Free entry for everyone; no membership card is needed.
The Trust's page does not say how parking is charged.
Cadw's parking area for about four vehicles is directly outside the site at the end of the lane, with no dedicated disabled space; no charge or free statement is published, so the status is recorded as unknown, though reviewers describe it as free. A short gravelled path leads from it through the main gate to the small bridge over the dry moat. The approach is by single-track lanes with few passing places; a campervan driver reports there is room to turn.
Driving pin: the parking area outside the gate (Google's Whitecastle car park listing), 109 m north-east of Cadw's marker in the inner ward. By road: minor roads from the B4233 near Llantilio Crossenny. By rail: Abergavenny, 13 km. National Cycle Network route 42 passes 8.4 km away; bike storage is available at the site. No public transport serves the castle.
White Castle, Y Castell Gwyn, is the best preserved and most imposing of the Three Castles of Monmouthshire, built with Grosmont and Skenfrith to control the border and the routes between Hereford and Wales. Its name may come from the white rendering once applied to its masonry, traces of which survive. Rebuilt in stone in the 12th century, it was transformed in the 13th century in response to the rise of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd: the twin-towered gatehouse and four D-shaped towers with cross-shaped arrow loops are thought to be the work of the Lord Edward, later Edward I, who took the Three Castles in 1254. The outer ward is as big as a football pitch, and the pear-shaped inner ward sits behind a deep, water-filled moat crossed by a bridge. Reviewers praise its peace and allow 30 to 45 minutes; the lanes are single track with space for four cars. Dogs on short leads may explore the ground level, and the Three Castles Walk links it with Skenfrith and Grosmont.
Free entry
Open 10am to 4pm all year, last admission 30 minutes before closing; closed 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January. Cadw may close monuments at short notice in extreme weather.
Terrain level 2, easy: a short gravelled path from the parking area, a small bridge over the dry moat into the grassed outer ward, then the main bridge over the water-filled moat into the inner ward, which is relatively flat with low ruined stonework; mobility access is good to most areas. A short flight of steps at the rear of the outer ward leads down to the lower moat level, which may be overgrown and muddy. Picnic benches and tables; no toilets, cafe or shop. Cadw's holiday cottage, Crown Cottage, stands close by. Drones are not permitted.
Dogs: Dogs on short leads are welcome on the ground level of the castle; the towers are for assistance dogs only. The Three Castles Walk crosses private farmland on rights of way; Monmouthshire Countryside Service asks that dogs follow the line of the path and are kept on a lead through livestock enclosures and near farms.
Photo: The twin round towers of White Castle's inner gatehouse and its curtain wall seen across the outer ward, with the footbridge over the moat at left. Andy Dingley, CC BY-SA 3.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:White_Castle,_inner_ward_gatehouse_and_curtain_wall.JPG. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
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Dogs, with restrictions
Circular route of about 19 miles (30 km) waymarked with a Three Castles disc, mostly rights of way across private farmland with many stiles and kissing gates; Skenfrith to White Castle about 7 miles, White Castle to Grosmont about 6.5 miles; leaves the castle by the wide track behind the parking space opposite the house. No public transport. Free.
Dog access not confirmed
5 miles (8 km), about 3 hours, from St Teilo's Church, Llantilio Crossenny (limited parking at the church), 13 stiles, field paths, tracks and lanes with an ascent to the castle; out via Hen Gwrt and the Three Castles Walk, back along the Offa's Dyke Path; the Hog's Head pub at Great Treadam on the route.
The National Trail passes right alongside White Castle on its Monmouth to Pandy section; the trail's route page calls the castle well worth an hour's visit.
