Small Group Tour: 2013 Corners of Cornwall

Meet up with your Guide and fellow travellers of your small group tour this morning. The rendezvous is at 08.30am (please be here 30 mins before this) at the Royal Garden Hotel, 2-24 Kensington High Street, London, W8 4PT.

Leave London and travel to the tiny market city of Wells, known for its attractive cathedral and Vicar’s Close (the oldest continuously inhabited medieval street in Europe). Explore the local shops, or perhaps enjoy a coffee before you continue to Dartmoor National Park. As the landscape changes you meander through beautiful country lanes, over ancient stone bridges and through dramatic rolling countryside where wild ponies roam. Your overnight accommodation will be in the heart of Dartmoor National Park.

Tonight you will enjoy a welcome dinner with your fellow travelers.

Experience a gourmet delight today as you make your way to the rugged north coast of Cornwall. Visit the picturesque fishing village of Port Isaac, famously featured in the television series "Doc Martin" and see other typical Cornish villages. The highlight of your day may well be lunch at ‘The Seafood Restaurant’, Rick Stein’s flagship restaurant in Padstow. This afternoon will have you making your way to Falmouth which will be your base for the next three nights.

Start your day in the delightful old fishing town of St Ives. Here’s your chance to sample rich ice-cream, Cornish pasties or Atlantic crab and oysters. Continue your journey through the unique landscape of tiny Iron Age fields bounded by stone walls, stone circles, Celtic crosses and the remains of ancient villages such as Chysauster, an Iron Age settlement originally occupied almost 2,000 years ago. Your next stop is the fascinating and historical St Michael's Mount. Discover the medieval castle and delve into the island’s past, or take a small boat to the island from the little Cornish town of Marazion. Later you will return to Falmouth.

Today is free for you to explore the historic town of Falmouth. There are numerous options to tempt different interests including Cornwall's largest fortress, Pendennis Castle, one of a pair that guarded the entrance to Falmouth Harbour, the National Maritime Museum and Falmouth Art Gallery. You may also choose to take a short ferry ride to St Mawes Castle or alternatively, a short train ride alongside the Restronguet Creek and Fal River to Cornwall’s capital city, Truro.

A short ferry ride across the harbour brings you to St. Mawes Castle, the other half of the Falmouth protective castle pair, and possibly the best preserved example of Henry’s chain of fortifications. Alternatively, a short train ride alongside the Restronguet Creek and Fal River would bring you to Cornwall’s capital city, Truro, with its triple-spired Gothic Revival style Cathedral.

More Cornish delights unfold as you admire the stunning scenery and wide vistas of a ship-wrecking turquoise sea on the coastal drive towards the British mainland’s south-western extremity at Land's End. You will stop at the Minack Theatre, Cornwall's world famous open-air theatre before visiting one of the county’s most celebrated fishing villages, Mousehole, to stroll around the tiny harbour. In the afternoon you will visit the 26 acre sub-tropical Gardens of Trebah before returning to Falmouth.

This morning depart for the Tregothnan Estate, internationally recognised as the home of English tea. Accompanied by the Head Gardener you will explore Cornwall’s largest private botanical gardens, as well as the tea plantation, before enjoying a traditional cream tea. Your journey continues along the south Cornish coast to the quaint fishing village of Polperro and (if time permits) the magnificent Buckfast Abbey. Tonight you will enjoy a farewell meal at your hotel near Lyme Regis.

This morning you will explore Jane Austen’s Lyme Regis, where she based parts of her novel, Persuasion, and which was also the setting for John Fowles’ The French Lieutenant's Woman. Wander along its 18th century promenade and see its famous Cobb and ancient harbour that continues to inspire writers and artists today. Drive along the ‘Jurassic Coast’ to the prehistoric settlement of Maiden Hill, the largest of its kind in Britain. Just to the north is Dorchester, made famous in Thomas Hardy’s novel, The Mayor of Casterbridge.

Continue on the last part of your tour by following the old Roman road to Salisbury, home to one of England’s most magnificent cathedrals. Your tour ends upon your return to London. 

Your Small Group Tour ends this afternoon upon arrival at The Royal Garden Hotel at approximately 5.30pm. Bid farewell to your guide and fellow travellers as you close the chapter on this part of your travels.

Meet your driver at your hotel and be taken to Heathrow Airport by a private transfer.