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'Great Tours of London, Britain & Ireland since 1989' L o n d o n A r e a D a y T o u r s
Ray's Grand London Tour - Mini-Van for 1-8 persons - £550 Before booking please check my availability here 
Doing a short London stop-over and want to combine both town and country in one full and memorable day? We leave London around 9 am and begin with a journey through some of London's closest but charming countryside on-route to Windsor. Two to three hours in Windsor will give us plenty of time to explore both the impressive Royal Castle and the historic town itself. The afternoon is devoted to seeing some of the many great sights of London, or if you're a regular visitor I'll be delighted to share some off-the-beaten-track delights with you! Mini-Van for 1-8 persons - £600 Before booking please check my availability here
Really short of time? Got a half-day to spare and don't mind short photo/sound-bite stops? Here's the solution! DT3: The Quick London Tour - Mini-Van for 1-8 persons - £450 Before booking please check my availability here
Visit Hampton Court Palace Gardens on the river Thames, home of King Henry VIII, built in 1514 by Cardinal Wolsey; then Runnymede, where King John was forced to seal the Magna Carta in 1215 - the English-speaking world's first 'Bill of Rights', with the adjacent J F Kennedy memorial. You have an option to see one of the UK's finest Golf Clubs at Wentworth plus Ascot Race Course, host of the annual Royal Ascot event. Finally we see Windsor Castle - an impressive sight and home of the Royal family for the last 900 years. There's an opportunity to take a stop en route for you to either sample a magnificent gourmet meal at one of the world’s best restaurants or a typical English Pub lunch. In the afternoon we visit the delightful town of Henley, home to the famous rowing Regatta followed by a drive through some of the beautiful Chiltern villages, before returning to London. Mini-Van for 1-8 persons - £550
See details above, with a shorter duration, omitting the countryside drive. DT6: Total Tour Cost - Mini-Van for 1-8 persons - £500
Why not explore the beautiful villages of the Thames Valley. Names like Marlow, Henley, Cookham, Hambledon and many more! It's a taste of ‘old England’, yet close enough to London to make this delightful short tour possible. Mini-Van for 1-8 persons - £450
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For individual groups of up to 30 'fit' people - a fun way to see a great deal plus it's the least expensive way to tour London with a professional guide This tour can cost as little as £11* (around $16) per person + expenses - see a fuller tour description here *For your private group of (up to) 30 persons You'll ride the London buses, cruise the river Thames, travel by tube (metro/subway), experience the new overhead railway ... Stroll some of the parks and hidden places that can only be seen on foot. You'll need to be able to walk reasonably well, but disabled people can do this tour if in a 'quickie' type chair. If you have a disability (or can't walk fairly quickly) please email me to discuss before booking. Major Sights include full guided-visits to either historic Westminster Abbey or the impressive and 'newly-scrubbed' St Paul's Cathedral. You'll walk some lovely parks and gardens, visit the Royal Observatory, stand on the Greenwich Meridien (East/West Line), and explore Greenwich Village ... Ray's London Explorer Walking Tour - LW1 - Total cost for your group - £300
IMPORTANT! Before booking any tour and paying your booking deposit please check my availability here Go here for more information about my London Walking Tour OR Read an account of this tour here
For families or groups up to 8 persons
Come hike with me around the lovely Chiltern Hills, a beautiful, unspoilt corner of England less than an hour's drive from London. It's a great day out of town and the perfect way to get close to the real England. You'll be surprised by just how beautiful the countryside can be so close to London, if you know where to find it, and I do! The Chilterns are gently rolling hills covered in woodlands of beech, broken by cleared areas of chalk downland which provide a haven for a wide variety of wildlife. Wildflowers found on the downland in summertime include abundant orchids and the rare Chilterns Gentian. In the area we'll be exploring, the spectacular Red Kite, a reintroduced bird of prey, is often seen - and heard - for most of the year. In the valleys we discover attractive villages with their traditional brick and flint cottages nestled around a medieval church, village green and pub. You'll be surprised by the great variety of terrain we'll be walking on: hilltop ridges with wide views; peaceful valleys sheltering those charming little villages and splendid tracks winding through magnificent stretches of beech and oak woodland. Can anyone do these walks? A basic level of fitness is necessary for the short walks, and a little more experience of hiking/walking for the longer ones. I always try to lead a walk at the speed of the slowest member of your group, however. (Which is why the times shown below are varied). Special clothing? A good pair of strong shoes or trainers and a couple of layers of clothing are all you need as I provide each walker with a small light rucksack containing waterproofs, a bottle of water and a treat or two for the journey! So come breathe some fine country air, get lots of superb pictures, stretch those legs, hearts and lungs and go for it! The walks end at a charming, cosy local village Inn, complete with log fires in the colder months. It's a perfect place to reward yourselves with an excellent tasty traditional lunch - or just a sandwich, soup and a beer or coffee, the choice is yours. What happens? Most walks need a London departure around 9am, which means that you'll be in the Chiltern Hills and walking within an hour. You'll discover that all the noise and cares of modern life rapidly begin to fade away as we walk in the footsteps of travelers over the last few thousand years! There are three hikes on offer, all personally led by me, and they all include rest stops at various points of interest along the way. All the walks begin and end in the same village, so if you are inexperienced hikers, go for the shorter walk initially and if everyone desires it can easily be extended as we make our way. As many of the tracks in this region overlap, the routes can be varied a great deal. (The Chilterns has literally hundreds of miles of tracks - known in Britain as public footpaths - and your writer has walked them extensively, so route variations 'on-the-hoof' are no problem!). If there are youngsters in our group I'll also be very happy to explain how to navigate using the large-scale maps and compass favoured by serious hikers. We'll share stories about the peoples and history of the region at the stops along the way, at other times we'll be simply walking and enjoying the peace and quiet of nature at its' best. COUNTRY WALK 1: Walk distance - 3.5 miles (two to two and a half hours walking, including stops). I meet you at your hotel just before 9am, so that we can be on the road leaving London by 9am, thus minimising traffic to arrive at our Chilterns village base around 10am. This village is a much-loved location by movie-makers and you'll soon realise why: Dance With A Stranger, The Avengers, Sleepy Hollow, Good Night Mr. Tom , Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and popular TV series The Vicar of Dibley were all shot here. We park in the car park of the village pub, and if desired you can enjoy a quick coffee before setting out. Then I'll issue each member of our party with a light-weight rucksack containing waterproofs, a light picnic lunch and we should be on our walk by 10.30am. A gentle climb away from the village soon produces fine views and an opportunity to see the Red Kite, before we enter mature Beech woods for a dramatic contrast, in views and light where thoughts of the days of Robin Hood are perfectly natural. However, I'll also tell you about another group of forest dwellers, the Bodgers, who made their living in these woods until very recently .... The first of our rest stops comes up 35 to 45 minutes into the walk when we emerge from deep woodlands to climb a hill and discover a remote and very beautiful medieval church. A couple of benches in the churchyard will give us some ease and I'll briefly explain some of its features and history. On a cold day we'll do this inside. (The church is never locked!). I'll give everyone a chance to make their own exploration of the place then we're back on the trail again with more fine views in open country. A final climb brings us to fresh views and a look at a grand Country Estate, followed by a look at the former home of Henry Ford II, and finally the home of Supermarket chief, Sir John Sainsbury. There's a perfect spot here to enjoy our picnic lunch, then it's a gentle descent with another stop or two at points of interest before a final stroll along a woodland path returns us to our village. The walk terminates at the village inn around 12.30pm to 1pm. If desired the group can enjoy a half-hour or so at the local inn before we take a the drive back to London via a different route to enable us to check-out the attractive Thames-side towns of Marlow or Henley (with a short stop for souvenirs, shopping, whatever). We should get back to your hotel around 4pm. Cost: £400 total (Note: The cost is the total for your party, not per person. This includes transportation, my services as walk-leader, water/picnic lunch/loan of waterproofs - if required. Total Tour Cost for 1-8 persons - £400 including picnic lunch
A 9 am start is fine for this walk with an extra treat. The walk concluded, you will have a pleasant hour or two visiting Henley, famous for its annual Royal Regatta, followed by afternoon Tea* at a beautiful Thames-side Country House Hotel before returning to London early evening. Note - this walk costs £450 total - so if you're sharing the trip with your family or friends it can work out at just over £50 per person, including lunch, if you can get 8 of you together. (My van carries 8 passengers plus me).
COUNTRY WALK 2: Total Tour Cost - Mini-Van for 1-8 persons - £450 *The cost of the Afternoon Tea is NOT included. (Approx. £14 a head)
A fine walk, a picturesque drive, a stroll around the famous Regatta town, a leisurely lunch and still time to visit Windsor town and see (not enter) the Castle! Walk distance: 5.0 miles (two and a half to three hours walking, including stops)
We depart London at 8.00 am to get a good start on this special day trip. We should be able to have a coffee then commence walking well before 10 am, and the early start means that our walk will terminate at the village around 12.30 pm to 1.00 pm leaving you a whole afternoon to enjoy the Thames Valley! Leaving our village base we take a short but pretty drive through the local Chiltern Hills to the popular riverside town of Henley. We'll explore this charming town together with a short easy stroll. I'll tell you about the history and development of London's riverside resorts and of Henley's connections with Royalty, London and Boating. The Henley Royal Regatta is a world-famous International 5-day rowing event and you'll see where the races are held and hear about the fashions to be seen during Royal Regatta Week. I'll also show you connections with two of Henley's famous former residents, sadly no longer with us: the great International singer, Dusty Springfield and the former Beatle, George Harrison. Henley still attracts the celebrities seeking a quieter life so don't be surprised if we spot Orlando Bloom and family, The Sultan of Brunei, Liam Gallacher or Uri Geller doing a spot of shopping. Back in the Van once more, we cross the River Thames, leaving the County of Oxfordshire and for the remainder of the day we'll be in the Royal County of Berkshire. Just a few miles of winding lanes from Henley and we reach the charming little village of Hurley where you have a choice of two venues for a good lunch. A simpler, good value but excellent, lunch can be taken at the charming village Tavern, or if you want a tad more sophistication we'll head for a fine Inn which dates back to the 11th century! Relax and take as long as you like over lunch - you've earned it! Refreshed, we're commencing our return journey to London - but before we hit the main road I have a final treat in store for you! Our happy group will round off this introduction to London's Country by stopping at nearby Windsor where you can get some good photos of both the town and its famous Castle. A brief motoway journey completes the day, bringing us to London between 6 pm and 7 pm. Cost: £360 total (for your group, not per person. This includes transportation, my services as walk-leader, water/snacks/loan of waterproofs - if required. COUNTRY WALK 3: Total Tour Cost - Mini-Van for 1-8 persons - £450
IMPORTANT! Before booking any tour and paying your booking deposit please check my availability here
As above but a longer walk - all other detail applies .. and more ... Depart London 9am. Commence walking at 10.30am, terminating at the village around 2.30pm to 3.00pm. Lunch break of 1 to 1.5 hours. Departing the village around 4.30pm to return to London by the route described in Walk 1, arriving around 6.00 pm. Cost: £400 total (for your group, not per person). This includes transportation, my services as walk-leader, water/snacks/loan of waterproofs - if required. COUNTRY WALK 4: Total Tour Cost - Mini-Van for 1-8 persons - £500 IMPORTANT! Before booking any tour and paying your booking deposit please check my availability here
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