What discount passes does anyone recommend? I've heard good and bad about them and would like your input. <BR>Thanks, <BR>Nancy White

Nancy, <BR>Passes for what, where?

You mean you couldn't read my mind?!!!! <BR>Seriously, by discount passes, I mean ones like The Great British Heritage Pass that gets you into hundreds of places all over UK <BR> <BR>Many thanks, <BR>Nancy

Nancy, <BR>All things are relative, I suppose. The value of discount passes depends upon how much you intend to use them over how long a period of time. The Parisian museum pass is a bargain at $30.00 or so if you plan to visit many of Paris' museums over a period of time; not so if you simply want to beat the line at the Louvre. So too with the Heritage Pass and the various discounted passes for the underground and Metro. Determine what sites you want to see and in what time frame; that should give you a clue as to their value.

Nancy, <BR> <BR>In the UK, there are a few major passes: <BR> <BR>GB Heritage Pass <BR>English Heritage visitors pass <BR>National Trust visitors pass <BR>London Museum "White Card" and <BR>membership in the Royal Oak (US affiliate of the National Trust) <BR> <BR>English Heritage and National Trust are similar organizations--the NT is totally private; EH gets some government support. They each own/operate different historic sites in the UK. The only joint site that I know about is Stonehendge. So it pays to try and match the sites you want to see to the operator/owner of the sites and decide which visitor pass is best. <BR> <BR>The Royal Oak membership is a bargain--if you join this group, you get admission to all NT sites for one year (and the membership costs less than a NT visitor pass!) <BR> <BR>The GB Heritage Pass provides admission to a good number of NT and EH sites. It also gives you 50% off on entrance to Tower of London (which is neither EH or NT). <BR> <BR>In London, the English Heritage and National Trust operate only a very few sites--almost none of the major tourist attractions--so the value of the passes is limited if you are not going out of the city. <BR> <BR>Finally, the London White Card. It has a new name the "Go See" card. Basically a museum pass--good bargain for adults who will visit a number of London museums (children under 18 get in free to many museums). <BR> <BR>more info: <BR> <BR>www.london-gosee.com (white card) <BR>www.royal-oak.org (royal oak) <BR>www.ukindex.co.uk/nationaltrust (NT <BR>www.eng-h.gov.uk (EH) <BR>www.visitbritain.com (GB Heritage) <BR> <BR>

My husband and I took two trips to Great Britain where we rented a car and toured England, Wales, and Scotland for one month each time. We bought the British Heritage Passes and made a game of finding the castles, gardens, mansions, etc. covered by the pass. We certainly got our money's worth, saw a lot of beautiful backroads and some wonderful out-of-the way and interesting places most people don't think of. A friend and I are going to England in September, and one of the first things I will buy is another BH pass.

The British Heritage Pass was one of the best investments we made. Not only did we save a great deal of money on admission costs but we also saw many wonderful castles etc that we may never had found without the pass. We set aside a week of country driving and weaved our way across the beautiful countryside going from castle to castle covered by the pass. We would never have visited Blenheim Palace without the pass and it was truly wonderful.

Most of our trip was spent in Scotland. The Historic Scotland pass (or the Scottish National Trust pass) were much less expensive than the British Heritage Pass and covered all of the locations we were interested in (including a discount on locations in England and Wales). I made a list of all the castles, gardens etc. that we planned to visit and the entrance fees.Compare that cost to the cost of any pass that includes those locations and you'll know if its worth it for your trip.