'Great Tours of London, Britain & Ireland'
Special Interest Tours & Activity Tours
Do you belong to a family, club or society who share an interest? Why not make a specialised interest tour? Together we can create a tour based on your choice(s) of subject. The number of days enjoyed is up to you ...
Or how about a little adventure? We have some excellent activity tours! Here's the complete list - Architecture Tours - Superdeal Tours - credit-crunch beaters! - Bike Tours - Country House Tours - Educational Tours - Family History Tours - Garden Tours - Gastronomy Tours - Golf Tours - Hiking Tours - Literature & Art Tours - Myths & Legends Tours - Royal Heritage Tours - Shopping/Collecting Tours
Pricing your tour
It's very simple! You pay just £440 per day, to cover the cost of your Minivan, my driver-guiding services and all miles driven, including petrol (gas) and parking. (The fee also includes my hotel/subsistence expenses, but not your own).
For example, if a group of six friends or family travel together, the individual cost per day is equivalent to just £75 per person for all travel and guiding services! If your group can go to my van's total capacity of 8 persons (plus me), the cost drops to just £55 per person per day, for an exclusive service!
Accommodations: Bed and breakfast/guest house/inn/hotel accommodations can be arranged for an average of £70 per twin or double room, £95 a family room per night, including breakfast. As the cost of the vehicle and guide is shared by your group - up to 8 - you only pay what you have budgeted for accommodations and meals.
For youngsters, the 'young at heart', and families on a very tight budget there are other even less expensive accommodation alternatives, so please ask.
Not included: Entry fees to those sites which make a charge, although nowadays many are free, or charge a very modest fee, especially outside London. Gratuities are not included, but are discretionary.
Here's some ideas...
ARCHITECTURE: There’s a host of interesting structures to see in Britain. From 10th Century Saxon, thru’ the Norman (Romanesque) period to Early English to the full flowering of English Perpendicular Gothic, Tudor Gothic, Classical Renaissance, Georgian Baroque, Rococo, Victorian Gothic Revival, Neo-classical, Art-Nouveau, Art-Deco, Modernist, Brutalist, Post-Modernist, High-tech ... thousands of fine examples await your appraisal.
We'll view many of the best examples of the works of Inigo JONES, Sir Christopher WREN, Nicholas HAWKSMOOR, Sir John VANBRUGH, Robert ADAM, John NASH, Sir John SOANE, William BUTTERFIELD, Sir George Gilbert SCOTT, Alfred WATERHOUSE, Norman SHAW, Charles VOYSEY, Charles Rennie MACKINTOSH, Sir Edwin LUTYENS, Sir Giles Gilbert SCOTT, Erno GOLDFINGER, Sir Denys LASDUN, Sir James STIRLING, FOSTER and Partners , Richard ROGERS and Partners , HOPKINS Architects, Sir Terry FARRELL, Nicholas GRIMSHAW, Will ALSOP ....
Tell me your preferences/objectives/number of days available and together we’ll plan as comprehensive an itinerary as possible...
BIKE TOURS: For group sizes up to 8 persons with 6 tours to choose from. Novices should go for the easy GREEN TOURS, which involve only two to three hours gentle riding each day; more experienced riders can take the more ambitious BROWN TOURS, with three to four hours cycling each day, and include some strenuous bits which will leave you out of breath and a little red in the face!
Difficulty level code:
1 - Very easy. Anyone, of any age who can ride a bike and is reasonably healthy can do it
2 - Easy. With occasional small hills
3 - Harder. Some hill climbing and longer distances
4 - Quite strenuous in places. Fairly good bike-riding ability required
GREEN TOUR A - Difficulty level 1:
GREEN TOUR B - Difficulty Level 2/3:
BROWN TOUR A - Difficulty level - 3/4
BROWN TOUR B - Difficulty level - 4
A fabulous tour of Yorkshire's Wolds, Moors and Dales, plus Castle Howard and historic York City
COUNTRY HOUSES? Literally thousands of fine country houses can be visited. The choice is just huge. To get a feel for what's available take the time to look more closely at some of those we've listed on our links pages. Some are popular and famous, many are delightfully quieter, whose owners are often much more appreciative of our visit and interest. Some can be toured privately, so if you appreciate and admire beautiful interiors, furniture and art, why not think about a tour which focuses on some of our finest country houses?
Some are grand, many are quite modest, but all will delight!
EDUCATIONAL: Why not take this opportunity of not only enjoying a good vacation in Britain, but also assisting with educational projects, too? Whilst history is an obvious subject, the group can also learn something about architecture, art, literature, customs, language, traditions, science, crafts, manufacturing and so on.
Oh, and tell the kids not to worry - there won’t be a test at the end ..... unless it’s requested!
FAMILY HISTORY: Doing your genealogical thing? We can help maximise the research/visit time available to you over here by planning your route, assisting with accommodation bookings, research facility appointments, and ensuring that you get to the various locations in the easiest, most practical route whilst also combining places of interest along the way ...
GARDENS: There are simply thousands of wonderful gardens to visit in Britain. For garden historians we’ll be covering examples of work by many of the great names in gardening. Not only have some of the greatest garden designers in history worked here, but our benign climate and the efforts of some of the great 16th to 18th century plant hunters have made Britain virtually a Botanical Garden of the World.
Ranging from magnificent gardens which enhance our stately homes, castles, and historic buildings to grand planting schemes in city parks and municipal locations, to smaller but simply delightful home and cottage gardens which may only cover an acre or less. Sometimes the owner, who is often the gardener herself/himself, will be in attendance for questions, etc.; this can add immensely to the experience.
Let me plan a tour for your group...tell me how many days (3 to 10) you would like to tour and I’ll plan a tour which will include more beautiful gardens than you’d ever thought could exist in one small country. Here's my garden Tours for those with less time: 2-day Tour - 3-day Tour - 4-day Tour
GASTRONOMY: It surprises many people visiting these Islands that the cuisine served in many hotels, restaurants and brasserie’s/cafes now ranks up there with the very best. Did you know that there are more Michelin starred restaurants in Britain than most European countries? Indeed, if cost is no barrier, I can plan you a tour which will include some of the finest accommodations and tables in the world.
After all, travelling is thirsty/hungry work, isn’t it...?
GOLF: Did you know that Britain has more golf courses than any other country except the USA and that many are ranked amongst the finest in the world? Not only Scotland, the home of Golf, but England and Wales, boast some superb venues. Let me plan a multi-day tour for you incorporating some fine courses, hotels and sights, whilst arranging start times for the players, and shopping trips/sightseeing outings for non-golfers in the group.
That way, every member of the group is happy .. and the golfers can concentrate on their game ..!
HIKES AROUND ENGLAND: With over 120,000 miles of public footpaths (trails) in England and Wales alone, there's no shortage of wonderful walks (hikes) to choose from. Having personally walked in all England and Wales' wonderful National Parks and climbed the major peaks of England and Wales, plus many in Scotland including Ben Nevis, Britain's tallest mountain, you can have confidence in me to plan a driver-hiking tour which will satisfy your group's needs. By combining a walk with rests for regular sightseeing on alternate days you'll be able to enjoy all that is best about our wonderful countryside. Family leaders/Group organisers should contact me for more information and to ascertain the needs/capabilities of the walkers.
LITERATURE AND ART: If you love to read, and/or are studying some of the works of the great literary or art world figures, it can be very satisfying to visit their homes, gardens and studios, or the colleges and other places where they were often inspired to creativity, and of course, their final resting places. Here are some, but certainly not all of the contenders:
Authors, playwrights and poets :
Jane AUSTEN, Francis BACON, Hilaire BELOC, Sir John BETJEMAN, William BLAKE, Enid BLYTON, Anne, Emily and Charlotte BRONTE, Robert BROWNING, John BUCHAN, John BUNYAN, Lord BYRON, Lewis CARROLL, Geoffrey CHAUCER, G. K. CHESTERTON, Dame Agatha CHRISTIE, Samuel Taylor COLERIDGE, William Wilkie COLLINS, William CONGREVE, Joseph CONRAD, Charles DARWIN, Daniel DEFOE, Charles DICKENS, John DONNE, Sir Arthur Conan DOYLE, John DRYDEN, George ELIOT, T. S. ELIOT, John EVELYN, Ian FLEMING, John GALSWORTHY, Mrs GASKELL, John GAY, Edward GIBBON, Oliver GOLDSMITH, Kenneth GRAHAME, Thomas GRAY, Thomas HARDY, William HAZLITT, A. E. HOUSMAN, Ted HUGHES, Aldous HUXLEY, Henry JAMES, Jerome K JEROME, Samuel JOHNSON, Ben JONSON, John KEATS, Charles KINGSLEY, Rudyard KIPLING, Charles LAMB, D.H. LAWRENCE, T. E. LAWRENCE, Cecil Day LEWIS, Christopher MARLOWE, John MASEFIELD, W. Somerset MAUGHAM, Daphne DU MAURIER, John MILTON, Nancy MITFORD, Thomas MOORE, George ORWELL, Samuel PEPYS, Sylvia PLATH, Alexander POPE, Beatrix POTTER, J. B. PRIESTLEY, 'Q' (Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch), John RUSKIN, Vita SACKVILLE-WEST, Siegfried SASSOON, Sir Walter SCOTT, William SHAKESPEARE, George Bernard SHAW, Mary SHELLEY, Percy B. SHELLEY, Richard Brinsley SHERIDAN, Dame Edith SITWELL, Robert SOUTHEY, Edmund SPENSER, John STOW, Alfred Lord TENNYSON, William M. THACKERAY, Dylan THOMAS, Anthony TROLLOPE, Edgar WALLACE, Izaak WALTON, Evelyn WAUGH, H.G. WELLS, Dennis WHEATLEY, Virginia WOOLF, William WORDSWORTH.
Artists and Sculptors:
Lawrence ALMA-TADEMA, Francis BACON, BANKSY, Vanessa BELL, William BLAKE, Giovanni CANALETTO, Anthony CARO, John CONSTABLE, Thomas Sidney COOPER, John CROME, William Reid DICK, Tracy EMIN, Sir Jacob EPSTEIN, Lucien FREUD, Naum GABO, Thomas GAINSBOROUGH, Grinling GIBBONS, Anthony GORMLEY, Barbara HEPWORTH, Damien HIRST, David HOCKNEY, Wm. HOGARTH, Augustus JOHN, Gwen JOHN, Louis LAGUERRE, Sir Edwin LANDSEER, Frederick LEIGHTON, Sir Peter LELY, L S LOWRY, Sarah LUCAS, John MARTIN, Sir John MILLAIS, Henry MOORE, Paul NASH, Ben NICHOLSON, Samuel PALMER, John PARK, Sir Joshua REYNOLDS, George ROMNEY, Dante Gabriel ROSSETTI, Walter SICKERT, John Singer SARGENT, Stanley SPENCER, Philip Wilson STEER, George STUBBS, Graham SUTHERLAND, Sir James THORNHILL, J. M. W. TURNER, Sir Anthony VAN DYCK, Antonio VERRIO, Alfred WALLIS, David WILKIE, Richard WILSON, James WHISTLER, Christopher WOOD .....
Musicians and Composers:
Thomas ARNE, Sir Malcolm ARNOLD, Johann Christian BACH, Sir Richard Rodney BENNETT, Sir Lennox BERKELEY, Sir Arthur BLISS, Richard Parkes BONINGTON, Benjamin BRITTEN, William BYRD, Eric COATES, John Sell COTMAN, Sir Peter Maxwell DAVIES, Frederick DELIUS, Sir Edward ELGAR, George HANDEL, Gustav HOLST, John IRELAND, Nigel KENNEDY, Andrew LLOYD WEBBER, William LLOYD WEBBER, Ivor NOVELLO, Sir Hubert PARRY, Henry PURCELL, Sir Arthur SULLIVAN, Thomas TALLIS, Sir Michael TIPPETT, Sir William WALTON, Samuel WESLEY, Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS ....
Want to try a tour which has a literary or art theme? Give us a list of your favourite authors, artists, composers, musicians, the number of days you have available and I’ll create an itinerary which includes lots of connections with them, combined with many places of interest along the way ...
MYTHS AND LEGENDS? Whether its King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, ancient stories and myths, ‘modern’ day follies or ancient stone circles and structures or just the odd, strange and unexplained, this collection of little islands of ours offers lots of scope - probably more than anywhere else on the planet. Perhaps that’s why people on the continent of Europe have rightly described the Brits as a little ‘eccentric’. (And that's saying nothing of the Irish, too! - I have some Irish blood so feel entitled to say that!).
Combine a feast of the unusual with some old fashioned regular sightseeing if that’s your whim.... and if it is, who knows, you just may have some British/Irish ancestry!
Stretch your imagination with a tour which raises some questions and theories which still puzzle ‘modern man’ ....
ROYAL HERITAGE? With the world’s highest profile monarchy, you’d expect us to find something for the Royal watchers, wouldn’t you? From the counties of London, Kent, Sussex, Berkshire, the Isle of Wight, Gloucestershire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Yorkshire, Aberdeenshire, up and down the length and breadth of the country there are many Royal links.
There is something very special about the British Monarchy and its history, and we will try to show you why the marriage between the Crown and the People is much stronger than many in the contemporary media would have you believe.
This is the theme tour for history lovers too - the history of Kings and Queens is the history of Great Britain...
SHOPPING? There are tens of thousands of shops in the UK but if you want to know where to find the best porcelain - lace - china - art - sculpture - equestrian accessories - cottage crafts - knitwear - forgework - pottery - malt whisky, etc., and make sure its ‘on-route’, let me help you find them and plan an itinerary with you based around your desires ....
Tell me your interests and together we’ll plan in all the best places to look ...
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Ruddick Tours April 18, 2010