BOOKWORM TOUR
This
tour is a little more imaginative than the usual literary tours offered of
England and Wales. While it includes some of the most iconic sites
associated with writes such as Austen, Dickens, Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf,
Lewis Carroll and Thomas Hardy, it also seeks to introduce the tour
participant to some perhaps lesser-known authors and poets. We use them as
something of an excuse too, visiting some very pretty regions of the country
not often discovered by the casual tourist. We hope in following this
approach we will be giving the tour participant many, many future hours of
reading pleasure and literary discovery.
DEPARTURE DATES & PRICES FOR 2008
|
Tour Code |
Depart London
|
Arrive London
|
|
LITEW
|
Sunday |
Friday |
|
LITEW1 |
27 Apr |
09 May |
|
LITEW2 |
17 Aug |
29 Aug |
Prices:
£1715
per person in a twin share / £1855 single occupancy
TENTATIVE ITINERARY
NIGHTSTOP
DAY
ONE -
Sunday
The
tour departs from London. We’ll enjoy a relaxed day acquainting ourselves with
the count of Kent, a county rich in literary association, to visit the Ashdown
Forest of AA Milne’s ‘Winnie the Pooh’ and later Churchill’s home of Chartwell.
It is often forgotten that this great statesman and leader won a Nobel prize for
Literature
Sevenoaks, Kent
DAY TWO - Monday
Kent’s most iconic literary sites will feature today including Charles Dicken’s
Rochester and Broadstairs (where we’ll find the inspiration for ‘Bleak House’)
and Chaucer’s mediaeval city of Canterbury. Sevenoaks,
Kent
DAY THREE - Tuesday
More
of Kent Literary sites today with a number of choices to be made from Rudyard
Kipling’s Bateman, Virginia Woolf’s houses, Henry James’s quaint port town of
Rye, and Darwin’s Home House. Sevenoaks,
Kent
DAY FOUR - Wednesday
We’ll
begin with G B Shaw's ‘Corner’ in Hertfordshire’s Ayot St Lawrence. This is an
Edwardian Arts & Crafts influenced house, home to George Bernard Shaw for over
40 years. See the great dramatist's revolving writing hut featuring many
literary and personal effects, including his Oscar and Nobel Prize then on to
Oxford for a full afternoon’s visit. ‘Alice in Wonderland’ walk and time to see
where the ‘Inklings’ met (TS Elliot, Tolkien and Auden). Of course, this is also
the city of Colin Dexter’s ‘Inspector Morse’!
Steeple Aston
DAY FIVE - Thursday
Stratford upon Avon will be our main focus for the Shakespearean experience (RSC
performance possible).
Steeple Aston
DAY SIX - Friday
Stratford to the charming medieval Ludlow where we’ll concentrate on the poet A
E Houseman. Beautiful borders scenery in ‘undiscovered’ region. Then on to Hay
on Wye, the world’s largest used book centre where even the castle dungeon is
lined with books!
Bredwardine,
Herefordshire
DAY SEVEN - Saturday
A day at
leisure in Hay on Wye with time to perhaps follow in Francis Kilvert’s footsteps
with a walk to Clyro. This will be a wonderful day for book shopping too!
Day
off from driving for driver/guide required at this point to comply with EU
driver hour regulations.
Bredwardine, Herefordshire
DAY EIGHT - Sunday
A
unique day following the Dylan Thomas Trail and affording us the opportunity of
touring one of the UK’s nicest areas, the Gower Coast. Also featured will be the
city of Swansea and we’ll take the opportunity of introducing you to Welsh
literature and the great Celtic tradition that gave birth to the Arthurian
legends. A wonderful feature will be the village of Laugharne. This was Dylan
Thomas’ village and the inspiration for ‘Under
Milk Wood’.
We’ll see his famed boat house writing studio, home and grave.
Gower Coast, Gower
DAY NINE - Monday
Departing the Gower, we take the freeway to Jane Austen’s Bath where we’ll enjoy
a panoramic tour and a visit to the Austen museum. If there’s interest, we can
see where Harry Potter author, J K Rowling spent her childhood en route. Our
next stop will be Lacock, used as film set for many historical literary novels
(as well as the more recent ‘Harry Potter’ films. Finally, we’ll pass by
Stonehenge en route to our night stop near Salisbury.
Stockbridge, Hants
DAY TEN - Tuesday
A day
exploring the Hampshire of Jane Austen, including her home at Chawton and tomb
Winchester cathedral. We can also include the house and gardens of Gilbert Scott
at Selbourne today
(‘The
Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne’).
Stockbridge, Hants
DAY ELEVEN - Wednesday
Today, we explore the timeless landscape of Thomas Hardy country. Hardy country
is mainly in Dorset and Wiltshire and this day gives us time to explore in depth
with visits to a Hardy museum, his house and to see various villages and towns
that he used as his backdrop, though with new fictitious names.
Stockbridge, Hants
DAY TWELVE - Thursday
Our
final day is a truly memorable one with a stop at the pretty riverside town of
Marlow where Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein, and where T S Elliot lived
for some years. We’ll also visit Stoke Poges to see the grave and monument to
Thos. Grey (Elegy in a Country Churchyard) and sites connected with G K
Chesterton at Beaconsfield (‘Father Ted’). London,
accom. & dinner not inc.
DAY THIRTEEN - Friday
Travel home (transfer not included in the tour price) or extend visit time in
London.
