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British Heritage Travel Magazine
British Heritage Travel Magazine - Celebrating Jane Austen
The West Country’s landscape of rolling hills, heathland and Bath stone manor houses and villages are little changed since Jane Austen penned her classic novels, depicting Regency society with her sharp wit. Here we discover many of the picturesque and historic locations that were the setting and inspiration for some of her most famous works, giving us a glimpse of life from a bygone era.
What’s Included
• Shared airport transfers from London Heathrow*
• 6 nights at the Best Western Red Lion Hotel
• Full English breakfast
• 3-course table d’hôte dinner on four evenings (with after dinner tea and coffee)
• Services of a tour director throughout your stay
• Travel to and from all excursions
• All entrance costs
• Porterage
• British Heritage Travel’s contributing editor Sandra Lawrence will join the tour
Hear a podcast from British Heritage magazine about this tour here
*supplement applies for transfers from all other airports
Single Room Supplement - $600
On arrival at Heathrow airport, you will be transferred to the Best Western Red Lion Hotel, our hotel for the duration of our stay. Later, we enjoy a welcome dinner with the tour director at the hotel.
We start the day with a visit to the quaint village of Steventon, where Jane Austen spent the first 25 years of her life. Although the house where she lived no longer stands, Steventon provided her with much of the material for her novels; it was here that she wrote Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice.
We continue on to the world-famous Highclere Castle, residence of the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon and filming location for the much loved Downton Abbey television series. Entrance includes access to the Egyptian Exhibition in the cellars of the castle, which explores the achievements of the 5th Earl of Carnarvon who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen in 1922.
This evening, we enjoy dinner back at the hotel.
We travel first to Chawton House, an Elizabethan manor house that once belonged to Jane Austen’s brother, Edward Austen Knight. It now accommodates a unique library of titles focusing on women’s writing in English from 1600 to 1830.
Continuing our Jane Austen theme, we visit Jane Austen’s House Museum, the charming house in Chawton where she spent the last eight years of her life. This is where she did the majority of her mature writing and now tells the story of the author and her family.
Afterwards, we head to the medieval city of Winchester where we have free time to explore at leisure and visit the cathedral. The hidden treasures of the awe-inspiring cathedral include the tomb of Jane Austen and the Winchester Bible, one of the finest 12th-century bibles to have survived.
On our return to Salisbury, the evening is left free to explore the city and choose a restaurant for dinner.
Home to Jane Austen in the early 1800s, the city of Bath has remained faithful to its Regency roots. We start with a guided Jane Austen themed walking tour to view the highlights of the city that features so much in her writing as well as her former homes. Next we visit the Jane Austen Centre, which celebrates Bath’s most famous resident. Housed in a classically decorated Georgian townhouse, the centre offers a snapshot of life in Regency times and explores how the city impacted on Jane Austen’s life and writing. Finally we visit the Assembly Rooms, once the hub of the Georgian social calendar and an important location for Jane Austen’s novels set in Bath; Persuasion and Northanger Abbey.
Back at the hotel this evening, we enjoy dinner together.
We head to the quintessential English village of Lacock with its picturesque streets of timber-framed cottages and historic buildings. Lacock Abbey sits at the heart of the village with atmospheric golden stone cloisters and a Great Hall. Once a medieval nunnery, the abbey was turned into a family home by William Henry Fox Talbot who invented the first photographic negative.
We return to Bath in the afternoon where we have time to explore at leisure and choose somewhere for dinner before returning to our hotel in the evening.
Our first visit is to Elizabethan Montacute House. This splendid mansion of golden stone with its oak-panelled rooms and the longest gallery in England is crammed with treasures including the Tudor and Elizabethan portraits on loan from the National Portrait Gallery. Several scenes of the 1995 film version of Sense and Sensibility were filmed at Montacute, including the scene where Marianne was rejected by Willoughby.
Next is Stourhead, renowned for its 18th-century landscaped garden which featured in the 2005 film Pride and Prejudice, and a delight of classical temples, exotic trees, hidden grottos and a magnificent lake. The grand Palladian house is no less of a draw, with its fascinating history, Chippendale furniture, inspirational paintings and Regency library, one of the finest left in existence.
Later, we enjoy a farewell dinner together at the hotel.
You will be transferred back to Heathrow airport for your return flight home.
What’s Included
• Shared airport transfers from London Heathrow*
• 6 nights at the Best Western Red Lion Hotel
• Full English breakfast
• 3-course table d’hôte dinner on four evenings (with after dinner tea and coffee)
• Services of a tour director throughout your stay
• Travel to and from all excursions
• All entrance costs
• Porterage
• British Heritage Travel’s contributing editor Sandra Lawrence will join the tour
Single Room Supplement - $600
Best Western Red Lion Hotel, Salisbury
The Best Western Red Lion Hotel is located in Salisbury’s historic city centre. A late 13th century building, the hotel offers individually decorated rooms, a bar and lounge with oak beams and log fires, a restaurant and tranquil courtyard.
Single Room Supplement - $600
