Where: Chepstow, Wales  Cost To Enter: £4.50 adult / £3.50 child

Hours: Open Year Round, with varying seasonal hours

Find: helpful information on the Cadw site.

Date I visited: February 2004 (sort of ), January 17, 2010 & June 29, 2013

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My Perception

Let me start with this: this is a castle that you regularly see on Wanderlust boards on Pinterest.  It’s quite a stunning pile of ruins sitting on the Wye River with lovely little pink flowers sprouting from its many crevices.  For some reason, it always reminds me of The Princess Bride.

Of course, the real reason that I love this castle so much is because it has played a rather epic role in my life.  Grab a hot coco and a blankie boys and girls, it’s story time!

The Story

Once upon a time, there was a young woman who studied abroad in Wales for a year while she was in college.  She fell in love with two things while she was there: castles, and a young Welshman.  One day, they went on an adventure together.  They went to Tintern Abbey- a magical place that managed to produce snow while they were inside the abbey ruins.  They were planning on going to Chepstow Castle too, but they missed a bus from Tintern to Chepstow.  This tragic bus-missing incident not only caused them to sit outside in the very cold snow for an hour, but it caused them to miss Chepstow Castle too.  By the time they made it back to Chepstow, the castle was closed.  The young woman left feeling sad because they didn’t get to go in and the young Welshman didn’t ask her out.  She made a promise to herself that she would return to Chepstow Castle one day and when she did, it would be a very special, groundbreaking day indeed.   She locked this secret safely in her heart and got on with life.

Six years passed.  The woman and the Welshman returned to Chepstow in January 2010, a few days after the biggest snow storm that the country had seen in decades.  They were  on their way to Tintern Abbey and were surprised to find that Chepstow Castle was open!  The woman insisted on going inside, of course.  They had only been in a few minutes when she realized that the Welshmen was suddenly very anxious about time.  He had not planned on Chepstow Castle being open.  He had called ahead, was told that Chepstow Castle was closed because of the snow, and budgeted all of their time for Tintern.  His anxiety that they might, this time, miss Tintern made the woman realize that the Welshman had a very romantic question to ask her… inside Tintern Abbey.  They hustled through the castle and moved along to Tintern Abbey.

Three years later, the woman and the Welshman returned to Chepstow with her mother and stepfather.  A pair of boys ran around playing hide and seek- one even somehow managed to climb up an old chimney!  Pink blossoms bloomed in the crevices between stones.  My mom and I thought we were hilarious when we emulated safety signs.

The sun was shining.  I was married to the Welshman.  My mom was visiting the magical places of our origins.  All was well.

Grade: Chepstow is romantic, picturesque, and grand. I give it 5 out of 5 castles.

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I fell in love with Welsh castles the first time I locked eyes on one in 2003.  It’s been 12 years, and castles and I are still in out honeymoon phase!  This post is part of a series called Castles in Wales.  My goal is to visit (almost) all of the castles in Wales.  Keep track of my progress here.

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