The Official Website of The Driver Guides Association
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Individual Guided Tours of London and the UK by Private Car Driven by Blue Badge Guides

Tour Suggestions - Days from London

Touring Suggestions - London
Touring Suggestions - Other Areas

These tour descriptions have been compiled by Lucilla Shirley and Rosamund Forester, whose details may be found in the List of Members

Half Day Tours

Windsor Castle
Up to 4 hours
Home of Queen Elizabeth II. It is the oldest castle in the world continuously inhabited by same Royal family. Inside the sumptuous State Apartments are Old Master paintings, furniture, tapestries, armour. Queen Mary’s Doll’s House, one twelfth normal size, has furniture, books, paintings by contemporary artists. Visit 15th century St. George’s Chapel housing tombs of Kings and Queens, ancient stained glass and carved oak choir stalls where banners of the Knights of the Order of the Garter flutter. Windsor town has excellent shopping and cross bridge over the river Thames to see Eton College and browse amongst antique shops.
Rates 1-4 people £255 1-7 people £280

Hampton Court Palace
Up to 4 hours
One of Henry VIII’s 64 palaces. Walk through the centuries admiring Tudor and Classical architectural styles and you may sense the ghost of Queen Katharine Howard. Visit the magnificent chapel, still in daily use, wonder at the 16th century astronomical clock, or wander through gardens full of flowers and get lost in the Maze. Imagine feeding hundreds of people twice daily in the most complete Tudor kitchens ever.
Rates 1-4 people £255 1-7 people £280

Full Day Tours

Windsor Castle, Eton, Hampton Court Palace
Up to 8 hours
A fine combination of royal palaces with gardens to explore and shops to visit.
Rates
1-4 people £380
4-7 people £420

Chartwell and Hever Castle
Up to 8 hours
Chartwell was the home of Sir Winston Churchill who designed the gently rolling gardens edging onto the beautiful Kent countryside. Inside, rooms are kept as he would know them with his many paintings and house memorabilia of his life. Nearby is moated Hever Castle, where Henry VIII courted Anne Boleyn. Cross the drawbridge to see interiors restored by William Waldorf Astor, who also laid out Tudor and Italianate gardens. Lose yourself in the hedge maze or dodge about in the water maze.
Rates
1-4 people £380
4-7 people £420

Cambridge and Ely
Up to 9 hours
Cambridge, one of England’s most prestigious universities, dates from the 13th century. Walk along the Backs, next to the river Cam for one of the best views of Mediaeval to modern architecture of the colleges, or meander through medieval streets, browse in shops and bars like world-renowned scholars have done for centuries and cutting edge scientists do today. A short drive through picturesque countryside to Ely and its Mediaeval Cathedral. The interior is lit by an octagonal lantern tower and the Lady Chapel has the widest Mediaeval vault in England.
Rates
1-4 people £430
4-7 people £470

Kent and Sussex Gardens
Up to 9 hours
Almost spoilt for choice, start with Vita Sackville-West’s Sissinghurst garden built on Tudor castle foundations and divided into “rooms”. Continue through rolling Kent countryside to Great Dixter medieval house and garden, the lifetime’s work of garden designer Christopher Lloyd. Chartwell or Hever Castle make excellent substitutes.
Rates
1-4 people £430
4-7 people £470

Canterbury, Leeds Castle and Dover
Up to 9 hours
Canterbury Cathedral, the Cradle of Christianity, for 900 years houses the Shrine of St. Thomas a Becket, stunning 14th-20th century stained glass windows and varied architectural styles. Nearby Dover Castle on the coast, a 13th century stronghold against invaders, has secret Mediaeval tunnels used during World War II as a hospital and during the Cold War as the nerve centre against nuclear attack. Leeds Castle surrounded by a moat, originally a fortress 800 years ago, has chic early 20th century decorated interiors. Visit the Dog Collar Museum, aviary, maze and Culpepper’s garden.
Rates
1-4 people £430
4-7 people £470

Brighton and Arundel Castle
Up to 9 hours
Prince Regent, later George IV, changed Brighton for ever from a small fishing village to a fashionable seaside resort with his onion domed Pavilion, sumptuously furnished in Chinoiserie and Indian styles. Browse among ‘the Lanes’, once the haunt of thieves, now a maze of antique shops, cafes and restaurants. A few miles away is Arundel Castle, home of the Dukes of Norfolk. Reassuringly solid, its medieval, turreted walls protect a lavishly refurbished interior. Souvenirs of Mary Queen of Scots are side by side with Van Dycks and other Old Master paintings. Arundel town has excellent antique shops.
Rates
1-4 people £430
4-7 people £470

Oxford and Blenheim Palace
Up to 9 hours
Blenheim Palace‘That sweet city with her dreaming spires’ - Oxford is dominated by its historic university buildings, bustling with today’s students, inextricably linked with the great men and women who were educated here and have influenced all walks of life. You can visit Christchurch, Oxford’s largest College founded by Henry VIII, which incorporates the Cathedral, or one of the other Colleges. Nearby is Blenheim, home of the Dukes of Marlborough. This splendid palace was given to the first Duke by a grateful nation after a resounding victory at Blenheim in 1704. Designed by Vanburgh under the watchful eye of the first duchess, friend of Queen Anne, it is set in imposing grounds. Birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, he is buried at nearby Bladon.
Rates
1-4 people £430
4-7 people £470

The Cotswolds
Up to 9 hours
Countryside of unbelievable beauty with sleepy villages, such as Great Tew or Lower Slaughter, charming little market towns, like Stow-on-the-Wold and Chipping Camden, splendid churches and graceful manor houses, built and embellished by mediaeval cloth traders, this is quintessential England, which the modern world passed by. The area has many fine antique shops.
Rates
1-4 people £505
4-7 people £540

Winchester, Salisbury and Stonehenge
Up to 10 hours
Once centre of the ancient Kingdom of Wessex, the streets of Winchester are steeped in history and its shops are stocked with luxuries! Its cathedral has developed from the eleventh century, and its College is one of our most famous boys’ schools. Continue to Salisbury, charming old market town. Its thirteenth century cathedral, a testament to the skill of early craftsmen, is described as ‘a blond beauty among churches’ and its delicate spire is England’s highest, dominating the landscape for miles around. Before returning to London, see Stonehenge, described below.
Rates
1-4 people £505
4-7 people £540

Cotswolds, Stratford and Warwick
Up to 10 hours
Travel through the countryside taking in some of the places described above, but also go to Stratford upon Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. Claimed to be the greatest playwright in the English language, see the house where he was born, the church where he was buried and many other places associated with his family. The prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company performs regularly at the theatre. Then on to fantastic Warwick Castle with its battlements, instruments of torture, ghosts, towers and turrets. It has excellent exhibitions, which show how life within its walls would have been, for the nobility and for the servants.
Rates
1-4 people £530
4-7 people £575

Stonehenge and Bath
Up to 10 hours
For over 5000 years there has been evidence of man’s activity around Stonehenge in this remote part of Wiltshire – How? Why? This stone Circle fascinates and mystifies – let us take you there and explain the whys and wherefores of this World Heritage Site. Continue to Bath, and visit the 2000-year-old Roman Baths, still filled by gushing hot springs, at a constant 46.5 degrees centigrade. Admire the fifteenth century abbey, and glorious Georgian crescents built in the eighteenth century of mellow stone, sample a Bath bun and the hot water in the Pump Room.
Rates
1-4 people £530
4-7 people £575


Touring Suggestions - London
Touring Suggestions - Other Areas



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