Get Free National Trust Pass Tickets

National Trust free pass family

I love Autumn, I think it may be my favourite time of year. The weather isn’t too cold yet, everyone is still in a good mood after Summer, and nature shows us some of its most beautiful scenes as the colours begin to change.

Plus, kicking piles of leaves never stops being fun.

Another great thing about Autumn is that the National Trust give out free passes as part of their Escape Into Autumn promotion, so you can get free National Trust tickets to a huge range of locations for you and your family.

This is something they do annually and there are loads of passes available, so you can pre-plan your trips ahead of time too. A fantastic way to save money keeping the kids entertained one weekend.

Here’s how it works.

Getting and Using Tickets

Get free National Trust tickets

The best way to get the free pass is to visit the National Trust’s Escape Into Autumn page on their website.

For other free pass promotions they sometimes split the allocation. So the Daily Express get 20,000 to give away, OK Magazine get 15,000, etc. For the Autumn promotion though, it’s usually direct from the National Trust.

You don’t have to have kids with you to use the pass, but only two adults can gain entry per free pass. You can even go on your own if you can get someone to take the kids.

A single pass grants access to up to 3 children with 2 adults, and up to 4 children with 1 adult. The National Trust class children as between 5 and 7 years of age, with under 5s getting in for free regardless. So you could have 1 adult, 4 kids, and an under 5… although you would be insane to attempt that on your own!

Passes are available to use between:

  • 16th of September – 18th of October

They won’t be valid after this date though, so use ’em or lose ’em.

It can take up to 48 hours for the pass to hit your inbox, so best not to attempt a last minute excursion, but in my experience it has been far quicker than that.

The organisation are very happy to help if you have any issues such as accidentally deleting the email, or if the pass doesn’t arrive. You can call them on 0344 800 1895 or email enquiries@nationaltrust.org.uk – they have wonderful friendly customer service staff.

Sites You Can Visit

National Trust Sites

Be warned, not all sites are available to visit under this scheme, but most are.

There are 88 exemptions, but with over 500 historic places in the National Trust’s portfolio, that’s still a huge number of locations to choose from. It works out something like 82% of their portfolio.

The sites that are not included are listed by area below:

East

  • Hatfield Forest, Essex
  • Orford Ness National Nature Reserve, Suffolk
  • Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

London and the South East

  • 2 Willow Road, London
  • 575 Wandsworth Road, London
  • Ascott, Buckinghamshire
  • Ashdown House, Oxfordshire
  • Ashridge Estate, Hertfordshire
  • Boarstall Duck Decoy, Buckinghamshire
  • Boarstall Tower, Buckinghamshire
  • Buscot Park, Oxfordshire
  • Buscot Old Parsonage, Oxfordshire
  • Carlyle’s House, London
  • Clandon Park, Surrey
  • Cobham Mausoleum, Kent
  • Coleshill Heritage and Rural Skills Centre, Oxfordshire
  • Dorneywood Garden, Buckinghamshire
  • Eastbury Manor House, London
  • The Homewood, Surrey
  • King’s Head, Buckinghamshire
  • Leith Hill Place, Surrey
  • Long Crendon Courthouse, Buckinghamshire
  • Oakhurst Cottage, Surrey
  • Old Soar Manor, Kent
  • Owletts, Kent
  • Pitstone Windmill, Buckinghamshire
  • Princes Risborough Manor House, Buckinghamshire
  • Priory Cottage, Oxfordshire
  • River Wey and Godalming Navigations and Dapdune Wharf, Surrey
  • Stoneacre, Kent
  • St John’s Jerusalem, Kent
  • Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire
  • Wakehurst Place, West Sussex
  • West Green House Garden, Hampshire
  • Woolbeding Gardens, West Sussex

Midlands

  • Cronkhill, Shropshire
  • Farnborough Hall, Warwickshire
  • Grantham House, Lincolnshire
  • Middle Littleton Tithe Barn, Worcestershire
  • Morville Hall, Shropshire
  • The Old Manor, Derbyshire
  • Rosedene, Worcestershire
  • Town Walls Tower, Shropshire

North

  • Alderley Edge, Cheshire
  • The Beatles’ Childhood Homes (20 Forthlin Rd & Mendips), Liverpool
  • Braithwaite Hall, North Yorkshire
  • Cragside, Northumberland
  • Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland
  • Farne Islands, Northumberland
  • Force Crag Mine, Cumbria
  • Formby, Liverpool
  • Gawthorpe Hall, Lancashire
  • Hadrian’s Wall & Housesteads Fort, Northumberland
  • Hardman’s House, Liverpool
  • Maister House, East Yorkshire
  • Moulton Hall, North Yorkshire
  • Mount Grace Priory, North Yorkshire
  • Nether Alderley Mill, Cheshire,
  • Steam Yacht Gondola, Cumbria
  • Tatton Park, Cheshire
  • Wentworth Woodhouse, Yorkshire

Northern Ireland

  • Grey’s Printing Press, County Tyrone
  • Murlough National Nature Reserve, County Down
  • Mussenden Temple and Downhill Demesne, County Londonderry
  • Portstewart Strand, County Londonderry

South West

  • Alfred’s Tower, Wiltshire
  • Bath Assembly Rooms, Somerset
  • Clevedon Court, Somerset
  • Great Chalfield Manor, Wiltshire
  • Hailes Abbey, Gloucestershire
  • King John’s Hunting Lodge, Somerset
  • Lundy, Devon
  • Philipps House, Wiltshire
  • Priest’s House, Somerset
  • Shute Barton, Devon
  • St Michael’s Mount, Cornwall
  • Stembridge Tower Mill, Somerset
  • Stonehenge, Wiltshire
  • Treasurer’s House, Somerset
  • Westwood Manor, Wiltshire
  • White Mill, Dorset

Wales

  • Aberdeunant, Carmarthenshire
  • Cilgerran Castle, Pembrokeshire
  • Cwmmau Farmhouse, Herefordshire
  • Dolaucothi Goldmines, Carmarthenshire
  • Segontium, Gwynedd
  • Skenfrith Castle, Monmouthshire
  • Ty Mawr Wybnant, Conwy

National Trust Scotland is a different organisation so none of their sites are included in the offer.

This list could change so it’s best to check with the site you want to visit before making the journey, but these are the only sites the National Trust list as being exempt.