Bamburgh Castle launches new Last Kingdom tours and Viking school

The inspiration for the hit historical Netflix series based on Bernard Cornwell’s The Saxon Stories, Bamburgh Castle is to host a series of exclusive new Last Kingdom tours.

Award-winning Viking expert and tour guide Robert Lundgren-Jones – known as Ragnar the Viking - will bring history to life and show how Uhtred climbed the ladder of power at Bamburgh to become allies with the Vikings and the King of England.

Tour-goers will also get the chance to become Queen or King of the North on a warrior throne inside the castle grounds.

Last Kingdom tours take place at 11am and 1.30pm on Wednesday, August 3, Wednesday, August 17, Sunday, August 28 and Wednesday, August 31. Tours last two hours with prices starting from £28 for adults and £13 for children.

Tickets which include full admission into the castle staterooms and grounds are available to purchase from www.bamburghcastle.com

Meanwhile, budding young Vikings can find out if they have what it takes to become a warrior at the castle’s Bebbanburg Viking School.

Join the Bebbanburg tribe with Ragnar, a young Viking Warrior, on the very spot where real Vikings once stood. Children will be able to name and yield their own sword, find out who has the loudest battle cry and take part in warrior tasks to be crowned Queen or King of the Bebbanburg Tribe.

Bebbanburg Viking School takes place on Wednesday, August 10 and Wednesday, August 24.

Enrolment for warriors-in-waiting is free with Bamburgh Castle general admission tickets, although place numbers are limited and allocated on a first-come basis.

Francis Watson-Armstrong, owner of Bamburgh Castle said: “Bamburgh has an absolutely phenomenal history and is famous for being the real Bebbanburg and inspiration for the Last Kingdom series.

“We are delighted to have teamed up with Northumberland’s finest Viking Ragnar – the alias of historian and tour guide Robert Lundgren Jones - so people can follow in the footsteps of Uhtred the Bold on the very site where his story unfolded.

“We hope younger children with enjoy learning more about the castle’s amazing history and have fun being put through their warrior paces with Ragnar on the very spot where real Vikings once stood with our new Viking School. I’ll have to look out, for who knows, they may be crowned king or queen of Bamburgh Castle itself!”

Bamburgh Castle is open daily from 10am until 5pm each day, with last entry at 4pm.