What is a National Trust Passport and how to get one – I have started something over on my Instagram stories! So feel like I should explain more here. We brought our first National Trust membership the year Charlie was born. That was over eleven years ago. It is by far (in our opinion) the best-value annual pass out there. We always find good facilities and plenty of outdoor activities when visiting our local properties which is key when being out and about with children. And now we have the perfect reason to visit more frequently. About six months ago I discovered that they also have something called a National Trust Visitor’s Passport.
So What is a National Trust Visitor Passport?
It is a little brightly coloured book similar in size to a normal passport. On each of the pages, there are spaces for unique stamps. These stamps are collected when you visit different places and National Trust properties.
There needs to be a cafe on-site or visitor centre so those areas which are moorland or coastland, without an occupied building will likely not be able to give you a stamp. So far we have found that everywhere we have gone we have managed to collect one. Although we have struggled more recently with some of the National parks that only offer parking for members.
However, we are also finding that they are not that popular. With many of the staff members having to hunt for passport stamps. Judging by the reaction to my Instagram stories they are the National Trust’s best-kept secret. This is a real shame as Charlie has really gotten excited in the last couple of weeks about collecting the stamps. It is a lovely way to encourage the kids out. They both really enjoy looking through the National Trust handbook and planning our next visit to specific locations. Checking the website of each property to make sure they will be able to grow their National Trust Passport stamp collection.
What if you forget your National Trust Visitors Passport?
Although the National Trust Explorer passport is a great idea, we quite often forget it when out and about. I have taken to keeping them in the car since we tend to decide to drop into a National Trust property spontaneously. But if you do forget them, as we have or you end up at a National Trust property without your passport. Then do not panic. We have asked for the stamps on plain pieces of paper before so we can cut them out and stick them in. Charlie is very much committed to trying to fill his by the end of this year. So hopefully I will be able to update this post soon with a copy of the certificate. If you are looking for some suggestions of properties to visit in the South East I have compiled a list here.
How much does a National Trust Passport Cost?
They cost £5 and you can either purchase them online or in a National Trust shop. If you purchase them online you can get free delivery if you spend over £50. Standard UK delivery is £4.95 and takes 3-5 days. If you are in a hurry then they also offer Express UK delivery which costs £6.95 and takes 1-2 days. But we have noticed that they have been in all the gift shops we have visited so it’s probably best to wait and save on the postage.
Please note that the National Trust is currently only able to deliver to UK addresses, including Northern Ireland and the British Isles of Jersey and Guernsey.
What about once it is full?
There is space for thirty National Trust passport stamps. Once you have collected thirty National Trust passport stamp locations you can send off the back page of the passport. There is full instructions on the back page, although do not forget your last stamp! The National Trust will then send you a certificate. As we are only ten stamps in, I am not sure what that certificate looks like yet. But it does ask you if you have sent off previous passports. So I am guessing this could determine the certificate you get.
National Trust Explorer Passport Stickers
In addition to buying National Trust passports, you can also buy sticker stamp sets from the gift shop. So far I have seen three of set of National Trust stickers, they cost £2 each for six picture stickers. Covering gardens, properties and various activities you can take part in. They do not count as stamps in their own right. Instead, they are designed to be added to the passport to have stamps used over the top/side of them. This is a fun way for boys to spend their pocket money by adding single stickers to some of the property pages. Using them to add some colour to their visits.
Have you got a National Trust Explorer Passport? Where is your local National Trust place? We are always on the hunt for little-known places to travel to. I would love to hear about it in the comments below.
Related Blog Posts
If you would like to read about our top National Trust places and discover some new places to visit then some of these blog posts may be of interest:
- National Trust Membership – Over the years we have visited a lot of different sites, historic houses and special places as National Trust members. This post shows how much we have saved over the last year, a full12-month period, including outings in the Winter Months.
- Best National Trust Properties in Sussex – In our opinion these are the best NT places to visit in both West Sussex and East Sussex, to make the most of your free entry.
- Best National Trust Places in Surrey – On the same basis but for the county of Surrey.
- Best National Trust Places in Kent – Our favourite National Trust places to visit in the county of Kent
Next time you visit the National Trust will you be joining their passport program?
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38 Responses
What a cool idea-especially for the kiddos! We have a National Parks Pass here in Alberta, but it costs quite a bit more!!
Sounds like something that I would get for myself. Sadly we don’t have that available here.
What a lovely way to keep a record of The National Trust properties you have visited. I do rather miss National Trust treasurers and there is no equivalent in France … although plenty of wonderful places still to visit.
This is such a fun idea! We have National Trust membership, so I think I’m going to order these for my two eldest children 🙂
That sounds a lovely way to collect stamps for places you’ve visited provided there is someone that can stamp it. Not excessively priced too and love that it looks like a passport.
I wish I’d known about these before 🙂 Last year I went to about twenty different National Trust places. Would’ve loved this!
Honestly, this is my first time hearing about this thing but having this kind of passport sounds really great most especially to those kids who loves collecting stamps from every places that they are visiting.
I’ve never known about these before but I love the idea of collecting the stamps of all the places you travel…what a wonderful idea!
That’s so cool that they do that! You can keep a record of where you’ve been and the stamps you collect.
That’s such a good idea! We are looking at getting passes for the year, will have to look into this
How fun, this is a great idea for our homeschooling. We love to travel and explore.
I love to explore more and more regions of the UK with every visit “to the island” and will definitely consider getting one, to make everything a little extra fun 🙂
I just bought a travel book. This would go great with that!! Now to actually start traveling is thing!
This is a super cool idea. I wonder if they do this in the states as well
I have never heard of this type of passport. I know we do a card here that only gets you to Canada, and Mexico from the States. We will probably do that to my daughter because I don’t think we will be flying to Europe anytime soon.
oh, i have never heard of these. i will def have to check these out. thank you for sharing. my daughter is going to be traveling soon so this may be perfect for her.
I love this trust passport idea. I wish we had something like that here in the states.
That sounds so fun, especially for kids, so sad we don’t have something like that in my place. It would have been so fun for my nephews and niece here.
Hmm, I haven’t heard of this type of passport before reading this post. I would have to look more into it to see if it’s available in my region.
Oh this is such a cool thing. It makes visits even more interesting. (especially for children).
So sad we don’t have something like this on my area. My little cousins would definitely love to do this kind of activity.
I never heard of this until today and I am sure kids love them and great educational tools for them too.
We love our National Trust passes and agree they are the best thing to invest in. We’ve had so many wonderful days out and are a great place to meet friends x
Ay, thats a neat idea. I think I will have a chat with my local national trust to see if we can implement something similar. I think the locations listed / visited should offer discounts for passport holders. That would really motivate people to get one. lol
I can’t believe I didn’t know about these!! We visit a lot of National Trust properties so could do with getting one for my youngest. He’d love collecting the stamps 🙂
Louise x
What a great idea. I think this is very cool and kids will love this. I love how they can then exchange for a certificate too xx
What a great idea! I really need to look into getting ourselves national trust passes, especially now we have the puppy 🙂
Never knew about this! So cool that this is available!
This is the first time I have heard about this type of passport. Thanks for raising awareness.
I hadn’t heard of these before but they sound great!
Thanks for sharing the details on a National Trust Passport. I wasn’t aware of this.
We were torn between a National Trust Scotland membership and a Historic Scotland membership last Autumn, and went with Historic Scotland in the end as there are more properties near us. The membership booklet also has a section at the back for collecting stamps at each property.
We visit NT properties all the time but not heard of this before, will have to get one for the kids
Great Idea don’t think I can get this where I live
What a great idea they are, Iwill have to look into getting some for sure.
These sound fab – wouldnt mind one too
I like these a great way to document your memories
I’m on my 4th passport now. I completely agree that some staff cant find the stamp. I asked the national trust for a list of properties that do stamps. They said they dont keep tabs on it and its up to each property to have a stamp made up. Disappointing as its a head office idea. I have a certificate that i can post on here but its a nice one and it’d spoil the surprise. And just to correct you, a property doesnt need a cafe to have a stamp. Its can be houses with no shop or cafe, a till at a garden centre or a beach