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Special Group Tours Toll Free: 1 866 725 5250 |
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BOTH SIDES OF THE CHANNEL Suffolk, Holland, Belgium, Northern France & Kent 14 day tour inc. arrival/departure days Here are four countries with at least seven recognisably different cultures and five languages within their borders. Four countries with observable human history spanning five millennia, from prehistoric mines in Suffolk, England, to the emotion-wrenching, mass graves of World War I and the World War II battle sites of Flanders and Holland. And in between, everything from Roman ruins, 12th century Norman castles and cathedrals in mediaeval cities such as Rochester, Utrecht and Bruges, to the great estates, gardens and country houses such as Hever Castle and Churchill’s Chartwell. Art lovers will enjoy the Suffolk landscapes of Turner and Gainsborough, Van Gogh’s Amsterdam, and Delft, unchanged since Vermeer painted it. The four countries have the most varied topography so there's no shortage of scenic delights. It includes the flat fens of East Anglia, the marshland, Marais district of Picardy, the below-sea-level, dyke-enclosed Holland, the rolling hills of the Kent Weald, the woods of Belgium, and last but certainly not least, the white cliff coastline of Kent. Then there are the magnificent hop fields of Kent and Belgium, and of course the resultant beer! And, on the subject of food and drink, there’s everything from the cheeses of Holland and sausages of Belgium to the fish 'n chips and ‘shepherds pies’ of England, and the frogs legs, snails and other gourmet delights of France! On this magnificent tour we discover both sides of the channel, exploring the similarities and differences of countries in one way so close and yet, in another, so very far from one another. There couldn't be a better way of understanding the challenges and opportunities presented in the great European Union project.
Available at any date for private groups of 2 – 15 people. Price available upon application. Rates are based upon vehicle and guide hire per day; groups of 7 - 15 would have a per person rate same/similar to one of our scheduled tours of the same length. Please note, this is a suggested itinerary. It may be revised to suit your individual group needs.
If you do not have a group of traveling companions and are still interested in this custom tour itinerary, you are welcomed to join a waitlist… We record who is looking for travel companions to make up a tour with them. We need between 6 and 8 persons minimum to operate a tour without it being uneconomic for us or too expensive for you. Back-Roads Touring Co Ltd will be happy to run the occasional special departure IF there is sufficient interest. If you would like to check on or join a waitlist for this itinerary, please email us for full information: kate@specialgrouptours.com
TENTATIVE ITINERARY DAY ONE You’re met by your Back-Roads Touring Co. Ltd guide and taken to our London hotel base. Alternatively, if you’ve been in town a few days you make you own way to the hotel. Today you’re free to explore the local neighbourhood, or relax and recover from overnight travel. Note: should the airport arrival times of all participants to this tour permit it, and we're able to consolidate everybody by lunch time, then we may take our first night actually in the county of Cambridge. Tour participants will be notified in advance if this is possible. NIGHTSTOP London
DAY TWO We leave London city congestion and traffic behind and head east for East Anglia to discover the roots of the English. Our first day's explorations cover a varied selection of attractions. As with everyday on a Back-Roads Touring Co. Ltd tour, the weather, local events, group preferences and the advice of your well-informed guide will dictate our exact routing. However, the sheer, unspoiled charm and picture-postcard qualities of the villages such as Lavenham and Long Melford will feature, as will the Anglo-Saxon royal burial ground at Suton Hoo. We'll also be crossing the ancient flat fens, seeing windmills and, in season, the commercial flower and lavender fields. NIGHTSTOP Suffolk, England
DAY THREE Our East Anglian experience today encompasses the counties of Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. These are delightful counties full of hidden charms. It's a timeless rural landscape dotted with great houses, fortified manors, beautiful gardens, thatched villages and historical sites spanning a full 5000 years human life in England. This is also the land of the Pilgrim Fathers and other religious non-conformists who fled 17th and 18th century English religious and political intolerance to make new lives in the colonies. Highlights today will include Cambridge, where you'll enjoy a walking tour and visit to a college. Later, we'll be taking the short ride to Ely. This is one of England smallest cities and is dominated by a superb Norman cathedral, noted for its stained glass. Ely is most readily associated with Hereward the Wake, last of the great English Saxon nobles to hold out against William the Conqueror, and with Oliver Cromwell. We'll learn more of both of these fascinating men while here. NIGHTSTOP Suffolk, England
DAY FOUR This morning we'll have one of our few early starts as we'll want to make the most of our time in East Anglia before we board our ferry to the Continent. We'll tour through typical back roads countryside. In mid-morning we board the ferry at Harwich for the four hour crossing to the Hook of Holland. As soon as we leave the ferry, we're conscious that we're in a complete different culture. The flat landscape, local architecture and flower filled gardens and fields are just typical of the lowlands. We tour by way of the Hague and coastline toward our nightstop base. We will arrive at our accommodation in the late afternoon, leaving time to discover Delft. Undoubtedly pretty, the town is popular with tourists but by arriving either late or early we can miss the main and maddening throng and have quieter time to perhaps visit the ceramic factory and the Vermeer museum. NIGHTSTOP Delft, Holland
DAY FIVE What better way to commence our discovery of the lowlands than by spending a sometime in Amsterdam? And what fun to travel there on the local transport! We’ll enjoy a short waking orientation tour of the city first, thereafter, exploiting Back-Roads Touring Co.’s philosophy of ‘organised independence’, you’re free to explore the city at leisure. Your guide will have provided you with not only a brief history of the city and maps but also practical advice on how to use the city's easy-to-understand tram system. Those who would prefer to accompany their guide during the day will be able to do so. There’s simply so much to see and do; the Anne Frank museum, the Rijksmuseum for the finest collection of Dutch old masters such as Rembrandt, Frans Hal, Vermeer, the flower market, Dam Square, the famed ‘Red Light’ district, the superb maritime museum, the Begijnhof. Or maybe, if you’ve a 20th century interest the Resistance Museum will be attractive? And garden fans will enjoy the botanic gardens or the immaculate eighteenth-century garden at the Willet-Holthuysen museum. Where to begin! One thing that should be apparent is that this is very much a walking city (although there are optional canal barge tours) and not really suitable for those with mobility problems. NIGHTSTOP Delft, Holland
DAY SIX Our first stop of the day is at Gouda. This is everything you’d expect of a Dutch country town. If you’re on this tour in July or August then there’s an additional treat, the Thursday morning cheese market when over 100 local farmers descend on the market with cheeses to be weighed, tested and graded for moisture and texture. There are other attractions available all year including the wonderful stained glass of St Janskerk and the clay pipe museum. Then to Arnhem. Here those interested in one of the last war’s greatest battles, Operation Market Garden, can visit Oosterbeek to get some idea of the conflict and its effect on this part of Holland. Meanwhile, those with less of a military interest can visit the wonderful Nederlands Openluchtmuseum, where a huge collection of Dutch buildings have been reassembled from all over the Netherlands in an imaginative way to recreate the rural Dutch life spanning two centuries. NIGHTSTOP Apeldoorn, Holland
DAY SEVEN Our itinerary today next takes us to the through pretty back roads and the Apeldoorn forest, the along side the river Mass, our of the Netherlands and into neighbouring Belgium and a major visit to the art city of Antwerp. Antwerp, daughter of the River Scheldt and second largest city of Belgium and a city of many differing facets. It is the second largest harbor of Europe (after Rotterdam). Moreover, Antwerp is a splendid city with numerous architectural highlights, most of which date from the 16th (the golden era of Antwerp) and the 17th century, and home of numerous paintings of Peter Paul Rubens who lived in the Antwerp of the early 17th century. If diamonds really are a girl's best friend, than a lot of ladies will not leave out a visit to the diamond district for Atwwerp is the diamond capital! This area is also the Jewish part of the city. The presence of many 'Chassidic' Jewish people gives the city a special flavour. We'll make our way through Flanders, with stops as time permits and according to group interest, to the Weshook and the city of Ypres. NIGHTSTOP Ypres, Belgium
DAY EIGHT A day of ‘organised independence’ in the mediaeval city of Bruges which lies just a 40 minute drive from Ypres (Ieper). This morning your guide/companion will take you on a short walking tour of the major sights of the city. Then, you’re free to explore this truly delightful city at depth. Undoubtedly, this is the most perfectly preserved mediaeval city in western Europe. This is the perfect place either to ‘over dose’ on culture with visits to the many Flemish arts museums (and there’s a Michelangelo to see), or simply to spend a day relaxing, enjoying a fruit beer, typical chocolate or taking a horse drawn carriage ride around the winding city streets. Yes, it’s ‘touristy’ but lovely and totally unforgettable for all that. Dinner is not included tonight to allow you to make the most of your visit to Brugge. NIGHTSTOP Ypres, Belgium
DAY NINE Today we discover the sadness of World War I on a morning tour of the Ypres Salient. This will prove to be one of the most moving days you’ll ever experience - we guarantee it. Our day includes Passendale, a name to evoke the sheer bloody waste of men that was the Great War, thence to an amazingly preserved collection of original trenches at Sanctuary Wood, and nearby Hill 62 and Hellfire Corner. You'll see where John McCray wrote ' In Flanders Fields', see some fine monuments to proud Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and British troops, and have various of the Ypres Salient battles described to you in vivid detail while overlooking the actual scene of the action. Finally in the town of Ypres itself, you’ll have an option to tour the superb ‘Cloth hall’ museum (‘In Flanders Fields’) and attend the nightly playing of the ‘Last post’ at the Menen Gate. You could not be nearer the Western Front line than this as our accommodation is actually sitting beside the famed Hooge Crater. NIGHTSTOP Ypres, Belgium
DAY TEN From Ypres we first visit Poperinge, then, crossing the great hop fields, we are soon in France and the town of Lille. We'll have time to explore the old centre, see the citadel and perhaps have time to visit the birth house museum of Charles De Gaulle. Dependent on timings we'll perhaps explore the surrounding areas with special reference to its Emile Zola connections. From Lille it's back roads through the hill top Cassel (with it's unsurpassed views of Flanders and Picardy) and through the Marais marshlands to St Omer and our French base for the following evenings. NIGHTSTOP St Omer, France
DAY ELEVEN It’s difficult not to be confronted with both World War I and World War II when traveling anywhere in this region. In the Second War, the Luftwaffe made their base for air attacks on Britain here, and later sited their early rocket launching sites in the vicinity. We'll include a fascinating visit to one of these an learn about the early history of rocket science. The atmospheric town of Arras provides us with a different focus to war. There’s plenty to visit in this pretty town including the ancient town hall and it’s relaxing to sit and take lunch al fresco at a pavement café in the market square. Finally, we return for an afternoon in the small town of St Omer. Here there’s an interesting cathedral, a superb local museum situated in a historic house, pretty municipal gardens and some enjoyable shopping opportunities! And tonight we enjoy a gourmet dinner at our pretty, and typically French hotel. NIGHTSTOP St Omer, France
DAY TWELVE We rise early and drive the short distance to Calais and the Channel Tunnel. This is an experience in itself as we take our mini-coach onto the train and allow ourselves to be whisked the 27 miles beneath the English channel. We are in the ancient county of Kent. Here, in some of the most attractive countryside to be seen on this tour, we discover small and impossibly pretty, thatched cottage villages, see traditional oast houses, where the beer hops are roasted, and see the hop fields themselves. This afternoon we concentrate on an area of Kent that encompasses a great number of truly British icons representative of the country’s broad culture and history. There’s the site and interpretation centre of perhaps the most well known battle in English history, 1066. There’s the magnificently preserved 14th century, moated castle at Bodium. As has been happening throughout your tour, our informative and entertaining Back-Roads Touring Co. guide/companion will be bringing it all to life with explanation and information. NIGHTSTOP Kent, England
DAY THIRTEEN Just when it appears that we couldn’t possibly top our last few days we’ve another one to enjoy! What better way to complete a most memorable tour than with a relaxed day touring some memorable homes and gardens? We start with soeme outstanding gardens at one of the regions stately homes. There are several we can choose from and you'll be able to decide amongst the group which. Then, to Winston Churchill’s home of Chartwell, where you can almost still smell the great man’s cigars as we tour the exhibition of his life and achievements. Did you know he won a Nobel prize for literature and was a reasonable painter in addition to being a great war leader? Finally, we could have the wonderful Hever Castle, owned by both Henry VIII and more recently, the Astor family. Or perhaps another of Kent's particular attractions. Of course, it’s yet another perfect day for the photographers! We arrive back at our London base in the late afternoon having enjoyed a tour of fabulous variety and great cultural depth. NIGHTSTOP London
DAY FOURTEEN Alas, it’s time to return home. Back-Roads will transfer you to the London airport of your choice unless you’ve decided to stay on in the capital for a few additional days, or plan to join another of our tours. You’ll be reliving and reflecting on what you’ve seen and experienced on this tour for many years to come and one of the marvels that will strike you is how little driving we’ve actually done and yet how much we’ve seen and how different the cultures.
Note: this tour is occasionally run in reverse, beginning with Kent, crossing to France, touring Belgium and Holland, and returning through East Anglia. When operating a reverse itinerary it necessitates some minor changes to our itinerary.
This tour is operated by Back-Roads Touring Co Ltd |
