UK Escorted Tour
Great Dorset Steam Fair, UK escorted small group tour, England, Scotland, Wales, gardens, castles, antique machinery, vintage cars, tractors, steam trains, museums, canal boats, ships, Lake District, villages

 

UK Escorted Tour England, Scotland, Wales

Villages, castles, gardens, lakes, museums, must see sights,
antique machinery, vintage cars, tractors, steam trains.

This is the 11th Vintage Machinery Collectors and Restorers Tour that we have operated and our fourth to the Great Dorset Steam Fair. This time we have created a completely new journey through England, Scotland and Wales.

In an effort to keep everyone happy we plan to visit a variety of the UK's famous attractions, in addition to historic and vintage machinery associated highlights.

Castles, stately homes, gardens and museums will be visited, as well as quaint old country villages, tranquil lakes, romantic rural landscapes and famous must see sights.

Tour commences on Thursday 19 August 2010 at London's Heathrow Airport.

Land only price AUD$9,988 ( about US$8,000)

*Click on any photo to enlarge it

This all encompassing tour is designed for people who wish to visit the must see sights of Britain and appreciate the historic transport, architectural and industrial legacy that can still be seen scattered across the UK countryside.

Wide variety of machinery

Trains, planes and automobiles will feature along with barges, boats, industry and farming equipment.

On this tour you will see some of Britain's finest collections from vintage cars and antique tractors to operational old steam boats and steam trains.

You will visit Portsmouth's historic Dockyard to see HMS Victory, Harry Ferguson's Home and collection on the Isle of Wight, ride on the Wight Steam Railway and explore the Welsh 'Big Pit' Coal Mine guided by a former miner.

Tour across Brunel's famous Clifton Suspension Bridge, ride on The Severn Valley Railway, visit the Bridgenorth Engine Shed and visit The Iron Bridge Museum to see the birthplace of The Industrial Revolution. Visit the Bridgewater Canal, Barton Aqueduct, Crofton Beam Engines, Telford, Manchester Ship Canal and the Clydebuilt Maritime Museum where we board the MV Kyle, built in 1872.

At Darlington we will see George Stephenson's ' Locomotion No.1 ' built in 1825 and at Hendon we visit the RAF Museum where over 100 famous international historic aircraft are on display.

We also plan to meet up with a few private tractor collectors and clubs along the way.

Scenic wonders and cultural attractions

You will visit some of the most famous scenic attractions of England, Scotland and Wales.

Scenic wonders and "must see" places you will see include the Isle of Wight, Stonehenge, Brecon Beacons National Park, Wye Valley, Severn Valley, Iron Bridge Gorge, Welsh Coal Valleys, Lake District National Park, Lake Windermere, Falls of Clyde, Edinburgh & Inveraray Castles, Loch Lomond and the Yorkshire Moors, setting for Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Stroll around charming old country towns like Hay-on-Wye that straddles the Wales England border, Ludlow in Shropshire with its numerous medieval and Georgian buildings, as well as the World Heritage listed site of New Lanark. We will visit the North Sea port of Whitby from where Captain Cook lived for 9 years then set sail for Australia. In Scotland we will tour along 'The Road to The Isles' to Oban, scenically set on Horseshoe Bay and we will even take you in to a working distillery for a real taste of Scotland.

You will also see the city sights of Bath, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, York and Oxford.


Transport and Accommodation

Touring will be by private luxury charter coach with ample spare seats for better viewing and comfort. As usual we will only take 20 guests in our 50 seat private charter coach, on this fully escorted exclusive tour.

Accommodation will be in a selection of 3 and 4 star hotels, both in cities and in country towns, that reflect the styles and tastes of each destination.

Breakfasts are included daily with dinners provided on various nights, in selected restaurants which highlight local flavour and culinary delights.


Great Dorset Steam Fair

This is arguably the worlds biggest machinery rally, so we include 2 days and one evening here for you to get right in amongst it all.

You can be assured of seeing many famous brands and rare machinery on display and working. Saturday night features a spectacular illumination of all the restored Showman's Engines and old time carousels.

Antique tractors, vintage machinery, gas engines, steam engines, stationary engines, traction engines, working models, spare parts, badges, name plates, farm equipment, showman's engines and trucks are all featured. Here is a great opportunity for you to find those rare books, missing parts, original name badges and accessories.

Here too, you will find crafts & quilting displays, on stage live music & entertainment, demonstrations and a selection of food for sale, catering for all tastes.

International Guests

Guests from all countries are welcome to join us. Though many of our guests are from Australia and USA, we are often joined by people from New Zealand, UK, South Africa and Canada. All our tours are in English only.

If you would like to join us, we can either include your air ticket from Australia or you can just join the land only part of the tour and arrange your own flights through direct with your preferred airline.

For detailed itinerary and brochure CLICK HERE or send us an email - travel@toursgallery.com