The Thames Valley: Royalty, Writers
and The River
Mini-Tour - Three days / Two nights
With the exception of Windsor, most tourists miss seeing an area that's
effectively just under London's nose! And what they miss! Here, alongside
the great river Thames, you'll find fantastic hidden history, attractive
riverside villages, beautiful scenery, ancient churches, stately homes,
magnificent gardens and thousand year old pubs. Unsurprisingly, with major
film studios and the Prime Minister's country residence here, many
celebrities and VIPs choose to live in the area. And there must be something
in the water given the incredible number of writers who've made the region
their home.
This is a super three days, ideal for anyone wanting a brief look at a
timeless England, and as a perfect antidote to the big city downstream!
Departure Dates 2003:
Wednesday to Friday: 28May, 11Jun, 25Jun, 02Jul, 16Jul, 30Jul, 13Aug,
27Aug, 10Sep, 01Oct, 15Oct, 29 Oct.
Price: $499. Single Supplement: $95
Includes three days touring, two night's accommodation with full
breakfasts and three course-dinners, all entrance fees and services of
driver/guide/companion.
DAY ONE - WEDNESDAY
We leave London, following the old Roman road west through some of
London's most interesting multi-ethnic areas, perhaps stopping en route to
visit one of the magnificent Asian temples spring up in West London. We
don't have to travel far before we're finding history and timeless English
culture with our first port of call being the lovely Chiltern Hills. This
area of the English countryside is close to London, but still remains
relatively undiscovered. We'll see canals and barges, visit poet John
Milton's 17th Century cottage and see the original Quaker meeting place of
William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania. Penn and his family are buried here
and nearby we will also find a barn made from the wood of 'The Mayflower'.
Following lunch in a 1000-year-old pub, we'll discover where Thomas Grey
wrote his famed 'Elegy in a Country Churchyard'. Then we'll visit one of the
area's stately homes (either the Astor's Cliveden or Disraeli's Hughenden
Manor) before having some time in the antique shops, local museum and
tearooms of the unspoiled 17th century Amersham or Beaconsfield.
DAY TWO - THURSDAY
Old Father Thames winds lazily through the south Oxford countryside and
beside it sits some of the prettiest villages in the country - and so many
with literary connections. We'll visit Marlow, with its amazing bridge, and
see where Mary Shelly wrote 'Frankenstein' and Enid Blyton's thatched
cottage. Then there's Henley on Thames, home of the society Regatta, and
where Beatle George Harrison chose to live. And further up-stream we have
Pangbourne, where Kenneth Graham set 'Wind in the Willows'. Each of these
villages boasts its own charm and there'll be free-time to explore a little.
An undoubted highlight of the day will be the thatched village of
Dorchester, where it's 11th century Abbey reminds us that this was a town
once at the centre of ancient life. With lunch at a riverside inn, and
perhaps the opportunity of boating on the river, we're in for a perfect day!
DAY THREE - FRIDAY
We could not follow the River Thames and miss seeing the great Royal
Castle at Windsor and the nearby Eton. We'll tour this fabulous and historic
palace, seeing State Rooms, the great art collection and the burial place of
English kings and queens from Henry VIII to the more recent Queen Mother,
Elizabeth.
The majority of tourists simply see Windsor and miss so much of the
surrounding attractions and countryside, but not you on your Back-Roads
Touring Co. Ltd tour! We'll also be seeing a Gothic Victorian college, the
very touching RAF hill-top Memorial to the missing airmen of the Second
World War, and from where you'll get a magnificent view over the surrounding
countryside, and Runnymeade, site of the signing of the Magna Carta. We'll
complete our tour of writers, royalty and the river with an afternoon visit
to Henry VIII's royal palace at Hampton Court and finally make our way back
into London via the royal town of Richmond on Thames.
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