Entry passes · The Stately Homes
Cadw Explorer Pass.
Cadw looks after 5 of the stately homes on the list. 3 of them charge for entry - that is where this pass earns its keep - and 2 are free to walk into anyway, pass or no pass.
The Cadw Explorer Pass can reach 5 of the 286 stately homes on this list, all of them in Wales. 3 charge for entry, which is where the pass earns its keep, and 2 are open-access houses you can walk into free anyway. The most reviewed of them is Tretower Court, rated 4.7 from 786 Google reviews.
The pass, verified
Entry to dozens of Cadw's historic attractions across Wales. The 3-day pass works on any 3 days in a 7-day window, the 7-day pass on any 7 days in 14 - listed at £28 and £42 respectively for a single adult (prices from April 2026), with two-adult and family versions. Full details and current prices: the official Cadw Explorer Pass page.
Confirm before you buy
Pass coverage is set by the operator and can change - a handful of sites, events or seasons are sometimes excluded. Before buying, check the stately homes you actually plan to visit against the official covered-places list on the page linked above.
Houses where the pass matters - 3 charging for entry, best-reviewed first
Free anyway - no pass needed - 2 open-access Cadw stately homes
These are also in Cadw's care, but they are open-access ruins with no admission charge - a pass adds nothing here, which is worth knowing before you count them toward its value.
Common questions
How many stately homes does the Cadw Explorer Pass cover?
Cadw runs 5 of the 286 stately homes on this list, all in Wales. 3 of them charge for entry and 2 are open-access, so a pass changes nothing at those 2. Coverage is set by the operator and a few sites, events or seasons can be excluded, so check the official covered-places list against the houses you actually plan to see.
Which stately homes on the Cadw Explorer Pass are the best known?
By the weight of Google reviews, Tretower Court (4.7 from 786 Google reviews), Plas Mawr (4.8 from 644 Google reviews) and Penarth Fawr (4.4 from 145 Google reviews). Review count is a rough measure of how busy a house is rather than how good it is, but it is the honest way to say which of Cadw's houses most people actually go to.
Where are Cadw's stately homes?
Across 5 counties and regions of Wales, one house in each and no concentration anywhere. That spread is what decides whether the pass pays: it is a single-trip ticket, so the houses you want need to sit close enough together to reach inside its run of days.
Does the Cadw Explorer Pass work outside Wales?
No. It works at Cadw's own places in Wales and nowhere else. England, where this list holds 233 houses, is covered by the English Heritage Overseas Visitor Pass and the National Trust Explorer Pass; Scotland, where this list holds 28 houses, is covered by the Historic Scotland Explorer Pass; Northern Ireland, where this list holds 8 houses, is covered by the National Trust Explorer Pass. The National Trust for Scotland is a separate charity from the National Trust, and its 11 houses here are on none of the four passes.
How well rated are the stately homes the Cadw Explorer Pass covers?
Across the 5 of them carrying a Google rating, the average is 4.38. The best rated with a meaningful number of reviews behind it is Plas Mawr at 4.8 from 644, then Tretower Court at 4.7 from 786. That floor of 200 reviews matters: without it a perfect score drawn from three visitors outranks a house thousands of people have been to.
Can you stay the night at any of the Cadw Explorer Pass houses?
One of Cadw's 5 houses on this list offers some form of overnight stay, and that is Tretower Court. The pass is an entry ticket and buys you nothing towards a bed, so a stay is booked and paid for separately.