Car parking frequently asked questions

Follow these steps:

1. When visiting a National Trust pay-and-display car park, please take your membership card to the machine

2. As many of the machines are solar powered, you may need to press any button to 'wake' the machine

3. Press the yellow highlighted button (indicated as the Member button on screen) and hold the QR code of your membership card flat against the scanning window on the left

4. The machine should beep to register the scan; your ticket will be with you in a couple of seconds

5. Please place the ticket in your car windscreen

Within 15 minutes of joining online, you'll receive an email with your temporary membership card attached. Instructions on how to get free parking are included.

Some temporary membership cards will include a barcode. This works in the same way as the barcode on your membership card. Scan the barcode at our pay-and-display machines and then place the ticket in your windscreen. When your membership card arrives, you will need to start using that instead of your temporary card.

Some temporary membership cards will not include a barcode. In these cases a temporary parking pass will be included with your temporary membership card. Display this on the dashboard of your vehicle at our car parks until your membership card arrives.

When you join at a National Trust place, you'll be given a temporary parking pass that can be displayed on the dashboard of your car.

When your membership card arrives, you'll then need to start using that to get free parking.

Staff are often on hand to help visitors. If the car park machine isn't working or is out of order, please see if there's someone available to help you.

If not, where possible please leave a note in your windscreen with your arrival time and member number which can be found on your card (if you are a member).

No. If you don't have your card to scan for free parking you may receive a compliance notice. This will not lead to a fine.

If you have mobility issues and are a blue badge holder, you're able to park for free in our pay-and-display car parks as long as you display your badge. There is no need to scan your membership card.

If you're with someone who can scan on your behalf, remember that the property will benefit from your visit. Having scanned card data helps us better support conservation and facilities at the places you are visiting by giving additional funding from your membership fees back to the property for each member visit.

We continue to explore what more we can do to support accessibility at our car parks.

All life membership cards should now be scannable at our pay-to-enter properties and at our pay-and-display car parks.

During 2017 we contacted all life members who we have a valid email or postal address for and replaced the old-style cards with a new scannable version.

If you have not received a new card, it may be that we don't have a valid contact address for you. In this case, please contact our membership department by phoning 0344 800 1895 or emailing enquries@nationaltrust.org.uk.

Our teams have been instructed to clip the corners of old-style life membership cards on presentation (akin to a passport clipped corner) and to advise members to request new life cards from our Supporter Services Centre. In this instance, a temporary life membership form can be issued to provide free entry and free parking.

Non-members will need to pay at our car parks that have pay-and-display machines.

Aside from junior membership, all memberships include free parking at most National Trust car parks.

Scanning your membership card for free parking lets us understand just how many people are using our car parks and when.

Having scanned card data helps us better support conservation and facilities at the places you are visiting by giving additional funding from your membership fees back to the property for each member visit.

The data held by each car park pay-and-display machine to verify a membership card is a single unique encrypted code for each member. No personal information on any supporter is held in the car park machines and no member can be identified from their scan except by the National Trust.

We've produced a car 'badge' of some sort for 70 years and we know that many members love displaying these stickers in their cars. We’ve made some changes so that they're more environmentally friendly, including removing the date so that they can be used for several years and making the material completely recyclable.

If you're a new member, you'll find your car sticker in your welcome pack, though this is no longer an indicator of free parking, so remember to scan your card. 

Yes. You can request a second car sticker from our Supporter Services Centre. Please note, however, that the car sticker is no longer an indicator of free parking, and a membership card will need to be scanned for free parking.