Egg-ceptional Easter weekend
Visitors flocked to places such as Crathes Castle, Robert Burns Birthplace Museum and Glencoe National Nature Reserve to take part in our Easter Egg Trails and enjoy Scotland’s nature, beauty and heritage.
Following the popularity of last year’s trails, which saw nearly 20,000 children take part in activities at 21 National Trust for Scotland places, this year saw even more events take place, encouraging more families to explore the outdoors and enjoy fun-filled activities at beautiful Trust properties. This resulted in a 19% increase in participants, up to almost 24,000.
Our 2023 Easter trails took place across 32 Trust places, from Good Friday to Easter Monday. Visitors were tasked with collecting clues dotted around gardens, grounds, houses, hills and woodland, before solving the puzzle and winning some tasty chocolate prizes.
Some places saw a remarkable increase in participants this year, with numbers at Hill of Tarvit in Fife up 155% (to 846 children). Meanwhile, Crathes Castle in Aberdeenshire was our busiest trail, welcoming 3,363 children (up 51% on last year), closely followed by Newhailes in East Lothian with 3,251 children and Brodie Castle in Moray with 2,261. House of the Binns near Linlithgow, which has only just re-opened after a major conservation project, joined in the Easter fun and sold out in advance, with 478 children taking part.
Philip Long OBE, Chief Executive of the National Trust for Scotland, said: ‘Easter is one of the highlights of the National Trust for Scotland’s calendar, giving people and especially families the chance to enjoy our fantastic places. All over the country, our places were alive with people from across generations spending time together outdoors, while the sun mostly shone. What a great start to spring for everyone who loves Scotland’s special places.’
Our Easter Egg Trails are just one example of the wide range of events and activities we’re running this year. They demonstrate our commitment to making Scotland’s heritage more accessible, as outlined in our charity’s 10-year strategy, Nature, Beauty & Heritage for Everyone. We are focused on caring for, sharing and speaking up for Scotland’s heritage, offering our members and visitors the opportunity to explore over 100 places across Scotland and experience some of the most magnificent buildings, collections and landscapes in the country.
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