CITY & VILLAGE TOURS TOP TEN DAYTRIPS
TOP TEN COUNTRY TOURS
THE ASHDOWN FOREST EXPLORER
This gentle and entertaining day visits beautiful places, has minimal walking, includes morning coffee and lunch at Heaven Farm and a guided tour and cream tea in a beautiful country house.
Meet the Blue Badge guide at Heaven Farm near Uckfield. Morning coffee and biscuits, included in the tour fee, are ready for you at 10.30am.
During the morning sit back to enjoy the Ashdown Forest Explorer coach tour. Ancient forest once covered much of England but in Sussex the mighty oaks were felled for the iron industry leaving the wild heaths and moors that we see today. We pass through the ancient market town of East Grinstead, home of pioneering 1940s plastic surgeon Archie McIndoe and his Guinea Pig Club, see the longest row of mediaeval houses in the country and drive through Winnie the Pooh country and then back to Heaven Farm for a one course lunch, included in the tour fee.
After lunch together we visit Saint Hill Manor a beautiful 18th century country house. This is far more intimate than a stately home tour and there are no roped off areas. A succession of distinguished and eclectic owners including the Maharajah of Jaipur and the science fiction writer and founder of Scientology have left their stamp on this interesting house. Cream Tea is served on English rose porcelain before heading home at 4.30pm.
Available weekdays all year excluding 11 Sept to 12 Nov
Adults & Seniors: £29.50
Arts & Crafts man William Morris was born in the Lee Valley village The New Forest is a varied landscape of woods and glades, heaths and moors. Dotted with tiny villages and roamed at will by deer, ponies, donkeys and pigs. Enjoy a real flavour of the forest with an expert Blue Badge guide. Includes morning refreshments and lunch.
We begin at 10.30am near Landford off the A36 Salisbury Road for morning refreshments before slipping into the forest to follow in the footsteps of kings and queens, commoners and gypsies, smugglers and lovers.
Over the past millennium a wealth of myth and legend has wound itself around the forest trees like a clinging vine. Your expert guide will chart a course to the heart of this enchanting world of beautiful villages. We return to the pub for homemade cottage pie (or veggie option) Individuals can choose and pay for on the day for any desserts or bar drinks.
Then we’re off to church guarded by an ancient yew where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, lies buried, to Lyndhurst, the ‘capital of the forest’ and to meet some enormous trees.
We stop in Beaulieu, “the Historic Heart of the New Forest”, where there are two or three places selling tea to round off an enjoyable day out. We leave Beaulieu at 4.45pm to begin the drive home.
Available weekdays all year
Adults & Seniors: £25
A DAY IN THE NEW FOREST
THE ESSEX HIGHLANDS
With morning refreshments and lunch at a gorgeous village pub included in the tour fee, a coach tour of the little known ‘Essex Highland’ in the old Hundred of Uttlesford and time for tea and a wander in beautiful Saffron Walden this is the stuff that great days out are made of.
Aim to arrive in Arkesden, ‘the gem of the Essex Highlands’ at 10.30am for a morning coffee & biscuits (included) and then we are off for a scenic tour of the “Essex Highlands” to dispel the notion of Essex as a flat county.
In fact we slip in and out of three counties during our circular tour and from high in the coach you’ll get lovely views and there are interesting stories to create a thoroughly entertaining morning. Arriving back in Arkesden we’ll enjoy a tasty steak pie lunch and join the guide for a little stroll and peek inside the village church for the fascinating memorials.
After lunch we’ll drive past stately Audley End House into Saffron Walden which takes its name from the saffron crocus once grown in the surrounding fields. Opt to join the guide for a short town trail or browse on your own. It is your day out – you can decide on the day. Whichever you choose there’ll be time to buy a cup tea before returning to the coach to head home at 4.45pm.
You can also choose to start this day at noon with an early lunch followed by a cup of coffee, enjoy the itinerary as described and head home from Saffron Walden at 6pm.
Available weekdays all year
Adults & Seniors: £26
This is a day out for groups who like to see a lot without walking too far and who also rather like to spoil themselves as it includes morning coffee and pastries at an impressive historic house and a two-
Meet the Blue Badge guide at Polesden Lacey at 10.30am for posh morning coffee and pastries. This was the home of one of Edwardian Britain’s richest society hostesses who craved the company of monarchs, maharajahs and millionaires.
During the morning we’ll take a scenic drive via Ranmore Common and the cathedral in the woods to hear old tales of the Surrey Hills as we wend our way to the village of Shere for our 2-
In the afternoon we sweep through more photogenic countryside as we head for Box Hill for one of the best views in England and a whole cast of characters including the eccentric Major who was buried upside down at the top of the hill. We’ll drop back down to Bocketts Farm Park for time to buy tea before heading for home at 4.45pm.
Available weekdays all year
Adults & Seniors: £31
THE BEAUTIFUL SURREY HILLS
Explore slumbering villages and pastoral scenes in the valley home
of artists and weavers that were immortalised by Constable and
Gainsborough. With morning coffee and biscuits and a two-
lunch included in the tour fee, a scenic coach panorama and an
afternoon in beautiful Lavenham. This day runs 10.30am to 4.45pm
or in the summer midday to 6.30pm and includes:
• A top notch Blue Badge guide throughout
• Morning tea or coffee with biscuits
• 2 course pub lunch in lovely Long Melford
• Panoramic coach tour through beautiful rolling landscapes
• Gentle walking tour in Lavenham
Available weekdays all year, great for autumn colours
Adults: & Seniors: £25
AN EAST ANGLIAN PANORAMA
Mad Jack Fuller was an eccentric Georgian squire who built a
series of follies in some of the highest and most attractive
countryside in all of England. Raised high up in your coach, you’ll
feel like you’re on top of the world up on the South Downs
Ridgeway with far reaching views across Beachy Head! An unusual
and stimulating day out in Sussex includes:
• A top notch Blue Badge guide throughout
• Morning Coffee and Biscuits
• The fascinating story of Mad Jack Fuller
• Seasonal chicken lunch at a country pub
• Free time to buy tea in picturesque Battle
• Runs 10.30am to 4.45pm or midday to 6.30pm
Available weekdays all year
Adults & Seniors: £26
THE MAD JACK FULLER TRAIL
Enjoy a day exploring the peaceful woody lanes and picturesque
towns and villages of the Buckinghamshire Chilterns. Discover
ancient wall paintings; visit the historic Friends Meeting House
at Jordan’s and the Hughenden Valley where Disraeli lived and the
Red Kites soar above the leafy woods once busy with bodgers.
This day runs 10.30am to 4.45pm and includes:
• A top notch Blue Badge Guide throughout
• Morning Coffee and biscuits and a one course pub lunch
• Scenic coach tour through the Chiltern Hills
• A visit to Jordans Meeting House with tea and biscuits
• Donation to the Jordans Meeting House
Available weekdays all year
Adults & Seniors: £28
THE BUCKINGHAMSHIRE CHILTERNS
Join us for an entertaining guided tour in the green heart of Essex,
looking at some astonishing human achievements. This popular day
carves a path from the Colne Valley to Cressing Temple where we
visit two ancient cathedral-
with coffee is served in Finchingfield -
beautiful villages. Come 10.30am to 4.45pm or midday to 6.30pm.
This day includes:
• A top notch Blue Badge guide throughout.
• 2-
• A coach tour of quaint Essex villages
• A visit to Cressing Temple Barns
Available daily all year
Adults & Seniors: £31
MAN MADE WONDERS IN THE HEART OF ESSEX
By coach off the beaten track through little hamlets and villages
in gorgeous Cotswolds countryside with a visit to TV presenter
and farmer Adam Henson’s Cotwolds Farm Park. Meet the Blue
Badge guide in Burford at 10.30am for morning coffee and
traditional Lardy Cake included in the tour fee, break for free time
for lunch in Northleach and finish with tea and biscuits included at
the Cotswolds Farm Park. Head home at 4.45pm. Includes:
• A top notch Blue Badge guide throughout.
• Tea & Traditonal Lardy Cake in Burford
• Adam Henson’s Cotswolds Farm park
Available daily March to the end of October. Avoid school holidays.
Adults: £31 Seniors: £30
THE COTSWOLDS COUNTRY FILE
A full day in Cambridge designed to show you a lot without walking
too far. A morning coach panorama includes a stop at the American
Military Cemetery and after free time for lunch in the mediaeval
market area we enjoy free time and a visit to see King’s College
Chapel. Option to stay for choral evensong in term time. This day
runs 10.30am to 4.45pm or to 6.30pm with Evensong and includes:
• One hour panoramic coach tour of Cambridge
• Free time for lunch in Cambridge
• Afternoon visit to King’s College Chapel
• Free time to enjoy Cambridge
• Optional visit to Choral Evensong in term time
Available Mon-
Adults & Seniors: £24
A DAY IN CAMBRIDGE
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