Britain on the Cheap

The Royal Oak Foundation, the American arm of the National Trust, wishes everyone a happy holiday with a lovely photo gallery of National Trust gardens in the snow and frost. Enjoy 14 images from The Telegraph, sweeping from Kent to Suffolk to Northumberland.

The Great British Heritage Pass offers entrée into 480 properties around the UK, and now you can download a free iPhone app–to use with or without the pass. Check the castles, stately homes and historic sites out on a map, search by castle or garden or try sample itineraries around the UK.    

“Downton Abbey” fans are flocking to the UK’s stately homes, as the popular costume soap opera starts a new season in Britain—US fans will need to wait for January for Round Two. One of England’s most opulent mansions, Luton Hoo in Bedfordshire, has a special 3-for 2 deal through Pride of Britain Hotels. Stay two [...]

Now through Aug. 15, you can save 10% on a Great British Heritage Pass, which is available only to international travelers.  The Pass saves a lot of time and money on admissions to nearly 500 of the UK’s most popular castles, stately homes and palaces.

To celebrate its 30th anniversary as a hotel, gorgeous Bodysgallen Hall in Wales is offering a Summer in the Country break during August and September. The cost of £265/$426 per person sharing includes dinner and breakfast both days and use of the hotel’s spa, plus free entry to your chose of historic castle–pick from such [...]

Historic Bodysgallen Hall – Wales’s top-rated hotel – is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a 30% saving on room rates until the end of March. Opened in 1981 as an immaculately and authentically restored 17th-century country house hotel, Bodysgallen is set in parkland near Llandudno, with views over Conwy Castle and Snowdonia. Prices now start [...]

Who isn’t excited about the 12 Oscar nominations for “The King’s Speech”! And of course, rooting for our boy Colin Firth to win Best Actor. So you’ll want to know where to find all those luscious locations next time you’re in the UK. The Duke and Duchess’s 145 Piccadilly House, which was destroyed in a [...]

Starting today, Combe House, Devon Hotel of the Year 2010, is offering a four-night dinner and B&B stay for the price of three. The Grade I Elizabethan manor house has mid-week breaks until March 31 from £525/$839 per person in a superior kingsize double room, a savings of at least £350/$560 based on two sharing [...]

The Royal Oak Foundation, the American affiliate of the National Trust, is offering a 2-for-1 voucher to the newly restored Gothic castle Strawberry Hill outside Richmond. The home, Britain’s finest example of Georgian Gothic Revival architecture, was transformed from a modest 1698 home into a castle by Horace Walpole, son of England’s first prime minister. [...]

Hurry! Snap up a free Frommer’s mobile app guide to London from iTunes for a limited time. The app, usually $4.99, has regularly updated content with the latest reviews, prices and maps.