FAQs

The term ‘Curated Experience’ is the name we give to our unique approach to touring in the England we know and love. Every ‘Curated Experience’ shares common characteristics; they are designed to be fully inclusive of cost, organisation and management, so that your focus can be on relaxing and enjoying your time in the area.

Each one is a carefully constructed journey through time, places, stories and experiences to provide a deep but engaging and varied experience of our bit of England. It includes incredible food and drink, the best we can find in the area, amazing stories that both challenge and illuminate our understanding of the world. They include collection and return from your accommodation, travel in a luxury vehicle, refreshments, both guided time and moments of private time and space – all at a relaxed pace with a highly capable, engaging guide alongside similar travels.

We also don’t share the itineraries – partly to protect the local communities and places we visit from the dangers of mass-tourism through being too visible through marketing and the online world, but also because we want the day to be a true adventure and for you to have those ‘wow’ moments in a way that is only possible if you don’t fully know what’s coming.
Our 'Signature Tours' are our core tours designed around this approach.

We rarely share full itineraries unless we are serving an itinerary that has been provided for us to deliver by a guest or travel partner.
On our Signature Tours and Bespoke Experiences we will share the 'must-see's on an itinerary, but almost everything else are exceptional places, stories and experiences off the beaten track. So why do we not share these in full?
First, as passionate travellers ourselves, we know that the travel experiences that have the most impact, and are most memorable, are rarely those that we can anticipate. Most of travel for the 'big stuff' but the big stuff rarely has the impact we imagine because it's already known to us, and it's often busier than we'd like as well, meaning it's less personal and meaningful.
Second. We know that the impact of discovering the places we share with our guests is much greater if they have no prior knowledge/experience of these places beforehand.  Just as spoilers for a movie, book or play can undermine the impact/experience for an audience, we know that sharing full itineraries greatly reduces the impact our tours can have on guests. 
Thirdly, as many of the places we visit are not on the international travel radar, we're keen to preserve these places and communities and protect them from the risks of mass tourism that could occur if we began openly promoting them. 
Finally, all of our tours are designed to adjust and adapt around our guests and conditions on the day meaning that by not having a fixed itinerary we can provide a much more personalised, qualitative experience that we can tailor as we get to engage and interact with you. We feel your quality of experience is much more important than slavishly adhering to a strict itinerary or schedule.

We do run private 'inner-circle' Stonehenge tours, but suggest them only if you are absolutely set on seeing Stonehenge at sunrise or dusk. They only last 30 minutes, cost twice the price and limit access to the visitor center and other facilities.
The new path that goes inside the henge (inside the ditch) was added to allow visitors to get within a few feet of the stones and has been designed to allow visitors to get close and take great shots of the circle without other visitors being too in the way! 
This, combined with the opportunity to enjoy the site and visitor centre at your own pace alongside a detailed, insightful private guided tour, that explains the context of the site's development within the wider landscape, means that we believe that our approach offers by far the best way to experience this magnificent monument - and is superior to an inner circle tour in most cases.

No. We pre-book entrances, such as at Stonehenge to ensure we minimise waiting times, and we always provide a personal, guided service whenever we can (and are permitted to do so). We pre-book lunches in most cases, so that food is ready to serve the moment we arrive, and we purposely focus on the unseen in order to share that authentic, quintessential England, away from the crowds, coaches and commercialised tourist sites.

Every experience is designed around our guests. By getting to know you and understand your needs and goals, we can create the best experience you could possibly have!
We are very sensitive and supportive of guests that may have particular requirements, such as medical conditions or impairments, and are used to working with guests across the age range, including families that span three generations or more in one tour!
Finally, we are committed to providing you with the best experience we can, and if that means adapting and changing things on-the-fly, we'll do it. Nothing is more important than your enjoyment and engagement!