Britain on the Cheap

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 [...]

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. [...]

Save $31 and skip the same-old Christmas gifts this year with a shopping break at Hartwell House in Buckinghamshire. The restored 18th-century mansion near Aylesbury, owned by the National Trust, is a short drive from both Bicester Village, with its designer discount stores, and Waddesdon Manor, which stages a Christmas market selling speciality food, gifts [...]

Fall is the perfect time for a great walk in the UK. The National Trust has developed more than 130 free walks in the countryside, villages and cities. Each walk includes a map and suggestions en route. The most popular download is The Bath Skyline, a six-mile circular walk through the city and a short [...]

Members of the Royal Oak Foundation can save with two-for-one tickets to Strawberry Hill, one of England’s most elegant and eccentric homes. The neo-Gothic castle has been restored for its grand unveiling Oct. 2. Horace Walpole, son of England’s first Prime Minister, revived the Gothic style and transformed a small house into an ornate, asymmetrical [...]

It’s not too early to think about Halloween in the UK. The Royal Oak Foundation, the U.S. affiliate to the National Trust, has scouted out scary happenings at medieval castles and venerable estates, and suggested nearby overnights at National Trust properties. Royal Oak members receive access to more than 300 historic houses without paying an [...]

The National Trust of England, Wales and Northern Ireland has opened new, self-catering cottages in Cornwall. They’re good size for families and groups. Court, Bosveal, and Chatham cottages at Bosloe are near Falmouth. Each is recently refurbished with sweeping views of the Helford River. They can be rented separately, or joined together for up to [...]

Two Cornwall cottages near the National Trust’s Cotehele estate have been discounted for one-week stays throughout March. Kingslea, a one-bedroom home with countryside views two miles from Cotehele, is reduced by a third to $216/£144 per week. Or only a woodland walk away from Cotehele is Comfort Wood Cottage, a renovated former barn on a [...]

The Royal Oak Foundation, the American affiliate of the National Trust in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, is sponsoring two lectures during the AVENUE Shows Antiques & Art at the Armory in New York. A Family Affair: Treasures from the Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor will be presented by Dr. Ulrich Leben, Associate Curator of Furniture, [...]