National Trust Reviews 

We recently visited the giants causeway and had a tour presented by Toni and Lisa. It was so informative and fun. They were both brilliant and made our experience extra special

I was never told that the monthly payment was an annual commitment at the point of signing up. 16 months later and I try to cancel my direct debit only to be told I am expected to make my "donation" for the rest of the year. What a scam!

We visited yesterday and overall had a lovely day. The grounds are absolutely beautiful and we really enjoyed our picnic.

However, we were disappointed by the communication regarding the house opening times. We arrived at around 12:30pm carrying a large picnic hamper and several bags, so our focus was understandably on finding somewhere to sit and enjoy our lunch. We did not notice the signs stating that the house closed at 3:30pm.

Unfortunately, by the time we went to visit the house, which we had paid to enter, it had already closed. We appreciate that the information may well have been displayed and accept that we share some responsibility for missing it. However, a verbal reminder when tickets were purchased would have been helpful, especially as many visitors are focused on settling in rather than stopping to read every sign.

What disappointed us most was the response when we politely asked whether a partial refund might be possible. One member of staff was understanding, but another immediately pointed out how long we had already been there and referred us back to the signs. It felt defensive and dismissive, rather than acknowledging our disappointment.

It’s a shame, because the setting itself is stunning and we had been looking forward to seeing the house as part of our visit. A little more proactive communication and a more empathetic response would have turned this into a five-star experience.

I can't believe the negative reviews here - National Trust is a charity staffed largely by volunteers, who in my experience are knowledgeable, informative and friendly. We recently visited Moseley Old Hall and were given many historical insights regarding Charles II and his brief stay there in hiding. All the staff were wonderful. I particularly wanted to thank Noel who was manning the dining parlour - he gave us some great historical insights including the origin of sayings like 'burning the candle at both ends' and 'Chairman of the Board'. Thank you Noel and to all the great NT staff nationally - what you do is truly appreciated.

Make a digital membership !!!!
It’s ridiculous that
national trust don’t have the option for a digital membership!!! I have a Photo of mine on my phone with a photo of my driver license to prove with photo id it’s me and they still want a physical card on entry !!!! Absolutely stupid !!! It has nothing to do with “ phone reception “ it’s stored on the phone !!!! If people want a Picard then that’s a choice most want a digital QR !!!! It may be the reason I quit the NT !!!

Reply to theNT reply - it is not hard when almost all annual memberships from other huge corporations are DIGItAL !!!!!!
If you had my pass and my drivers licence how is tat not showing it’s me!!!! You all must be absolutely clueless to think a photo of a pass can be abused but a physical membership card can’t be abused !!!!! You charge enough to sort the digital side out !!!!! And sort your website it’s utterly useless !!!

We visited Cragside over the bank holiday weekend. Obviously it was very busy and the main car park was full, so not quite what we planned. However I would like to thank Keith for his kindness and support. My wife had a problem with her knee and Keith did his very best to make our visit easier.

As the NT has recently acquired a number of Ironbridge sites, I contacted them to ask if members of the Museum Association still received free entry into those sites. Customer services told me they were still looking into this and could not advise further. After a few weeks I called customer services to ask again and they still did not know the answer. There website is vague on what associated organisations gain free entry to these sites. This is not helpful when trying to plan days out whilst on holiday this week.

Visited Cliveden House today in 34c, a very enjoyable day with a lot to see and 2 very pleasant staff members in the Gift Shop where we purchased a Robin on a fork, now known as ‘Clive’.

Two points:

1) lack of refuse bins around the site although in fairness the grounds were pretty spotless but I held an ice cream wrapper for ages.

2) Toilets down by the river boats, you’re selling food and drinks and it’s a picnic spot. Maybe just from May to September, realise it’s a cost but it is 2026.

Very little is done to prevent this.

The cost of restoration is astronomical and, as the years go by, fewer and fewer artisans are even capable of such work.

Their journeymen and apprentices certainly aren’t.

There isn’t the money, or anything like it, to do the job, nor is it realistic to believe there ever could be. The sources of funding are irrelevant; It is the amount required that is a simple impossibility.

So when National Trust executives engage in pet projects like educating the public about the usual fashionable topics they aren’t wasting money that might have been spent on mending a roof, rescuing a dilapidated castle or revitalising ornamental gardens.

They know very well their job is impossible.

Which makes it all the more contemptible that they accept the job, the pay and everything that comes with it, knowing full well, at the outset, that it’s all entirely pointless and that there’s no plan to sort it all out.

It would cost trillions and require more stone masons, gardeners and artisans than exist in the entire United Kingdom.

There isn’t even any evidence they are allocating funds strategically in order to save properties most worthy of being preserved or that aren’t too far gone to be saved.

This is simply providing dubious characters with an extremely good living.

And King Charles as patron? He is presiding over this folly, almost certainly knowingly - it is quite inconceivable that he does not know what it costs to even attempt to maintain these properties.

So when you make a donation to the National Trust it is to a tired, cynical, lazy organisation that long since gave up trying to perform its duties.

Just look at the grinning array of top brass on their website.

Would you buy a used car from any one of them?

Why every time I book via Quidco do you reject my cash back? Quidco say it is NT and not them. It has happened twice in as many months when I have spent £750. So disappointing and underhand. I’ll go elsewhere in future! I’m sure you can afford to loose accommodation bookings.

We have had a National Trust Family membership for years and have always really enjoyed the properties, gardens and cafes. However the cafes are becoming more and more disappointing. Today we visited Berrington Hall in Shropshire, nice greeting on arrival, but the service in the cafe was appalling, we waited at the counter for what seems like a very long time with absolutely no acknowledgement from the two women behind the desk. They were more interested in empty glasses anything in fact apart from acknowledging the three customers in front of them. Probably won’t bother next time

We went to stay at The Stables cottage in Wisbech , Cambridgeshire which according to the website was a quaint cottage with a terrace out front.
What we found was a cramped outhouse, wedged between a main road and a car park.
We had no space to park and no outside space private to the house.
Wisbech can only be described as a zombie town and as we used this to relax , the stress and disorganisation of the area forced us to return home with immediate effect.
The National Trust is not what it was 20 years ago!
Very disappointing!

I’m shocked at the many reviews concerning the national trust buildings. I regularly go to Powys castle with my wife. The place is wonderful with beautiful gardens, lovely staff, great cafe with really nice coffee and scones. I also go to Attingham park most weeks for a walk and a coffee. Another beautiful place with wonderful staff 🤩. The wife and I went to Plas Newdd again last week. Again wonderful staff, beautiful setting with great gardens looking over the sea. Well done national trust and your lovely staff. Our yearly membership is the best value hobby we have ever had 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

Have visited Tatton Park twice now as a family with two young children.

The first time we visited as we have an RHS membership and knew we would be able to get into the gardens with this. We paid for entry onto the parkland which was around £10, then the children saw the farm and wanted to visit. When getting to the farm, I was unsure if this was included in RHS membership so politely queried this to be told pretty sternly that it wasn't. This felt unnecessary and the woman working in the farm made me feel quite embarrassed just for asking this question. We then paid quite a large amount to get into the farm which, to be honest, was really not great and not worth the money to get in, which was a big shame.

We thought we'd visit a second time round this last weekend and just visit the gardens. I'd looked on the National Trust and RHS partner gardens website to ensure we'd be allowed into the gardens using our membership cards. When we were in the queue to get in, another pretty officious woman, was talking to a young family in front of us saying that only the named member on the RHS card would get in for free, and any children under three. The family were clearly confused by this, as were we as we have visited many RHS gardens with our membership and have been able to enter free of charge as a whole family of 4 by just showing my joint membership card only. The woman then told us the same story, and, again, was pretty stern about it. So for a garden trip that we believed would be free, we ended up paying for entry for my husband (who hadn't realised would have had to bring his membership card too) and older child. The woman just kept repeating to us and the family infront that it's 'because of it being an RHS partner gardens', which to us didn't really mean anything. The gardens were beautiful and we wouldn't have minded paying had we been made aware but, again, we had already paid £10-11 for entry to the parkland and nearly £45 for a pretty simple lunch for us all. We enjoyed our day but the main takeaway is 1) certain staff members seem to have missed the memo about friendliness and I really felt, both times we went, quite embarrassed about how we were spoken to and was made to feel stupid and 2) the signs both when nearing the gardens about having your membership ready, and information on the NT and RHS websites needs to be much clearer about RHS membership and that entry is not the same as a standard RHS garden. We love a day out in nature and a garden visit, but have been much happier with the customer service and overall treatment from RHS as opposed to NT, which is a shame.

Before booking a holiday cottage, we emailed to see if there were any adjoining properties. A reply from Elizabeth confirmed there were none and it was set 'on its own'. We could see two doors on the cottage so we replied to ask again if the other door was an adjoining property. Elizabeth replied to say both doors were part of the cottage. So we booked. We then emailed again to see if the local team could confirm any adjoining properties - this time the reply said a tenant lived in an adjoining property. I called for a refund but they said I didn't have a case as the emails were sent from my email but the booking was in my husbands email. What a fob off! the lady I spoke to was so callous. I hung up and called back - a lovely guy called Mike answered and sorted our refund in minutes. He had common sense, was empathetic and so reassuring. All credit to him. Our last experience at a National Trust cottahe was equally disastrous. Drive 6 hours to get there at night and fine the previous people's bedsheets in the bathtub and dishes in the sink. the cottage hadn't been cleaned. We were asked to find a hotel for the night so it could be cleaned the next day. We ended up just driving home again, having a 12 hour round trip with 2 kids and a canceled holiday. Never again.

Excellent staff, great cafe food. Membership is a bargain with access to so many properties and preservation of landscapes. A national treasure.

Visiting Bateman's, home of Rudyard Kipling, has finally convinced me that I must give up using National Trust cafes. Here, as at so many other Trust sites I've visited in the past year, the volunteers were lovely, the home and gardens well-tended - but the cafe was hugely disappointing. By 1.25 pm - lunchtime - there were only five or six sandwiches left on display, (all gluten-free). We don't normally bother with gluten-free food, and could have waited for staff to make fresh "ordinary" sandwiches, but other customers were being warned of 15 minute delays, and the queue was backing-up. So we bought a couple from the display, and then discovered from the packaging that the bread and filling contained a vast number of E-numbered additives, a list so long it actually shocked us. Hardly a healthy option. But we were hungry so we ate them anyway - or most of them - and the taste was dry, bitter and unpleasant. A cake we bought was small, expensive, and with little flavour. Coffee was, as ever in Trust cafes, no better than just about acceptable. And that was our "lunch". Staff were polite but nobody hurried, and all in all we were reminded of many similar poor experiences in NT cafes over the past year or so in particular. Expensive, slow, low-quality food and an overall attitude that contained all the hallmarks of a monopoly, these cafes have degenerated so much we've resolved never to use them again, but to bring our own picnics instead. Isn't it a shame that the Trust can pour so much attention into other sides of its operation but leave something so fundamental as food and drink sadly below an acceptable standard?

£168 for a 1 year subscription? Are you mad? Considering that you are bequeathed these properties, with stipends and inheritance money… with all the footfall that you receive on a yearly basis…. Are you absolutely having a quiet chortle? How in the world do you think this is amenable to the populous, unless of course you are a conservative organisation, wielding power and status to the rich? Absolutely disgusting!

Membership auto-renews unless you cancel.

The catch is that they take payment by direct debit several weeks before the actual renewal date.

Once the payment has been made, they won't let you cancel your membership and refund the payment.

If you don't wish to renew, make sure you cancel your membership well in advance of the Expiry date marked on your membership card, otherwise you will get stung.

Appalling corporate behaviour.

I find it had to believe why a dog can not gain access to Great Chalfield manor, there's lovely grounds which he would have enjoyed.