Museums charging.

My grandsons age 5yr and 10yr have been going to Norwich Castle museum since they were toddlers.We bought a family pass which gets us into any museum in Norfolk and is great for school hols and wet weekends.We renew the pass every year and save on entry feed.I must say the museums are always busy when we visit

LOL- very proud that the 2 small and provincial Museums I am closely involved with are absolutely brilliantly put together- at great cost. So charging or not is NOT an option, although local people do get special events for free (one is on the History of the drink 'absinthe', and the other on artisanal watch making, originally by farmers (farm in Summer, watch-make in winter).

Even our little museum in Bury St. Ed. charges, but locals can get in free. We have a little card somewhere that arrives when we have paid our rates.

However I have sometimes paid to get into smaller provincial art galleries and felt like asking for my money back.

Agreed Suzied- great idea. Most countries do charge for Museums I'm afraid. I love it when I got to London to find they were mostly free in the UK, but I am not sure this is a luxury we can afford. In many countries, Museums are greatly reduced for local people and for schools, students (although not usually for OAPs we are always surprised to see). I am on the Board of 2 Museums here, and there is no way we could survive without charging.

A good idea Suzied, as a lot of places now change your ticket into a free pass for a year, Blenheim Palace does that, and so is good value.

Yes, if the car parks had loos, a cafe, and were surfaced, you wouldn't mind a small charge.

Janerowena, I see what you mean, country parks , as I thought you meant municipal ones.

I think they should charge for museums such as the v and a and science museum, but once you have paid you can visit as often as you like during the year free. This would mean local residents can pop in frequently and tourists make a contribution.

I was wondering also about the large areas in Cambridge, and I can think of several others in many other towns and cities, where they are used as short cuts and have become rights of way. Maybe there are enough that aren't for them to make it easy to change them to pay as you enter, all they would need is one per town. Look at all the carparks that used to be free.

I suppose it would be possible to charge for some of the parks in Norwich. They're locked at night anyway so there are specific points of entry. Outside the city the only parks are village rec's - it wouldn't work there - and NT and they charge for the main car parks. (There are 'hidden' car parks though) Open areas such as Thetford forest are unfenced so that wouldn't work either.

Many of the country parks in Kent cannot be reached unless by car, Ana and so a car parking fee is charged. Sneaky or what. Acres and acres and acres of ground, yet they charge you a small fortune to park in a muddy field. I wouldn't mind if there were loos and a cafe at the very least. Here most are free, but the forestry commission charges a huge amount for theirs around this area.

As long as the money went to where it was supposed to go, of course...

A tourist tax seems a brilliant idea if used to support things like museums. It wouldn't put off tourists at that sort of level.

It's charged at the port of entry. Not hard to collect or administer.

A tourist tax is payable by overseas visitors. Not by UK residents. Seems only fair to me.

Our local museums have had to charge for years. Norwich Castle Museum is, I think, about £4.50, but you can get in for an hour over lunch time for £1. I think children under five are free, don't know about older ones.

No objection to that. Why should it be free? They have substantial running costs and to have to pay a bit to top up what they get from taxation seems fair enough. It's a cheap day out when you compare it with National Trust or a visit to the cinema.

I don't see how it would be practical to charge to enter parks and don't like the idea, although it may make people value them more.

I still haven't found a country in Europe that doesn't charge entrance fees for museums and galleries. We are - in my limited experience - unique and I hope we remain unique because otherwise we shall be cutting off our noses to spite our faces. Visitors who now make a donation and buy mementos from the shops won't turn up at all.

Surely it can't mean charging tourists £20 every time they visit one of those places?

Oh, is that what the tourist tax is? How do they ensure it goes towards the maintenance/upkeep of the museums/galleries etc. that need it?

No parks charge here that I know of, and the great museums are free too. Ana, I think Sine Die means charging foreign tourists £20 , or foreign and none locals? museums here did used to charge money, but some of them allowed locals in for free.I would prefer them to be free naturally , all over the British Isles, but over the years it has gone from free- pay for- free- pay for and now free at the moment.

I would not visit museums and galleries if I had to pay to enter. My DD and her family would not either. She has four children and the cost would be astronomical. It would be a pity if they did start charging as all my GC love visiting museums.

I can't find any information about charging entrance fees for municipal parks on the internet, janerowena, and there are certainly none where I live that charge.

As most parks have multiple entrance points, it would seem hard to police unless they had pay-as-you enter turnstiles (remember those from the old swimming baths?) - also most of them aren't contained within impenetrable structures.

I agree with nigglynellie.

That is awful if people are charged to go into parks.

I would not object to paying a small entrance fee for a great experience (under £5) , after all a lot of overpriced attractions are always busy eg. London Eye.
I think that discounts for local residents, who are best placed to pop in for short periods and season tickets should be offered too. Our local museum charges over £7 and only has about an hour of interest so I do not visit.

I wonder if vandalism is tipping the balance in favour of charging entrance fees for places which used to be free? Just a thought.