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Jane’s Writing Table at Chawton Cottage

In Search of…Jane Austen’s England

This stimulating specialty tour focuses on Jane Austen - the places which inspired her, where she lived and wrote her most important works. We visit homes, schools, museums, track down locations readily recognizable from her novels and generally obtain a flavor of the times in which she was writing.

Splendid scenery, stupendous historical sites, a feast of culture and the opportunity for some marvelous specialty shopping make this a simply lovely and well rounded holiday for the Jane Austen fan as well as their companions.

This tour was originally written for the Jane Austen Society of North America and their friends but all guests are welcomed to join us on this literary adventure!

Day Two

We depart London and take a scenic route to Hampshire, “Jane Austen Country”, with a stop in Steventon, where Jane Austen spent her first 25 years. Jane's social life at Steventon provided her with much material for her novels. Also during her time here, she began work on Northanger Abbey, Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice among others.

The 12th century Steventon Church, the parish where Jane was born and where she and her family worshipped, stands almost unchanged from those days. We will pay our respects at the graves of Jane’s brother and his wives in the churchyard. With generous support from members of the Jane Austen Society of North America, the Steventon church bells were refurbished in January, 1995.

Next, her home at Chawton is our destination, now open as a museum. It was in this quaint village that Jane spent the last eight years of her life, wrote and completed most of her most famous works, Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice amongst others. Once inside the house, we are in her world.

Time and group interest permitting, we may also see the Selbourne home of Gilbert White, the first great naturalist.

Our next port of call is the ancient Saxon capital of Winchester. We will begin with a guided walk around the city; sights include the cathedral, one of England's most famous public schools and the legendary 'King Arthur's Round Table'. If there is time, we may also visit the last monastery in England where pilgrims may still claim the 'dole'.

Winchester is the place where Jane Austen died of Addison’s Disease in 1817 and we will see the house where she passed away as well as her grave inside Winchester Cathedral.

Overnight Winchester area

Chawton Cottage

Winchester

Day Four

Bath, the city of Georgian splendor and Roman antiquity is next on our touring trail. This was a city enjoyed by the social set of the 18th and 19th centuries, a setting for Jane Austen amongst many other writers; Austen fans will immediately recognize many streets and squares from her novels.

We will spend time at the Jane Austen Centre and see the houses where she lived. The settings for the novels Northanger Abbey and Persuasion can all still be seen within a mile radius of the Jane Austen Centre. Also a must is a visit to the famed Roman Baths and Pump Rooms, still remaining as it has through the centuries and as described in Northanger Abbey.

Maybe do some shopping while you’re here, following the lead of Isabella Thorpe in Northanger Abbey: “…I saw the prettiest hat you can imagine in a shop window…” Bath is a leading antiques centre in Britain, offers unique trinkets such as Bath Aqua Glass, features wonderful tearooms and scrumptious bakeries where you can sample local treats and also has the usual high street shops. Plenty of choices to satisfy even the most discriminate shopper!

We’ll spend the afternoon and evening here in Bath so you have time to wander at your leisure, savoring your surroundings, imagining yourself walking in the footsteps of Jane and some of her characters.

Overnight Bath

Day Five

Today is touring through Lacock, Avebury, Reading and Henley as we're near! 

We will visit the medieval village of Lacock which has hardly changed in the past 200 years. With its magnificent abbey, half timbered cottages and greystone houses it provides a perfect setting. This lovely place, where TV ariels, telephone wires and advertising are banned, has been used as a film set for many popular films such as the Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle production of “Pride and Prejudice” and "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". Fittingly, the local abbey was where George Fox Talbot pioneered photography.

Avebury is an incredible World Heritage prehistoric temple site more impressive for many than even Stonehenge; it is the largest stone circle in Britain, the product of over 500 years of effort by Neolithic man. Enjoy a walking tour and try your hand at the ancient art of dowsing. We may have time to explore the charming village with its thatched cottages, antiques and village church - and maybe even enjoy a cream tea!

If there’s time, we may also see mysterious Silbury Hill, Europe's largest prehistoric man-made monument.

Reading, Berkshire is considered the capitol of the Thames Valley. Jane Austen attended school in Reading from 1785 – 1786 at the Reading Ladies boarding school in the Abbey Gatehouse. We will explore this area which greatly contributed to her development as a writer.

The Thames Valley is set amidst unforgettable countryside, thatched cottage villages, old coaching towns and along the banks of the rolling river Thames are many, many places of literary interest. Among the towns is Henley on Thames, home of the society Regatta, and where Beatle George Harrison chose to live. Time permitting, we will explore this oft forgotten corner en-route back to our base for the evening, London.

Tonight is free for you to attend the theatre if you wish. London Theatre is the best in the world!

Overnight London

Lacock

Avebury