements. Parts of it remain unfinished because his fall came fast.
Buckingham was arrested there in April 1521, accused of treason for allegedly predicting Henry VIII’s death and entertaining ambitions for the crown himself.
He was taken to the Tower of London, tried by a jury of peers and executed on Tower Hill in May 1521.
After his execution, Henry VIII seized Thornbury Castle along with the rest of Buckingham’s property. It was one of Henry VIII’s earliest and most dastardly crimes.
Today, you can stay at Thornbury. It’s now a luxury castle Relais & Chateaux hotel with Tudor-themed rooms.
One of the castle’s packages is called the Henry VIII Hotel Experience, which includes a night’s stay in the suite that Henry and Anne Boleyn once used.
9. Ludlow Castle (Shropshire)
Ludlow Castle may look like the poster child for medieval decay. But its Tudor chapter is what secures its place in royal history.
By the mid-15th century, it had shifted from baronial stronghold to a key Yorkist and then Tudor power base.
In 1461, it became a royal castle and stayed that way for three centuries. Edward IV sent his son, the future Edward V, to be raised there with his council. This was a statement that Ludlow wasn’t just a garrison, it was a training ground for kings.
Under the Tudors, Ludlow remained politically important. Henry VII used it as a base of governance in the Welsh Marches and later sent his eldest son, Arthur Tudor, there to function as Prince of Wales.
Arthur lived and died at Ludlow in 1502, only months after his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. His death there didn’t just mark a personal tragedy. It changed the course of English history.
With Arthur gone, his younger brother Henry became heir, married Catherine himself, and unleashed the dynastic and religious chaos we now call the Tudor era.
After Arthur’s death, Ludlow’s relevance declined. It was still technically royal property. But without a Tudor heir in residence it slipped into neglect and eventually ruin.
What survives today — broken towers, the shell of the great hall, and sweeping views over Shropshire — looks medieval at first glance, but its Tudor.
If you visit, don’t go expecting polished state rooms or manicured apartments. Go knowing you’re standing where Arthur Tudor died, where a future king once trained, and where the disappearance of two princes cast a shadow long before Henry VIII ever sat a throne.
10. Leeds Castle (Kent)
Leeds Castle sits in Kent, nowhere near the Yorkshire city its name suggests. It has the storybook moat and manicured grounds, but the real draw is its Tudor era.
It was nicknamed the “Ladies’ Castle” because seven queens lived there over the centuries. Henry VIII used it during his split from Catherine of Aragon, upgraded the place with glass windows and plush royal suites, and stopped there en route to the Field of the Cloth of Gold.
What you see today is a blend of medieval bones, Tudor upgrades, and later embellishments.
The Gloriette Tower still holds the royal apartments Henry commissioned. The vaulted banqueting hall dates to that period too, with carved ceilings and portraits of the Tudor court.
The Maiden’s Tower, rebuilt in Tudor times for the queen’s ladies-in-waiting, is now a guest accommodation. It’s one of the few places where you can technically sleep in Tudor quarters.
Inside, some rooms still show Tudor-era features, while others reflect the 20th century restoration by Lady Baillie. The mash-up weirdly works: medieval arches, Tudor woodwork, and Art Deco flourishes coexist without apology.
Outside, the moat, bridge, and Norman gatehouse hint at the castle’s original defensive purpose. Even if today the focus is more swans and tea rooms than sieges.
In a Tudor castles roundup, Leeds earns its place because it isn’t just a ruin with a plaque.
It still carries the architectural imprint and political history of Henry’s reign. It’s layered, lived-in, and more complex than its Disney profile suggests.
If you want to overnight in a Tudor castle, check out these room/cottage options:
- Weir Cottage (1 bedroom)
- The Oast (3 bedroom)
- Stable Courtyard (bed & breakfast)
- Maiden’s Tower (bed & breakfast)
- Holiday Cottages
>>> Click here to book a day tour to Leeds and Canterbury
11. Richmond Palace (London)
Richmond Palace was Henry VII’s attempt to rebrand himself after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth during the War of the Roses.
After his victory and before ascending the throne, Henry was the Earl of Richmond. So he basically named the castle after himself.
He built it around 1501 in full Tudor splendor — brick, crenellations, and the last gasp of Perpendicular Gothic before Renaissance taste crept in. It’s mostly gone now, but in its day it was one of the most important royal residences in England.
Henry VIII used it as both party venue and personal refuge. He hosted extravagant feasts there.
But the place is also tied to one of his early tragedies. His first son with Catherine of Aragon died at Richmond at just a month old.
Whether that memory poisoned the palace for him or not, he eventually handed it over to Anne of Cleves in their divorce settlement, which tells you how thoroughly he’d detached from it.
Elizabeth I adored Richmond and used it as her personal power base. She spent more time there than at most of her palaces, and she deliberately chose to die there in 1603.
Today you have to squint to find it. Most of the palace was demolished after the English Civil War. Only a gatehouse and a few walls survive.
You can walk through the Old Palace Yard and look across Richmond Green to spot the remains. But you’ll need imagination (or a reconstruction print) to see the ghost of what the Tudors knew.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my guide to England’s Tudor castles and palaces. You may find these other England travel guides useful:
- 10 days in England itinerary
- Medieval road trip itinerary
- UNESCO sites in England
- One week County Kent itinerary
- Things to do in Sussex
- 5 Day Itinerary for London
- Prettiest villages in England
- Hidden Gems in London
- Best Castles in England
- Best Museums in London
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