I just wanted to say a big thank you to Fiona for recommending Historic Houses membership to me in a post several months ago. We are just back from a 3 week trip and decided to get the annual membership as we wanted to visit both Holkham Hall and Sandringham which, when you add up how much entry costs, covered the cost of the membership and we still have a whole year to keep using it. While we were away we also visited Belvoir Castle and Burghley which we also enjoyed very much. We are now planning a few more visits for our next trip in a couple of weeks.
Pretty much done NT properties to death, and no longer a member anyway, so Historic Houses looked promising, and found a few places I've been to in the past, but a little disappointed to see admission was not always free for a large number of listed properties!
Visit enough and it may be financially viable to join, but equally not necessarily so easy to recover membership cost as first appears!
Thanks for that, Pixie Hez. I’m chuffed that you’re enjoying HHA.
Monty15 We don’t always get back the cost of our annual membership, but if we don’t, it’s offset by more than recouping it another year. Castle Howard, Longleat, Blenheim are far away for us, but one weekend in The Borders & Dumfriesshire pays for our membership (Abbotsford, Mellerstain, Traquair, Bowhill, Drumlanrig…) And yes, not all places are free for whatever reason (Thirlestane at Lauder is in HHA, was not free to Friends but is now.)
We like the fact that the places - some huge (like Castle Howard) & some small - are still lived in, not museums like NT or NTS. Interesting magazine too.
We are currently in the south lakes and have been to Levens Hall (amazing gardens), Leighton Hall (most entertaining guided tour ever) and Holker Hall (beautiful) over the past week. We wouldn’t have gone to any of these places if we hadn’t got the Historic Houses membership so it has been well worth it for us.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Historic Houses
via mobile 26/7/2024 at 7:43pm
