Country Tours

Visits to Windsor Castle | Hampton Court

To access a full list of out of London and tours from London including Bath, Stonehenge, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick Castle, Leeds Castle, Oxford, Cambridge, Chartwell, Blenheim Palace, Canterbury and Brighton,
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Hampton Court Palace and Windsor castle with neighbouring Eton College are about an hour from  London  so you can visit them as part of a one day sightseeing tour of London or as part of a transfer  tour from Heathrow or Gatwick airports:

Windsor Castle: built over 900 years ago and favourite weekend home of Queen Elizabeth II. Browse through the royal apartments and St George’s chapel, burial place of  King George VI and Queen Elizabeth the  Queen Mother and Princess Margaret..

Eton College is a boarding school for the elite where princes William and Harry were educated as were many of Britain’s statesmen and military leaders. You will hear about the links to Cambridge university  and the role of the playing field of Eton in empire building.

Hampton Court Palace: King Henry VIII court and honeymoon venue. Visit the 400 year old Great Hall used for royal banquets, royal apartments, haunted gallery, paintings of the “Hampton Court beauties , “real” tennis courts, the maze, and gardens. Hear about King Henry and his six wives and visit the royal apartments of the 16th century and the more recent additions by Sir Christopher Wren, additions in the late 17th century.  The Tudor kitchens are unique and are not to be missed.

The Palace is home in the summer months to period players  or actors who enact roles of  the time of King Henry, and to the Royal Horticultural Show’

The Astronomical clock( left) is in Clock Court, accessible from Cardinal court.

Up to 7 hour tours (Country homes, castles and gardens):

Chartwell | Hever Castle | Leeds Castle | Penshurst Place | Petworth House | Oxford | Rochester ­ Charles Dickens tour | Sissinghurst and Chartwell: “hideaway” home of Sir Winston Churchill and wife “Clemmie” with displays of memorabilia, his own drawings and paintings, and outside, rose gardens and animal graveyard all in an idyllic Kent setting.

Hever Castle: home of the Bullen family (adapted by King Henry VIII’s second wife to “Boleyn”), and saved for the nation by the generous American Astor family in the 1920s.

Treasure: Annes’ ” Book of hours”.  Notable: exquisite gardens.

Leeds Castle: associated with many queens of England and known as the “ladies castle”. Built on a lake in extensive countryside near Canterbury. See the black swans and the dog collar museum.

Oxford: university town with colleges dating from the 1200s. Smallest cathedral in Britain. Christchurch college has associations with Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter. We visit the dining halls, courtyards and chapels of the most famous of Oxford colleges, notorious historic student pubs and coffee houses and have lunch in an Oxfordshire village on the waterfront.

Penshurst Place: birthplace of Sir Phillip Sydney, courtier to Queen Elizabeth I. Exceptional great hall with chestnut beams featuring carved heads of the Sydney family’s servants.  Make sure you see the Gingko tree. Ask the guide to combine this visit with Tunbridge Wells for afternoon tea and antique dealers.

Rochester and  the Charles Dickens’ tour.  fascinating town one hour from London with a medieval castle and Norman cathedral. Rochester was a major inspiration for Dickens and the town’s monuments double as place names in his novels. Visit the Guildhall for an insight into Admiral Shovell and the story of longitude.

Sissinghurst ( Castle) and gardens: revered by gardeners worldwide, created by Vita Sackville-West, noblewoman and socialite and lover of Virginia Woolf. Visit Vita’s private study in the tower.

Gardens of England: choice of Wisley (Surrey), Wakefield (Sussex), Sissinghurst (Kent). Specialised gardens, sculpture gardens. Please state your requirements or book “Garden Tour” for pre-arranged route of some of the above.

Up to 7 hour tours  rates per car for Windsor and Hampton Court or Oxford and Blenheim Palace or Cambridge and Ely Cathedral or Tunbridge Wells and Penshurst or Chartwell (home of Sir Winston Churchill) and Hever Castle (home of Anne Boleyn) or Gardens tour or combine with a London tour (see 10 hour rate)

Suggested combinations of destinations for 10 hour tours

Bath | Stonehenge | Avebury | Winchester | Salisbury or Stratford upon Avon | Oxford | Blenheim Palace | Warwick Castle | Cotswolds or Leeds Castle | Canterbury | Dover | Rochester | Sissinghurst | Tunbridge Wells or Cambridge and Suffolk villages or Brighton | Arundel

Bath: Built in the 18th century as a health resort for the rich and famous, characterized by its elegant sandstone terraces, crescents and circuses. The Roman baths are 2000 years old. Combine with Salisbury and Stonehenge. Stonehenge: Dates from 4500 years ago, believed to be a sun temple and associated with the summer solstice. Combine with either Avebury, another ancient burial site, Bath or Salisbury.

Avebury: Stone circles dating from 2400 BC.

Winchester: Capital of England under Alfred the Great, cathedral city, burial place of Jane Austen. Noted brethens hall at St Cross’ Hospital and where travellers can still collect ” wayfarers dole”. Combine with Salisbury and Old Sarum.

Salisbury: Market town with 13th century cathedral and tallest spire in Britain. Home to Magna Carta 1215. Old Sarum was site of original cathedral made famous by Edwards Rutherford’s novel of the same name.Combine with Stonehenge, Winchester, Bath

Stratford upon Avon: Shakespeare’s birth and burial place. Visit his wife’s ( Anne Hathaway)thatched family home and learn about “stop gap”, “pot luck” “sleeping tight” and “threshold”. Beautiful setting by the River Avon. Combine with Cotswolds, Warwick, Oxford and Blenheim.

Oxford: Renowned for its ” colleges” and education of Britain’s elite since the 1300s. Visit England’s smallest cathedral, a college “quad” and dining hall and see where Harry Potter was filmed. Also links with Alice in Wonderland and the Clintons. Combine with Blenheim Palace, Cotswolds, Windsor Castle and Stratford.

Blenheim Palace: Built by the Duke of Marlborough and birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. Permanent exhibition of memorabilia and fine collection of paintings and porcelain. Combine with Oxford, Stratford, Woodstock village and the Cotswolds.

Warwick Castle: This medieval castle is associated with the Earl of Warwick “the “kingmaker”. Impressive wax works by Madame Tussaud shows society and royalty 100 years ago. Dungeons, English civil war “sets” and battlement walk. Combine with Stratford, Cotswolds.

Cotswolds: Countryside north of Oxford with gently wooded hills and villages built of local rich limestone from the proceeds of the prosperous wool trade. Noted villages are Stow on the Wold, Burton on the Water, Chedworth, the Slaughters and Burford. Combine with Oxford and Blenheim Palace.

Leeds Castle: Once the home of Lord Culpepper, governor of Virginia 1680-83 and left in trust to the nation by USA millionaires Lady Baillie. Englands most romantic castle stands on three islands in a lake and is more than 800 years old. Short drive from Canterbury.

Canterbury: the mother church of England founded in 597 AD. Magnificent cathedral town, site of the martyrdom of Thomas a Becket in 1170 and pilgrimages, immortalized by Geoffrey Chaucer’s ” Canterbury Tales” Combine with Leeds Castle, Dover Castle or Sissinghurst.

Dover: principal ‘Gateway to England’ and a military stronghold from Roman times onwards. In WW1 the port was the headquarters of the Dover Patrol, an organization of British and American naval ships. Visit Dover Castle, Hell Fire Corner (network of tunnels) and the White Cliffs. Combine with Canterbury, Rye, and Leeds Castle.

World War II: Britain suffered heavy bombing by enemy aircraft and there are important memorials, museums and sites associated with the allied response. We recommend a combination of visits in and out of London. In London we suggest the Imperial War Museum, the Royal Air force Museum at Hendon and the Cabinet War Rooms. Outside a visit to the Imperial War Museum, Duxford Aerodrome near Cambridge, Dover ‘Hell Fire Corner’ (underground field hospital and communication centre) at Cliffs of Dover.Rochester: Visit the Norman cathedral and 11th century castle in this town associated with the novels of Charles Dickens. Discover ‘Little Dorrit’, the Uncommercial Traveller and the Pickwick Papers. Combine with Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells and Penshurst.

Sissinghurst Castle and Garden: The castle was built by Sir John Baker, an ardent supporter of Mary Tudor and bought and restored in 1930 by Vita Sackville West, a descendant of the original builder. She and her husband Sir Harold Nicholson created the stunning gardens. Combine with Leeds Castle.

Tunbridge Wells: Spa town and most distinguished inland health resort from the 17th century renowned for its waters still available in the Pantiles area of the town. Located in beautiful hilly woodlands. Home of William Thackeray (author of Vanity Fair) and holiday retreat of Queen Victoria. Combine with Penshurst Place.

Cambridge: the second oldest university town also known as “the other place”, where Isaac Newton discovered the law of gravity. Renowned King’s College with its choir and Ruben’s ” The Magi”. Combine with visit to Ely Cathedral and Suffolk villages.

Brighton: Most famous of seaside resorts with links to royalty (Royal Pavilion),Charles Dickens, Sir Laurence Olivier and Livingstone, the explorer. Find ” shampoo”, Brighton rock and Volks’ “electric railway” and walk on Brighton Pier to complete the experience. Combine with Arundel Castle or Chartwell in Kent, home of Sir Winston Churchill.

Arundel Castle: pitched on a steep slope above the river Arun this seat of the Duke of Norfolk rivals Windsor Castle. Near Brighton.