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'I have traveled with you before, on
the Red Dragon tour last August. It was
a great experience and that's why I'm
coming back with you on another tour in
2004!'
Penny Francke, 2003
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This
superb, four-day, three-night tour will
introduce you to the very best of South
Wales, while affording you a glimpse of
West Country England. It's the ideal
tour for those who really want to get
down the back roads on the discovery
trail. The group size is limited to just
eleven persons, travelling by
comfortable mini-coach and staying in a
traditional Welsh country farmhouse,
vineyard or manor house. You'll see
fabulous history, wonderful scenery, and
visit with local people. |
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DEPARTURE DATES & PRICES FOR YEAR 2005
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Tour Code
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Depart London |
Return London |
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SWS
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Wednesday |
Saturday |
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Departs every Wednesday from 23 Mar
05 to the end of October
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Prices: £425 adult in twin share
/ £445 adult single / £299 child sharing
adult room |
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This
tour departs EVERY WEDNESDAY from
central London hotels below.
It is your
responsibility to be there in plenty
of time.
The Royal National, Bedford Way
The Corus Hotel, Hyde Park
The Grosvenor Thistle, Victoria
Station
The Holiday Inn Forum
The Chiswick Hotel, Chiswick
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08.15 (underground Russell
Square)
08.25 (underground Lancaster
Gate)
08.30 (underground Victoria
Station)
08.40 (underground Gloucester
Road)
09.00 (underground Turnham
Green) |
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Clients should wait by the concierge
desk.
- We
can collect you from your individual
hotel if you are not at one above
but this attracts a supplementary
cost of £10 (per party) for a
central London hotel. Please, ask
for prices for collection from non
centrally located hotels.
info@backroadstouring.co.uk
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Return drop-off are to any central
London hotel.
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TENTATIVE ITINERARY |
NIGHTSTOP |
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Day One - Wednesday |
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Leaving
London early, we shake off the city dust
using the M40 freeway to speed our
journey to wonderful Wales. Our route
will give us a glimpse of the the
beautiful English Cotswolds as we head
for the Royal Forest of Dean, bordering
Wales, and the stunning Wye Valley, with
a lunch stop beside the river Wye. What
better introduction to Wales, "Land of
Song", than the imposing 12th century
Norman castle of Chepstow
Chepstow Castle. and the romantic
Tintern Abbey (inspiration for one of
William Wordsworth's loveliest poems).
If there's time we'll also see the
fallen walls of the once mighty Roman
city of Caerwent, reputed by some to be
the home of the great King Arthur and
his Knights of the Round Table.
Our
accommodation is at a 17th century
working Welsh Farmhouse, imposing
country manor or vineyard depending on
the time of year. |
South
Wales |
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Day Two - Thursday
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The civic
centre of the Welsh capital - Cardiff -
is magnificent by world standards. It
will be the showpiece of a panoramic
city tour (which will also feature the
Millennium Stadium, formally known as
the Arms Park, Mecca for the millions of
Rugby Football fans worldwide). On then
to the superb cathedral at Llandaff
before arriving at the open-air Museum
of Welsh Life in the nearby village of
St Fagans. This fascinating mirror of
hundreds of years of Welsh life embraces
dozens of authentic buildings, removed
from all corners of the country and
painstakingly and faithfully rebuilt and
refurbished here. Houses, churches and
chapels, a mill, bakery, pubs and even a
school, have been wonderfully preserved.
This afternoon we explore the verdant
Vale of Glamorgan, choosing from the
market town where Sir Anthony Hopkins
went to school, the Valley of Kings
where the wizard Merlin was schooled,
rugged coastline where smugglers lured
ships to the rocks, and we'll cross a
river by 13th century stepping stones.
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South
Wales |
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Day Three - Friday
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According
to our accommodation stop, today will
either begin or end in the once grey and
hard world of a Welsh mining valley, now
transformed, but a time so memorably
captured in the great novel of
industrial Wales, 'How Green Was My
Valley'. We'll climb the rim of the
saucer of the coal-seam bearing, Rhigos
Mountain to view the sole surviving deep
Welsh coal mine and the breathtaking
scenery of the Brecon Beacons, our next
calling point. 'There'll be a welcome in
these hillsides' sing the Welsh. The
market town of Brecon could be our lunch
stop (where there's an interesting
military museum ), or perhaps Wales's
oldest inn, used by the infamous
'Hanging Judge' Jefferies as a court
room. We'll also view the remote and
atmospheric ruins of Llantony Priory and
a historic 'hidden' rural church.
Depending
on time, we'll also be visiting
Abergaveny and its cattle market or the
historic town of Monmouth, well-known to
Admiral Nelson, Mr Rolls of Rolls Royce
and Henry V.
As with
all Back-Roads Touring Co. Ltd tours,
tour participants will be able have an
input into what we visit as we'll make
allowance for weather conditions, local
festivals and individual interests. |
South
Wales
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Day Four - Saturday
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On our way
back to London we'll visit the
mysterious ancient standing stones of
Avebury and the amazing Silbury Hill.
But this will only be after a final
memorable morning in Roman Wales. The
now small village of Caerleon was named
after the camp of the Roman Legions -
perhaps up to 6000 Roman legionaries
were based here almost 2000 years ago.
The imposing remains of that camp remain
and can be visited and include the
barracks, the only complete amphitheatre
in Britain, the Roman baths, and the
remains of a Roman port.
We'll take
our leave of the land of the Red Dragon,
crossing the river Severn in a most
unusual fashion before heading east and
experiencing a spectacular exit from
Wales. Our drive back to London sees us
passing through some of England's
timeless West country scenery and we'll
arrive back into London in the late
afternoon. |
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