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A series of Heritage Open Days in England, Scotland and Wales means you can visit hundreds of historic buildings and take part in fun activities for free in September.
Although not all attractions have yet been confirmed, the festival has already announced free entry to HMS Wellington on the Thames, Penrhyn Castle and Garden in Wales and entry to part of the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.
There are thousands of events taking place all over the UK. These range from tours and talks at national monuments, stately homes and fascinating museums, to behind-the-scenes looks at Air Ambulance bases, the English National Ballet school and more.
Heritage Open Days festival is a collaboration between the National Trust and a ‘festival community’ of 2,200 organisations and many volunteers, along with funding from the People’s Postcode Lottery, European Heritage Days and several other smaller partners and collaborators.
Yes — all of the events, tours, walks, workshops and drop-ins are free.
Some are ticketed and require prebooking and may be sold out. The Heritage Open Days site has a helpful tool that allows you to filter out sold-out events when browsing.
You can also select other filters, such as type of event and accessibility requirements.
This year’s Heritage Day theme is architecture.
The organiser has confirmed that it will be ‘exploring how we’ve designed and built the world around us’, from who built the structures that surround us to the impact they’ve had. You can read more about the 2025 theme on the Heritage Open Days site.
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Heritage Open Days are on various dates throughout September. See below for details on when you can gain free entry to tourist sites and historic attractions across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The dates vary by nation, and even London has slightly different Open Day dates from the rest of England.
Plus, not every attraction permits free entry across all days of the festival, so you'll need to check and - for some places - booking in advance (still free) is required.
A handful of attractions in London Open House Days required you to register in advance, as there was a ballot for tickets, although this has now ended.
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Across England as a whole, the festival is called Heritage Open Days. It runs from 12-21 September and more than 1,000 buildings – many of them not usually open to the public – are expected to take part. There are also thousands of other visitor attractions, including talks, exhibitions, workshops and performances.
A selection of the sites confirmed so far that still have tickets available includes:
Families can also get a behind-the-scenes look at East Anglian Air Ambulance's Base, Norfolk (waiting list on EAAA website), attend a silent disco 'Rave in the Nave' at Newport Minster, Isle of Wight (tickets available via ticketsource), learn about Anglo-Saxon life in Tyne and Wear, or take part in arts and crafts and even abseil from England's oldest viaduct in Nottinghamshire (no booking required for either).
In London, the festival is called London Open House and runs from 13-21 September.
For many of the activities, such as going to watch the English National Ballet performers take their morning class (20 September), taking a peek around HMS Wellington, or visiting a 1505 Manor House in Ruislip, you can just turn up on the day.
Check the London Open House website and use the search filters to find drop-in sessions that don't require booking in advance.
There was a ballot running for guided tours around 10 Downing Street, the BT Tower and several other historic sites but this has now closed.
In Scotland, the festival is known as the Doors Open Days festival and runs throughout September across the country. Dates vary by city and by region — you can see a full map of events via the Doors Open Day ‘search for a building’ tool.
The most famous attractions require booking in advance, but there are hundreds of buildings to visit, many of which allow you to drop in. These include free entry to the Abbey Strand buildings in Edinburgh, part of the Palace of Holyrood House, which dates back to the 14th century.
You could also take a walking tour of Scotland’s printing heritage in Edinburgh — or head to Aberdeen for the first opportunity to visit the historic Wallace Tour for more than a generation.
If you're not around for the festival, several of Scotland's best tourist attractions are free all year, including the National Museum of Scotland – rated one of the UK's best museums.
The Open Days festival runs throughout September in Wales, and includes free entry to more than 200 attractions, historic sites and tours.
There's free entry (13 and 14 September) to the National Trust’s Penrhyn Castle which, alongside the surrounding Slate Landscape, is the UK’s newest Unesco World Heritage Site. Booking isn't required.
Or you could visit Powys Castle — Wales’ top-rated historic attraction according to Which? members, with a score of 83%. There's no need to booktheir either.
Missed the dates? St Fagan's open-air museum in Cardiff, including 40 buildings from different historical periods, was rated the best museum in the UK. It's completely free.
Many National Trust properties have announced they're taking part – including Cliveden House and Stowe Gardens (both in Buckinghamshire), Wallington Hall in Northumberland and Allan Bank in the Lake District.
Each September, the National Trust offers free tickets to many of its historic houses, castles and gardens.
The European Heritage Open Days festival in Northern Ireland takes place on the weekend of 13-14 September.
Confirmed venues taking part include Ulster Hall in Belfast, the ruined Dunluce Castle in Portrush, and Kinbane Castle in Ballycastle.
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Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, says:
I’ve been to… Western Approaches Navy Talk — a chance to visit a secret underground bunker in Liverpool that is steeped in Second World War history, guided by a naval expert.
This year I’d like to try… Tyldesley Miners Training Suite, in which the UK’s last mining trading suite, located in Manchester, is open for visits from the public.
