A trip to the beautiful Northeast of England with its dramatic coastline, historic houses, castles, cathedrals and towns. This 6 day tour includes a full programme of excursions and guided visits to the extraordinary sites of the area, taking in key historic and interesting places such as Harewood House, Alnwick Castle and gardens, Durham Cathedral, Holy Island, Bamburgh and much more. 

To see the full details click HERE .

Full details and the booking form can be found by clicking HERE 

15th to 19th April 2024

En route to our hotel our coach will stop so that we can take a break and visit the National Memorial Arboretum near Lichfield. We will make a tour of the Arboretum by their land train before proceeding on to our hotel at Caernarfon, our base for the next 4 nights. 

During our 5 days in North Wales we will see and visit Bodnant Gardens, Conwy Castle, Caernarfon Castle, Portmeirion, the National Slate Museum, Plas Newydd Country House and Gardens, Powis Castle & Garden, and take a ride on the Ffestiniog Narrow Gauge Railway.

If you are interested in further details of the tour please click HERE for the tour brochure and booking form.

Trieste trip April 2023 REPORT

Thanks to the recommendation of Chris and Carol Patey on 16th of April 2023
35 travellers set off on a very interesting and enjoyable 4 day visit to Trieste,
once the 4th largest city in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. We flew via Venice
and our excellent 4* Savoia Excelsior Palace Hotel on the sea front was very
close to all amenities. Our visit in bright sunshine to Castello di Miramare, Archduke Maximilian’s
summer retreat, set amidst the lush gardens on a promentary overlooking the
Adriatic, was fascinating. In Grado the Duomo had 6th century frescoes similar to San Marco. Our
afternoon in Aquileia with its ruins of palatial villas, baths, temples and market
buildings, and the superb mosaic floor in the Basilica, founded in 313 AD, were
an eloquent reminder of the Roman Empire. In Friuli we enjoyed a lunch of the delicious San Daniele ham and toured the
internationally renowned mosaic school. Our final day was very wet, but happily we were able to visit the Revoltella
Museum founded in 1872 by Baron Revoltella, with a wide collection of art,
books and furnishings.

Sue Adie

Tour Organsier

Following a coach transfer from Wimbledon to Gatwick Airport and then onwards to Belfast, this 5 day tour centred around the 4 star Dunadry Hotel and Country Club.  During our visit, we visited Patterson’s Spade Mill, a guided tour of Belfast including Stormont Parliament Buildings, The Ulster Museum, Giant’s Causeway, Old Bushmills Distillery, Derry with its Tower Museum and Guildhall, the Seamus Heaney Centre, Mount Stewart House and Gardens and the Titanic Experience. All guided tours and use of a professional tour guide were included.

New dates: 2nd July to the 6th July 2021 (inclusive).

This is the Tour that was postponed from 2020. 

We have chosen Norfolk as our destination because of the wealth of outstanding architecture ranging from Norman, Tudor, Jacobean and Georgian to the present day.  We will be based in Norwich at the George Hotel, about 15 mins. walk from the town centre.  We have put together a varied itinerary to include Anglesey Abbey, Norwich Castle and the Cathedral, and Layer Marney Tower (the tallest Tudor gatehouse in the country), built in 1520.  Lord Marney was a friend of both Henry VII and VIII. 

On Day 4 the morning will be spent in Wisbech with its fine Georgian architecture with an introductory talk from Peter Clayton, who has set up the Birthplace House of Octavia Hill, one of the 3 co-founders of the National Trust.  She was also very active in social reform and was a copyist for John Ruskin, who helped to finance some of her thoughtful and imaginative reforms.  

We then visit Sandringham House, Houghton and Holkham Halls, all of which have extensive gardens which should be in full bloom at the end of June.  In addition, we go to the East Ruston Old Vicarage Gardens, which with its innovative design and clever planting some 15+ years ago now extends to an area of 32 acres.  

Puglia, in the heel of Italy, is an ancient land that produces more olive oil and wine than any other part of the country. It was conquered by the Normans in the 11th century and the architecture combines influences from France, Ancient Rome and Lombardy.  

The Easyjet return flights are at sociable hours from Gatwick to Bari with executive coach transfers and tour excursions throughout. We will be staying on a half-board basis at the four-star Masseria Chiancone Torricella located 7 km. from the Baroque town of Martina Franca, which is in the hills of the Valle d’Itria.   The hotel has a bar, pool, restaurant and all rooms are en suite.

Guided tours will include Alberobello, a UNESCO site  founded in the 15th century famous for the whitewashed conical shaped trulli houses and Locorotondo with the beautiful church of Santa Maria della Greca, both including wine tasting. We have a tour of Lecce called the ‘pink city’ with a wealth of Baroque architecture and a Roman amphitheatre. We will also visit Altamura, Matera (noted for its Sassi stone-carved dwellings believed to be the best example of cave dwelling in the Mediterranean), Trani and the World Heritage site of Castel del Monte, with its unusual octagonal layout and eight octagonal towers.

All excursions are included in the price as is the wine tasting visit.

A downloadable & printable booking form is available by going to the Documents section, found by clicking the 'Our Society' tab above.

Image of Polignano

FIVE DAY VISIT TO LIVERPOOL

In the past, overseas trips were alternated with ‘home’ destinations and it was felt 2018 would be an ideal year to visit Liverpool, with its wealth of historical and cultural places of interest.  

Travel is by luxury coach from Wimbledon, and we have arranged to break the journey for lunch and a guided tour of the factory and museum at the ‘World of Wedgwood’. On our return journey, we will be visiting Little Moreton Hall, the finest example of a timber-framed moated house in the country.

We will be staying for four nights at the four-star Mercure Atlantic Hotel which is centrally located and close to the Mersey. We will have a Blue Badge guide and, among other destinations, will be visiting the Liverpool cathedrals and Crosby Beach to see Antony Gormley’s ‘Another Place’ with 100 cast iron figures.  Our itinerary includes the Tate Liverpool Gallery, home of the National Collection of Modern Art in the North of England, which is housed in the historic Albert Dock.   Works on display include Rodin’s ‘The Kiss’, ‘Little Dancer aged Fourteen’ by Degas, Picasso’s ‘Weeping Woman’, and the ‘Marilyn Diptych’ by Andy Warhol.  We will also be visiting the Walker and Lady Lever Art Galleries with their extensive collections of 18th, 19th and 20th century treasures, as well as Port Sunlight Village, and taking a River Mersey cruise. 

To view the Brochure and the booking form click here.

Visit Poland's other capital. For 500 years until 1596, Krakow was the capital of Poland. Krakow is often seen as the country's cultural hub with its wealth of fine architecture, rich museum collections and fascinating layers of history.

We have organised a 5 day tour of this historic city staying at a 3 star hotel, flying from London Heathrow.

Depart Sunday 1st October, return Thursday 5th October 2017.

For full details, go to the Documents section of this site, found under About Us within the Our Society tab above.

The History & Art

of Naples, Ischia &

Herculaneum

Central 4* Naples hotel

• Three dinners included

• All excursions, entrance fees & guided

tours included

• Direct scheduled BA flights from

Gatwick to Naples

• Return UK airport coach transfers

• Professional local guide for all

transfers & excursions

• Executive coach in Italy

• Audio headsets & gratuities included

Naples – guided panoramic tour

• Palazzo Reale & Teatro di Corte –

guided tour

• Museo Nazionale Archaeologico –

guided tour

• Herculaneum – guided tour

• Oplontis & Villa Poppea – guided tour

• Pio Monte della Misericordia

• Gallery of Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano

• Duomo of San Gennaro

• Museo di Capodimonte – guided tour

• Island of Ischia – guided tour

• Giardini la Mortella

Please see Documents page, to be found by clicking on the 'About Us' tab.

Portugal’s capital is one of the world’s oldest cities with a rich architectural history and several outstanding museums. We will be staying at the centrally-sited 4-star Lisboa Palace Hotel. 24th to 28th April (incl).

Our itinerary will include the following:

• A visit to the historic Belém area of the city overlooking the Tagus where we will tour the Museo Nacional do Azulejo and the Monument of the Navigators which celebrates Portugal’s glorious maritime history.

• A drive to nearby romantic Sintra where we will visit the flamboyant Pena Palace used as a summer retreat by the royal family, and Monserrate, once the home of the English eccentric, William Beckford.

• An outing to the recently restored glittering rococo Palace of Queluz with its opulent interiors and magnificent gardens. Later we will visit Lisbon’s famous Botanical Garden.

• A tour of the Gulbenkian Museum which contains one of the world’s finest art collections.

Click here for more details about this tour or can be downloaded from the documents section which is found under the 'About Us' tab

Sunday 5th-Tuesday 7th October After 10 years of rebuilding,renovation and restoration, the spectacular Rijksmuseum has finally re-opened its doors to the public. Concentrating mainly on 800 years of art in the Netherlands, the galleries have been reorganized to display pictures alongside contemporary sculpture, ceramics and other works of art.

We will fly to Amsterdam and stay in a four-star hotel. On arrival we will have a short orientation tour and a canal boat cruise. Next day we will be given a guided highlights tour of the collection which includes works by Vermeer and Rembrandt’s The Night Watch which has been rehung in its original position. The afternoon will be free and a group dinner is planned for the evening. On Tuesday morning, or on Monday afternoon, there will be time to visit the Van Gogh Museum which is very close to the Rijksmuseum and has the world’s largest collection of his works. The booking form and brochure can be downloaded from Documents under the 'About Us' tab. Booking will now close on 31st March. There are still some places available

Sat 26th — Wed 30th April Malta offers a wonderful combination of sunshine and historic treasures. Strategically placed in the Mediterranean, many European powers have occupied Malta and have left their marks on the local landscape and culture. The Knights of St John were based there for over 250 years. Links with Britain have been especially strong: the islanders’ bravery in resisting the Axis powers was recognised in 1942 by the unique award of the George Cross.

We will stay in a 4-star hotel in Sliema on the coast. Included in the itinerary will be: • A tour on foot of the capital, Valletta, with visits to the Co-Cathedral to see Caravaggio’s masterpiece The Beheading of St John and to a local nobleman’s private palace. • A visit to the ancient capital, Medina, with its baroque cathedral and town palaces, followed by a boat trip round Valletta’s Grand Harbour. • A visit to the peaceful island of Gozo, notable for its prehistoric temples and baroque churches. A few places on this tour are still available