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English Literary Festival Tour
featuring English Rivera Agatha Christie Festival & Bath Jane Austen Festival
“The Mystery Writer’s Trail”
Joining West Country Writers with Jane Austen’s Hampshire into one Special FESTIVAL Tour!
Stately homes, gardens, quaint English villages and areas of inspiration
For literary fans, we’ve incorporated the highlights of our West Country Writers tour with Jane Austen’s Hampshire plus attending two special event literary festivals - both the English Rivera Agatha Christie Festival and Bath Jane Austen Festival. What an opportunity to meet both the locals and fans from across the globe!
Explore Hampshire, where Jane Austen spent most of her life, seeing her Chawton home, burial place in Winchester Cathedral and the countryside that inspired her. The English counties of Devon, Dorset, Cornwall and Somerset, collectively known as ‘The West Country,’ also offer a rich tapestry of literary heritage. Here are the brooding settings for the mystery stories of ‘Sherlock Holmes’ and ‘Miss Marple,’ the sea side intrigue of Rebecca, mystical Arthurian legends and the still charming landscapes of a time gone by. There are several opportunities to step into the author’s world, into the homes of Jane Austen, Agatha Christie and others, their novels springing to life from the page.
If you’ve enjoyed the stories of Jane Austen, Daphne du Maurier, Agatha Christie, Thomas Hardy, Arthur Conan Doyle and Samuel Coleridge, then this is the tour for you, taking you through the inspirational landscapes for their novels.
While focused on literary heritage, this tour is not just for the literary minded as these regions have much to offer visitors. For lovers of countryside there are rolling downs, rugged seascapes, atmospheric moorlands and the lush, green fields that is so representative of England. Gourmets will die for the cream teas, real Cornish pasties, freshly caught seafood and farmhouse cooking. You'll never forget the narrow country lanes where the hedgerows grow higher than the cars, the villages where it's difficult for bicycles to pass let alone other motorized vehicles, the thatched cottage hamlets and small fishing harbors accessible only on foot. This is a true feast for all of the senses!
The 2012 Agatha Christie Festival around Torquay is 9 - 16 September, 2012 while the 2012 Jane Austen Festival in Bath is set to take place 14 - 22 September, 2012
Tour Dates: 8 - 16 September, 2012
Tour Rates: $3599 USD per person; $3999 USD single rate
What your tour price includes: Your accommodation for 9 nights while on the tour including both full breakfasts and 6 dinners. Your price also includes entrance fees to listed attractions, transportation, services of driver/guide-companion and all taxes and tips other than those you may wish to give your guide.
Links with The Lake District, land of Wordsworth & Beatrix Potter
TENTATIVE ITINERARY
DAY 1 SA 8 Sep
Departing London at approximately 9am, we will make our way into Hampshire, ‘Jane Austen Country.’
Jane’s home at Chawton is now open as a museum. It was in this quaint village that she spent the majority of her later years and where she wrote or completed most of her most famous works, Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice amongst others. Once inside the house, we are in her world. We can enjoy the village itself and the cottage gardens that Jane and her sister lovingly tended.
Later we’ll explore the ancient Saxon capital of Winchester. Our time here will include a guided walk around the city, seeing the cathedral where Jane Austen is buried, one of England's most famous public schools and the place Jane last called home, where she passed away in 1817.
OVERNIGHT: Dorchester area The Poachers Inn, Wessex Royale or similar http://www.thepoachersinn.co.uk/ http://wessexroyaledorchester.com/
DAY 2 SU 9 Sep
This morning we delve into Thomas Hardy. Dorsetshire was his canvas and our course will meander through this timeless countryside that was his inspiration. There is the village of Dorchester, his ‘Casterbridge,’ including the local church. Nearby is Hardy’s birthplace cottage, which we will visit subject to variable opening times.
Further along the coast is Lyme Regis. This is part of Britain's 'Jurassic Park' where sometimes a fossil can still be found along the shoreline. Lyme Regis is a popular sea spa town and the site of many Austen family holidays, which looks much as it did when Jane spent time here. Sites from Persuasion are recognizable.
The atmospheric and dramatic Dartmoor Moors is our overnight setting for the next few days, providing the opportunity to follow the trail of the great ‘Sherlock Holmes’ detective case The Hound of the Baskervilles. We can explore novel inspirations, the backdrop for the story and uncover the real life dark legend that inspired the best-selling novel. This is the beginning of our ‘Mystery Writers Trail’ in the West Country. If we’re lucky, we may see some of the famed Dartmoor ponies too!
OVERNIGHT: Dartmoor The Bedford Tavistock or similar http://www.bedford-hotel.co.uk/
DAY 3 MO 10 Sep
We will spend our day exploring the best of the brooding Dartmoor and Bodmin Moors and the dramatic King Arthur’s Tintagel Castle.
Tintagel Castle, the reputed birthplace of King Arthur, sits on top of the wild cliffs accessible only by walking. We will spend ample time here, imagining the legendary hero. We recommend plenty of camera memory for this atmospheric site!
The rest of our day will be spent wandering the moors. A day where we’re simply spoilt for choice! Stops can include Lauceston Castle, a Norman round tower set high atop a mound with stunning views of the surrounding countryside and a connection to the Daphne du Maurier novel The King’s General. There’s a selection of quaint fishing villages such as Boscastle, which also has King Arthur and Thomas Hardy connections and the real ‘Jamaica Inn.’ This is now a bit of a touristy stop, but fun none the less.
OVERNIGHT: Dartmoor, as above
DAY 4 TU 11 Sep
Departing our Dartmoor base, we will wander the Cornish coastline around Fowey and Smuggler’s Cove area of Polperro to discover a bit about Daphne du Maurier’s life and times. Another famed dramatic setting will spring to life from the pages when we spy the property that inspired ‘Manderley’ from Rebecca. Recently a Fowey cottage Daphne rented in the 1940s was sold for the better part of £2m! This entire area evokes the timeless creations of her novels.
We will continue our way along the scenic coast to the ‘English Rivera’ and our first experience of the Agatha Christie Festival.
Subject to availability, our hotel for these two nights is where Agatha Christie spent her honeymoon! Situated on the seafront, overlooking the wide sweep of Torbay on one side and the resorts of Paignton and Brixham on the other, The Grand Hotel Torquay has been considered 'the place to be seen' since the end of the nineteenth century.
OVERNIGHT: Torquay Grand Hotel Torquay or similar http://www.grandtorquay.co.uk/
DAY 5 WE 12 Sep ND
A full day to enjoy the English Rivera and the events of the Agatha Christie Festival.
Torquay is a popular seaside resort and has been host to dozens of holiday making authors over the years, but it is famous as the birthplace of one of the greatest mystery writers of all time, Agatha Christie. Here we can explore landmarks from both her life and settings for her ‘Miss Marple’ novels in addition to the special events of the Festival. Our day will surely include a visit to her nearby home Greenway too, now protected by the National Trust.
OVERNIGHT: Torquay, as above
DAY 6 TH 13 Sep
Via the maritime town of Exeter (Dickens, Hardy, Austen connections) and edging Lorna Doone’s Exmoor, we will make our way to coastal Somerset, an area well known to Samuel Coleridge and William Wordsworth. We can visit Coleridge’s Cottage and areas that were the inspiration for his great works such as Kubla Khan and The Ancient Mariner. Coleridge Cottage, now preserved by the National Trust, was refurbished in August, 2011 so an exciting time to visit.
OVERNIGHT: Glastonbury area Meare Manor or similar http://www.mearemanor.co.uk/
DAY 7 FR 14 Sep
Glastonbury is, according to legend, the burial place of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. Today it is the unofficial ‘capital of New Age England.’ This small city is associated with many Celtic legends, magical ley lines and fairy stories. We can explore the colourful legends as well as the quaint town shops, Abbey and mysterious Glastonbury Tor.
As we’re near, we simply must call into another lovely place, Wells Cathedral, called by some ‘the prettiest of England’s cathedrals.’ Begun in 1180, this is a fine example of Early English Gothic architecture with the interior dominated by the very unique scissor arches.
This afternoon, we will make our way into Bath, the city of Georgian splendor and Roman antiquity. Upon arrival, your guide will be on hand for an orientation walking tour of Jane Austen’s city. This place was 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 several streets and squares from her novels such as Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. You can also see places where the author herself lived.
During our stay, you’ll have free time so you can explore Bath as you please. We highly recommend time in the Roman Baths and Pump Rooms, the Jane Austen Centre or you could simply wander the lovely tea rooms and antique shops - the choice is yours!
Dinner is not included tonight for flexibility’s sake.
Subject to availability, our Bath accommodation is a Georgian townhouse with a re-created Regency garden opened exclusively for guests. These gardens were inspired by the writings of Jane Austen and, along with meticulous historical research, all plantings were specifically chosen as ones that Jane or one of her characters would have enjoyed.
OVERNIGHT: Bath The Kennard or similar http://www.kennard.co.uk/
DAY 8 SA 15 Sep ND
Today we have the full day to enjoy the Jane Austen Festival in Bath. Specific event information will be announced as the information becomes available from festival organizers. http://www.janeausten.co.uk/festival/events.ihtml
The most spectacular day each year is usually the first Saturday, when the festival officially ‘opens’ with the Regency Costumed Promenade through the streets of Bath. Promenaders from all over the world dress in 18th Century attire led by the Bath Town Crier and accompanied by soldiers and sailors adding extra ‘colour’ to the proceedings.
The rest of our day is opened to enjoy Festival events as we wish. Dinner is not included tonight for flexibility’s sake.
OVERNIGHT: Bath, as above
DAY 9 SU 16 Sep
Our first destination is 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, the BBC series of Cranford and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
Later we can see the prehistoric gem Avebury. Oft overshadowed by its famous cousin Stonehenge, Avebury is much more magical and mysterious.
Jane Austen attended school at the Reading Ladies Boarding School in the Thames Valley, an area set amidst unforgettable countryside that surely would have contributed to her development as a writer, an area that you will be passing through en-route back to London.
Prefer to stay in Bath for the entirety of the Jane Austen Festival? You have the option to exchange your final touring day via Lacock and the Thames Valley for a one way rail ticket, an independent journey from Bath Spa to London at the date of your choice. Any additional accommodation and tickets to festival events are subject to availability and at the appropriate supplemental fee. SGT will of course assist you with making these add-on arrangements.
Alternatively, extend your touring with a side trip to the scenic The Lake District, land of Wordsworth & Beatrix Potter.
Why not extend your stay in London? You can explore the Capital at your leisure and see some of the city’s iconic sites or perhaps go on your very own ‘Literary London’ tour. You can choose to do it yourself or we can assist you with a custom day or multi-day tour extension.
Add London to your package: London accommodation, airport transfers, London city tours, London attraction passes and London transport passes are separate from our tour but can be added to your overall package as you wish. Please discuss options with us.
Jane Austen never lived in London but there are a few places of interest here for fans; she did visit her brother Henry at his London homes of 10 Henrietta Street and 23 Hans Place. Her cousin Eliza de Feuillide, often regarded as the model for the character ‘Mary Crawford’ in Mansfield Park, is buried in St John’s Hampstead. We recommend paying respects at Jane’s memorial plaque in Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey and a visit to the British Library to see her manuscripts. Another choice is the National Portrait Gallery, where among the many painting and photographs of famous Britons, you can see the sketch done by her sister Cassandra. This is the only undisputed portrait of Jane Austen.
There are London's literary museums and houses to be seen, properties connected with Keats, Dickens, Carlyle and Dr Johnson. Possibly you’d prefer to just take a stroll through the areas rich in literary history, the neighborhoods of Bankside, an area well known to Chaucer, Shakespeare and Dickens or the Bloomsbury of Virginia Woolf, TS Elliot and Lytton Stratchey among others.
Prefer the iconic sites? Go around on the Big Bus, the best introduction to the Capital city. Hop off when you want then hop back on. SGT highly recommends a visit to St Paul’s Cathedral. Their included multi-media personal Ipod Touch tour guide brings hundreds of years of British history to life - literary at your fingertips! Avoid the queues/lines and pre-book your tickets via us. We can also assist you with pre-booking The Tower of London tickets too. For your evenings, we recommend London’s fantastic theatres - West End, Shakespeare’s Globe or one of the modern ‘off West End’ gems like the Royal Court or the Donmar Warehouse. Spoilt for choice in Literary London!
Please Note: All attraction opening times are correct at time of printing this website. While we do our utmost to include all properties, we reserve the right to change an attraction should it become impossible to visit due to change in opening times, days.
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