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Anglesey, Beach, Castles, Cotswolds, England, money saving, North Wales, Scotland, South Wales, Travel

How to find Cheap Attraction Tickets

August 2, 2019 7 Comments

There are so many things to see and do in the UK and abroad. Sometimes finances can limit our experiences and we have to miss out. We are here to bring you a list of websites that you can visit to help keep these costs down. This post is all about how to find cheap attraction tickets.

We aim to cover a wide range of activities below and pass on information that we have found useful but do please also do your own research. These prices were correct at the time of posting but may be subject to change. Always see the partners website for full terms and conditions and check to see if there are any limitation on dates.

Save money with cheap attraction tickets

By looking for the best deals on attraction tickets, you could find a cheap way to enjoy a day out. Some of these tickets have massive discounts and get you into multiple locations. If you are looking to visit a few different places, perhaps looking to see which passes would cover most of these attractions and enable you to save some money.

A quick search for ‘cheap attraction tickets’ on the web should bring you up with lots of possibilities. We have covered our favourite but there are plenty of others and discounts are always coming and going. Occasionally a newspaper may also offer a discounted ticket if you collect tokens so check with other media formats too!

Free Museums

Natural history museum cheap attraction tickets — Natural History Museum

There are tons of free museums out there that mean you don’t need to find cheap attraction tickets! Just transport to the museum. Most of the Museums in London are free. Have a quick google for ‘free museums near me’ for an inexpensive day out.

Natural History Museum -We visited here this week and loved it! We got to see the dinosaurs and all sorts of amazing animals, crystals, insects and even see the scientists working in the labs!
The Science Museum – a hands on experience the kids (and adults) will love!
British Museum – Retracing the history of humans from across the world.
Art Galleries – From the Tate Modern, the Tate Britain and the National Portrait Gallery.
St Fagans in Wales is a free open air experience where you can see carefully restored buildings representing Welsh history. Over 100 acres of history to explore. (Just a £5 car parking charge).
Royal Armouries in Leeds. The UK’s biggest collection of arms and armour.
Manchester’s Imperial War Museum
Oxfords Ashmolean Museum

Merlin Pass

The Merlin passes cover over 30 different types of attraction and offers multiple event tickets for cheap. From the London Eye, Thorpe Park, Chessington World of Adventures, Alton Towers, Sea Life Centre’s, Legoland, Blackpool Tower, Madame Tussaud’s, Warwick Castle, London Dungeon and many more!

Standard Annual Ticket – Individual ticket price £139. Family pass £179 (Family is a max of 3 adults and total of 5 people on the ticket – no child price it’s all the same.)

If 2 adults and 2 children were to visit Madame Tussaud’s, Alton Towers, Chessington and a Sea Life Centre just once each, you would have saved £92.06! This cheap attraction tickets benefit is that it will really help you visit more locations rather than pay to enter each one.

* The Standard Merlin Annual Pass has some restriction dates and is subject to operating calendars.

London Pass

Cheap attraction tickets underground — London Underground

If you live near the capital city or are just visiting for the week – there are several ticket options available. The London Pass gets you access to 80+ attractions. You can use a digital pass on your app and skip queues with the fast-track entry on selected attractions.

Visit some of the following locations on this cheap attraction ticket!

Hop on / hop off bus
Tower of London
Thames Cruise
View from the Shard
St Pauls Cathedral
Westminster Abbey
Hampton Court
London Bridge Experience
Shakespeare’s Globe
HMS Belfast
Cutty Sark
Wembley Stadium Tour,
London Zoo
Kensington Palace
Kew Gardens
And so many more!

There is a day pass, 6 day pass and a 10 day pass. We recommend the latter if you have the time as there are so many great attractions to see in the city. Plan ahead to fit in as much as you can and use the hop on/off bus to get you to the attractions!

1 Day – Adult £75 Child £55
6 Day – Adult £159 Child £119
10 Day – Adult £189 Child £139

iVenture Pass London

Cheap attraction ticket HMS Belfast — HMS Belfast

iVenture offer deals on passes at home and abroad!

Covering Africa and the Middle East, the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe, you can save loads of money on these cheap attraction tickets. So what are they? A pre-loaded, pre-paid attraction card to get you into either 3,5,7 or 10 attractions of your choice. Choose from plenty of attractions such as Wimbledon Tennis Museum, Ghost bus tour, HMS Belfast, London Zoo, Westminster Abbey, Tower Bridge tour and Thames Clipper river cruises.

These passes are valid for 1 month from the first use and could save you up to 40%

Choose your packages, Load your card and off you go!

Ticket pass Adult Child (4-15)
3 ticket pass £69 £59
5 ticket pass £90 £89
7 ticket pass £129 £114
10 ticket pass £169 £149

English Heritage

With over 400 historic sites across England ranging from prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts to country houses. English Heritage states that it uses these properties to ‘bring the story of England to life’. If you love a bit of culture and prefer this to theme parks then definitely look into some of these more historic passes.

Overseas Pass

English Heritage do offer an overseas visitor pass. This is specifically for those people travelling to the UK and not for people already living here. This ticket gives you access into 100 sites and these will be disclosed when you receive your handbook.

9 Day pass 16 Day pass
1 Adult £35 £42
2 Adults £60 £70
Family pass £65 £75
Family pass includes 2 adults and up to 4 under 18’s at the same address.

UK Resident

For UK residents there are lots of ticket options covering all 400 sites.

Individual Adult £60
2 Adults £105
1 Adult & up to 6 children £60
2 adults & up to 12 children £105
Senior £51
Children are under 18’s.

There are other ticket options available – Check the website for details.

Historic Scotland

With up to 5000 years of Scottish history you can save money by visiting 3 or more of these sites. With added benefits with partners Manx, English Heritage and Cadw you can also enjoy half price entry into these sites for the first year and free entry on renewal. Thanks Historic Scotland!

Visit over 400 daytime events
20% discount in Historic Scotland shops
10% discount in Historic Scotland Cafe’s

Pricing

Individual adult £52.20
1 Adult and up to 6 children £56.70
Joint adult £90.70
Concession £41.40

*Seniors/ Students/ people on benefits/ Armed Forces

CADW

Cheap Attraction tickets raglan castle — Raglan Castle

The Welsh Governments historic environment service. CADW means ‘to keep’ or ‘to protect’ in Welsh and that is exactly what they aim to do. They are committed to protecting and making accessible the rich history of Wales. We have been lucky enough to visit lots of these locations over the last 18 months and each location is unique. From the oriental looking Castle Coch just off the A470 near Cardiff to the homely Raglan Castle or the fortified town of Caernarfon with its majestic castle on the estuary overlooking the Menai Strait and Anglesey. It’s not all castles though – there are also burial chambers, abbey’s, mines and iron works for example.

We covered some CADW castles in our ‘12 amazing experiences to have in North Wales‘ post

As with English and Scottish Heritage, you can reap the benefits of having half price entry into these sites for the first year and free entry on renewal.

Prices are based on annual memberships

Individual £43.20
Senior £28.80
Child (5-17) £18
Joint adult £66.60
Senior couple £47.70
SENIOR FAMILY TICKET – If you are in charge of occupying the grandchildren, CADW offer this pass – 2 Seniors and all grandchildren for £56.70!

If you are not sure, or are on a short break to Wales, why not try the explorer passes, either 3 or 7 day options.

Single Adult 2 Adults Family*

3 day pass £23.10 £35.70 £47.25
7 day pass £33.60 £53.55 £65.10
*2 adults and up to 3 children/grandchildren under 18.

National Trust Touring Pass

cheap attraction tickets national trust — National Trust

Overseas Visitors

Like the English Heritage pass, National Trust also offer an overseas cheap attraction ticket. Allowing access to 300 stately homes, gardens and castles and film locations.

7 Days 14 Days

Individual adult £33 £38
2 Adults £58 £69
Family £64 £81
A family ticket is 2 adults and ANY children under 18

UK Residents

For UK residents, an annual pass is available to secure your access into all of the National trust locations – even car parks! From waterfall walks in Shropshire, Manor houses visited by royalty to summer beaches and beautiful gardens you will be spoilt for choice.

Annual price

Adult £72
18-25 year olds £36
Junior £10
-5’s Free
Joint adults £120
Family (2 adults and their children) £126
Single Family (1 adult and their children £78

Sea Life Centre

If you are a hearty sea lover or a family member who can’t stop watching the little mermaid, why not take out a sea life centre membership?

There are lots of options to purchase a cheap ticket to the sea life attractions, from saving up to 20% by booking on line to passes for 1-5 sea life attractions or the annual membership which gives you:

12 Months Unlimited Free Entry into 13 UK SEA LIFE centres and Sanctuaries for you to enjoy. Exclusive Discounts for Annual Pass Holders:One FREE Entry to the UK Resort Theme Parks (Chessington World of Adventures Resort, Alton Towers Resort, THORPE PARK Resort or LEGOLAND Windsor Resort).

20% off Gift Shop
20% off in the Coffee Shop
50% off Guidebook
Discounted entry to other attractions and access to special events onsite.
This ticket is £75 for an individual and £60 per person for a family of up to 5.

Sea Life Attraction passes

You can add other attractions to your ticket and bulk buy tickets from their website too, for example a 2 attraction pass (sealife and london eye for example) is £40 adult £32 child (3-15)

A 3 attraction pass (Sealife, London Tussauds and London Dungeon for example) is £50 adult and £40 child.

Attraction Tickets Direct.com

Stonehenge scenery cheap attraction tickets — Stonehenge

Rated 5* on Trust Pilot, Attraction Tickets Direct offer cheap tickets for attractions all over the world. Their UK section covers experiences such as a Sushi Workshop for 2 adults for £50, White water rafting for 2 from £109 and a helicopter ride from £39 per person.

Theme park tickets can see you make a big saving too by booking in advance. We found Alton Towers tickets from as low as £33 per adult and £28 for a child compared to the Alton Towers website of £58 and £48 respectively.

Chessington World of Adventures is slightly cheaper booking through this site in advance but only by a minimal amount. The further in advance that you book, the cheaper you can find the tickets usually.

There is a Stonehenge experience that looks pretty cool! Travel from London on an air conditioned coach to Stonehenge for £53 adule £30 Child (3-16) and £52 Senior.

Picniq.co.uk

This is the website we used for our Longleat tickets where we got 20% off the entry price when the Longleat website was offering 15%. Check out Picniq. We found it easy to use and they sent the eTicket straight away!

Covering attractions from Disneyland Paris, Dreamwork’s tours: Shrek’s adventures, The Mary Rose Museum, Whipsnade zoo, Crystal Maze live experience, Zip World, Cheddar Gorge, Drayton Manor and so many more!

Visit Britain.com

St. Paul's Cathedral — St Paul’s Cathedral

This is the official tourism website for the UK. Advising on all types of tourism from how to travel in the UK, How to find accommodation, practical information on transfers, weights and measures, postal services, Pharmacies and mobile phones etc.

Other websites are available and we do suggest that you shop around to get the best cheap ticket for the attraction you want to go to. Every little bit you can save can go towards another event or experience. It really is worth looking at whether you will be visiting a few locations through the year and really making a saving.

Do let us know if you find a great deal and share it in the comments below!

As with all posts – we are not affiliated with any of these websites and receive nothing but pleasure from sharing this information with you.

money saving, Travel, travel tips

How to Transition to Full Time van life

April 29, 2019 Leave a comment

Have you taken the first steps to full time van life and now wondering what you need to do?

Whether this transition is one you have been dreaming about for years or perhaps a sudden impulse to live in your vehicle, we are here to help you out and ensure you have covered all of your bases. Full time van life is often a cheaper option than living in a house but it isn’t for everyone.

By now, you likely have the van already and are almost finished with the conversation. (I say that but a van conversion is never really finished!). You have made the decision and thought about how wonderful your new life will be. A simpler, more minimalist life. You look around your home and all you can see is ‘STUFF!’

Fret not. Here is a list of what you need to do.

CANCEL EVERYTHING YOU CAN.

1 Cancel your council tax. This could take a month to arrange and new bills/refunds to calculate. You need every penny so make sure you do the boring council tax bit! Some councils allow you to do this notification online so you don’t even have to talk to anyone. A cheque may be sent to your address so it’s helpful to be there or have your post redirected! (More on that later).

2 Cancel TV licence. It can be tempting to just cancelled your direct debit however you can be paid up to 6 months ahead. You may be entitled to a refund. Whilst we are talking about the TV licence, by UK law even if you have no fixed abode but a TV in your motor-caravan (or tablet /phone where you can stream the TV) you should still have a TV licence – if you have a home with a TV licence and that TV is not being used at the same time you can technically use your home TV licence to cover you. There is a lot of talk about how anyone would know and whether you could get away without having a licence. Please do your own research and make your own decision, I’m just here to tell you the facts associated with full time van life transition!

3 TV/phone/internet cancel all of these again giving your last day at the address. Be prepared for some charges, depending on your contract.

4 Gas, electric and water. Make sure you get the meter readings and report these to the utility companies. Take a picture if you need proof but don’t end up paying for someone else’s use!

5 Extra bin collection. We pay extra at our address for a garden waste bin. This needs to be cancelled or again, someone else will benefit financially. These are often on auto renewal set ups so cancel that direct debit!

6 Home and contents insurance. So easy to overlook when packing but anything related to the house needs to be notified of your exit from the property.

7 Mail. Options include leaving a forwarding address, redirecting your mail, a company such as boatmail who will scan and email or forward your mail to a destination as required. You may wish to also change you address with as many places as possible as you may not want your Dr’s letters being opened by the next occupant.

WHAT DO I DO WITH ALL MY STUFF?

1 Sort out what you NEED first. Space is an issue in a van. Make a list of the bare necessities, essential items and keepsakes. Once you have those items sorted you can start to look at what room you have left.

2 Sell some stuff! More money and less hoarding. You can use apps such as ebay, gumtree and shpock to sell things without leaving the house or hold a car boot sale. This will enable you to convert belongings to travel funds and boost your finances.

3 Recycle or upcycle. Upcycling is big at the moment and bulky furniture can be a blank canvas for a facelift. Why not try to find a local furniture upcycling group who may take that old chest of draws off your hands. We found a recycling waste company that delivered a skip and will recycle our items for us. This means less waste to landfill.

4 Storage is another option. Whether you have a friend with an empty garage or look at renting a unit, this option means your belongings should be safe in case you need them again.

WHAT YOU NEED TO ARRANGE

1 Photocopy documents. Take photos/ scans of important documents such as driving licence, bank cards and passports. This way you have all the details should they get lost or stolen.

2 Breakdown cover. If you haven’t already organised it you need to sort out cover. Don’t forget that you may need to confirm with the company that they can take the size of your vehicle. You don’t want to have a break down and then find out that the company you are paying wont help you due to size. Often this needs to be in place for 24-48 hours before it is active so give yourself time..

3 Emergency back up plans. Should something go wrong with the van you need to ensure that you have a back up plan, financially and with regards to accommodation.

4 Spare parts. Bulbs, fuses and fuel filters are a good idea to carry as well as using YouTube, Haynes manuals and ask on forums to see if you can fix a job yourself. Get recommendations from the van life community on trusted tradespeople.

5 Bright torch. either for dodging the frogs by the lake or being able to see under the vehicle, you need a really bright and reliable torch!

6 Always have a bag of change ready for car parking or public toilets!

THE FIRST 24 HOURS – WHAT TO EXPECT

Emotions will be high. you will be anxious and excited. You know that this isn’t going to be a walk in the park but you feel you have everything sorted out. Then you realise you still have possessions in the house that you haven’t decided what to do with. You have no choice but to throw them in the van. THIS ISNT PINTEREST. This is the reality of van life. It gets messy quickly. You are constantly battling for space and shifting things from one place to another.

It took us a full week of packing and unpacking, re-boxing, re-evaluating and ultimately getting rid of loads of stuff that we brought along with us.

1 It’s not uncommon to get ratty with each other when living in a confined space.

2 You will be busier than when you were at work and wonder where all of your time is going.

3 Plan ahead for water refills and toilet cassette emptying points.

4 If one of you is not feeling comfortable about sleeping in a certain location, you need to move. Listen to each other and respect their opinions. It is too small a space to argue!

5 Get comfortable with different smells, and quickly. Bodily functions happen, even if they are all glitter and sparkles! Respect when someone needs to use the toilet and go for a walk!

6 Top up your fuel tank when you pass somewhere with cheaper fuel. it may not be much that you add, but the money you could save will add up over the month! See how you could save money when travelling

7 Dry shampoo – buy it in bulk! Use it outside as it makes the van dusty however if you don’t have access to a daily shower it will be your best friend.

money saving, travel tips

How Can I Save Money Travelling?

April 1, 2019 5 Comments

Whether you are planning a weekend road trip or longer term travel adventure, finances are always on our minds. One of the questions often asked to seasoned travellers is how to make it easier on the wallet. What can I do to get costs down? Where can I buy cheap fuel? How can I save money travelling?

van life diary save money — Save money travelling with VanLifeDiary

Here at VanLifeDiary we have put together a few ideas to help you reduce the cost of your travel.

FUEL

Whilst we all know about fuel prices, are we really doing our homework before filling up? Some supermarkets will run initiatives to get you to buy fuel from them. While that is great news if you are doing a large shop, make sure you don’t buy unnecessary items to reach the total spend requirements. You could find you have spent out more than you saved at the end of the day!

Service stations and ‘last stop shops’ can get away with selling fuel at higher rates. Make sure you fill up when in towns were there is a bit more competition. Apps and websites like petrolprices.com are worth a look at too. They can tell you the prices of local stations before you set off. Keep an eye on prices as you travel and if you spot a good fuel bargain grab it. Pennies add up!

It’s handy to remember that not all petrol pumps are the same length too! When in Newquay I drove to a petrol station and there was a queue for cars on one side. Trying to be clever I attempted to fill up by dragging the fuel hose around to the other side of the van. I have done this in countless petrol stations before but this time it backfired and wouldn’t reach. Rather embarrassed I left that garage and ended up paying an extra 5p per litre!

CAR MAINTENANCE

Make sure that you look after your motor. Ensuring that you have checked your vehicle over before setting off on long journeys will hopefully stop the car from breaking down on the motorway. Nobody has time for that and it can ruin a really good holiday. If you don’t have breakdown cover you could be charged a hefty amount to get towed off of the motorway.

Current Government legislation advises that you could be charged anywhere from £150 for a vehicle up to 3.5 tonnes MAM upright and not substantially damaged up to £300 if its not upright and has sustained heavy damage. For larger vehicles this cost rises quickly into the thousands. Another option would be to ring a breakdown company at the roadside and enter into a contract with them. This will usually incur fees for an immediate removal of your vehicle.

Ensuring your tyres are correctly inflated can help save money travelling. The more surface area that is coming into contact with tarmac, the more effort it takes to move. Fueleconomy.gov can explain how much you could save. Remember that your tyres will also wear out quicker if not properly inflated. Mythbusters and other popular mechanics did debunk the myth that you could save even more by over inflating the tyres. Before you get any clever ideas there is a very high likelihood that this could blow your tyres out. This will cost you more money (or cause an accident). You would end up shelling out for new tyres and a few hundred quid to get towed off the motorway!

Don’t forget to check the other essentials such as oil, water, windscreen wash and windscreen condition for chips. Also check your lights and a have a tool kit containing a warning triangle and hi-viz jacket as well as spare bulbs and fuses. This can really help save money travelling long term rather than instant saving.

PARKING

Save Money Travelling — Save money parking

Unexpected stops in a pay and display can quickly eat away at your spare change. Paying the equivalent of your mortgage or first born child’s college fund is never fun so here are a few ideas to ‘curb’ your outlay.

Use an app such as justpark or yourparkingspace and pay less to park on peoples driveways. Initiatives like these are popping up all over the place, and while a good way to save some money there are also a few stories out there where people have arrived to find they can not use the spaces they have booked. We have not used this service ourselves so can not give a personal recommendation but it is always worth doing your own research and not taking my word for anything!

Parkopedia is another parking app that tells you about prices and location in order to get the best price for a car park – it might mean an extra 5 minute walk but if saves a few quid each time it can have a huge impact on your budget. If you are driving a van like me, you also need to be mindful of height restrictions – google can sometimes help with this but you can always call the bigger car park companies to find out before you drive there.

If you know where you are travelling to in advance, why not join the local facebook page and ask the locals for areas to park for free, they will know the layout and may have some preferred back roads where you can park freely and without time restrictions. It can be harder in a town but not impossible.
If you are up for a bit of exercise why not park a bit further out of town and cycle in. its a good way to keep fit, reduce your carbon footprint and see the sights a little slower.

We hope that this information will help you save money. Feel free to send it towards our cheese and cider fund.

Part of our #Vanlife Guides Series. Click here for more helpful information.