Ref:En/w.1.1/Com

Unguided tour
8 days / 7 nights
Daily departures

The tour starts and finishes in Cheltenham.
Access: 2 hours by National Express Coach from Victoria Coach Station or Heathrow.

PROGRAM

Day 1 Arrive in Cheltenham
Enjoy a stroll around this, Britain's most complete Regency Spa town. Take in the many elegant buildings, the beautiful parks and gardens and fascinating museums. Alternatively you can enjoy its renowned range of shopping or simply relax ready at your hotel.

Day 2 Minibus transfer then a walk to Bourton on the Water
The beautiful pastures and woods along the banks of the little River Coln are the setting for the best exposed Roman Villa in the country. The handsome little market town of Northleach provides an excellent introduction to this countryside. Its large 15th century "wool" church, built by the wealthy merchants, is typical of the Cotswold style while the Heritage Centre gives a fascinating insight into traditional farming life. The walk follows the Monarchs Way through unspoilt hamlets and over rolling country to Bourton in the valley of the River Windrush. This is the most famous village in the area with a wide range of attractions including museums, a perfumery and a delightful maze.

Day 3 Circuit from Bourton
A walk over rolling hills through mixed farmland takes you up to Cold Aston. Here you can rest by the pub under the shade of the huge sycamore tree on the village green before strolling on past the charming collection of domestic fowl at Folly Farm. This leads to Naunton where pretty stone cottages and another local inn nestle in a valley surrounded by sheep pasture and horse racing gallops. Follow the River Windrush down through lush meadows and woods, past a 'lost' mediaeval village to back to Bourton.

Day 4 Bouton to Stow on the Wold
Two pairs of beautiful riverside villages feature on today's walk. Lower and Upper Slaughter, on the banks of the little River Eye, are among the most popular in the Cotswolds. The charming cottages, manor house and water mill now being restored to full working order, are favorite subjects for local artists who regularly exhibit their work in the village hall. Through less often visited, Lower and Upper Swell on the River Dickler are equally pleasant with cozy country inns and unique features like the Wold handsome stone buildings stand around a market square that once hosted some of the greatest sheep fairs in the country with as many as 20 000 animals. Now it is the venue for much more genteel shopping.

Day 5 Circular walk around the Swells and the Slaughters
Stroll out through secluded villages to join the Oxforshire Way through the wide valley of the River Evenlode. The walk here combines wide views across to the Whychwood with visits to Icomb, Bledington and Oddinton, often missed from the tourist trails. Enjoy the peace of the countryside as you stroll past delightful cottage gardens, mediaeval church wall paintings, village greens and charming manor houses on the way back to Stow on the Wold.

Day 6 Stow on the Wold to Moreton in Marsh
Continue up the Evenlode valley past the typically English manor at Donnigton and the surprising Oriental house at Sezincote. It was built for a visit of the Prince Regent in 1807 and was an inspiration of the famous Brighton Pavilion. Moreton in Marsh stands either side of a broad main street lined with fine houses, shops and inns.

Day 7 Circuit from Moreton
The village of Blockley is one of the jewels of the Cotswolds. The delightful old buildings, ponds and streams now offer wonderful opportunities for creative gardeners. At Batsford there is gardening on a much larger scale. The cottages, church and 14th century tithe barn at Bourton on the Hill make a wonderful and very English scene.

Day 8 Depart from Moreton Station

INCLUDED

• Accommodation in B&B inn or tourist hotel
• Baggage transfer
• Fact sheets and maps

RATES

Contact info@bikeandhike.co.za for rates and specials.

Bed & Breakfast:
Per person sharing
Single room

Tourist Hotel:
Per person sharing
Single room

Ref:En/w.1.2/Com
Unguided tour
8 days / 7 nights

Daily departures
The tour starts and in Helston and finishes in Mullion 9 miles from Helston with a good regular bus service.

PROGRAM

Day 1
Arrive in Helston, the main town of the Lisard Peninsula with a great sense of history around its streets and cobbled alleys. Today it is well served with shops, pubs and restaurants plus a fascinating folk Museum.

Day 2
A gentle start to the tour with an easy circular walk around the Loe Pool, Cornwall's largest natural area of fresh water with a rich variety of wildlife. The route takes in the woodland of the Penrose Estate and the little fishing harbor of Porthleven.

Day 3
A short taxi transfer (included) takes you across the Lizard to Manacan from where you can explore the mysterious calm waters and wooded banks of Frechman's Creek that inspired the novel by Daphne du Maurier. You the follow the Coast Path south along beautiful rugged cliffs and past sandy coves, through the little harbour at Porthallow to the village of St. Keverne.

Day 4
This circular walk takes you south across rich pastures to the coast at Coverack where pretty cottages cluster around the harbour. You the return along a section of the Coast path that varies from rocky cliffs to the flat, pebble covered Lowlands Point passing The Manacles, notorious offshore rocks that have wrecked 150 ships.

Day 5
Your only day away from the sea makes a real contrast with the others crossing rolling farmland then the open heath of Goonhilly Downs. This is a unique landscape with ancient standing stones and burial mounds that contrast with modern satellite dishes and wind turbines. Is is also a National Nature Reserve with rare plants and wildlife. You reach the west coast of the Lizard at Mullion, the largest village on the Peninsula with shops, inns, restaurants and an art gallery.

Day 6
Take the bus down to Lizard village, the most southerly point of the British mainland. It has been a popular holiday destination since Victorian times and the coast around it still has much to attract the modern traveler. From the famous lighthouse you follow one of the most dramatic and beautiful sections of the Coast Path back to Mullion past the sheltered beach and remarkable rock formations of Kynance Cove.

Day 7
A walk over gentle hills, along farmland paths with a boardwalk across rare marshland, takes you to the coast at Gunwalloe fishing village. From Halzephron Cliff you have fine views back to Loe Bar a dPorthleven, so completing the circuit of you tour, then you follow the coast path past the sheltered beaches at Church Cove and Poldhu Cove back to Mullion.

Day 8
Check out and depart. Note that Mullion is just 9 miles from Helston with a good regular bus service and taxis are available.

INCLUDED

• Accommodation in B&B inn
• Baggage transfer
• Fact sheets and maps

RATES

Contact info@bikeandhike.co.za for rates and specials.

Bed & Breakfast:
Per person sharing
Single room

Ref:En/w/1.3/Com
Unguided tour
8 days / 7 nights
Daily departures

The tour starts and finishes in Bath.

PROGRAM

Day 1 Bath
Arrive in Bath and check into your hotel.

Day 2 Bath City Trail
The sights of the city are well known and almost too numerous to mention but here is a sample to give you the flavor. Below the streets of the present city you can see the remains of its Roman predecessor and the famous Baths while just above the Abbey church tell of the very different mediaeval times. There are many grand Georgian buildings from city's great boom time as a Spa with the Royal Crescent, the Circus and the Pulteney Bridge among the finest.

Day 3 Circular Walk to the south of Bath
This explores the valleys of the Midford and Cam Brooks where the beautiful countryside is filled with the relics of a bygone industrial age. Two railways and a canal once carried coal from Somerset but now crops grow and cows graze beside old locks and quietly crumbling bridges. The peaceful villages of Midford and Combe Hay nestle in these valleys offering plenty of character and country inns.

Day 4 Bath to Bradford on Avon
Walk through Widcombe village, now a tranquil corner of Bath, to Ralp Allens Sham Castle then across the Bathampton Downs. Here you join the Skyline Walk with some of the best views north over the city and east across the wooded Avon valley. At Claverton Manor you can visit the American Museum with its 18th and 19th century room settings and a wonderful collection of quilts. Join the Kennett and Avon Canal at the Claverton Pumping Station, a historic example of renewable energy that uses the flow of the river to lift water into the canal. Cross the river and climb through the woods before gently descending across field into Bradford on Avon.

Day 5 Circular Walk to the north of Bradford
This lovely Wiltshire town is full of history and you could just spend a day just pottering around and enjoying the sites. From the 14th century Bridge over the River Avon Bradford climbs steeply up the southern edge of the Cotswold Hills through narrow streets and paths lined with handsome clothiers houses and humble weavers cottages. Near the river you can visit the ancient 7th century Saxon church and the splendid 14th century Tithe Barn while the solid Victorian mills are a reminder of the days when wool and cloth was the main trade.
Bradford is also surrounded by lovely countryside and, if you fancy exploring further a field, a short bus ride takes you to the start of an historic walk. The gentle, open farmland to the north of Bradfrod has a string of splendid manor houses, Great Chalfield, South Wraxall and Monkton Faleigh that are picturesque reminders of the feudal past.

Day 6 Circular Walk to the south of Bradford
The countryside just outside Bradford is full of interest. Pass the Jacobean Manor at Westwood on the way to the romantic 14th century ruins of Farliegh Hungerdord Castle with its wonderful little chapel on the banks of the River Frome. Continue through delightful countryside to Iford Manor, with the famous hillside garden created by the Edwardian landscape architect Harlod Peto, and return to Bradford along the wooded slopes of Avoncliff.

Day 7 Bradford back to Bath
Enjoy the peaceful waterway scenes of boats and wildlife along the Kennet and Avon Canal. The delightful villages of Limpley Stoke and Monkton Combe provide the more rural aspect to this walk before heading back into the city past Prior Park, the magnificent classical house that Baths greatest entrepreneur, Ralph Allen, had built for himself. The dramatic landscaped gardens sweep down the valley towards the center of the city and are now in the care of the National Trust.

Day 8 Depart

INCLUDED

• Accommodation in B&B inn
• Baggage transfer
• Fact sheets and maps

RATES

Contact info@bikeandhike.co.za for rates and specials.

Bed & Breakfast:
Per person sharing
Single room