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Original poster

National Trust Membership - thinking of joining, is it worth it?

21 replies

katiekittlemouse · 19/02/2009 15:51

family membership for a yr is £61.50 and thinking of joining. Just wondered if anyone else is a member and if it's worth it.

We do have a couple of NT places locally which we probably would visit and also going to Cornwall at Easter - any good places worth visiting there?

OP posts:

georgiemum · 19/02/2009 15:55

If you join with DD it is about £57. I got a membership for a freind for his birthday and he says he got his money's worth in the first month!

We have just got ours (plus a pair of quite good binoculars) and are raring to go!! Check out the website and see what you'd like to see - realistically.

TooMuchTV · 19/02/2009 16:02

We're members and actively seek to get good value out of our membership e.g. we generally have holidays in the UK (rent a cottage somewhere) and choose a location with a few NT places nearby and try to take in a couple of places en route. We also have about 6 places within 40 mins drive (am in West Kent) so have regular weekend outings between March and October. Being a member means you don't feel you have to spend ages in one visit - the places near us that have good gardens we sometimes visit 2 or 3 times in a year (maybe just for a brief 45 min walk) to see them at different points. It is also a good thing to do with visiting relatives. You don't have to go to that many properties to get good value for money.

Cornwall doesn't have that many - Lanhydrock is the only one I have been to - there are a few near Plymouth and a few in the far South.

traceybath · 19/02/2009 16:04

Definitely worth it for us but we live about half a mile from a NT house so go a lot.

Doesn't take many visits to get your money's worth.

GrimmaTheNome · 19/02/2009 16:04

We think ours is great value. Yes, there are quite a few properties all over Cornwall.

Apart from the houses/gardens, don't forget car parks in NT land (eg Kynance Cove on the Lizard) - we live quite near the Lake District and benefit from free parking for several good walks.

IwishIwasmoreorganised · 19/02/2009 16:06

Not if you live in Wales and don't tend to holiday in the UK much! I'm a member as it's such a good organisation and I support them wholeheartedly but I don't get good value for money from my membership!

GrimmaTheNome · 19/02/2009 16:06

Cotehele is right on the cornish border, v nice. Glendurgan gardens ... and a couple more gardens beginnig Tre- something, I'm sure...

janinlondon · 19/02/2009 16:15

We were given an annual membership last Christmas, and enthusiastically tried to find NT places to visit in January....February...even March.....but found that hardly any of them were open. Then looked later in the year and found that two we wanted to visit didn't open on Sundays. Made us think that it was possibly aimed at retired folk...? We certainly struggled to get value for mone - even though it wasn't our money.

funnypeculiar · 19/02/2009 16:15

We get our money';s worth - but we live about 3 miles from a lovely NT garden

In terms of properties in Cornwall, we down to devon/cornwall borders a lot, & go to Cothele (lovely gardens, nice fun house for kids, fun to walk to the station & go across viaduct in train to devon!) and Antony house - also some of the coastline is NT owned, so you get free parking if you remember to stick your NT sticker in your car

janinlondon · 19/02/2009 16:18

Oh and the other thing we had probs with was "no toilet facilities at this site". Not great with kids.....??

Lizzylou · 19/02/2009 16:23

WE've been members for about 9mths now and had had our money's worth after a few weeks.
We used the membership when we went to Devon at a few places (and a carpark for the beach at Croyde bay bizarrely!).
It's great for us, but we have loads of places within an hours drive of here.

SilentTerror · 20/02/2009 08:57

We have been members for a few years and drfinitely get our money's worth.
Have loads locally,have a couple of hols a year in UK and visit NT properties.
We find it is an incentive to go out really,as you almost consider it a 'free' day out,IFYSWIM

bouncingblueberries · 20/02/2009 09:07

We use our membership cards at least twice a month - great way to ensure we all get some fresh air and exercise. We don't bother actually going inside many of the houses - too stressful with a toddler, but make full use of gardens and walks. We have lots of properties within an hour of us.

babster · 20/02/2009 09:09

If you join via TopCashback you'll get £20 cashback which helps We joined last year and have used it regularly - although what we save we seem to spend in the lovely cafes!

lottiebunny · 20/02/2009 20:50

Only if you are under 25 in which case its £20 for a year. Hurrah. I use my membership a lot during the summer months for walks and generally nosing round old houses. I probably wouldn't join if I had to pay full price for it though.

Watch the price you pay though as the offer is for direct debit only and the next year it goes up quite a bit.

HappyHome · 23/02/2009 20:53

Hi, in Cornwall you also have St Michaels Mount, The Old Post Office at Tintagel and the tin mines (not sure of the name). We joined the NT while on holiday in Cornwall and just about covered the cost of joining whilst there!

mistlethrush · 23/02/2009 21:18

We've not got that many places locally - although we do go to them reasonable regularly (6 - 8 x per year) However, we find that they are really good going on holiday. We plan our route and timings both there and back so that we stop at least one for a good romp and refreshments - then we'll use them when we've arrived for the holiday too.

Chrysanthamum · 13/03/2009 21:06

Hi,
I just joined NT Scotland today. For us it'll be good value as we visit castles a lot. We have the option of paying £5 a month too

skramble · 14/03/2009 23:32

Is cheaper to get Scottish memberships, has the same priviliges as NT membership, paying monthly cast a little more, but I don't notice the small amount coming out. They do single parent family memberships which is great as very few visitor attractions do goo deals for one parent families.

skramble · 14/03/2009 23:39

If you are likely to visit a couple of bigger properties in a year then it is def good deal

eg
Castle and grounds: 1 Parent Family: £25 for one day.

Years Membership: 1 Parent family: £48
DirectDebit year membership: £36 for first year only (25% off)
Direct Debit monthly membership: £3 for first year only (25% off)

So visiting twice you would be cheaper with a membership.

trixymalixy · 14/03/2009 23:41

I think it's good value. We're also in Scotland.

I think it's quite good if you have kids as you don't feel that you have to get your money's worth in in one visit.

We visited the Museum of Rural life with Ds who is 2 recently and just went and saw the animals really didn't do much of the actual museum as he got cranky, but it didn't matter as we'll just go back another time.

Also to get in some of the places e.g. culzean castle it is £32 for a family so 2 visits and you have got your money's worth.

We probably don't get our money's worth year in year out, but I'm happy to be supporting the National Trust.

thirtypence · 14/03/2009 23:45

We joined the NZ Historic places trust for around the equivalent of 15 quid and that entitled us to go to every NT property in the UK when we visited. One trip to Styal Mill with ds and another trip to a stately home without him and it had paid for itself.

We went to the NZ places about 6 times (there aren't many).

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