Atkinson's The Castle in Lancaster

Good coffee, great cake and perfect service. No more to say....

Wonderful cafe, they have very tasty filter coffee. The cheesecake is also top notch. Wonderful.

Excellent tea and cakes. Very clean. Great staff.

Atkinsons coffee is a Lancaster coffee roaster, and they have several shops in the city. For some reason I'd given this one a miss until fairly recently, perhaps because it's quite new, but I'm sad I did, because it's really good. The Atkinsons coffee is, of course, excellent and many Lancaster people buy their blend and enjoy it at home. This venue is good, and the main reason is because the only people that are going are either going to see the castle, or going to enjoy the coffee so it's a really relaxing place. The main coffee shop and facilities are nice and clean and new. There is a really modern look if you choose to dine in with nice windows that give you a really good view of the castle. There are also tables outside which is a really great place to sit out on a nice day as you can see the castle and watch the world go by. I'd very much recommend this, if you're after somewhere quiet to get a coffee and a snack. If you're after a bit more of a busy vibe or don't have time to get up the hill to the castle then try out one of their other shops.

Love this cafe. Plenty of space, lovely outdoor area, good coffee etc etc. Would happily take a wee detour to visit, and arguably the best cafe in the local area.

Didn't have any food so can't rate the food but my latte was nice and warm

A nice surprise to find in a castle. Usually castle/museum cafe coffees are dire, but this place was really good. Polite staff, well thought out interior, a lot to offer

Decent coffee shop in the castle. Had to wait quite a while for our order. But it was nice.

Bit slow with drinks to go with our sandwiches.

Waited 10 minutes for a coffee whilst family enjoyed their drinks, then got a tiny glass of cold froth, I just wanted a cup of coffee, had to ask for it to be poured into a mug then add hot water. Don't over complicate someone asking for a white coffee, it's really simple or at least should be!

A great place for a coffee in a historical castle.

This place was already very recommended to me so I had high hopes. Not being from Lancaster we wrongly trusted Google maps and ended up round the back of the castle then asked and found the lovely setting for the cafe inside the castle 😊 A sunny day so we sat outside and ordered carrot cake and a pecan/walnut brownie both of which were excellent. I had a flat white as I really like a flat white done well which very few cafes achieve. I was not disappointed. It was excellent. On a par with the very good Origin cafe in London at the British Library. The rest of the family had soft drinks and a mocha which they all enjoyed. Service was efficient and friendly. Very good cafe.

There are some fabulous cake options at the cafe, and the service was friendly and helpful. The apricot flapjack was delicious

Excellent location.. simple yet historic #starred #recommend

Excellent coffee, lovely and simple and clean atmosphere with a nice level of seating while not being crowded. A relaxing laid back feel. Service could have been friendlier but pleasurable experience overall.

Having visited the former prison, the police museum and the tower where the Pendle Witches were held it's time for a break. The Atkinsons run café is ideal, serving excellent coffee, tea, and amazing hot chocolate. Get a bite to eat from a selection of fresh scones, cakes and sandwiches. Use the WiFi to keep in touch with friends at home or even do some study. Friendly and helpful staff make this austere but comfortable café a great place to go.

Great food and drink, would recommend their lattes and the triple chocolate brownie

Sweeteners please. Some of us cannot have sugar in our drinks for health reasons

Good specialty coffee. OK sandwiches

Take away cups? Seriously? Not good enough, sorry, shan't be back

The cafe is clean and the interior is nicely done but the food is no more than an afterthought, expensive and not tasty. The coffee is decent. The big problem is they don’t accept cash; it’s disrespectful to older people and frankly dystopian. I won’t be coming again. P.S. they do accept cash tips so hypocrites as well 👍🏻

Great place for a coffee, and they do some nice cakes. Staff is always helpful and friendly, and if you like the coffee, you can buy it ground or whole bean in the shop

Such a lovely place , went for my birthday, the whole place surroundings ,food and service is great , loved all of it well recommended, they even do there own blend of tea and coffee.

The best cappuccino we've had on our trip in the UK!

One of my favourite haunts in Lancaster. Nestled in the beautiful historic Lancaster Castle, it's a perfect retreat from the bustle of the city

This airy cafe inside the castle is perfect for a sunny day. They have some work spaces too, where I could’ve sat all day. All this while having their amazing brews 😍🌼🫶🏻

Ordered two pots of Lancashire blend tea after our castle tour to have a short break before going back to exploring. Cozy atmosphere and nice to have a cup of tea inside a castle with a view! There were also some plugs/outlets around for charging.

Very friendly service in there, nice coffee, good customer service, was the pick-me-up I was looking for.

Very disappointing - first visit and no doubt the last. Over-priced - hot (warm) chocolate seemed a cheap version, very sweet and not chocolatey, but £3.60. Brownie marked as £3.80, but charged £4! Pointed this out, but simply told someone had marked it up with the wrong price. Long wait for drinks to arrive at table. The cafe was not busy at the time.

The best filter coffee ever.the cafe located in the Lancaster castle. You will enjoy the coffee and the view.

Clean and modern but cosy cafe in the heart of Lancaster Castle. Massive windows really work for this place, making it bright and airy. Also one of the few places in Lancaster with speciality coffee. Chemex is normally great and matcha late can be a hit or a miss depending on the person preparing it. Huge plus for employing and supporting people with disabilities.

This is my go to place to meet friends or take visitors. Lovely space, friendly staff, tempting cakes and I love the pastrami sandwich. Staff always happy to make my hot chocolate extra hot too 😋

Thank you for coming to my rescue today and letting me do my Teams meeting when the railways didn't work so well. Truely lovely people ❤️ xx

Really like the place. We had tasty toasts with pastrami and perfect flat white served by a waitress with a big smile. Café is spacious and neat.

Gorgeous coffee & sweet treats, with lovely staff. Highly recommend!

Excellent friendly service and perfect prices and range of snacks

Didn't use it, just popped in to use the loo.

Fabulous setting within the castle walls. My cake was delicious and I will definitely return

A wonderful location and we have been numerous times. Unfortunately, each time the coffee has been only lukewarm. Today was no different, despite asking for extra hot milk. Also, I gave the counter assistant our table number when ordering our drinks, but this information obviously wasn't passed to the waitress as she was wandering from table to table asking who had ordered a tea and coffee. We saw her doing the same thing with each order she brought out. Better communication is definitely needed between the counter staff and waiting staff. We keep going there in the hope that it will have improved because we love the atmosphere and the location.

Aesthetic and calming in atmosphere.

Lovely light and airy space with seating outdoors. Food was delicious and well priced but I was given black tea instead of green so I can't give it 5 stars.

Hot chocolate was nice small size tho.

Lovely relaxing atmosphere, good choice of food and very friendly and welcoming staff

Nice cafe . Slow service though .

Nice cafe with friendly staff in an impressive setting - at Lancaster castle

We were a bit early for the tour so we decided to grab a cappuccino each and share a triple chocolate brownie the price was almost £10, we thought was a bit pricey. The service was good the atmosphere was good but the service was not so great as our cappuccino's arrived almost stone cold.

First time visiting the castle café it's a really good space they used and looks nice and clean. However the reason for my ratings is that I paid just under £10 for me and my partner we had cappuccino each and shared a triple chocolate brownie. Sat at table and when they brought the cappuccinos they were nearly flat cold so wasn't impressed by that.

Excellent food and very friendly and professional service

Love the cafe and can’t beat the setting! Staff are always lovely and friendly and love the choice of cakes and drinks.

Very nice, friendly and in a great castle setting!

Love the place. Really good coffee and cakes . Location is stunning and staff are really friendly.

Nice cafe there bit expensive, castle tour was good,

What an amazing place! So spacious and calm, loved the huge house plants. Staff were really friendly. Cakes were delicious but most importantly the coffee was the perfect strength and the milk the perfect texture and temperature. Would definitely recommend if you're looking for a tasty coffee in an amazing setting in Lancaster.

Easily the most aesthetic cafe I've been to. Staff was friendly and the music was lovely and wasn't too loud. Plenty of seats available too. Food was filling, with vegan sourdough sandwiches priced around £4, and coffee priced around £2.5-£3, made with Atkinson's coffee.

Lovely room, coffee could be hotter

Great place. A must if visiting Lancaster.

Excellent place to visit you need to take the tour to see places you can't see on your own. This is due to it being a working court. Tour guide was really helpful xx

Nice cafe, especially if you can get a table in the courtyard on a sunny day. Don't think you have to pay for the castle tour to use the cafe as the castle ticket is just for the tour. Very nice beverages reasonably priced. Very friendly staff. Would definitely recommend.

Pleasant surroundings and nice staff. Coffee and cake were delicious, though a little expensive.

Castle is linked to Lancaster University so you'd like to think that the cafe there would be student friendly but even after buying a drink and cake (NOT CHEAP!) I was told I couldn't use my tablet to take notes on a book I was reading. These are "not allowed" except inside on allocated seating. This allocated table to work on is a plank of wood with some stools which are not disability or study friendly. The university really shouldn't promote this location to its students to study at when you're met with such a frosty reception.

We were told that we are not allowed to use our laptops in one of the rooms.

Very nice & open interior design, I’d suggest adding more options for breakfast and cold drinks

Very good. Lovely to warm up with a good coffee and cake after the castle tour.

This is a great place to have coffee. I like the surroundings and the coffee is delicious - Atkinson's. The only thing I would say against the Cafe is that they only have 2 tables outside. Had a lovely vegan lemon and elderflower cake here. Delicious...

Superb coffee, friendly staff, great atmosphere for a quiet meeting.

Raspberry Bakewell worth going ng back for.

Sandwiches and hot drinks to die for. The staff are very friendly and the place is very clean. The prices are very reasonable too.

Surprisingly very modern cafe, spacious and very clean. Coffee was excellent

Charged for a little bit of cow's milk for a babies bottle even when I had a black coffee. I would understand if it was a non dairy based milk but for a small amount of milk to charge is ridiculous.

Stunning location, and the excellent coffee that I've come to expect from Atkinson's- the only improvement would be more power outlets available for charging laptops etc.

You don't get better coffee than this, and set in a medieval castle to boot. What's not to like?

Friendly service and good mocha

Very nice atmosphere and very good coffee

Great coffee and service. Food offering simple (sandwiches and cakes) but good quality. Nice building set in Lancaster Castle. Outdoor space. Good atmosphere. Spacious. One of the best coffee shops in Lancaster.

Beautiful cafe, in a historic location. Coffee was great, cappuccino was perfect and the toastie was excellent. We ordered red onion chutney and cheese toastie and a pastrami and cheese toastie. I can't wait to come back, a new lunch location for me!

Drinks great but the "no laptop" rule in certain parts is disappointing

Not been since pre-lockdown when cafe was relatively new. Location and decor as part of castle renovation is excellent The atmosphere of the cafe is really nice Unfortunately I was fairly ill that evening and the rest of the week in bed due to the chocolate brownie I had from the cafe which wasn't fresh which I had a severe reaction to. God knows what was in it?

Great service friendly staff and very testy cakes

Limited amount of outside seating at tables but enough, no menus on tables, you have to go in and order then your items are brought out. Pleasant staff. Prices to match location. Clean toilets.

The castle courtyard is stunning and the perfect place to escape to for a perfectly blended tea or coffee, courtesy of Atkinson's, Lancaster's local blenders. Sandwiches and cakes tempt. Indoor and outdoor seating available. If only there was a restaurant for the evenings too.

Have to say first time I've ever been to a cafe and none of us liked the food or lack of on offer the sandwiches fillings were very bizzare but we needed something two toasted one not they didn't taste nice at all and mine was hard my son left his he just wanted a plain ham buttie but none do not cater for children even my cake was awful and the coke tasted terrible too really wasn't cheap either regret going

One of the best cafes in Lancaster and in such a great setting. Excellent coffee

The Castle Café ticked all the boxes for me: great coffee, excellent sourdough pastrami sandwich, beautifully moist orange polenta cake, clean tables, and fast, polite service. And the toilets were spotless. Faultless.

Very good cafe in centre of castle. Very good toasted sandwiches and cakes. Also good coffee. Pleasant to sit outside when weather is good

Nice relaxing place for a lovely cup of tea .nice friendly staff

Excellent coffee, some very nice treats, a variety of cakes all served by friendly staff in incredibly atmospheric surroundings. Both inside the cafe and especially the courtyard.

One of my favourite cafe's in Lancaster

Best Cappucino and carrot cake muffins

Spacious outdoor & indoor seating within the walls of Lancaster Castle. Amazing venue, super staff, polite, friendly & respectful. Good range of teas, coffee & other drinks & delicious cakes... why go elsewhere.

Nice tea coffee and cakes,,, well worth a visit,,,

Outstanding service by staff to accomadate needs for vegetarian diners, much appreciated, thank you

Atkinson... simply the best... coffee in Lancaster

Great modern coffee shop in the heart of a medieval castle

Lancaster's best coffee! Lovely location and nice staff

Another wonderful offering from the company that brought us the music room, and the hall. This is easily one of my favourite places in Lancaster to spend done time. Especially the castle courtyard outside area. Can't recommend enough.

Friday lunchtime: choice of cakes limited. What we had was awful. Small cups of coffee, cold & not great. Disappointed for such a nice venue.

This is a hidden gem within the Castle walls, coffee is amazing and cake even better. Must visit for locals and visitors!

Classic Atkinsons. Gorgeous venue. Music, but not too much. Drinks are great and the staff are always incredibly friendly. Can't fault it

Lovely place for a coffee. The renovations have made this another good place to get a drink in Lancaster.

Fabulous coffee...cake...setting...staff...etc Definitely be back