Travelling Tips: Discover the United Kingdom with the National Trust
Updated: May 7
A vital part of this blog is travelling, as it is one of my favourite things to do. I do not want only to talk about international travel, as most people often do. As a person living in the United Kingdom, which has a beautiful cultural and natural heritage, I think there are some tips, that each of you who lives here too, or just planning to spend vacation in this beautiful country, should know about. And the first tip I want to talk about is the National Trust.
The National Trust is not a location, it is an organisation that maintains 500 + locations in the whole UK. Founded in 1895, a non-profit organisation pledged to preserve heritage and nature locations inside the UK. To save sites, but at the same time open them to the public, so everyone can enjoy and join the preservation.
The National Trust sites are available to everyone. So you can be either visitors – disabled (depends on location), families with children, wanderlusts – students or adults, teenagers, seniors, or volunteers... just anybody. And the sites which are under their care are almost everywhere (over 500).
The organisation states at their website: „With our staff, members, volunteers and supporters, we are the biggest conservation charity in Europe.“
The locations include over 780 miles of coastline, 250,000 hectares of land, and more than 500 historic houses, castles, parks and gardens. As an extra, they also care for almost a million artwork pieces.
I am personally a very big fan of everything historical, therefore this year I've decided to buy a membership, which is not very costly (I pay £ 7 per month) and definitively worth it even if you visit one NT site per month (usually the entrance is around £ 10-20. The info about membership can be found here.
So what is it actually all about?
If you like to imagine how it would be to live in Victorian times (or at any time in history), you should visit some of the historical manors, castles or houses, that are so well preserved. In the majority of cases contain original interiors, then you can stop imagining how life would have been because it feels like you just travelled in time. In each building is usually a local guide, or volunteer, who knows the place well and can explain to you or give examples of for instance how the breakfast would have looked like, or what the family living in the house, spent their free time, who of the famous people ever came for visit? How did they maintain the whole property, and what did the servant's life look like?
Are you a nature lover? There is also always something to choose from. Either gardens or lands that are part of a property, or a specifically dedicated wildlife conservation location, you will always find something to fall in love with. The wildlife conservation locations may include places where deer are kept and protected, natural bird environments, and coasts filled with seals when it's their breeding season. It is kind of like a Wildlife Zoo, without bars and insurance you will always see some animal (sometimes all you can see are signs of their presence).
Except from visiting the sites, you can either become a volunteer or be employed, there are plenty of opportunities. Of course, full details are available on their website the National Trust.
And now some examples of where I have been.
This is a Wimpole Estate located in Cambridgeshire (photos from February 2024)
In conclusion, I wrote this article to briefly introduce you this great organisation, so you know that it exists. As unfortunately I know many people, who never heard of it. Therefore I sincerely hope this post is useful. For more detailed information about the organisation and sites that you can visit with them please visit their website.
You are very welcome to ask me anything regarding my experience or practical advice.
Thank you for your time to read this post and I hope to see you next time.
Little Pluto xx
Heyy...I lived in Wales and South London area for 3 years and I never knew something like this existed! And it sounds super great for people who want to travel on budget and enjoy the culture. Awesome 😎