85%Would buy again
The verdict is simple: good value for a family day out. Tickets were easy to buy online and the castle visit lasted most of the afternoon. Nothing extra to pay for the audio guide, which I appreciated.
Read moreBought a family membership pack on the site and the confirmation said it would take a few days to arrive. It took nearly two weeks and I had to email twice before anyone replied. The membership itself is fine but the wait was annoying when we had already planned visits.
Read moreGet the family pass if you have children, it covers the whole lot and saves you working out individual tickets each time. I have been going to these sites for years and the booking system is far better than it used to be. The guided tours at the abbey are worth joining and the staff know their stuff properly. Renewal was simple and the confirmation email arrived within a minute.
Read moreNeeded something to do on my day off so I got a ticket for the castle. Booking was quick on my phone. Fine but the car park was a bit annoying.
Needed something to do with the kids over half term and this was perfect, we booked on the app in about five minutes. Ticket came through fine and the site was easy to find. Only niggle was the car park was full by eleven so get there early.
I've been coming to the properties for about ten years now, and the gardens at the big house are the part I always go back for. Each time the planting has been looked after well and the paths are kept tidy. The one thing I'd flag is that the car park fills up early on weekends, so you need to get there before the crowds. Otherwise it's a good day out and I'll keep coming.
The entry fee for the abbey was the biggest one I looked at this year, but I checked a few other places before booking and it was still worth it for the ruins alone. The app was easy and I got the tickets in a few minutes. The cafe was a bit pricey and we ended up bringing sandwiches instead.
This is the best option for the money if you are visiting a few sites in a year. I have used a couple of similar schemes before and this one is simpler to manage on the app. Renewal reminders are sensible and the card is easy to show at the gate. Only downside is the discount on the shop is smaller than I expected.
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English Heritage is a charity that cares for more than four hundred historic sites across England, including castles, abbeys, prehistoric monuments, Roman remains and historic houses such as Stonehenge, Dover Castle and Tintagel Castle. Its properties are open to visitors through a mix of guided tours, audio guides, exhibitions, reconstructed interiors and family trails, and many sites host living history events, re-enactments and seasonal activities. Visitors can buy tickets and membership online, and the charity's shops and cafés on site sell books, guides, gifts and food tied to the places they represent.
The organisation runs membership schemes that give access to its sites for a year, and these appeal to local residents, repeat visitors and families as well as tourists planning a day or a weekend out of London. English Heritage also publishes guidebooks and research, runs education programmes for schools and carries out conservation work on monuments that are at risk, funded in part by admissions, donations and grants.
