Category Archives: Scotland

How to find Cheap Attraction Tickets

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

Cheap attraction ticket Merlin pass
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

tintagel english heritage cheap attraction tickets
King Arthur’s castle in Tintagel

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

edinburgh castle
Edinburgh Castle

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

Cheap attraction tickets sea life centre
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

Cheddar Gorge cheap attraction tickets

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.

Why you should scrap your all inclusive beach holiday and visit Scotland

We have had the privilege of knowing Rebecca for a few years now. She is a talented writer, baker, singer/songwriter and dog lover. Whether she wants to admit it or not she is an incredible human with a passion for learning and exploring. At the beginning of the year she planned on taking herself and her car for a soul searching visit to Scotland. As the day came to set off, she got up at silly o’clock and got in the car. Even though she was nervous about the prospect of being her own company, she didn’t let this stop her.

Rebecca kindly accepted my request to write about her adventure. Scotland is one of the places we would love to go to but haven’t yet reached. If you enjoy Rebecca’s post please do show her some love on her Insta channel. Check out the video she made of her adventure! It’s incredible and we take out hats off to Rebecca for her bravery and courage. Without further ado…. Rebecca’s post!

Guest post by Rebecca Allen – Visit Scotland

Visit Scotland and scrap your all inclusive
Visit Scotland

I had wanted to go to Scotland for as long as I can remember. To this magical land fit for Kings and Queens and almost every mainstream TV program and film there ever was. They told me that it was far better than England, and well, the whole of the rest of Europe actually. Well aren’t they full of themselves? 

Spoiler alert: They were right. 

I decided to embark on this mission during May half term of this year (stupid idea, I KNOW). It was just me, my car and a human sized box of snacks to sit in my passenger seat and keep me entertained.  

I did a 1,300 mile round trip, starting in Edinburgh and leaving Scotland at the Cumbrian borders near Loch Lomond.  

I cried for about a week after I got home. That’s a lie, I’m still crying.  

I now tell new friends that I’m half Scottish. Sometimes, I’ll go full days speaking in a Scottish accent. (While spending those five days on my own in a car, I had to get good at SOMETHING). I buy Scottish shortbread and hang the wrappers from my wall like trophies, that only I know about. I bought a Highland coo.  

It’s fair to say, I miss Scotland. 

Scottish lake - Rebecca Allen

A blog post or a dissertation?

I was going to spend this article telling you all the places that you definitely should visit whilst you’re in Scotland, but quickly realised that the length of the piece would be closer to a dissertation than a blog so scrapped that idea. 

On second thought, I now want to convince you why you should scrap your £300 per person-all-inclusive to ‘somewhere in Southern Europe that all looks the same anyway’ holiday (no offence Emma and Lou, I love you really… Benidorm… *rolls eyes*) and instead, go to Scotland! 

First of all, it’s beautiful. Like not just ‘ah that’s a cute sunset’ beautiful, because you’re drunk on the weak Blue Lagoon cocktails Fernadez has shaken and stirred up for you. Scotland is the kind of beautiful where you will wake up at 4am (drunk or sober) just to watch the sunrise. Where every single corner that you turn has a whole new world, shining, shimmering, and bloody well splendid. And the kind of beautiful where that one wrong turn on a road where you can’t do a U-turn for 20 miles is actually a blessing not a curse.  

Scottish mountain and road
Wrong turn or right turn?

My second point is that this place is magic, like genuinely magic. And yes, I’m a bit of a magic fan and talk about it waaaaaaay too much, but even for people who are not into all that, Scotland is magic. It is home to some of the oldest Neolithic monuments, stone circles, and burial chambers in the whole world. If you’re an Outlander fan (don’t, just don’t, now THAT’s a dissertation), you will have heard of the legend that stone circles are time travelling portals, for the right people, at the right time.  

It could be YOU. This Summer… 

winterfell castle
Winterfell

It also has fairy glens and fairy pools and fairy hills, and oh, how can I forget, our good old friend Nessie. (#Ibelieve). These aspects of Scotland make it perfect for kids, not to mention the huge Harry Potter thing they’ve got going on. As in, Harry Potter was written in Edinburgh, inspired by everything Scottish and bits filmed there too (could you ask for more?). And then there’s Game of Thrones, James Bond, Brave, Macbeth, Braveheart, Made of Honour and the list goes on and on and on.  

So, that’s the extroverts convinced. Now for my introvert friends.  

There are lots of giant empty mountains with no one else there that you can go sit on a be alone.  

You’ll LOVE it.  

Safe travels, have a whisky on me, love, Rebecca. 

Rebecca Allen on tour
Rebecca on tour!

We want to know more! Did you ever visit Scotland? Did it change your life?

Comment below and join in the conversation on Social media too.

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