You don't need to fly to go island hopping this summer

Local children from Holy Island Church of England First School are the first group of visitors to use the new Lindisfarne Passport launched today (July 14), proving that you don’t need to leave the UK to go island hopping this summer.
 
With many British families considering UK domestic breaks this summer or cheaper day trips closer to home, English Heritage has teamed up with the National Trust and Lindisfarne Heritage Centre in a joint initiative to promote Lindisfarne to tourists and local visitors and boost its reputation further as one of North East England’s most popular cultural and tourism destinations

Lindisfarne Priory 

Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island, is a beautiful unspoilt tidal island off the North East coast. It welcomes over half a million visitors every year who make the trip across the dramatic causeway to explore the island’s tranquil and historical atmosphere. The Lindisfarne Passport is a joint partnership scheme devised by the three main attractions on the Island (Lindisfarne Priory, Lindisfarne Castle and Lindisfarne Heritage Centre). The three organisations have joined forces to encourage visitors to spend the whole day on the island and explore the many attractions, walks and local businesses to their full potential.

The Passport is primarily aimed at children, encouraging them and their families to visit all three attractions on the island. At each attraction they can pick up a passport and then have it officially stamped at each place they visit. A special ‘Holy Island Castaway’ stamp will be applied if the passport holder stays on the island during the closed tide. As well as entertaining the youngsters, enhancing their knowledge of the island’s rich history and giving them a sense of achievement, visitors who obtain all four stamps on their passport are also entitled to enter a draw featuring lots of great prizes from the island.

Lynn McAnany visitor operations supervisor at English Heritage (and island resident) said: “The main aim of the passport scheme is to drive more visitors to all three of the key historic attractions on Lindisfarne and extend visitor dwell time on the island. People often assume that the Lindisfarne experience is only that of one or two hours, when in fact there’s enough here to entertain people for a whole day with beautiful beaches and nature walks. The passport will also benefit of local retailers, accommodation providers in the promotion of Holy Island’s tourism industry.”

 

Lindisfarne Passport A pupil from Holy Island Church of England First School who helped to launch the new passport scheme said: “I am really excited to be one of the first people to get this passport, it will be great fun collecting all the stamps this summer.”

Catherine Atkinson property manager from the National Trust said:  “Lindisfarne is such a magical place, a real get away destination. By staying on the island that bit longer during closed tide and getting the official castaway stamp, children will be the envy of their friends and I’m sure the grown ups will enjoy it too.”
 
The Lindisfarne Passport scheme is valid until the end of November 2008 and stamps that can be collected from English Heritage’s Lindisfarne Priory, the National Trust’s Lindisfarne Castle and Lindisfarne Heritage Centre. All visitors to Lindisfarne are urged to check the safe crossing times to Lindisfarne Island before embarking on their journey. Visit www.lindisfarne.org.uk for tide times and full details of all of the attractions on the island.