St Fagans National Museum of History, The National Railway Museum and Durham Cathedral named among the UK’s best free days out by Which?

Which? has revealed the UK’s best-rated museums, galleries, cathedrals, and historic sites that offer free admission.

The consumer champion surveyed almost 7,000 people, asking them to rate their experiences at more than one hundred museums, galleries and historic attractions.

In the museums category, over 4,000 people offered their assessments of their favourite destinations, ranking each location on its engagement and entertainment factor, the quality of the information provided, queueing times and crowdedness, range and quality of facilities and value for money. 

The top-rated, free attraction is Cardiff’s St Fagans National Museum of History, with a stellar customer score of 94 per cent. This open-air museum offers a fascinating glimpse into history, with forty reconstructed buildings including a working forge, a school, chapel and Workmen’s Institute for visitors to explore. Many of the buildings also have practical exhibits for visitors to enjoy, including demonstrations of blacksmithing, pottery and weaving. 

Close behind with tied customer scores of 91 per cent are the National Railway Museum in York, and the Royal Air Force (RAF) Museum in Cosford.  

The National Railway Museum is the largest of its kind in the world, featuring a collection of more than a hundred locomotives. These include the fastest-ever steam engine, the Mallard, a working replica of George Stephenson’s Rocket, and the only Shinkansen bullet train outside of Japan.

The Cosford RAF museum meanwhile boasts a renowned collection of military aircraft, including the world’s oldest spitfire, as well as Britain’s V Bombers from the Cold War era including the Vulcan, Victor and Valiant. Also on display is a Dornier Do 17, a German bomber recovered from the bottom of the English Channel a decade ago.

Among the other highly-rated free museums and galleries in the consumer champion’s survey are the National Museum of Scotland, with a customer score of 90 per cent, the Cardiff National Museum (87%), Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow (87%), Royal Air Force Museum, London (87%), Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool (87%), Oxford University Museum of Natural History (86%) and the Scottish National Galleries (86%).

The consumer champion also asked almost 3,000 people to rank their favourite historic attractions, rating them on nine criteria including accessibility, the quality of food and drink available and lack of crowds.

The highest scoring, free attraction in the consumer champion’s survey is Durham Cathedral, with a customer score of 86 per cent. Perched high above the city, it has inspired visitors since the medieval period, and was once described by Bill Bryson as ‘the best cathedral on planet earth’. 

St David’s Cathedral also rated highly, with a customer score of 80 per cent. Located in the UK’s smallest city, there have been services held on the site since the sixth century, and today over 300,000 people visit every year. Chichester meanwhile was the third highest rated free destination, with a score of 77 per cent.

Close behind with a score of 76 per cent is the Houses of Parliament. While guided tours can often be costly, at around £25 a head, it is possible to gain entry for free, with just a little forward planning. Any UK resident can contact their MP, or a member of the House of Lords, to request a free-75 minute guided tour. UK residents also have the right to visit Prime Minister’s Questions or other debates, again by contacting their MP.

Other highly rated free historic attractions include Bury St Edmunds Abbey, which received a customer score of 73 per cent, Somerset House (71%) and Bristol Cathedral (68%). 

Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, said: 

“As the cost of living crisis continues to be a strain on household budgets, finding cheap or free days out has never been more important. Fortunately the UK has a number of fantastic museums, galleries and other attractions which offer free entry and hours of fun.

“From the world’s largest railway museum, to the Houses of Parliament, Which?’s rankings of the UK’s best free days out has plenty to inspire you as the summer holidays approach.”

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

Which?’s Get Answers campaign

Which?’s ‘Get Answers’ brand campaign showcases the breadth and depth of free, accessible and expert advice offered by Which?.

The consumer champion’s ‘Home of Answers’ activity is live in London, with fly poster QR codes spread around the city allowing people to get answers to life’s everyday questions in an accessible way. TV presenter Laura Whitmore has also been helping members of the public to interact with several special QR codes throughout the city.

Our research

– Which? surveyed 2,944 members of its online panel in May 2022 to review some of the  UK’s historic attractions and 4,283 members in March 2020 to review some of the UK’s museums and galleries. This press release includes attractions, museums and galleries that are free.

About Which?

Which? is the UK’s consumer champion, here to make life simpler, fairer and safer for everyone. Our research gets to the heart of consumer issues, our advice is impartial, and our rigorous product tests lead to expert recommendations. We’re the independent consumer voice that influences politicians and lawmakers, investigates, holds businesses to account and makes change happen. As an organisation we’re not for profit and all for making consumers more powerful.

The information in this press release is for editorial use by journalists and media outlets only. Any business seeking to reproduce information in this release should contact the Which? Endorsement Scheme team at endorsementscheme@which.co.uk.

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