Frequently Asked Questions

The term ‘Signature Experience’ is the name we give to our unique approach to touring in the England we know and love. Every ‘Signature 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.

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.

Yes, and no.
Exploring Bath, the southern Cotswolds, Stonehenge, or any of the multitude of other extraordinary places in our region can be seen from London in a day. However, getting in and out of London by car is not unlike getting in and out of central Los Angeles i.e. it’s very slow, stop-start and takes a long time. We therefore don’t run door-to-door tours from London as the majority of the day would involve transiting to and from the capital.

Instead, we offer ‘Day Tours from London by Train’. The train from London Paddington, close to London’s hotel district, is just 90 minutes away from Bath, and is luxurious, safe and relaxing. We meet guests at the station, and can tour two of following: Stonehenge, Bath, the southern Cotswolds & unseen England, in a day, dropping you back at the station for the fast train back to London at the end. It’s a great way to experience the best of England in a day!