We love our National Trust Pass and get a lot of use out of it, especially during the summer months. Here are 6 National Trust Pass Hacks to help you get the most out of your subscription.

1. Park For Free At Beaches and Beauty Spots

Having a National Trust pass means you can park for free at various beaches and beauty spots around the country. Often, these car parks aren’t too far from paid car parks so you can save money and enjoy some stunning scenery.

Some of these car parks can be a little more secluded but as someone who loves to head off the beaten track a bit occasionally, especially for a quieter beach, we haven’t found this to be an issue.

For example, Brean in Somerset has a beautiful sandy beach, as you can see below. It’s owned by the National Trust so parking is free for members. There is also Brean down itself, a 100-meter-high natural pier which you can climb and walk along.

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Just along from Brean is Berrow Beach, where there are four car parks, all of which are paid.

One of the reasons we have a National Trust Pass is to save money, so heading to the beach and getting free parking is a great bonus for us.

As these beaches are often a bit more secluded, it means we can enjoy them without some of the expenses we might end up incurring such as trips to the arcade and donkey rides and it means kids aren’t constantly asking for things as it’s ‘out of sight, out of mind’.

It’s a great way to ensure beach trips and other days out are focussed on quality family time!

2. Pay For Your Passes Monthly

Did you know you can spread the cost of a National Trust pass across the year? If you don’t have the money upfront you can pay over 12 months instead, examples below.

Family of 2 adults
Two adults (aged 18+) living at the same address and their children or grandchildren (17 or under). Under 5s go free.
£11.15 a month for 12 months

Family 1 adult
One adult (aged 18+) and their children or grandchildren (17 or under). Under 5s go free.
£6.95 a month for 12 months

3. National Trust Pass Hacks: Take Extra Children With You

As you can see above, it’s worth knowing how many children you can take with you. For example, Grandparents can take their Grandchildren on their pass – they don’t need to pay for them and all under 5s go free.

Visiting Tyntesfield National Trust

Our Visit To Stourhead National Trust

4. Look Out For Free Deals

Earlier this year, the National Trust gave away thousands of free passes to use for a few months over the summer. While the offer has now ended, there’s nothing to say that it won’t be repeated in the future, so it’s definitely worth keeping an eye out.

This would be a perfect way to get a taste of some local National Trust properties and decide whether the pass would be suitable for you in the future.

5. Always Take A Picnic

National Trust Properties make the most wonderful spots for a lovely picnic. While many do have onsite cafes, these can be both busy and expensive. We tend to just treat ourselves to ice cream while we’re there instead!

It’s also easy to pop to and from the car at the majority of National Trust Places, so if you don’t want to lug your food around, you can take a walk around and pop out and grab your picnic when you’re ready for it.

6. Use Your National Trust Pass Across The Whole of the U.K

This might seem obvious to some, but if you have U.K break planned, don’t forget to have a look at nearby by National Trust Properties to explore. Especially useful if you’re trying to have a holiday on a budget.

You could also try visiting several smaller properties that are close together in one day.

7. Download The National Trust App

The National Trust App is super handy when you’re out and about or want to look up nearby properties, giving distance, opening times and parking.

There is also lots of other info such as how accessible a site is and whether there are children’s play areas etc.

We have found this more detailed information isn’t always quite right for some places. We tend to look for places with a children’s play area for our daughter and in some places that have one, it’s not mentioned on the app.

For example, Dunster Castle has a lovely natural play area with beams, logs for jumping along, a sea-saw etc and it’s not mentioned, so we do tend to Google as well.

National Trust Pass Hacks: Final Thoughts

I hope you’ve enjoyed these National Trust Pass Hacks and this post encourages you to visit lots of lovely properties in your area or when on holiday around the U.K.