Is an English Heritage membership actually worth the money?

If you’re looking to spend more quality time out and about with your family, getting an English Heritage membership might have crossed your mind. But is it worth the cost?

In this guide, we’ll break down everything you need to know about English Heritage memberships. We’ve included all the important info, including how much it’ll cost, what sites you’ll get entry to, and what bonus membership benefits you’ll get.

We’ve even worked out how many times you’ll need to use your pass to break even on the cost of your membership.

Once you’re clued up on how English Heritage memberships work, you’ll be ready to make a decision on whether it’s the right option for you and your loved ones.

English Heritage are a charity who take care of over 400 historic buildings, monuments and sites across England.

With over 10 million visitors each year, you can enjoy hands-on, authentic experiences that you’ll remember for years to come.

English Heritage are passionate about giving people of all ages a new and more exciting way to learn about England’s history — far better than reading about them in a book.

Their sites range from medieval castles and gardens to Roman forts, abbeys and even a Cold War bunker. Membership fees and donations go towards conserving and maintaining all of these important pieces of history.

Ever seen a blue plaque on the outside of a building in London? English Heritage are responsible for these, with 1,000 blue plaques commemorating notable women and men who lived and worked in the capital.

What are the benefits of having an English Heritage membership?

As an English Heritage member, you’ll get free entry to over 400 historic places in England, from Hadrian’s Wall in the north to Dover Castle down on the south coast’s famous chalk cliffs.

From medieval villages to stately homes and palaces, the list of English Heritage sites is incredibly varied. Whether you prefer the indoors or outdoors, you’ll find a range of interesting places to visit. In fact, English Heritage own:

Particular highlights include Osborne House and Gardens on the Isle of Wight, which is famous for being Queen Victoria’s holiday home, and Battle Abbey, next to the Battle of Hastings battlefield.

You can even visit Stonehenge with your English Heritage membership. As one of the world’s most famous prehistoric sites, a trip to the Stone Circle is a must for anyone visiting Salisbury.

English Heritage memberships are great for families with children, as up to six children under the age of 18 can go free with each adult. This makes it a handy way to enjoy more affordable family days out.

Other English Heritage member perks include free or reduced-price entry to hundreds of special events throughout the year (exclusive members' events that offer unique behind-the-scenes access and workshops). Members also benefit from free parking at all English Heritage car parks – a fantastic money saver.

There are also over 150 dog-friendly locations if your four-legged friend wants to come along. These include Wrest Park in Bedfordshire, Audley End House in Essex and Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight.

When you join, you’ll receive a membership pack with a free English Heritage handbook (worth £10.95) to help you plan your trips.

There’s also a free exclusive magazine for members, as well as a members’ rewards page on their website, where you’ll find a range of shopping discounts (everything from Naked Wines and Bloom & Wild to Vision Express).

How much is an English Heritage membership in 2024?

English Heritage offer a range of annual and lifetime membership types, with options for adults, young people, students and seniors, as well as joint memberships.

How often you plan to use your pass and who you’ll be visiting sites with will have an impact on which type of membership type you go for.

We’ll take a look at annual memberships first, before going on to see how the value of life memberships compare.

English Heritage annual membership options

English Heritage have individual annual memberships for adults, seniors and young people/students.

You might want to choose a joint membership if you’re planning to visit English Heritage properties and sites with another adult, but you must both live at the same address.

Check out the infographic below to find out which membership type you qualify for and how much it’ll cost you.

You can decide whether you pay for your annual membership upfront or via monthly direct debit over 12 months.

You’ll also see family pass options on the English Heritage website. As each adult member can bring up to six children for free, an English Heritage family pass won’t cost you any more than an adult membership.

However, if you opt for the family pass, you’ll get some extra things for the kids added to your welcome pack.

English Heritage passes for overseas visitors

If you don’t live in England, you can still visit many of the best English Heritage sites across the country with an Overseas Visitors Pass.

You’ll get unlimited access to over 100 different places across England for the duration of your pass, plus free or reduced entry to special events.

You can choose a nine-day or 16-day pass and there are options for solo adults, couples and families. Check out the prices below to see if this could be a good option for you.

*A family group pass is valid for two adults and up to four other family members under the age of 18, all living at the same address.

To collect your pass, take your booking confirmation to a staffed English Heritage site. You’ll also need to take proof of overseas residency (such as your passport, driver’s licence or identity card), as well as the card you used to pay for your pass.

English Heritage lifetime membership options

Lifetime memberships grant members unlimited access to English Heritage sites for the rest of their life (now that’s a lot of history!).

If you’re spending time at sites every other weekend, this option might seem like a no-brainer. Maybe you’ve had an annual membership for a few years and find it really rewarding? Wondering if it’s time to upgrade?

The table below gives you a breakdown of English Heritage lifetime membership fees in 2024.

These numbers might put you off if you’re looking for cheap days out, and we don’t blame you. But if you’re interested in weighing up the value in more detail, we’ve got a full cost breakdown later on.

Keep in mind that life memberships must be paid in full upfront. There are no payment plan options that allow you to pay in instalments.

Is an English Heritage membership worth it?

If you prefer staycations to travelling abroad, an English Heritage membership offers a variety of affordable days out while you’re away, wherever you’re headed.

Members get unlimited access to all sites, even on bank holidays. And with sites up and down the country, you’re sure to find interesting historical attractions to visit on every trip.

English Heritage sites are educational for children of all ages, with plenty of activities to get stuck in with. And the best part? Kids go free, which means you’re only paying for the adults in your group anyway.

Even if you don’t have children, you might enjoy an English Heritage membership if you love outdoor spots with spectacular views or are looking to learn more about England’s history.

How to get the most out of your membership

English Heritage memberships are only worth the money if you use them enough times to break even on your investment. Otherwise, you might as well just book tickets each time you visit a site throughout the year.

To work out if a membership would be cost-effective for you, we need to consider the average price of a day pass.

However, this may be easier said than done, as prices vary quite dramatically between sites. We’ve compared a few popular English Heritage sites from around the country to help us work out some average day ticket prices.

 Stonehenge:

Adult: £25.40 / £22.70 (off-peak)
Kids: £15 / £13.60 (off-peak)
Seniors and students: £20.90 / £18.10 (off-peak)

 Housesteads:

Adult: £10 / £8.60 (off-peak)
Kids: £5.90 / £5 (off-peak)
Seniors and students: £8.60 / £7.70 (off-peak)

 Kenilworth Castle:

Adult: £14.50 / £12.70 (off-peak)
Kids: £8.60 / £7.70 (off-peak)
Seniors and students: £12.70 / £11.30 (off-peak)

 Dover Castle:

Adult: £23.60 / £20.90 (off-peak)
Kids: £14.50 / £12.70 (off-peak)
Seniors and students: £20.90 / £18.10 (off-peak)

To give you the most realistic breakdown of cost-effectiveness we can, we’ve assumed the following average day pass prices, based on the figures above:

Adults: £18
Kids: £11
Students and seniors: £15.80

Because kids go free with an adult member, you won’t pay a penny for little ones if you buy yourself a membership.

In terms of day passes, kids under five years old always go free, regardless of whether you’ve got a membership or not.

A family of four (two adults and two kids over five) could expect to pay around £58 in total for their entry. For £126, that family could visit unlimited sites for an entire year with an annual pass.

So, based on these figures, how many times would you need to use your pass to break even?

Another important consideration is parking. As a member, you’ll get free parking at all English Heritage car parks. While not extortionate as a one-off, that cash sure adds up over time.

Is an English Heritage lifetime membership worth it?

With a life membership to English Heritage, you’ll pay a one-off fee to get free entry to all sites for life. But just how many years will it take before you can say a lifetime membership was worth it?

We’ve divided the current cost of each lifetime membership by the current annual membership fee to work out how many years it will take to break even.

Remember how we showed that most annual memberships are only worth the cost if you use them at least three or four times throughout the year?

The same applies for each year of your lifetime membership. It’ll only be worth the money you spend if you’re using it at least three to four times a year, for a total of 18+ years (depending on the membership type).

Maybe you’re weighing up whether to invest in a standard adult life membership for yourself. You’d need to visit a minimum of four English Heritage sites a year for 24 years in order to truly justify the cost. That’s nearly 100 separate visits!

Of course, if you want to get really technical and factor in inflation, you could argue that it’ll take fewer than 100 trips.

In February 2024, English Heritage membership prices increased by an average of 4.05%. Adult memberships saw the biggest price hikes overall, with joint adult memberships being raised by 5%, adult life memberships by 4.55% and annual adult memberships by 4.35%.

If you bought an individual life membership in January 2024 (before the price hike), you’d only need to use your membership for 23 years before breaking even. This would theoretically continue to decrease as annual membership prices go up year on year.

But while a lifetime membership will cost you more in a year’s time than it would if you bought one today, day tickets are bound to rise over the years too.

Even if you think a lifetime membership would be the most cost-effective option for you, it’s a big investment to make if you’ve never had an English Heritage membership before.

If you fall into this category, we’d recommend trying an annual pass for a year or two first, to see how much you genuinely use it. If you’re not using it enough to make back the price of the membership, it might not be wise to fork out upwards of £1,400 for a lifetime pass.

It’s also worth bearing in mind your current age when weighing up this decision. For someone aged 70 and thinking about buying a lifetime membership, you’d need to be using your pass every year until you’re 91 if you want to break even on your spend.

How does it compare to a National Trust membership?

Take a look at the table below to see some of the most popular English Heritage and National Trust sites. Do any of them catch your eye?

*English Heritage

**National Trust

In terms of price, English Heritage comes out significantly cheaper, with adult memberships costing nearly £20 less than the equivalent National Trust membership.

The fact six kids can go free with an adult member is a huge bonus of the English Heritage membership and something that the National Trust doesn’t currently offer.

While under fives can go free at all English Heritage and National Trust sites, junior National Trust memberships cost £12 per year. Not a huge amount, granted, but that’s £12 more than free.

A National Trust family membership for two adults and their children costs £159 per year, while a joint adult membership for English Heritage (with children going free) is £126.

There are generous savings for senior citizens too. Where National Trust only offer concessionary prices to seniors who’ve had a standard adult membership for three or more years, English Heritage offer discount memberships for anyone over 65.

Check out our National Trust guide for a more detailed look at how their memberships and pricing work.

How to save money on your English Heritage membership

We’re always looking for ways to help our readers save money, and your English Heritage membership is no exception. Check out the tips and tricks below to see if any of them apply to you.

Bring a helper for free if you have a disability

If you have a disability, you can bring along a helper or companion for free. They don’t need to be a registered carer or provide any kind of evidence, so you could bring a family member or a friend if you’d like.

Bear in mind that it’s only your companion who gets the free ticket, so you’ll need to either use your English Heritage pass or book a day pass for yourself (why not split the cost of the ticket between the two of you?).

For information about accessibility at any of their sites, make sure to check out the individual site’s page on the English Heritage website.

Earn cashback

You can earn a portion of your English Heritage membership spend back, just by shopping through TopCashback.

When our members shop with English Heritage, we get a commission for sending them. And because we believe in sharing, we pass on 100% of that commission to you, as cashback.

In fact, you could earn £15 cashback when you join TopCashback by clicking the green button below and spend £15 at any of our retailers.

This means you can earn a portion of the cost of your English Heritage membership back by buying yours through us, and also get the £15 bonus on top.

Discount codes and loyalty deals

A quick Google search for English Heritage discount codes might prove fruitful – it might seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people skip it entirely and miss out on savings.

When we last looked, we saw NHS staff could get 25% off their individual memberships thanks to Health Service Discounts. Even if you don’t qualify for this, you may still be able to find the occasional free day pass promotion online too.

So, if you’re buying an adult annual pass, you’ll only need £36 worth of points to cover the £72 membership fee.

Refer a friend for a £10 M&S voucher

If you already have an English Heritage membership, you can get rewarded when you recommend a friend to join. For each person you refer, you’ll get a £10 Marks and Spencer voucher and they'll get £10 off their annual membership.

If you’re not already a member but know someone who is, why not ask them to refer you? That’s a nice easy way to save a tenner on your membership and get them a little treat too.

Our verdict… are English Heritage memberships worth it?

So, now you know how much they cost, what benefits you’ll get, and how many visits it’ll take you to break even on the money you’ve spent.

If you love soaking up history in person rather than reading about it in books, an English Heritage membership will be a great choice for you.

And, not only are all of their sites fantastic places for kids to let off some steam while learning something new, but they also go free with an adult member. This means you can all enjoy educational family days out for less. 

If you’re keen to join English Heritage, we’d recommend starting with an annual membership over a life one. It’ll take you up to 24 years to break even on the cost of a life membership, so unless you’re confident you’ll be out and about regularly for the next quarter-century, you’ll probably save money by paying year by year.