English Countryside & Pub Private Day Tours

Get off the tourist trail and see the 'real' England (and also Stonehenge perhaps)

Thatched Cottage At Avebury
Typical Thatched Cottage At Avebury

Private English Countryside & Pub Tour

This is one of our most popular tours by feedback. It basically has a bit of everything, history, great scenery, chocolate box villages and time to get out of the bus and experience what you are seeing. There is great scope to customise this suggestion and one of the beauties with a private tour is that you can improvise on the day.


As with all our example custom tours, this is just an idea to build upon. The great thing about a custom tour is that you choose when you want to go and how long you spend at each destination.

This particular tour has great scope for flexibility in terms of departure time, especially in the summer months.

Countryside & Pubs
Windsor, Bath
& Stonehenge
Stonehenge, Bath
& Countryside
Stonehenge, Avebury
Old Sarum & Salisbury
Oxford, Cotswolds
Stratford & Warwick
Stonehenge Plus
Windsor Plus
 
Private Car Tours

Vehicles, Driver/Guides + Scope Of Private Tours

A range of touring vehicles with capacities ranging from 8 to 16 seats.

We charge a flat fee per vehicle, (not person) for the day, This includes the bus and services of the driver guide. Admissions to attractions are not included.

All tours are customised around your individual needs.

We have outlined some of our most popular tours on the menu on the left to make it easy for you.


The day is yours, the only rules are imposed by UK law - no smoking on buses and driving hours and breaks governed by UK law. Otherwise you're free to go where you want to go, when you want to go.

Time is always the enemy, even though a typical tour will be 10-11 hours in duration.

Example Countryside & Pub Tour Template

You'll want to see the countryside in daylight, so it makes logistical sense to leave your hotel around 08:00 for this tour. (We'll assume this departure time in this example).

It is also possible to work in a very late morning departure, returning to London in the evening.

Stonehenge

Stonehenge is the entrance point to the countryside touring area of this tour. This is the point we get off the main highways and enter the country roads and villages.

It will be around 09:45 when we get to Stonehenge. On the way you will have got to know the driver/guide, who will have given you a thorough briefing on things Neolithic.

Most people take an hour at Stonehenge, its a good place to grab a coffee before boarding the bus.

Stonehenge What To Expect

Stonehenge to Lacock

After leaving Stonehenge its about an hours drive to Lacock. We traverse Salisbury Plain. We are in sheep country, you will see a lot of sheep today.

Many of the villages that we visit and pass through are 'wool villages'.

After driving through a British Army tank range we start going through the unspoilt English villages. Thatched cottages, Norman churches, traditional black and white wooden fronted medieval houses line the road. We venture down single track roads for some of the journey so you really are off the tourist track in the middle of the countryside.


Caen Hill Locks

An impressive sight is Caen Hill Locks. Built in the early 19th century, before the railways, the Kennet and Avon canal links the Thames and Avon rivers, enabling coast to coast river travel from London to Bristol.

Perhaps we'll see a narrowboat using the locks that climb Caen Hill on the 3 hour ascent/descent. Many will want to take a closer look.

Then on towards Lacock we may make photo stops at a photogenic thatched cottage complete with gardens lovingly sculptured by the resident gardener and a great viewpoint over the Avon valley with Lacock in the valley below.

Lacock

Lacock is an old wool town where all the buildings in the village are more than 200 years old, much of it much older. It is not a museum piece, but a living working village with school, post office, church, tithe barn, bakery and several pubs.

The village is owned by the National Trust, all the occupants including the pubs rent from the National Trust. The National Trust controls strictly the village environment, apart from vehicles it could be back a few hundred years ago, no streetlights, no aerials, only approved 'authentic' colour schemes.


George Inn Lacock

With this olde worlde feel, Jane Austen and some Harry Potter films are just examples of films shot here. This is also the local village of Camilla Parker Bowles, the wife of Prince Charles. Her daughter was recently married at the church in the village.

Adjacent to the village is Lacock Abbey, one of the few abbeys to survive the Reformation in Tudor times and used for amongst other things for the school scenes in Harry Potter. Our driver/guide will invite you on a walking tour of the village.

 

We heartily recommend you take lunch in the George Inn, a 13th century pub, the oldest licensed pub in England. Its refreshingly free of the tourist trail, many of the customers will be locals. Apart from the excellent home cooked food chalked up on the boards at reasonable prices, the pub itself has much of interest.

In the yard are stocks, (so don't drink too much) and the original medieval fireplace inside has a dog wheel, where a specially trained small dog once fanned the flames. There is also an information board illustrating some of the films shot here like Harry Potter and a small museum of box cameras. The first ever photography that took place happened right here where you eat and drink.


The walking tour of the village takes around 30 minutes. If you want lunch at the George Inn the stay will be around 90 minutes. There is also a bakery and tea room at Lacock.

Lacock What To Expect

Castle Coombe

Castle Coombe

Assuming we leave Lacock around 13:15, its just a short journey to Castle Coombe.

There is no longer a castle at Castle Coombe, but down in the coombe (steep river valley) is the lovely Cotswold village, Castle Coombe. The single track road we use to access the village means the big bus tours can't come here, as a result its a relatively unspoilt gem - much quieter and authentic than the more famous Cotswold villages further north.

We leave Castle Coombe around 14:30

Avebury

Our last scheduled stop of the day would be Avebury, about a 45 minute journey from Castle Coombe. The scenery changes again to more open countryside with rolling hills and ridges. We pass a White Horse on the hillside and some horse racing stables before arriving at Avebury.

We think Avebury vied with Stonehenge at the time of the Neolithic in terms of importance. We pass Silbury Hill, Europe's largest man made mound and Neolithic burial mounds before traveling down the 'Avenue of Stones' to Avebury itself.

The Marlborough Downs here are the source of the largest stones at Stonehenge, about 20 miles south. Avebury is a larger henge than Stonehenge. Relatively unvisited, you can walk among and touch the stones here, unlike Stonehenge.

Avebury also has a worthwhile Saxon village within it, complete with Dovecote, thatched cottages and pubs, Manor House, historic church and much else besides.

Our driver/guide again will offer a walking tour.


We leave Lacock around 16:00, passing through Marlborough and passing Windsor before arriving back at your London accommodation around 18:00 to 18:30 depending on the location of your hotel.

 

Typical Tour Schedules

Classic Countryside Tour

08:00 - Leave London hotel

09:45 - 10:45 Stonehenge

11:45 - 13:15 Lacock (with lunch)

13:45 - 14:30 Castle Coombe

15:15 - 16:00 Avebury

18:00 - 18:30 Arrive at London hotel.

Leisurely Classic Countryside Tour

08:00 - Leave London hotel

09:45 - 10:45 Stonehenge

11:45 - 14:15 Lacock + Abbey (with lunch)

14:45 - 15:45 Castle Coombe

18:00 - 18:30 Arrive at London hotel.

Countryside Tour With Windsor Photostop

08:00 - Leave London hotel

09:45 - 10:45 Stonehenge

11:45 - 13:30 Lacock (with lunch)

14:00 - 14:30 Castle Coombe

16:00 - 17:00 Windsor & Runnymede Stopover

18:00 - 18:30 Arrive at London hotel.

Late Departure Tour

11:30 - Leave London hotel

13:30 - 14:45 Avebury

15:30 - 16:30 Stonehenge

17:30 - 19:30 Lacock (with dinner)

21:30 - 22:00 Arrive at London hotel.
Group Private Custom Tours - Prices For Example Private Bus Tours

Example Tour

Hours

1 - 10 People

11 - 16 People

17 - 54 People

Countryside & Pubs

 10.5 £499-£699* £549-£749* p.o.a

Windsor, Stonehenge & Bath

 10.5 £499-£699* £549-£749* p.o.a
Stonehenge, Pubs, Countryside & Bath 10.5 £499-£699* £549-£749* p.o.a
Stonehenge, Avebury, Old Sarum & Salisbury 10.5 £499-£699* £549-£749* p.o.a
Oxford, Cotswolds & Straford Upon Avon 10.5 £499-£699* £549-£749* p.o.a
Stonehenge Plus 7-11 £449-£499 £499-£599 p.o.a
Windsor Plus 5-11 £299-£499 £449-£599 p.o.a
* Lowest price is for a friendly driver who will transport you wherever you want to go.
A £100 supplement above the lowest prive is levied for tours with a driver/guide providing commentary and guiding.
A £200 supplement above the lowest price is levied for tours with a driver/guide providing specialist commentary and guiding to lecture grade.

- Tours are private tours exclusive to single groups, we cannot put groups together under UK legislation.

- Price not inclusive of admissions to attractions.

- Price inclusive of all taxes, touring bus, experienced driver, fuel.

- One way tour/transfers. Standard buses up to 16 people can take about 20 large cases.

Alternative Car Tours

Private Day Tour Enquiry Form

Enter your ideas on what you want to visit on your custom day tour. We will by return provide you with a written quotation and draft itinerary.

Tour Requirements


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