National trust and heritage

We are members of both and get our money's worth. English Heritage is a better deal if you take children, as you can get them in free, whereas you have to pay extra for children with the NT, which I think is a bit mean.

NT is very expensive if you are not members.
At February half-term we went with DD and 2x DGC to Wallington in Northumberland. There's a very nice play area for children and we intended to stay for for maybe a couple of hours and walk through the woods as well as go to the playpark.
We are members but DD is not. It would have cost £19 for her and DGD to go in. DGS aged 2 was free.
We drove instead to a nearby lake where the car park is 50p and the children had a lovely time and even saw a red squirrel.

DH and I took out joint life membership of both NT and English Heritage when I retired 6 years ago. I think we have had our money's worth over the years. We visit nearby properties 5 or 6 times a year and when we go up the motorway visiting family, we tend to take a detour to a NT property for a stop rather than stop at the motorway services. With our Heritage card, we can take an adult guest and several children with us so that's a bonus NT could learn from.

We are joining the Scottish NT at the end of the month (May). When our English membership expires.

The Scottish NT can be used in England as well as over seas

Joining the Scottish NT instead of the English NT will mean quite a substantial saving

I too am with NT but my friend is with the Scottish NT and it is considerably cheaper. However, she said that she's been told that, from next year, although she'll still be able to use her card to access all English NT properties, she will have to pay for parking. Might be worth checking out before making your decision.

I was told that too about the parking Chewbacca

We have both too but seem to use NT more. However, we discovered that some privately run estates give a 20% discount to EH members.... Holkham Hall here in Norfolk for example is part of a group including Blenheim, Chatsworth and others and we saved about £6 on the entry fee.

There's a discount for over 65s membership but you have to apply for it.
Our membership had been paid by direct debit for a few years before we clued on.

I would look in your area to see how many (NT etc.)properties there are and weigh up how often you could/would visit them. It can be expensive if you don't use it often but very good value if you do.

DH and I became "friends of" a private estate which is very reasonable and we feel that we get excellent value for money as we visit often. We also get discounts in the tea room and gift shop etc.

Which one is that gilly? Sounds interesting.

Join both, but if you need to choose. NT if you like stately homes, EH if you are more interested in outdoor sites.

We belong to both and also the Historic Housing Association, which gets us into nearly as many houses as the NT. We live near Blenheim, who charge £25 entrance. so we soon get our money back.

NT cards can be used in many different countries.It is always worth checking if any country you are visiting is on the list.

The NT senior discount only applies I think if you've been members for five years but with EH is just based on being 60 or over. I think the price difference between Scottish and English NT is wrong - is it cheaper in Scotland because there are less properties?

I agree with Gillybob about checking what there is locally for both organisations. We joined English Heritage only to find very little apart from odd bits of wall locally. We made a special trip to the Isle of Wight to visit Osborne House and then did not renew. NT has several gardens and houses nearby so we get value from our membership. For an extra £5 we were able to add both grandchildren, providing ages and names! One lives in Australia so he hasn't had any trips, however we have taken the local one to Clairmont at Esher often. There is a good playground, a lake with black swan and ducks and they also do special events like falconry displays. Worth £5 extra a year!

Purple where you able to add him onto a senior membership?

NT for Scotland one of couple only has to be over 60 for senior membership. Joint is £5.50 per month - would have to consider the extra parking costs from next year.

Plus the parking cost has gone up to £5 and there are new swipe machines being installed. Our local NT Pile used to only charge for the main car park and the three others which were for walking on the estate were free, but not any more.

Usually it take four visits to get your money back if your join an organisation. We're members of NT and EH although I volunteer for NT so could get in free, it enables me to take a friend free (volunteering for NT is worth it - free entry plus 20% off shop, restaurants, etc)

Our nearest NT property is Culzean Castle, the Ayrshire Coastal Path runs right through it with a honesty box for you to pay the garden and park entrance fee ! i dont suppose there is much money in the box at the end of each day.

We joined the Scottish NT last for just £47 for two of us. I'm frugal I have to admit but really you are only getting 6 months as most shut down during the winter months when it would be nice to have somewhere to go. Also once you have viewed the ones you can get to there and back in a day you're done really. From the £47 last year it jumped up to £66 this year so we didn't bother.

Not too sure if it's been mentioned but if you join English NT you can visit properties in Scotland too. English heritage members can also visit properties in Scotland and Wales.

However, you still have to pay half the entrance fee in Wales and presumably in Scotland for the first year of membership of EH.

I suspose it depends how much you use it, but for us membership has been excellent value. We have a caravan so generally visit several properties in whichever area we're staying in - and generally spend most of a day there. The same with English Heritage although their properties tend more towards ruins than houses so for us the preference is NT. It depends where your interests lie.

NT and ET have charity status. Like the RSPB and local Wildlife Trusts. So joining is like giving to that charity. - with perks! If you don't pay tax, make sure you join at the lower rate, as they always assume you're a tax payer.

Oops sorry just picked up your question janeainsworth it's Paxton House on the Scottish Borders . It sits on the Tweed and is opposite the Honey farm. We spend a lot of time there . The grounds are beautiful all year round. The stately home has guided tours and there is a really good tea room/cafe in the old stables and a nice gift shop too. And the most important thing of all there is a very good adventure play park . They run river trips during the nicer months along the Tweed. You can walk along the river to the Chainbridge and cross to the Honeyfarm . It's only about 5 minutes further north of Berwick and well worth a visit .

Members of Scottish NT can visit English properties free too - and the subscription is lower than English NT. You don't have to live in Scotland to join!