The Best of British

The Best of British

Including Wisley Gardens, Windsor boat cruise, Highclere Castle and more!

5 Days 14^th August 2025

 

Join us to discover a selection of quintessentially English attractions including Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey), Wisley Gardens, A Thames cruise, tour of the famous Poppy Factory, Bekonscot Model Village, Henley-on-Thames and the beautiful New Forest. Staying at the Hilton Hotel Reading, an ideal base for all these great British days out!

 

Tour Itinerary

 

Thursday – From Wiltshire we collect you from your taxis and head to one of the most picture-perfect towns in England Henley-on-Thames previously rated as one of the best places to live in the English countryside. A lunch stop here before we continue to our hotel arriving mid-afternoon. Time to settle in before tonight’s dinner.

 

Friday – After a leisurely breakfast, today we are taking you to RHS gardens Wisley, one of the worlds great gardens, packed with horticultural inspiration. We will issue you with a comprehensive map on arrival as a guide to help you with routes and a key to all the beautiful different gardens to discover at your own pace, including the outstanding tropical glass house. We are allowing 4 hours to explore the 240 acres, then on your return to the coach enjoy a complimentary slice of Kim’s homemade cakes with a nice cup of tea or coffee! Choose from your favourites: lemon drizzle, coffee, Victoria sponge and chocolate, the choice is yours!

 

Saturday – This morning we are taking you to Bekonscot Model Village, the world’s oldest and original model village which first opened in 1929. With 90 years of history, a huge model railway, 1.1/5 acres of immaculate gardens and finely detailed model buildings stuck in a 1930’s time warp. Enjoy a fascinating walk around the special pathways which are fully accessible to wheelchairs and buggies. We continue the day to visit the stunning Highclere Castle, best known as ‘Downton Abbey’ in the TV series that charmed 400 million people worldwide. A tour of this Grade I listed country house built in 1679 and largely renovated in the 1840’s, that proudly sits on a 5,000-acre estate and owned by the 8^th Earl of Carnarvon. After your tour you’ll have time to explore the beautiful grounds. The monks garden, the secret garden, the rose arbour and the healing herb garden.

 

Sunday – After a leisurely Sunday morning breakfast we are taking you on a Thames River cruise. Enjoy a 45-minute round trip on a replica Victorian paddle steamer and cruise from Runnymede upstream to the ‘Bells of Ouzeley’ which featured in "Three Men in a Boat". Here the boat turns passing the memorials finishing at the boathouse. The coach will then take us the short distance to the Royal Borough of Windsor and the beautiful town of Windsor home to the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world. Free time for lunch here (there may not be time to tour the castle) before we continue to Richmond and the Poppy Factory where remembrance wreaths are made. It was founded in 1922 to offer employment opportunities to wounded soldiers returning from WWI, creating the wreaths and poppies for the Royal family and the Royal British Legions annual poppy appeal. We will be welcomed by a guide, creating a memorable and personal experience to see how veterans still make the wreaths by hand, an opportunity to get ‘hands on’ with poppy making yourself while enjoying a hot drink and delicious cakes which we are including in your experience.

 

Monday – After breakfast we leave our hotel and travel to Winchester for a coffee stop before continuing to the ‘Capital of the New Forest’, Lyndhurst. As the largest village in this beautiful part of Hampshire it has a wide range of tea rooms, pubs and independent shops as well as the New Forest Heritage Centre and museum. After your free time here for a spot of lunch we begin our journey back to Wiltshire and your waiting taxis after a very ‘British’ holiday!

Your hotel

4* Hilton Hotel - Reading

 

All bedrooms are en-suite and offer air-conditioned rooms with TV, telephone, free toiletries, fridge, hospitality trays, alarm clock and free Wi-Fi. The hotel has a large restaurant, bar, lift, fitness centre including a sauna and indoor swimming pool.

 

Price Includes

Luxury Coach Travel with Extra Leg Room

Home Pickup, Full Hostess Service

4 Nights Dinner, Bed & Breakfast

Tea/Coffee after Dinner

Entrance to Wisley Gardens Followed by Kim’s Homemade Cakes Plus Hot Drink on Coach

Entrance to Bekonscot Model Village

Thames Boat Cruise

Visit & Tour of ‘The Poppy Factory’ Richmond

Entrance to Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey)

Visits to Henley on Thames, Windsor, Lyndhurst and Winchester

Free Use of Swimming Pool in Hotel

 

5 Days £685.00

Single Supplement £160 (Limited)

Double for Sole use