| Highlights: * Winchester * Cadbury castle * Exeter * St Austell * St Ives * Penzance * Chysauster * Tate Gallery * Eden Project * Land's End * Padstow * King Arthur's Tintagel * Dartmoor * Glastonbury * Wells cathedral * Bath * Lacock * Avebury
Day one
Arrival in London where you'll be met by your Back-Roads Touring Co. Ltd representative and transferred to our tour hotel. You have the day free to enjoy the attractive local neighbourhood at leisure.
Day Two
Our first day's touring takes us into England oldest counties, Wiltshire and Hampshire. The purpose of our visit is to see King Arthur's Round Table at the Great Hall in Winchester, before continuing through the timeless landscape of Thomas Hardy's Dorset to Honition in Devon. En route, we'll stop at Cadbury castle, an iron-age, hilltop fortress and one of the possible sites of Camelot. A further highlight of our day will be a local stately home such as Montacute House or Stourhead.
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Day Three
Our routing for the day will offer us great choice. There's the maritime city of Exeter, the English Riviera, and Plymouth, where we'll see the harbour from which the Mayflower set sail. Next, we follow the Cornish coast through delightful fishing villages and harbours stopping en route, perhaps, to visit the pirate museum at Looe or the shipwreck centre at St Austell. Readers of Daphne Du Maurier will also enjoy our time at Fowey and discovering the real Jamaica Inn.
Day Four
There's so much to see in this region. There are the wonderful harbours of St Ives and Penzance, the coastal walks along cliff tops and beaches, the prehistoric village at Chysauster, the famous open-air Minack theatre, some of the most beautiful gardens in Britain, including the new Eden Project. There are old lead mining museums, castles and Land's End itself. And then, of course, we've afternoon cream teas to take and Cornish pasties to eat! Our flexible touring concept will allow tour participants to decide on the day's priorities in consultation with their guide.
Day Five
Continuing our Cornish adventures. Today we'll spend enjoying the atmosphere of St Ives. There's plenty to entertain. This is an artists' haven and you'll delight at the range of local galleries, but perhaps of even greater interest will be the extension of the prestigious Tate Gallery. There are also some fine walking opportunities. The sailors or deep sea fishers amongst you might just find the opportunity of taking to the water just to good too pass up! You're free to dine independently in St Ives this evening and to return to our accommodation by local taxi at your leisure.
Day Six
We turn north, following the north Cornwall and Devon coasts. Our itinerary today will include Padstow, King Arthur's Tintagel, the impossibly pretty village of Clovelly (where donkeys are still used to haul goods and people up and down the narrow cobbled street to the sea) and the Devon countryside north of Dartmoor and Dartmoor itself.
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Day Seven
We tour today through Somerset. This is a county famed for its cider apples and so we must, of course, visit a cider farm and sample the wares! There are also the mystic town of Glastonbury where Arthur is said to have been buried, and the magnificent Wells cathedral. If time permits, perhaps we can also visit the massive gorge and caves at Cheddar.
Day Eight
Today, we'll first soak up the splendour of Gerogian Bath. Your guide will deliver a panoramic tour on our mini-coach, introducing you to the many fine aspects of this famed city. You'll then have soem free time to visit the Roman bath pump room, the cathedral, or simply to shop.
This afternoon we take the olde coaching road back to London, stopping en route at mediaeval Lacock, prehistoric Avebury, or the antique centre of 17th century Hungerford depending on time and group choice. |
