Boldt Castle was on the tippy top of places I wanted to visit while we we're living in NY. Since it is less than an hour away, we decided to go on Sunday of our second weekend in NY. We absolutely loved it! I am completely obsessed with castles, so this was just fantastic for me! I plan on taking all of our visitors here and can't wait to visit again!
Backstory: Boldt Castle was started in 1900 by George Boldt (proprietor of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in NYC) as a tribute to his wife. It was to be their dream vacation home. When his wife died in1904, Boldt ceased construction on the castle and the castle sat vacant for about 70 years. The Thousand Islands Bridge Authority now owns the castle and Heart Island. They restored the castle and made it what it is today.
We got up to Alexandria bay around 930 and were able to catch the first ferry of the day at 10am. We ended up being the first ones through the gate which was great because we were able to get a bunch of tourist free photos. It didn't start getting busy until we had already made it through the castle and most of the grounds.
The tour is completely self guided which made me happy, I'm not a big fan of tours. We kind of just worked our way around the place in circles and made our way to the top floor, then jumped down to the basement. This place is insane! I can't believe no one ever lived there! The first two floors are completely finished, but the basement and the top two floors are not. However, you are still able to go on those levels. The third floor had a lot of information about George Boldt and his life, so it's definitely worth checking out. There are amazing views from a balcony on the fourth floor that I would definitely recommend taking the time to see. Walking through the unfinished parts really makes you wonder what the castle would have looked like had it been completely finished.
I apologize in advance for the picture heaviness of this post, but I just couldn't narrow it down! Also, all photos were taken on my phone because I forgot my camera, so the quality isn't the best.
Backstory: Boldt Castle was started in 1900 by George Boldt (proprietor of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in NYC) as a tribute to his wife. It was to be their dream vacation home. When his wife died in1904, Boldt ceased construction on the castle and the castle sat vacant for about 70 years. The Thousand Islands Bridge Authority now owns the castle and Heart Island. They restored the castle and made it what it is today.
We got up to Alexandria bay around 930 and were able to catch the first ferry of the day at 10am. We ended up being the first ones through the gate which was great because we were able to get a bunch of tourist free photos. It didn't start getting busy until we had already made it through the castle and most of the grounds.
The tour is completely self guided which made me happy, I'm not a big fan of tours. We kind of just worked our way around the place in circles and made our way to the top floor, then jumped down to the basement. This place is insane! I can't believe no one ever lived there! The first two floors are completely finished, but the basement and the top two floors are not. However, you are still able to go on those levels. The third floor had a lot of information about George Boldt and his life, so it's definitely worth checking out. There are amazing views from a balcony on the fourth floor that I would definitely recommend taking the time to see. Walking through the unfinished parts really makes you wonder what the castle would have looked like had it been completely finished.
I apologize in advance for the picture heaviness of this post, but I just couldn't narrow it down! Also, all photos were taken on my phone because I forgot my camera, so the quality isn't the best.
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