For a family of two adults and children, a short-term pass from English Heritage or the National Trust usually pays for itself after two big properties, not three or four. Whether it is worth buying depends on which houses you want to see, because the two charities own different places, and neither covers the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace or Kew Gardens.
English Heritage and the National Trust are separate charities. English Heritage looks after state-owned sites such as Stonehenge, Dover Castle and the castles at Deal and Walmer. The National Trust owns its own houses, gardens and coastline, such as Chartwell, Sissinghurst and Knole. Each sells a pass for visitors on a short trip, and each sells annual membership. You can also simply pay at each property.
This page does the arithmetic with real prices for a family, explains what each pass leaves out, and says when paying at the gate is cheaper. For day trips in general, start with our day trips from London; for the city's own sightseeing pass, which is a different product from a different company, see whether the London Pass is worth it.
The two short-term passes (checked November 2026)
- English Heritage Overseas Visitor Pass
- 9 or 16 consecutive days. For visits from 25 March 2026 to 16 March 2027: 1 adult £58 or £69; 2 adults £102 or £113; family £116 or £127
- Who the EH family pass covers
- Two adults and up to four family members under 18 living at the same address
- EH pass conditions
- Proof of overseas residency needed to collect it; not replaceable if lost
- National Trust Explorer Pass
- 4, 8 or 14 days. 1 adult £36, £48, £63; 2 adults £59, £77, £103; family with 2 adults £64, £82, £108; family with 1 adult £41, £53, £68
- NT pass conditions
- Confirmation e-mail is the pass; no ID checked at entry; non-refundable; start date can be changed by phone
- Annual membership, family of two adults
- English Heritage £149; National Trust £176.40
- Where to check
- english-heritage.org.uk (Overseas Visitors) and nationaltrust.org.uk (Explorer Pass, Membership)
The National Trust pass has a new name
Older guidebooks, and many travel forums, describe a National Trust Touring Pass for overseas visitors. In November 2026 the National Trust sells an Explorer Pass instead, described as a pass for anyone planning a short trip in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Its terms say no ID is required at entry, and they do not mention overseas residency.
Do not confuse it with the Explorer Pass sold for London attractions by a sightseeing-pass company. The two have nothing to do with each other, and the London one does not get you into a single National Trust house.
The English Heritage product is still called the Overseas Visitor Pass, and it is still for overseas visitors only. You buy it online, then collect it at any staffed English Heritage site with the booking confirmation, the credit card you paid with and a passport, identity card or driving licence as proof of overseas residency. A photocopy of the document is accepted.
Which houses each pass gets you into
This is the question that decides everything. The estates barely overlap, so a pass from one charity is useless at the other's properties, and the right choice is the one that owns the places on your list.
| Day trip from London | Run by |
|---|---|
| Stonehenge, Dover Castle, Battle Abbey, Deal Castle, Walmer Castle | English Heritage |
| Eltham Palace, Down House, Audley End, Osborne on the Isle of Wight | English Heritage |
| Chartwell, Knole, Sissinghurst, Bodiam Castle, Scotney, Ightham Mote | National Trust |
| The White Cliffs of Dover, the Seven Sisters at Birling Gap, Box Hill | National Trust (free to walk; the pass saves only parking) |
| Tower of London, Hampton Court, Kensington Palace, Kew, Windsor Castle, Leeds Castle, Hever, Blenheim, Warwick Castle | Neither |
Kent is where the two estates sit closest together. A week based in London could take in Dover Castle and the White Cliffs on one day, Chartwell and the Kent houses on another and the castles at Deal and Walmer on a third, using both charities in one week. The other way round, a family whose list is Stonehenge, Battle and Audley End needs English Heritage only.
The family arithmetic, English Heritage
English Heritage publishes its prices in a data feed on its own website. The figures below are its standard online family prices for the season running from 25 March 2026, without the optional Gift Aid donation. Quieter dates can be cheaper and busy ones dearer, and buying on the day at the gate costs more.
| Property | Family ticket | Running total |
|---|---|---|
| Stonehenge | £67.57 | £67.57 |
| Dover Castle | £67.57 | £135.14 |
| Walmer Castle | £38.59 | £173.73 |
| Deal Castle | £23.12 | £196.85 |
The 9-day family pass costs £116. Stonehenge and Dover alone come to £135.14, so the pass saves £19.14 after only two visits. Add Walmer and Deal on the same Kent day and the saving rises to £80.85. Stonehenge on its own, at £67.57, does not justify the pass; nor do two of the smaller castles.
For a couple, the 9-day pass for two adults costs £102. Two adult tickets at Stonehenge and Dover come to £108.12 at the standard online price, so two big sites again just clear it. One adult alone pays £58, and Stonehenge plus Dover at £54.06 falls slightly short: a solo traveller needs a third site.
Arriving at Dover Castle by train can beat the pass maths. Our Dover page explains English Heritage's discount for visitors who arrive by bus, train or bicycle. If Dover is the only English Heritage site on your list, the walk-up price with that discount may be the cheapest option of all.
The family arithmetic, National Trust
National Trust prices are read from each property's own page in November 2026, without Gift Aid. Its family tickets cover two adults and up to three children.
| Property | Family ticket | Running total |
|---|---|---|
| Chartwell, house, garden and studio | £60.00 | £60.00 |
| Sissinghurst, whole property | £35.00 | £95.00 |
| Bodiam Castle, standard (higher from late July to early September) | £32.50 | £127.50 |
| Knole, showrooms, outdoor and tower | £30.00 | £157.50 |
The 4-day family Explorer Pass for two adults costs £64 and the 8-day one £82. Chartwell and Sissinghurst together come to £95, so the 8-day pass pays for itself after those two. Chartwell plus any one other house inside four days clears the 4-day pass. Four houses in a week saves £75.50 on the 8-day pass.
Be careful with Chartwell. Its house closes for the winter and only the garden and studio open, at a lower family price of £42.50. On a winter day the arithmetic is weaker, and it is worth reading the Chartwell section of our Kent houses page before committing.
What a pass is worth when you go by train
The National Trust sells the Explorer Pass partly on free parking, and annual membership of both charities includes it too. Chartwell, for example, charges £6 a car to non-members. If you are travelling from London by train, that benefit is worth nothing to you.
The train also shapes how many houses you can actually reach. Most country houses are a train and then a bus or a taxi, and two properties in one day is ambitious without a car. Count realistic visits, not the number of houses within the pass. Our page on the cheapest day trips from London has the fares, and our guide to railcards worth buying as a visitor explains how a couple or family can take a third off them, which often saves more than either heritage pass.
A National Trust pass is no use at Stonehenge, but National Trust membership is. The Explorer Pass terms list Stonehenge among the places it excludes. English Heritage's own price notes say National Trust England members are admitted to Stonehenge free. Membership and the short-term pass are different products with different rules.
What neither pass covers
The most visited paid sights near London belong to other organisations. Historic Royal Palaces runs the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace and Kensington Palace; Kew Gardens is run by its own board of trustees; Windsor Castle belongs to the Royal Collection. Leeds Castle, Hever, Blenheim, Warwick Castle, Highclere and Hatfield House are privately owned or run. None of them accepts either pass.
The National Trust pass also excludes a published list of about forty of its own places. Within reach of London, that list includes Wakehurst Place in Sussex, Eastbury Manor House in Barking, and Owletts and St John's Jerusalem in Kent. The terms also exclude places with reciprocal agreements, places run by local authorities and some London partner properties. Check the list on the Explorer Pass page before you buy.
English Heritage's pass covers general admission. At a big daytime event that replaces normal admission with a higher price, a pass holder pays the member price instead of getting in free; English Heritage names the Battle of Hastings weekend at Battle Abbey in October as the example. Free sites such as Kenwood, and the many ruins that are free to enter, need no pass at all.
Annual membership instead of a pass
Membership costs more than a pass, but it lasts a year. English Heritage family membership for two adults costs £149, and up to six children per adult go free. National Trust family membership for two adults costs £176.40 and covers their children or grandchildren under 18.
For a single trip, the pass is nearly always cheaper. English Heritage's 16-day family pass at £127 is £22 less than a year's family membership. Membership makes sense if you will come back to England within twelve months, if your trip is longer than sixteen days, or if your list includes Stonehenge and several National Trust houses, because National Trust membership gets you into both.
Both charities offer Gift Aid on admission and membership. It is a tax relief for UK taxpayers; a visitor who does not pay UK tax should choose the price without it.
Paying at the gate: when it is the right answer
Pay at the gate if you are visiting one big property, or one big and one small. That covers most visitors on a week in London: one day at Stonehenge, one at Windsor Castle, and the rest in the city. A pass bought for one site is money lost.
Paying as you go also leaves you free to change plans when the weather turns. A pass with fixed consecutive days pushes you to travel on a wet Tuesday you would otherwise have spent in a museum. For ideas that suit a family better than a house, see day trips that work with children.
For the pass to win, plan the days first: write down the properties, check each one is open on the day you mean to go, and add the gate prices. Only then compare the total with the pass. Many country houses close or open only at weekends between November and March, which our Sissinghurst and Kent gardens and Bodiam and Scotney pages describe property by property.
Frequently asked questions
Does the National Trust still sell a Touring Pass?
Not under that name. In November 2026 the National Trust's short-term product is the Explorer Pass, sold for 4, 8 or 14 days for one adult, two adults or a family, with free entry to most of its places and free parking. Its terms do not limit it to overseas visitors.
Is the English Heritage Overseas Visitor Pass worth it?
For a family, usually yes if you visit two of the big sites, such as Stonehenge and Dover Castle. At standard online prices those two cost a family £135.14, against £116 for the 9-day family pass. For one site only, or for a solo traveller visiting two, paying at the gate is cheaper.
Can I use a National Trust pass at English Heritage sites?
No. The Explorer Pass terms exclude English Heritage properties, Stonehenge included. Annual National Trust membership is different: English Heritage says National Trust England members get into Stonehenge free, though not into its other sites.
Do either of the passes cover Hampton Court or the Tower of London?
No. Both are run by Historic Royal Palaces, which is not part of either charity. Kew Gardens and Windsor Castle are also outside both schemes, so budget for their tickets separately whichever pass you buy.
Sources
- English Heritage - Overseas Visitors Pass: prices and how it works (checked November 2026)
- English Heritage - Membership prices (checked November 2026)
- English Heritage - Stonehenge prices and opening times (property price data, season from 25 March 2026) (checked November 2026)
- National Trust - Explorer Pass: prices, excluded places and terms (checked November 2026)
- National Trust - Membership prices (checked November 2026)
- National Trust - Chartwell: prices and parking (checked November 2026)
- National Trust - Sissinghurst Castle Garden: prices (checked November 2026)