HALF DAY TOURS
There are many superb destinations that you can visit whch are
within easy reach of Central London. Listed below are some popular
sights - do feel free to ask about others.
Chartwell
Hampton Court Palace
Hever Castle
Penshurst Place
Leeds Castle
Sissinghurst
Thames Valley
Waddesdon Manor
West Wycombe
Windsor Castle
Chartwell The very personal home and garden of
Sir Winston Churchill.
Hampton Court Palace Henry VIII had several honeymoons here.
150 years later King William III and Queen Mary II commissioned
Sir Christopher Wren to rebuild parts in Renaissance style. Impressive 16th C Tudor
kitchens, splendid gardens and the world-famous
hedge maze and Great Vine.
Hever Castle An idyllic setting. Queen Anne Boleyn's (King
Henry VIII's second wife) childhood home and later the home of William Astor.
Leeds Castle A fairytale setting on a lake, associated with many
Queens of England.
Penshurst Place Birthplace of Philip Sydney, courtier
to Q. Elizabeth I. Tudor country house, formal gardens and
toy museum.
Sissinghurst Perhaps the most famous garden in England
created in the 1930s amongst the surviving
parts of an Elizabethan mansion.
Thames Valley Pretty villages (Cookham, Marlow) and
locks on the river: Toad of Toad Hall country.
Waddesdon Manor Baron de Rothschild's fabulous Renaissance-style
chateau and 18th C collections.
West Wycombe Sir Francis Dash wood's (founder of the
Hellfire Club) theatrical Italianate home and rococo landscape
garden.
Windsor Castle 900 year old favourite official
residence of Her Majesty the Queen. Visit the magnificent State
Apartments and St. Georges Chapel .
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FULL DAY TOURS - DESTINATIONS
There are many combinations of visits possible on day trips. Click on
one of the links below for suggestions or see prices page
for popular combinations. Please contact
Marksman Tours to discuss other
options.
Bath
Brighton and Arundel
Cambridge
Canterbury
Cotswolds
Dover Castle
Hampton Court Palace
Hever Castle
Kent & Sussex
Oxford & Blenheim Palace
Portsmouth and Portchester Castle
Rochester and Chatham
Salisbury and Stonehenge
Stonehenge, Avebury and Old Sarum
Stratford-on-Avon
Warwick Castle
Winchester and Salisbury
Windsor Castle
Bath
An elegant Georgian city with its 2000 year old Roman Spa baths and
temple complex, Costume Museum, Jane Austen connections and
great shopping. Combine with
Stonehenge or Salisbury.
Brighton A seaside resort with
the exotic oriental Royal
Pavilion built for King George IV. Browse in The Lanes for
antiques or enjoy one of the tea shops. Also see nearby Arundel Castle dating
from the 11th C now with wonderful works
of art and home of the Duke of Norfolk.
 Cambridge and Ely or
Suffolk Villages Sit
under Sir Isaac Newton's apple tree, admire Henry VIII's King's
College Chapel, go punting on the river Cam. Combine
with Ely's magnificent medieval
cathedral or visit Oliver Cromwell's house. Explore local antique shops in the villages, meander through the
countryside, sample an English afternoon tea or a drink in a
quaint country pub.
Canterbury England became Christian in Kent in
597AD. Stroll through the medieval city streets and see
the magnificent Cathedral, the world-renowned
Pilgrimage centre of the Middle Ages where Thomas a Becket was murdered in 1170. See
a 7th C Saxon church. Combine this with a visit to Leeds
Castle, Sissinghurst,
Chartwell or Dover.
Cotswolds
Explore charming villages such as Bourton-on-the-Water, Broadway,
Stow-on-the-Wold, the Slaughters and Chipping Campden with their
honey-stone walls and thatched roof cottages, rolling hills,
Roman villas and stately homes. Visit famous gardens open to the public,
such as Hidcote and Sezincote, good restaurants and charming
country pubs.
Dover Castle The keys to the Kingdom. With its
2000 year old Roman lighthouse, Henry VIII's
keep and the secret WWII wartime
tunnels, this is a great day out. Combine with other sites in Kent.
Hampton Court Palace Famous
home of King Henry VIII and his wives. Easily combined with other
destinations to make a memorable full day tour.
Kent Gardens, homes, castles, pretty villages, rolling hills and
country churches. Sites include Hever &
Leeds Castles,
Chartwell, Penshurst Place. Capture the essence of a typical
English gardens by visiting, for example, Great
Dixter or Sissinghurst. See
Rudyard Kipling's home, Bateman's
in the Sussex Weald. Mooch around the antique shops or enjoy a typical afternoon tea!
Oxford, Blenheim Palace and Woodstock
Oxford is the oldest university in the UK. Visit its colleges and
university buildings, see where Harry Potter was filmed and the inspiration
for Alice in Wonderland. Visit the Churchill family home,
Blenheim, see Churchill's grave, take tea in the charming
village of Woodstock or rent a punt in Oxford and glide along the river.
Portsmouth and Portchester Castle
This Historic Dockyard is home to two flagships: Nelson's HMS Victory
and King
Henry VIII's Mary Rose which sank nearby in 1545. Visit the D-Day
museum home of the Overlord Tapestry and Portchester
Castle with its well-preserved Roman
and medieval defences.
Rochester and Chatham
Rochester, with its many
Charles Dickens associations, also has a
fabulous 11th C castle, a medieval cathedral and a beautiful high
street. Experience the historic Royal Naval dockyard at Chatham.
Salisbury Home of a graceful 13th C cathedral
with the tallest
spire in Britain. The Magna Carta is on view in the magnificently
carved Chapter House. Combine with Stonehenge and Wilton
House, still the ancestral home of the Earl of Pembroke with glorious
17th C State Apartments and a stunning picture collection, including the
Van Dyck series painted for these rooms.
Stratford-on-Avon Shakespeare's town: visit his birthplace, Ann
Hathaway's cottage, the church where he was christened, see the theatres
and the lovely half-timbered houses of the town, relax on the
river banks and feed the swans. See some of the
surrounding villages in the Cotswolds that he visited.
Combine with:
Warwick Castle An impressive stronghold
with the oldest parts dating back to the 900s. See the
Earl of Warwick, the "Kingmaker" readying himself for battle
during the Wars of the Roses, creep into the dungeon, walk on the walls
and in the gardens, see
"a Royal Weekend Party" in the Private Apartments attended by Queen Victoria's son, grandson and Winston
Churchill. Combines well with a trip through beautiful Cotswold villages.
Winchester was Alfred the
Great's capital of England and the cathedral founded there in 1079 is where
Jane Austen is buried. Combines naturally with a visit to Salisbury.
Windsor Castle In addition to
the castle, explore the town and Eton with its
famous College.
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FULL DAY TOURS - THEMES
Early Christianity
Countryside and Charming Villages
Gardens
Homes of the Famous
Prehistory
Stately Homes and Castles
Early Christianity
England first became Christian in Kent in 597AD and Canterbury became the
centre of this new religion. A visit based in Canterbury
is a perfect place to experience the flowering of Christianity in
England.
Countryside and Charming Villages
A relaxing day in the country, in Kent, Sussex or
The Cotswolds.
Visit delightful villages, stop to browse the antique
shops, gaze at flowers, enjoy the beautiful rolling hills and
countryside, pop into an old village church and have a
delightful English traditional afternoon tea.
Gardens
Thanks to our temperate climate, the gardens of Britain are among
the finest in the world. All kinds of gardens are open to visitors,
dating from the 16th C to the present day. Visits to private gardens can be arranged with some notice.
Stunning places to visit
include:
North West in the Cotswolds: Snowshill Manor; Batsford Park, especially the
arboretum and bamboo garden and Hidcote Manor, designed by the American
Major Johnston, in the English Cottage gardens style.
West of London: Cliveden, former home of the Astors, set on
cliffs 200ft above the Thames; Dorney Court and Hampton Court
Palace, with several different garden areas, including the recently restored parterre, laid
out as the 17th C original, formal and water gardens, delightful
spring garden and maze.
 South
East in Kent, Surrey and Sussex: Bateman's, home of Rudyard
Kipling;
Wisley (Royal Horticultural Society); Petworth, magnificent late 17th
C house in a beautiful deer park, landscaped by "Capability
Brown", as painted by Turner; Leonardslee, for its collection of
unusual trees, rhododendrons and azaleas; Scotney Castle Garden,
romantic garden surrounding the moated ruins of a 14th C castle; Claremont, the earliest surviving English landscape
garden;
Sissinghurst Castle Garden, perhaps the most famous garden in
England; Sheffield Park, 18th C with a series of lakes linked
by cascades, and Wakehurst Place, magnificently laid out in a naturally dramatic
setting.
South: Broadlands, home of the Mountbattens,
landscaped setting by the river Test and Mottisfont Abbey, famous for
its rose gardens.
Homes of the Famous
Your trip can include Chartwell,
home of Winston Churchill; Penshurst Place, birthplace of Philip Sydney, courtier to Q.
Elizabeth I; Petworth; West Wycombe Park; Osterley Park; Marble
Hill House; Syon House; Chawton, Jane Austen's home or Wilton House,
architect Erno Goldfinger's home.
Prehistory Stonehenge, Avebury and Old
Sarum
From 3500 BC to 50BC, from stone circles to
Iron Age hill forts, an unforgettable look at ancient England.
Stately Homes and Castles
See how others live: the architecture, art, interiors and gardens,
places within a day’s drive from London. Visit a specific place or a selection of famous and lesser-known
gems of London and Southern England
Castles
Windsor Castle, home of the
Queen; Hampton Court Palace,
both Tudor and "Wrenaissance", lived in by
The Royal Family
until the 19th Century; Leeds Castle, a fairy-tale
castle on a lake built over 1000 years ago; Hever
and Bodiam
(built 1385 and practically unchanged since).
Stately Homes such as Blenheim Palace, (Duke of Marlborough);
Waddesdon Manor (Baron de Rothschild) and Knole (Tudor mansion,
Sackville-West family).
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