Tour England by car
Driving for pleasure in England is quite simply the best way to enjoy it on your own terms.
In order to help you enjoy England more comfortably we’ve teamed up with Budget Car and Van Rental to offer you a free one class upgrade from economy, compact and intermediate car groups. Visit www.budget.co.uk/gofreeupgrade (www.budget.co.uk/gofreeupgrade), make a reservation quoting BCD number G905701 and print off the FREE Upgrade voucher. Present your voucher at participating Budget locations before 31/01/07. To read terms and conditions scroll to the bottom of this page.
Driving is a fantastic way to enjoy our spectacular countryside, villages and towns and England’s diversity means there are plenty of opportunities for stopping and experiencing many sites of interest along the way. Try our ideas below if you need inspiration! All you need now is a car… freedom waits on the open road and over the horizon lays England’s beauty – it’s time you explored it.
Touring South and South West England
Inland from the Jurassic Coast
A two-day tour covering 78 miles, starting in Lyme Regis, made famous in the films The French Lieutenant’s Woman and Persuasion, ending at the coastal port of Beer. Highlights from the tour include: walking along the Jurassic Coast which was awarded World Heritage status in 2001 and is a rich hunting ground for fossils; visiting one of the region’s oldest producers of Somerset Cider Brandy at Kingsbury Episcopi; the themed gardens of Barrington Court, and the magnificent tapestries and gardens of Forde Abbey.
Thomas Hardy’s Dorset
This three to four day, 110 mile touring route takes in Thomas Hardy Country, where associations with the novelist and poet Thomas Hardy are to be found at almost every twist and turn. The route starts in Dorchester where Hardy’s impressive legacy is highlighted in the Dorset County Museum which houses the largest collection of Hardy memorabilia in the world before moving on to Thomas Hardy’s cottage at Higher Brockhampton. Other Hardy Landmarks forming part of the trail include Sturminster Newton, Stinsford’s Churchyard where Hardy’s heart is buried in his wife’s grave. Other ports of call on the route include the dramatic village and castle of Corfe Castle, the natural horse-shoe bay of Lulworth Cove and the 10 mile long Chesil Beach.
In and around Bath
This tour of 75 miles, which takes four days, takes in the glorious countryside surrounding the elegant World Heritage city of Bath. Starting in Bath the route highlights the famous Roman Baths, the elegance of The Circus and Royal Crescent with their Palladian mansions, Pulteney Bridge and the Holborne Museum of Art. Also featured on the route are the graceful, honey coloured town of Bradford-on-Avon, Avebury stone circle and Dyrham Park, a 17th century Baroque mansion with formal gardens.
Great houses and gardens on top of the Downs
Covering 105 miles, this three to four day tour takes in rolling hills, wooded valleys, orchards, ancient villages, historic houses and gardens of the Weald of Kent and Sussex.
Starting at Royal Tunbridge Wells the route takes in: Old Soar Mansion; Ightham Mote, a wonderful stone and half timbered manor house; Knole, the largest private house in England with an alleged 365 rooms; Chartwell, the home of Sir Winston Churchill; Hever Castle, a 13th century moated castle; Penshurst Place and Gardens; Wakehurst Place, the country outpost of the famous Kew Gardens, and Sheffield Park Garden which occupies over 50 hectares of park landscaped by ‘Capability Brown’.
Buy our guide to touring South and South West England (www.enjoyenglanddirect.com/detail.aspx?ID=180)
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Touring Central England
Hertfordshire’s houses and gardens
A three-day tour covering 95 miles, starting in St Albans, ending at Shaw’s Corner. Houses and gardens featured include: Gardens of the Rose, run by the Royal National Rose Society, the gardens showcase an incredible 1,600 varieties; Hatfield House, one of the nation’s most outstanding Jacobean mansions; Knebworth House; Wimpole Hall, one of the largest and finest stately homes in East Anglia with over 360 acres of gardens and parkland; Shaw’s Corner, home of the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw until his death in 1950.
Windsor and the royal reaches of the Thames
This three-day, 70 mile touring route takes in the gently undulating Chiltern Hills, Windsor and the royal River Thames.
The route starts at Windsor, seat of England’s royalty for over 900 years before moving onto Runnymede where, in the attractive riverside meadows, King John signed the Magna Carta in 1215 and where you can also visit the John F Kennedy memorial. Moving on the route takes you to Eton College; Stoke Poges, Burnham Beeches, Cliveden, Marlow - a charming town situated on the River Thames with many literary associations including: Percy Byssche, Mary Shelley, TS Eliot and Jerome K Jerome. The tour ends at Hambleden, a tiny village in the Chiltern Hills which has appeared in a host of feature films and TV shows including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Sleepy Hollow, Poirot and Rosemary and Thyme.
The golden stone villages of the Cotswolds
This tour of 95 miles, which takes in four days, starts in the elegant spa town of Cheltenham before taking you through some of England’s most scenic countryside and picture postcard villages.
On leaving Cheltenham the routes takes you to: Upper and Lower Slaughter with their stunning old manor houses, cottages and Victorian flour mill; Bourton on the Water, one of the most visited spots in the Cotswolds, with the meandering River Windrush and lines of mellow Cotswold buildings and cottages; Stow-on-the-Wold, a hilltop market town with beautiful buildings, antique shops and galleries; Chipping Campden; Broadway – the ‘Jewel of the Cotswolds’; Snowshill Manor, and Sudeley Castle a favourite retreat of Tudor and Stuart monarchs with the beautiful Queen’s Garden.
Touring England’s North Country
Touring the grand houses of Cheshire
A three-day tour covering 90 miles, starting in Macclesfield, ending at Biddulph Grange. Houses visited include Lymme Park, made famous as Pemberley in the BBC’s dramatisation of Jane Austen’s ‘Pride & Prejudice’; Bramall Hall, a splendid timber frame building set in Capability Brown designed grounds; Dunham Massey; Tatton Park, with over 1,000 acres of parks and gardens, and Little Moreton Hall, one of most familiar and best-loved of all Cheshire’s houses, a glorious example of a black & white timbered building.
West Yorkshire’s Bronte Country
This three-day, 120 mile touring route takes in Bronte Country, with a number of places to visit linked to the famous authors, as well as a number of the areas most popular attractions including: Ripley Castle & Gardens, Harewood House, the model factory site of Saltaire (a world heritage site) Haworth – the moorland village of the Bronte sisters including the Georgian Parsonage which was their home, the Bronte waterfalls and Top Withens, the inspiration for Wuthering Heights.
Castles and the Christian Heritage of northern Northumberland
This tour of 65 miles, which takes in one to two days, takes in the north eastern extremity of England, an area rich in history and dramatic countryside.
Starting at the historic border town of Berwick upon Tweed with its Tudor walls and ramparts and military barracks, the tour travels onto Holy Island (Lindisfarne) where you can visit the 7thC Priory, the 16thC Castle, restored by Edwin Lutyens in the early 20th C and taste the local Lindisfarne Mead. Moving down the coast the tour takes you to England’s most dramatic castle – Bamburgh, the coastal village of Seahouses with boat trips to the Farne Islands, and finally to Wooler near the Scottish border.
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