Cotswolds with Stratford and Oxford

Welcome to London

Arrive at Heathrow or Gatwick Airport, where we will meet and take you to your central London hotel. Enjoy the rest of the day free to explore or relax in London.

Overnight in London.

Blenheim Palace, Hook Norton Brewery & Stratford

Breakfast in the hotel, and then make your way to the central pick up point in London, where you will meet with your group leader and fellow travellers.

Leaving London, you visit the World Heritage site of Blenheim Palace. Learn about the history, explore the gardens, or even take a ride on the estate’s very own miniature railway line. After the Palace and a lunch break, you continue to the Rollright Standing Stones. These are an ancient complex of Neolithic and bronze age monuments that sit on the crest of the Cotswold Hills. This magnificent site marks the borderlands between the great counties of Oxfordshire and Warwickshire.

You round off the afternoon with a visit to the Hook Norton Brewery. Learn about the production of beer in one of the Cotswolds’ most beautiful areas and savour a lovingly produced, local drink. We drive the short distance to Stratford-upon-Avon, your base for the next two nights.

Warwick Castle & Shakespeare

Breakfast in your accommodation.

You travel to Warwick Castle, one of England’s best-preserved medieval castles. Dating back to the time of William the Conqueror, Warwick Castle is often named as one of the best historic monuments in Britain. In the early afternoon, you return to Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace and home of the playwright, William Shakespeare. You now have a chance to explore the places that shaped the life of Shakespeare. Visit Shakespeare’s birthplace, the Tudor thatched cottage and gardens of his wife, or Mary Arden’s farm where Shakespeare’s mother once lived. You can also explore the narrow streets of this medieval market town, visit the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, or take stroll along the banks of the River Avon where you can rent a boat or take the ferry across the river. Overnight in Stratford and soak up the ambience of this historic and inspiring settlement.

The Cotswolds Villages & Oxford

Breakfast in your accommodation.

Today, you leave Stratford-upon-Avon on a journey to the Cotswolds, a huge area that covers five counties and offers a variety of unique landscapes and charming villages. The rolling hills, villages, and farms of this area give you a glimpse back in time to an England with a gentler pace of life. Our first stop of the day is Broadway Tower. This unique, Saxon tower sitting atop the crest of a hill has acted as a beacon, an artist’s retreat, and an army bunker.

Next, you visit Stow-on-the-Wold, the highest of the Cotswolds towns. The large market square is testament to the huge markets and fairs that were once held in this hill top market town. You continue onto Bourton-on the-Water, nestling in the rolling Cotswolds hills. Known as ‘The Venice of the Cotswolds’, you have time to explore this ancient village that has stood on this spot since Anglo-Saxon times.

Your final stop of the tour is in the City of Oxford, here you have time to explore the beautiful listed buildings, explore the precincts of the colleges, climb one of the vantage points to take in the skyline, or see the art and antique collections in the Ashmolean Museum. You then embark on the comfortable return journey to London.

Home time

Breakfast in the your London hotel.

It’s time to leave London – or maybe extend your stay for some additional nights in London.

Private transfer to the airport for your return flight home.