England 

Have you taken a tour of England before?

If you are planning a visit to England, we can meet you at your airport of arrival and begin your
guided car tour immediately, or we take you to where you will be staying for your first night or two. London is the place that most of our clients prefer to begin, but it is not essential; perhaps take tour of England first, culminating in the capital.

We like to discuss with you an outline itinerary for your tour after our first exchange of emails, we refine this and provide more detail as we work on your plans with you.

London

If you have still to make your first visit to London, there is no better way than to have a tailor-made introductory tour than with your own 'Tours des Forges', guided by your own knowledgeable driver. A good plan is to spend the morning driving by the major sights, seeing how they connect up -- Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, St Paul's Cathedral, then you can decide what you would like to go back to, and absorb in more detail.

After that, you may focus on your own special interest: of course we can advise on Shopping, what is the buzz show at the theatre, as well as the Art Galleries and Museums. You can build a trip round a Special Exhibition,say, at the National Gallery.

If you feel you know central London pretty well, let us show you some of the lesser known but fascinating areas just on the edge of central London, such as Hampstead, Holland Park and Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill. Regent's Park is a feast for Garden lovers and architectural students -- it also has an open-air theatre . . . .

If you have taken a tour of England before:

You may have spent time in London, Oxford, the Cotswold Hills, Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare, the walled city of Chester (perhaps on your way into North Wales), and The Lake District. Did you then continue north into Scotland (crossing Hadrian's Wall)? Or drive through one of the Yorkshire Dales to York and on to Cambridge?
There many, many different routes you can take. Some visitors prefer to speed along the motorways between the places they have heard of. Others allow themselves to be introduced to roads "less travelled", seeing a smaller area thoroughly, perhaps cpounty by county -- remembering that you can hardly go ten miles in any direction in most of the counties of England without finding a some hidden delight, be it a great view of the English countryside , a village, and a pub to enchant and refresh you.

If you saw this much of England, perhaps you have not visited:

The South-West of England: Devon & Cornwall; Somerset & Dorset, all counties of fine coastline. These counties too are Thomas Hardy's Wessex. here is the Roman & Georgian city of Bath, nestling where Somerset begins and the Cotswold Hills have their southern end. A car is the easiest and quickest way to savour the squares, crescents and terraces as they climb uphill one above the other, up the final Cotswold slope.

The South of England: Sussex-by-the-Sea; Canterbury and Kent, the Garden of England; Stonehenge and Wiltshire; Salisbury and Winchester, with their English cathedral closes. All these counties have magnificent Country Houses, some very well known, Longleat for example, or Wilton House, a favorite in Cornwall is Llanhydrock House

Each county has its own special flavour, for example the Derbyshire Peak has Chatsworth, the great house of the Dukes of Devonshire. In the same county there is Hardwick Hall -- " More glass than wall". Most country houses have fine gardens, some counties have medieval castles, some still inhabited, some in ruins -- all make a fascinating visit.

Let us help you to plan your tour:

Without any obligation, please contact us now, so that you can make a start on planning your driver/guided tour of England.