The Carter Company blog

Epic Journeys

2026-01-29T15:08:40+00:00

We all need to escape the ordinary every now and then, and everyone has a few good adventures in them. For this blog post, we’ve picked a few cycling and walking holidays that are a bit more like quests than tours. From the epic mountain vistas of the Andes to the stark beauty of Yorkshire and Wales and the rich landscapes of the Thames valley, adventure awaits – if you know where to look.

The Crossing of The Andes

At the border of Argentina and Chile a winding pass and ancient trade route carves through the tallest mountain range in the Americas, linking a series of natural lakes. The enchanting Andes are the stuff that myths are made of. Many of the snowcapped peaks are active and extinct volcanoes (like the massive Tronador, who stands a full kilometre higher than any other nearby mountain), and the mineral-rich soil has spawned lush green valleys and clear blue lakes.

The mountain pass is named for the Italian cardinal, Antonio Samoré, who negotiated peace between Argentina and Chile in the 1980s, and is a symbol of how much more unites these South American countries than divides them. Argentina and Chile share more than just the Spanish tongue both designated the rugged landscapes on either side of the border as national parks, and both parks take their names from the language of the Mapuche, who lived in this area before European colonists arrived.

Setting out from the Argentine mountain resort of Bariloche, you have two nights to explore the southern shore of Nahuel Huapi lake before catching a boat with bike aboard to the little port town of Puerto Blest. After two nights here, where you can walk around the wooded Los Cántaros lagoon to see a 1,500-year-old larch tree, you sail across another dramatic lake to cross the border into Chile. In the Chilean lakes, you spend one night at the foot of another mighty volcano, Orsono, which (according to Mapuche legend) imprisons a powerful evil spirit. Cycle down the volcano’s slopes to reach the bustling city of Puerto Varas on the shores of Lake Llanquihue where you spend your final two nights of this cycling trip, before flying on to Santiago and home.

Coast to Coast

The landscape of northern England is on a slightly different scale to the Andes but is no less wild and majestic. Our Coast to Coast walking tour, inspired by one of Alfred Wainwright’s famous routes, takes you from the beautiful village of Cartmel on the northern edge of sleepy Morecambe Bay east across the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales, and the spooky North York Moors to Robin Hood’s Bay on the North Sea.

This three-week walk has you visit plenty of iconic locations. One of our favourite spots in the Lake District is the little village of Grasmere, nestled between a verdant lakeshore and austere crags high above. As well as being the resting place of romantic poet William Wordsworth, it has fantastic local gingerbread. Heading west over the wild North Pennines we reach the Yorkshire Dales, a unique landscape of soft green valleys, sheep, and little rivers that featured heavily in All Creatures Great and Small. The Yorkshire countryside hasn’t changed very much in the last century, and you can certainly imagine James Herriot on the road as you hike between the towns of Reeth and Richmond.

As you head east from Reeth towards the coast, you enter the misty North York Moors, where bronze-age barrows and ancient stone crosses stand lonely in the landscape. This adventure ends at the little town of Robin Hood’s Bay on the North Sea. The settlement has been associated with Robin Hood since the 17th century, when a story first emerges of the altruistic outlaw helping the local villagers by taking on French pirates, and distributing half their booty to the poor. It’s not known whether Robin Hood really existed, let alone if he visited the area, but it’s a good story.

Panoramic Pembrokeshire

The coast of this quiet corner of Britain is one enormous national park, with nearly 200 miles of navigable footpaths. Beginning in the north at the sweeping dunes of Poppit Sands, our walking tour sees you trek south on clifftop paths around the coves and isthmuses of west Wales, past the ancient city of St David’s, and east onto the pretty village of Amroth.

The landscape is rich in drama, with water crashing against the rocks below and the calls of seabirds echoing around the bays. It’s no wonder then that the crew of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows chose this region to film the tragic death and burial of Dobby the elf. The National Trust for Wales, the charitable organisation who own Freshwater West, the beach where these scenes were filmed, kept Dobby’s grave after filming completed, but they ask that fans do not pay their respects by leaving offerings of socks and pebbles.
There are plenty of other exciting spots along the way. Not far from Dobby’s resting place at Freshwater West is the port town of Pembroke, whose castle hides a secret harbour replete with the remains of Stone Age humans. At journeys end, on the long stretch of beach at Amroth, a low spring tide reveals a fossilised forest, preserved by the sand for seven thousand years. In Wales, it is impossible to escape the sense that the world is a more ancient and mysterious place than we would normally imagine.

England's Great West Way

Starting at the trendy port city of Bristol, this 13-day cycling tour takes you from the West Country, along the course of the Thames, and onto London, showing you some of southern England’s most famous sights.

It is only a 90-minute ride from Bristol to Bath, the Georgian city that was once home to Jane Austen. There is a romance to Bath, best captured by the effortless beauty and glamour of No.1 Royal Crescent (you can see why the producers of Netflix’s blockbuster Bridgerton filmed there). Only a stone’s throw across Salisbury Plain lies the ancient monolith of Stonehenge – dragged all the way from Pembrokeshire by ancient Britons. The stones themselves – some of them weighing 25 tons – are impressive, but when you realise that the landscape is made up of hundreds of burial mounds, you might feel very small indeed.

You join the Thames on the seventh day. The river slowly swells as it meanders through southern England, and as the river grows so does the splendour of the towns and villages along its banks. Cycling through Eton and Windsor, you sense the wealth that the bounty of the river conferred in medieval England. This only intensifies as you ride towards the capital – on the final leg of your journey you take in Hampton Court, Kew Gardens, and the Houses of Parliament all in one day!

Adventure Awaits!

So there you have it, four Carter Company tours that sweep you off on a jolly good quest. But unlike most adventure stories, on these tours you sleep in charming inns or seriously luxury hotels, and exchange camp fire rations for fine dining, with the best of support – even the mighty Andes are no match for an E-bike! Take off on an epic journey, and leave the ordinary behind.

Quirky Castles

2025-11-26T14:40:48+00:00

Impressive Castles

Thanks to a few hundred years in the Middle Ages marked by ambitious barons, despotic kings, and border wars between the English, the Scots, and the Welsh, Great Britain is full of castles. Many of these are now romantic ruins, but more than a few have been given a new lease of life as hotels, museums, and film sets. Here are some of our favourites.

Langley Castle, Northumberland

Langley Castle is a small but perfectly formed castle built during a time of relative peace in medieval England (when the barons were too busy fighting the French to be fighting each other). Lying so close to the Scottish border, the de Lucy family home is brilliantly fortified, with towers and battlements complementing its charming estate. Only a stone’s throw south of Hadrian’s Wall and featured on one of our most popular walking tours, the accommodation at Langley Castle is the perfect base from which to explore the rolling landscape of the North Pennines. It also boasts one of the finest restaurants in North East England.

Glamis Castle, Angus

Before Macbeth was King of Scotland, and before he was Thane of Cawdor, he was Thane of Glamis. Almost a thousand years ago, the historical Macbeth murdered Malcolm II at Glamis Castle. The new castle on the site dates from around the time that Shakespeare’s play was written. You can follow in the steps of the regicide in Glamis’s woodland gardens, where hand-carved statues bring key scenes from Macbeth to life. Today, Glamis has a gentler royal association. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, mother of the late Queen Elizabeth II, was born there in 1900, and spent much of her childhood at the castle’s country estate. She gave up her teenage years to nurse British soldiers during the First World War, when Glamis Castle was turned into a hospital. Family photos can still be seen when you walk around the castle.

Fonab Castle, Perthshire

Fonab Castle was built in the late 19th century for an aging colonel and is now a luxury hotel. Set in the eastern foothills of the Highlands in Perthshire, Fonab makes no bones about being a modern castle, and is equipped with fine dining, spas, and little pods by the river that you can eat in. Although Fonab is a fantastic luxury hotel, its surroundings are the real appeal. Set in the glen of the salmon-filled River Tummel, to the east of The Trossachs National Park the majestic Ben Vrackie looms over the estate, and from its summit on a clear day you can see Edinburgh, more than 70 miles to the south. If you fancy a tipple, the nearby town of Pitlochry has two whisky distilleries – including the smallest (legal) distillery in Scotland.

Pembroke Castle, Pembrokeshire

Medieval castles were built to police the lands around them: they kept the locals out, the nobles in, and were meant to leave the impression of financial and military might. So, of course the English built lots of castles in Wales in the Middle Ages – and the country is home to some of the finest fortresses in the British Isles. Even the wild west coast is no exception to this, and Pembroke Castle is an ancient and formidable example of Norman engineering and birthplace of Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty and father of King Henry VIII. Beneath the castle is a spooky cove, where archaeologists found stone age human remains. And who can blame the stone age humans for burying their dead here? It’s a peaceful spot, and the perfect stop on a walking holiday through the beautiful Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, traversable by hundreds of kilometres of clifftop footpaths and home to puffins, seals, and (occasionally) dolphins.

Dover Castle, Kent

Dover Castle has long been an old-fashioned fortress. Built by Henry VIII to deter a French invasion during the Reformation, Dover Castle has been called into service time and again to defend the coasts of England. In the Second World War, it became a naval command centre, and the miraculous rescue of British and French troops from Dunkirk was coordinated from there. Today, the castle is home to a museum that commemorates this. Like Alnwick, Dover Castle has also enjoyed an afterlife as a film set, playing the Tower of London in Wolf Hall, the story of Thomas Cromwell’s rise to power as advisor to Henry VIII, and you even have the option to stay there on our Coast and Castles in Kent Tour.

Favourite Climbs for Spectacular Views

2025-10-16T14:04:40+01:00

View from the top of Snowdon "© Hawlfraint y Goron / © Crown copyright (2025) Cymru Wales"

Favourite Climbs for Spectacular Views

There are few things in life more rewarding than a good view. Your legs ache, and you know you have worked hard to get there, but you can see for miles. From the rolling cliffs of the south coast to the rugged mountains of Scotland and Wales, Britain is home to dozens of sweeping vistas. Here are a few of our favourites.

Glencoe

Not only is Glencoe possibly the most famous spot for mountaineering in Scotland, but it is the site of one of the most notorious moments in Scottish history. In 1692, Scottish government forces massacred 30 members of Clan MacDonald, who had refused to swear allegiance to William of Orange, the new king of England, Scotland, and Ireland. In the dead of winter, almost one thousand soldiers blocked both ends of the valley, killed any MacDonald’s that they could find, and burned their homes. Today, the empty landscape is much as those soldiers left it. For something a bit cheerier, have a look at nearby Buachaille Etive Mòr – it is said to be the most photographed mountain in Scotland, presumably because it is just so perfectly mountain-shaped.

Helvellyn

Some of the prouder Scots and Welsh might tell you that there are no mountains in England, but the fells of the Lake District have some of the most famous, exciting, and relatively accessible climbs in the British Isles. Helvellyn is a more attractive summit than the taller Scafell Pike, and affords wide views of the whole of the national park on a clear day. One route up to the summit, Striding Edge, is not for the faint of heart, but is worth a go for the eerie glimpses of the misty Red Tarn off the sheer drop to the east. Nobody knows exactly what its lovely, lilting name means, but it is thought to have something to do with an old Celtic word for ‘yellow’. This would be an odd name for such a green mountain, raising questions about how exactly the ancient Britons saw colours.

Snowdon

West Wales is home to so many exciting climbs and awesome views, but Snowdon or Yr Wyddfa in Welsh - is the most famous. The towering mountain for which Snowdonia is named, provides tremendous views on a clear day, with a panorama taking in the mountains of Ireland and the Lake District, both more than 100 miles away. And, there are lots of ways to climb it, including the awesome knife-edge ridge, Crib Goch, or the stately Snowdon railway. However you choose to climb the summit, you can see the clear blue lakes (or llyns, pronounced ‘klins’). One of these llyns, Glaslyn, is said to be the resting place of Excalibur in Welsh legend.

Harlech

Not far south of Snowdon is the pretty seaside town of Harlech, home of the steepest street in the world - Ffordd Pen Llech. It is a bit of a pain for residents, as most people live at the bottom of the hill, and the post office and chemist are at the top, but it is worth it for the views of the Snowdonia in the far distance. The town’s castle was besieged by the House of York during the Wars of the Roses, and held out for seven years before it was finally captured. These events are commemorated in the Welsh folk song ‘Men of Harlech’, made famous by the classic war film Zulu. Luckily, the castle is much easier to get into today, across a ‘floating footbridge’ suspended over a narrow gorge.

Dinas Head

Further south in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Dinas Head juts out into the Irish Sea. A somewhat strenuous part of the Pembrokshire Coast Path runs around the headland, but the views are well worth the hike. Not only are you guaranteed the dramatic spectacle of the waves crashing against the rocks more than 100 feet below, but on a clear day you can see all the way to Ireland – and if you are very, very lucky, you might see a dolphin. You will also likely spot charming choughs, playful grey seals, and the sort of hardy plants you might expect to find on a windswept headland.

Seven Sisters

Returning to England, there are more great sea views from the cliffs of the Seven Sisters in Sussex. The chalk white cliffs jut out of the rolling South Downs and into the English Channel. The long walk between Seaford and Eastbourne gives you plenty of gorgeous viewpoints, from the delicate floodplain of the pretty little River Cuckmere and the old-fashioned Beachy Head lighthouse to the great expanse of the English Channel from the tops of the cliff edge. It should be added that the Seven Sisters themselves are just spectacular to look at, like giant waves of rock cresting over the slatey North Atlantic.

Broadway Tower

An honourable mention goes to Broadway Tower on the northern edge of the Cotswolds. Not exactly a natural wonder (built by an eccentric earl in the 18th century), the small castle seems taken straight from a fairytale, complete with battlements and gargoyles. With only 73 steps, it is a considerably easier climb than some of the other viewpoints in this blog, and you can see straight over the broad fields of the Severn Vale, and into distant Wales. If there is anything more rewarding than a good view, it is probably a coffee and a cake – and Broadway Tower has a café at the bottom!

Splendid (but slightly seditious) Sussex

2025-10-01T16:14:35+01:00

Following the coastline west from Dover, we pass the Channel Tunnel at Folkestone and the beautiful marshes at Dungeness until we meet Kent’s great friend and rival – Sussex. Perhaps not as well-known as Kent, but just as gorgeous, Sussex really is a hidden gem. The first stop on this journey is the hilltop town of Rye. Sat above the meandering River Rother, Rye was once a look-out spot to defend England from the continent, like Walmer Castle in Kent. Today, it is a sweet little town, with friendly cobbled streets, a decadent chocolate shop named Knoops, and two pubs that are rumoured to be connected by an old smuggling tunnel. Nearby Eastbourne is old-fashioned, but not kitsch, and is well worth a visit for one of its famous ice creams. It also has a claim to being the sunniest town in the UK, though rivals in Kent may take umbrage with this. Here the chalky landscape we saw in Kent re-emerges, and we are greeted by the Seven Sisters, great white cliffs that undulate towards Hampshire, Dorset, and the Jurassic Coast.

The South Downs Way

Turning north, away from the coastline, we come to the stunning South Downs. The Downs are a vast range of chalk hills that stretch all the way west to Winchester, home of Jane Austen. The porous chalk acts like an enormous filter, and so remarkably pure streams well up and support all manner of life. These hills and their bountiful springs have sheltered humans for thousands of years, and at their far southern spur near Chichester once lay the fossilised remains of ‘Boxgrove Man’, a Neanderthal nearly half a million years old.

Many more have joined Boxgrove Man in settling in Sussex, and there are some must-see villages in the Downs. Alfriston, just north of Eastbourne, is home to an elegant medieval high street with some very tasteful shops, like the award winning Much Ado Books and the cute Badger’s Tea House. Just down the road is Charleston, a small country house set up as a haven for artists and conscientious objectors during the First World War. Initially home to the slightly unusual family of Vanessa Bell, her children, Duncan Grant, and his lover David Garnett, it also hosted E.M. Forester and Virginia Woolf. The house and its gardens (designed by Roger Fry to be ‘a living painting’) are now open to the public and are a must-see for art and literature buffs when Sauntering in Sussex!

Seditious Sussex

Though renowned for their rugged beauty, the wild green country of the South Downs is also home to slightly larger towns like Lewes. Lying where the River Ouse (pronounced like ‘ooze’, but much more pleasant) cuts through the chalk, Lewes has quite the tradition of radicalism. Thomas Paine, the revolutionary author of Common Sense and the Rights of Man, lived here for about six years before he emigrated to the Thirteen Colonies. In much of Britain bonfires are lit on the night of 5 November, a tradition that dates back to 1605, and marks the foiled Gunpowder Plot against James VI and I. In Lewes, this gets a bit out of hand: every year, effigies of celebrities and world leaders are set on fire before being paraded past this picturesque town’s cosy coffeeshops and independent boutiques. It should be said that Lewes is actually quite friendly! As well as lighting fires, there is a local practice of letting parts of their garden grow wild, to give the hedgehogs, door mice, and chalkhill blue butterflies of the South Downs plenty of space to live and move about.

Castle and Cathedral

Every county needs at least one good cathedral, and Sussex’s most remarkable monument is probably in the tiny town of Arundel. The story really starts with Arundel Castle, seat of the (confusingly named) Dukes of Norfolk. This title belongs to the Howard family, who were movers and shakers in English politics between the Wars of the Roses and the English Civil War. The most famous Howard is probably Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundel, who was martyred by Elizabeth I for refusing to give up his Catholic faith. After Catholic emancipation in the 19th century, Arundel Cathedral was built in imitation of the medieval French Gothic style – which gives this graceful market town a rather distinctive skyline. As well as historic attractions, there are also plenty of independent shops with old-world charm.

And so concludes our whistle-stop tour of the south-east coast! From the bustle of Canterbury to the serenity of Charleston, there is something in Kent and Sussex for everyone (even the Neanderthals!).

Kent - A County of Castles and Gardens

2025-09-08T15:53:43+01:00

In cricket, games between Kent and Sussex are nicknamed ‘The War of the Wealds’. But much more unites these two fierce sporting rivals than divides them. Kent and Sussex share much: the chalky hills and valleys of the North and South Downs, the towering cliffs of the English Channel, and a long and storied history. This is the first in a pair of blogs that will explore the coasts and countrysides, the wild heathland and manicured gardens, of our two most south-easterly ceremonial counties – starting with the ancient county of Kent.

Ancient Kent

Kent is an ancient land. On his second heavily armed trip to Britain in 54 BC, Julius Caesar (or his scribe) wrote that: ‘The most civilized of all these nations are they who inhabit Kent, which is entirely a maritime district, nor do they differ much from the Gallic customs.’ Kent is still very civilised today; the cobbled streets of its only city, Canterbury, are home to lovely shops, a decent university, and a cathedral that celebrates the return of Christianity to England in the 6th century. Canterbury Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with exceptional stained glass windows. In the 12th century Archbishop Thomas Becket was martyred there by four knights, possibly on the orders of Henry II. These events made Canterbury a hotspot for pilgrimages.

Pilgrims Progress

These pilgrims had to make their way through the North Downs. Although today they are one of the most picturesque parts of England, inland it was once a wild place. Caesar wrote that: ‘Most of the inland inhabitants do not sow corn, but live on milk and flesh, and are clad with skins.’ Things had improved considerably by the time of the murder of Archbishop Beckett, and the Pilgrims’ Way made the hills easily traversable. To finish their journey to Canterbury, pilgrims would have had to leave the track at the village of Chilham. This small but perfectly formed settlement on the banks of the charmingly named Great Stour is still home to more than a dozen Tudor and Stuart buildings, with their distinctive lattices of wattle and daub, and the White Horse pub, which has quenched the thirst of many a wanderer since the days of Henry VIII. If you fancy something spooky then just across the water is Julieberrie’s Grave, a 6,000-year-old barrow traditionally thought to be the resting place of either a giant or an army and its horses. Archaeologists have found that whoever or whatever was buried there is now long gone...

The Garden of England

Caesar also noted that the weather in Kent was ‘more temperate than in Gaul, the colds being less severe.’ Kent is certainly one of the warmest parts of England, and so it has become particularly well known for its English wines, which have a fresh, bright flavour. We’re not joking – Chapel Down’s Rosé was named one of the best in the world at the 2024 Decanter World Wine awards. About 20 miles north of Chapel Down’s vineyard are the famous gardens of Leeds Castle, near Maidstone. The castle is much more a country house than a fort, and it has the grounds to match. As well as three amazing gardens that capture the spirit of East Asian, Mediterranean and bucolic English climates, there is also a new wildflower meadow, to help support native plant species and provide a habitat for local wildlife. Combining history, elegance, and a passion for nature, the castle grounds are the perfect embodiment of the garden of England.

Coast and Castles

Leeds is not the only castle in Kent with a fantastic garden. The castle at Walmer has hedges that have warped over time to take the shape of clouds, a glasshouse café where visitors can enjoy the garden’s produce, and a restored 18th century quarry garden charmingly named ‘The Glen’. Walmer Castle was originally built by Henry VIII as part of a series of forts that would protect England against the French, and it is only a few miles north of the famous port of Dover with possibly England's mightiest Castle defending the coast from 800 BC until the middle of the 20th Century, Here, the towering White Cliffs of Dover look out over the English Channel. Though some of the most famous cliffs in England, this chalky landscape can be followed for many miles out west to Sussex, but before you head there have a look at our favourite way of exploring Kent - on two wheels!

The Great British Pub!

2025-08-07T12:52:54+01:00

When I am not writing travel blogs, I live in a university town in the north-west of England, with a population of 50,000 people on the doorstep of the Lake District national park. It has no fewer than 30 pubs. This pub to person ratio is typical of many settlements in the British Isles. Pubs come in all shapes and sizes. Some are not unlike sports bars, with punters gazing up at huge, wall mounted televisions, drinking cheap European lagers or expensive, micro-brewed IPAs. Others are very ‘local’, serving only a couple of streets, with plush carpets that smell like they remember a time before the 2006 smoking ban and, inexplicably, a mural of their darts league from 1998. But most British pubs are beautiful. Across the canal from my flat is the White Cross, set in a refurbished Victorian warehouse, with hearty food, traditional ales, and plenty of waterside seating. It has something for everyone; from my window, I can see a few people crowded around a small television, three generations of the same family enjoying fish and chips together, and students on nervous first dates.

Famous Pubs

Britain is full of pubs like the White Cross, that champion local produce, serve their community, and have a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. Some are better known than others. One of the most famous pubs on our tour routes is probably the Craven Arms in Appletreewick, on our Dales Way walking tour. The Craven Arms is the star of hit period drama All Creatures Great and Small, where the pub is the interior of the Drovers Arms in the fictional town of Darrowby.

Oldest Pubs

A few pubs claim to be the oldest in Britain. Near the resting place of Jane Austen in Winchester at the start of the South Downs Way is the Royal Oak, which traces its heritage back more than a thousand years, when it was the residence of Queen Emma, a powerful woman who served as regent between the death of her second husband, King Cnut, and the coronation of their son, Harthacnut. Porch House, in the beautiful Cotswold town of Stow-on-the-Wold, might be even older, with part of the building dating back to the tenth century. The Porch House is an Inn, which means it was (and is!) a resting place for weary travellers – even if they are only stopping in for a refreshing pint of ale, rather than a sleep. Interestingly, despite their prevalence in fantasy based on medieval Europe, you very rarely come across a pub that describes itself as a ‘tavern’.

Highest Pubs

Tan Hill Inn, between Keld and Reeth in rugged North Yorkshire, can’t claim to be the oldest pub (it only dates back to the 17th century), but it is the highest, lying 1,732 feet above sea level. The many hiking trails that surround the inn make it a great stopping-off point if you’re exploring the breathtaking Yorkshire Dales national park, and like many pubs in rural areas their food and drink offer a welcome respite after a long walk or cycle. Another mountain inn is the Drunken Duck in the Lake District village of Ambleside. Not only does the Drunken Duck offer stunning views: it has its own brewery! So, you can be sure you’re enjoying fresh, authentic, locally sourced ales when you stop there.

The fall and rise of the British pub

Sadly, not all is rosy for the British pub. 300 pubs closed in 2024 alone. An unbearable tax burden from local and central government is partly to blame, but so is changing consumer behaviour. Alcohol is expensive, and too much of a good thing is bad for your health. The British had a bit of a reputation around the turn of the millennium for overindulgence – but younger Brits don’t drink nearly as much as their older counterparts used to. It's not all doom and gloom! The BBC, aghast, reported that Gilsland (population: 400) was ‘left with just one pub’ after the Samson Inn closed in October 2022. But the tiny village near Hadrian’s Wall in England’s far north, clubbed together to buy their ‘local’. It is now run by the Gilsland Community Benefit Society Limited, with shareholders as far away as Australia! This is becoming an increasingly common model in Britain, and there are about 200 pubs nationwide that are owned and run by local groups. Any profits are reinvested in the community, and they often double as spaces for the area’s volunteer groups. Some even offer apprenticeships to young people, to help them gain managerial experience. Many pubs are now offering excellent cuisine and the 'gastro-pub' is offering another route to economic success.

Pubs bring their communities together, and it’s vitally important that they stay open. Wherever you visit in Britain, pop into one of our friendly, authentic pubs. Meet the locals, savour an ale (or an elderflower cordial) – you won’t regret it.

Spotlight on the Dordogne

2025-07-12T15:21:27+01:00

A Paradise of Exceptional Richness

‘I pass from one valley to another in this sunny Périgord – land of memory-haunted ruins, captivating romance, and still more captivating truffles; but wherever I wander I have the rocks near me, flashing their entire nakedness under the blue sky, or drawing about their flanks a draping of foliage, which light or sombre as the leaves of oak or ilex, box or hazel, juniper or sumach, may dwell upon the note that rules both colour and feeling. I am now at Les Eyzies, in the valley of the Vézère: a paradise of exceptional richness’.

So wrote the Victorian travel writer Edward Harrison Barker just before the turn of the 20th century. Barker and his purple prose have been more-or-less forgotten, but the Dordogne (a region of south-west France named for its famous river) remains as captivating today as it was 150 years ago. A good part of the cycling and walking tours of the Dordogne are set in the Périgord Noir, named for its deep woodland, through which flows the Vézère. Upriver, the valley is a soft landscape, a mosaic of meadows and woodlands (the perfect habitat for black truffles).

Home to the Dawn of History

Nestled in the centre of the countryside is the small town of Montignac-Lascaux – home to what is thought to be the oldest human art in the world. Discovered during the Second World War, the caves at Lascaux are home to hundreds of paintings of animals, made by ancient humans over 17,000 years ago. Bulls, horses, and a strange bird-headed man are rendered in red and ochre pigments and in incredible detail. The original caves have been closed to the public since the 1960s to protect this very special place, but have been lovingly reproduced at Lascaux IV, a museum on the site. If you’re interested in seeing this monument to the enduring spirit of human creativity, make sure you book well in advance.

The caves at Lascaux are only one of many prehistoric sites in the Dordogne, and when you walk or cycle through the region you can see why our ancestors were attracted to this ‘paradise of exceptional richness’. In the middle of its course, around the little villages of Les Eyzies and Sarlat, the mighty Vézère has carved out dramatic limestone cliffs. Untold years of freezing and thawing has left long horizontal scars in the rocks, forming wide and sheltered ledges that are natural viewing platforms from which to take in the landscape. Cave-dwellers, or troglodytes, lived in these cliffs for thousands of years – and about two dozen people were thought to still be living like this when Barker was writing!

Dordogne Delicacies

A tour of the Dordogne would not be complete without a mention of their sumptuous food and wine. East of the Périgord Noir lies the Périgord Pourpre, named for its vineyards. The town of Bergerac is especially well known for its balanced and fruity red wines, light rosé, and delicate, dry white wines. When you are walking or cycling through the valleys, you may well spot fenced-off truffle plantations. Once a middle-class food, much local knowledge of farming these tasty fungi was lost during the First World War, when thousands of locals went off to fight – and never came back. Truffles take years to ripen, and require very specific conditions, so they called for an investment of time and money that many farms could not afford – thus they became a luxury food.

The other delicacy the Dordogne is known for is the rich and creamy fois gras (lit. ‘fatty liver’). This association is well deserved - nearly three quarters of all fois gras in the world is made in the Dordogne. It’s made from the livers of ducks or geese who have been force-fed through a process called ‘gavage’, but the welfare of the birds is well protected by French law – they live a stress-free life, are fed only on local produce, and spend most of their lives outdoors due to the region’s perfect weather (imagine!). If you’d like to meet a goose close-up, the Fest’oie is held in Sarlat in the first week of March every year. It is a festival devoted entirely to fois gras, and features live music, a 15-course banquet, and 200 geese running wild in the centre of the village.

If you want to have an adventure, but enjoy the finer things in life, you could do much worse than visit the Dordogne. Have your cake (or truffle) and eat it as you walk and cycle through an ancient landscape, with beautiful food and beautiful weather. You will be as happy as a goose!

The National Trust - Nature, Beauty, History

2025-06-04T15:59:17+01:00

What is the National Trust?

At the end of the 19th century, Britain was in a bit of a state. More than 150 years of industrialisation had polluted the air and water, and the great metropolises of London, Birmingham and Manchester had sprawled out over the land. The population had tripled. Britain’s natural and national heritage was at risk of being damaged beyond repair. Three campaigners wanted to do something about it. In 1895, social reformer Octavia Hill, Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley, and lawyer Sir Robert Hunter set up the National Trust. The idea was to preserve Britain’s beauty for everyone’s ‘enjoyment, refreshment and rest’.

The National Trust quickly grew. After the Second World War donations from the government allowed the National Trust to buy up and renovate the stately homes owned by Britain’s indebted aristocracy. In the 1970's someone had the bright idea of opening a café at Sizergh, and National Trust properties quickly became a staple of the British day out. Today, the National Trust has more than five million members.

What does the National Trust look after?

The National Trust owns some 500 nature reserves, gardens, and historic buildings, including stately homes and castles. About one-fifth of all National Trust land is coastal including parts of the dramatic Pembrokeshire Coast National Park in western Wales. It also owns much of the Lake District. As one of Britian’s major landowners, the National Trust has many tenants, including 1,300 farmers. The National Trust is the landlord of the whole village of Lacock in Wiltshire, which has changed very little since the Victorian period, and so has been the setting of many a glittering historical drama - including Wolf Hall and several of the Harry Potter films

The National Trust for Scotland

Scotland’s heritage and natural beauty are managed by a different organisation, the National Trust for Scotland. The story of why Scotland has its own National Trust is not as awkward as you might fear. Until the 1930s the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland had looked after the sorts of property that the National Trust looked after in the rest of Britain, but they couldn’t afford the Loch Dee Estate in Galloway when it was offered to them. So, Scottish philanthropists set up their own organisation: the National Trust for Scotland which now takes care of 76,000 hectares of countryside; 27 castles; over one million seabirds and much more.

Visiting From Overseas?

International visitors can buy an explorer pass for either 4, 8 or 14 days, valid from a date you select on purchase. They are quite affordable, starting at £36 per adult, and deals are available for pairs of travelers or families. This is a great way to see England, Wales and Northern Ireland’s historic sites and natural beauty. You can find out more here. In the United States you can join the Royal Oak Foundation, a tax-exempt non-profit that fundraises for the National Trust. Royal Oak Foundation membership grants you unlimited access to 350 historic sites in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Contributions and membership dues are tax deductible - always a bonus!

Our Favourite National Trust Sites

There are National Trust sites all over England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and our tours visit many of our favourites. Bibury, once described by William Morris as ‘the most beautiful village in England’ features in several of our Cotswold walking and cycling tours. Here the National Trust own Arlington Row, a set of nine 17th century weavers cottages in bucolic rural England. On the other side of the country, our ‘Suffolk Seaside Jolly lets you cycle to the wild Orford Ness and Dunwich Heath landscapes, which are also owned by the National Trust. These places are unique coastal habitats and are a haven for England’s rare animals, like nightjars, adders, and grey seals.
Other coastal National Trust land includes Seven Sisters and Beachy Head in Sussex, and the famous White Cliffs of Dover.

The Carter Company’s luxury walking and cycling holidays are the best way to take in Britain’s nature, beauty and history. It's thanks to organisations like the National Trust and the National Trust for Scotland that Britain’s natural and national heritage has been protected and preserved for us, and for future generations.

Spotlight on Dorset

2025-05-20T11:06:31+01:00

Literary Heritage

More than 150 years ago, author Thomas Hardy described starlight over the county where he lived and which he called South Wessex.

'The sovereign brilliancy of Sirius pierced the eye with a steely glitter, the star called Capella was yellow, Aldebaran and Betelgueux shone with a fiery red. To persons standing alone on a hill during a clear midnight such as this, the roll of the world eastward is almost a palpable movement'.

Dorset’s landscape is much the same today. It is a special blend of coast and country, from the hilltop town of Shaftesbury in the far north, to the sandy beaches of Weymouth in the south, and the remote and rolling vales in between, Dorset is quiet, relatively unspoiled, and the perfect place for a cycling or walking holiday. Even the towns have not changed very much since Thomas Hardy depicted them in Far From the Madding Crowd and Tess of the d’Urbervilles. You can still see a working water mill at Sturminster Newton, whose beautiful Manor Farm was once owned by Enid Blyton. Known for her quintessentially English children’s stories, Five on Finniston Farm is believed to be based on this area. There have been a few changes made though - Piddletown, the inspiration for Hardy’s Weatherbury, has since changed its name to Puddletown, which is a bit more charming!

Romantic Ruins

A little further on down the River Piddle sits Wareham, which makes much of its ancient walls built by Alfred the Great. To the south, the River Frome cuts the peninsula known as the Isle of Purbeck off from the rest of the county. It is a secluded haven for wildflowers. There are two key points of interest on Purbeck. The first is the romantic ruins of Corfe Castle, whose mighty keep still stands nearly 400 years after it was destroyed in the English Civil War. The second is the pretty seaside town of Swanage, which is thought to have some of the best weather in England. A special mention should also go to Blandford Forum, which is by no means a boring place! In the 18th century, a great fire swept through the town, so the centre is unusually uniform for an English town, and home to beautiful Georgian buildings. Another good thing that came from the fire was the Hall and Woodhouse Brewery, which has been producing its famous Badger Beer since 1777.

From Past to Present

As the county is so remote, the ancient Dorset dialect has survived in some places. As you travel through the countryside you will almost certainly spot a reddick (European robin), and you might even be buzzed by a low-flying dumbledore (bumblebee). The Dorset dialect also has, unsurprisingly for a rural and unspoilt county, very many words relating to the care of sheep, which we shall not cover here. But, as you might expect, this means that the farmers markets are some of the best in the country, and the local produce is excellent.

In the eastern corner of Dorset lie the seaside towns of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, home to half of the county’s population. These people are lucky enough to have the New Forest National Park right on their doorstep, just over the county border in Hampshire. Originally a ‘royal forest’ – King William II was killed on a hunting trip here – this is now a protected landscape, home to deer, ponies and wild adders. The Isle of Wight, a sleepy island the size of London with its own distinctive culture, is just over the Solent. These towns mean that, for all of its rolling hills and serene coastline, Dorset is a cool place. Bournemouth is quite busy, but is very trendy, with an arts university and lots of independent shops, and following the coast west towards Devon you will come across places like Bridport, with their own thriving arts scenes.

Jurassic Coast

This part of England is known as the Jurassic Coast, and is where the sea has worn away the cliffs to show us gorgeous fossils from more than 100 million years ago, when most of western Europe was underwater. Nestled in the far west of Dorset is the little town of Lyme Regis, a place of pilgrimage for those interested in all things palaeontological. In 1811, aged only 12 years old, a girl named Mary Anning discovered the fossilised remains of an ancient marine reptile called an Ichthyosaur (or fish-lizard). Its skull alone was over four feet long! She would go on to discover many more important fossils in the area, including those of the graceful Plesiosaur and the delicate flying lizard Dimorphodon. In a tragedy that Hardy himself might have written, her exploits were claimed by men, and she died relatively young.

You can follow Mary’s footsteps today by taking A Jurassic Coast Jolly, combing the local beaches, or joining a fossil hunting tour. There is some debate about lifting fossils from the rocks; do they belong to the collector who found them, or to science? If you don’t like to get your hands dirty, or have some ethical concerns, you should still check out the ammonite pavement at Monmouth Beach, where the low tide reveals hundreds of shells fossilised in limestone. By chance, this beach is where the Duke of Monmouth landed his soldiers nearly 400 years ago in an attempt to seize the throne from King James II. We have to wonder how important the intrigues of the 17th century seemed to him in that moment, when he was surrounded by so much ancient life.

Islands and Stone

Every good coastline needs a resort island, and Dorset has one with a twist. The Isle of Portland is just south of Weymouth, and is separated from the mainland by the vast pebbly stretch of Chesil Beach. Unlike many of the small islands of England’s coast, Portland has thousands of year round inhabitants, and is home to the famous Portland Stone used to build Saint Paul’s Cathedral and the United Nations building in New York City. Interestingly, the locals have a fear of the word ‘rabbit’, as bunnies would leave their warrens before a landslide at the island’s quarries and so were thought to be bad luck. This is a bit unusual, but the views from the 135-foot tall lighthouse at Portland Bill more than make up for it.

So, visit Dorset! Though one of England’s lesser known, and more remote, counties, it is all the better for it. You will have a fabulous time cycling or walking through its charming villages and along its rugged coast, and you will love its trendy towns.

The Real St George - Patron Saint of England

2025-04-22T21:20:16+01:00

April 23rd is the feast day of Saint George, who we like to think is best known for being the patron saint of England, and for possibly killing a dragon. But how did a Greek-speaking man, who lived nearly 2,000 years ago in what is now Turkey, come to be associated with England’s mountains green?

George was first venerated as a saint in Rome in the 8th century, and he started to appear in stories about saints in English soon after. According to these stories, George was a soldier in the Roman army who was horribly tortured and executed when he wouldn’t renounce his Christian faith (we’ll spare you the details) with the 23rd April being the traditionally accepted date of his death. The story of the incident with the dragon was invented a bit later.

Enter the Dragon!

George was travelling through Turkey, or perhaps Libya, when he comes across a weeping princess. Her distress is understandable – a local dragon demands human sacrifice, the victim is decided by lottery, and her number is up. She begs George to flee and save himself. He ignores her (typical) and slays the terrible, fire-breathing lizard in single combat. Or, so the story goes.

Elevation to Patron Saint

Legend has it that the special relationship between England and Saint George goes back to the Crusades, where Richard the Lionheart is said to have placed his army under the saint’s protection. The Saint George’s Cross – a red cross on a white field – was adopted by the crusading armies around this time, though they were not exclusively English. The symbol itself is thought to have been invented only shortly before this, as a century earlier sources had described Saint George’s banner as white. Even so the first surviving record that Saint George was celebrated by an English king only comes nearly 200 years later, when Edward III (known for starting the Hundred Years’ War between England and France) made him patron saint of his chivalrous Order of the Garter.

Even after this, the veneration of Saint George in England was not widespread until after Henry VIII reformed the English church. After the break from the Pope, England’s rulers wanted to forge a new identity for their kingdom and its people. Saint George seemed like a good bet – he was brave, committed to his faith, and warlike, perfect for a country at war with its heretical neighbours. The Tudors believed Saint George’s Cross represented a bloody crucifix, a reminder of Christ’s sacrifice.

Incidentally, the Henry VIII’s religious reforms led to the destruction of many of England’s monasteries, leaving many picturesque ruins all over the country many of which you can visit on our walking tours, such as Bolton Abbey at the start of The Dales Way or Lanercost Priory on our Hadrian’s Wall Walk.

Spanish Links

Saint George’s Day is also celebrated in other parts of the world, including the Spanish region of Catalonia! Here, it is tradition to give a book to a man you love, or a rose to a woman you love, on 23 April. If you like the sound of this, we have an incredible cycling holiday through the eastern Pyrenees that takes you from sleepy mountain towns like Olot, to the ancient city of Girona and the beautiful resorts of the Costa Brava. You can find out more here: The Pyrenees to the Mediterranean.

Today

For a long time, George was unique in the Church of England for being the only venerated saint who did not appear in the New Testament. His popularity says something about the way that Englishness has changed over time. Until the middle of the 20th century, the UK thought of itself as a great power, with a steely resolve (or stiff upper lip) committed to lofty-ish ideals. For example, Saint George appears in British recruitment posters from the First World War, urging young men to fight for their country. Today Saint George is immortalised in many a pub sign and reflects a more multicultural England (he was a Greek-speaker from Turkey, after all) that still stands up to bullies.

Englishness - Manners and Monarchy!

2025-04-22T21:18:14+01:00

Englishness - Manners and Monarchy!

Here at the Carter Company, we specialise in luxury cycling and walking holidays around the UK. Although we do plenty of tours to the stunning Scottish Highlands or through wonderful Wales, this week is English Tourism Week, and to mark it we’re celebrating our favourite tours through this green and pleasant land, whilst reflecting on some of the things that make the country we call home special.

People all over the world probably know two things about England. Firstly, they know that our head of state is His Majesty, King Charles III. Our monarchy is one of the oldest in the world, and there has been a King or Queen of England since the 9th century. Secondly, they know that the English are polite, and indeed, today, the royal family – and their subjects – are generally quite well-behaved. But this wasn’t always the case.

Magna Carta

Until 1215, the were no formal rules about what the King could or could not do. King John’s barons rebelled against him, and forced him to sign a treaty, the Magna Carta, which gave some men some rights. This bout of misbehaviour led to the oldest constitution in the Anglophone world and is the basis of the rights that we, as well as many other modern constitutions, enjoy today. One of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carter is at Salisbury Cathedral, and this ancient city features in many of our tours of the West Country and Southern England. Our tour of England’s Great West Way passes through Salisbury on a cycling trip that runs from the arty city of Bristol (home of the internationally renowned graffitist, Banksy) to London.

Monarchy

If you’re interested in finding out more about the history of the royal family, you simply must stop at Windsor Castle - and Hampton Court Palace, on your way along the Thames. Windsor Castle – the world’s oldest and largest occupied castle known - was one of the late Queen’s favourite residences, but in the Middle Ages it was the site of numerous battles and sieges, when the English revolted against the occasional overbearing king. Hampton Court is the enormous estate built by Cardinal Wolsey and appropriated by the tyrannical Henry VIII, and the grandeur of its halls and gardens tells the story of England’s infamous Tudor dynasty. Although Henry VIII is best known for being an absolutely terrible husband, he is also quite important because the tensions around his reformation of the English church led to centuries of religious conflict – which certainly wasn’t polite! His distant descendent, Charles III, enjoys gardening and is a passionate environmentalist, which reflects a distinct mellowing of our national character since medieval times.

Landscape

England’s landscape is also complex (and let's not even start on the weather!). While we might think that the rolling hills of the Cotswolds and the Chilterns are typical of the English countryside, there is a great diversity of scenery the length and breadth of England. In the far northwest, you will find the Lake District National Park, whose dramatic mountains and lakeside villages were beloved by the Romantic poets. Hadrian’s Wall, the great Roman fortification that protected their empire from the Picts, begins just north of here, and our Hadrian’s Wall Walk takes you east through the rugged fells of Cumbria and Northumbria, all the while immersing you in England’s wild north. This tour ends in the cosmopolitan port city of Newcastle, which has been transformed in recent years – like many English industrial towns – into the ideal spot for a city break, with plenty of pubs, museums, and cultures from around the world.

All down the east coast, you will find the landscape surprisingly flat, not unlike the Low Countries in Europe. It is also surprisingly dry – not every English person carries a brolly! Many, many miles to the south of Newcastle, in Suffolk, you will find captivating coastal walks and desolate heaths, and quaint little villages that history has passed by. If you then chose to follow the coast, around verdant Kent and heading west, you would find the epic cliffs of Devon and Cornwall. Long ago, the coves and caves of these counties were used by smugglers to help sate our deep desire for affordable tea – some stereotypes about the English are, in fact, true!

This whistle-stop tour of England and its history has hopefully helped you untangle some of your assumptions about Englishness. We’re polite – but haven’t always been – and our landscape is beautiful – but more diverse than most could have imagined. But don’t take our word for it, come see for yourself!

Winchester and Bath - 250 Years of Jane Austen

2025-04-22T21:19:00+01:00

This year marks the 250th birthday of Jane Austen (1775-1817), the novelist probably best known for Pride and Prejudice. Today, she is closely associated with Bath, where she lived for five years in the early-19th century. Indeed, the Jane Austen Centre celebrates her as ‘Bath’s Most Famous Resident’, which seems a bit unfair to Haile Selassie and Horatio Nelson.

AUSTEN IN WINCHESTER

Austen moved to the city at the age of 25, and lived there for five years. The time she spent in Bath was not her most productive, though we can see the imprint of her time there in her final works, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. Austen left Bath in 1806, and spent the rest of her life in the port town of Southampton, the peaceful village of Chawton, and England’s ancient capital – Winchester.

Being treated for some unknown illness – thought now perhaps to be Addison’s disease – Austen died at a house on College Street, only a five-minute walk from her final resting place at Winchester Cathedral. In the summer of 2025, Winchester College will open the house to the public for the first time. In a peculiar twist, Colin Firth, who would go on to play Mr Darcy in the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice went to school in Winchester.

REGENCY SPIRIT

So, in the battle of the Austen attractions, how has Bath come to hold the crown? The simple answer is the Regency spirit that Austen’s novels, and their countless adaptations capture, is alive and well in Bath. You can see it in the sweeping curve of No.1 Royal Crescent, an outstanding example of Georgian architecture, and you can experience it at the Jane Austen Centre in Bath – it is a lovely, romantic exhibition, in an authentically decorated Georgian townhouse where you can dress in Regency gear and have a delicious afternoon tea. There is good reason that the Netflix romp-com Bridgerton, based in Regency England, was filmed in Bath. The film and television cameras that Austen’s adaptations have brought to Bath have made it an obvious setting for other, unrelated, productions, like Wonka (2023). The city also has a wide range of historical and cultural attractions, like the 2,000-year-old Roman Baths (where you can’t swim, sadly) and the modern Thermae Bath Spa (where you can).

ROYAL WINCHESTER

Winchester, while just as beautiful as Bath, has a different feel. Austen rests at the enormous, medieval Winchester Cathedral – one of the largest of its kind in the world – as do many of the Anglo-Saxon kings. History lays thick here – the 13th century Great Hall boasts a replica of King Arthur’s fabled round table, and the Westgate Museum tells the story of Winchester’s Tudor and Stuart past, when the town’s religious icons were destroyed once during the Reformation, and again during the Civil War. John Keats, a near-contemporary of Austen, wrote his ode ‘To Autumn’ during a stay in Winchester in 1819, and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin is said to have written his autobiography in nearby Twyford.

FOLLOWING IN JANE AUSTEN'S FOOTSTEPS

For all its history, Winchester has a stately, sombre feel. So Bath – a larger, livelier, town – takes the gold. But you can’t have too much of a good thing. Visit both (with us!). The Hotel du Vin in the centre of Winchester is the starting point of our new South Downs Way luxury walking holiday, which runs through the unspoilt beauty of the South Downs National Park. Taking between nine and twelve nights (our holidays are customisable) ensuite accommodation and breakfast is guaranteed at every stop. Walk through England’s green and pleasant land – in luxury!

Bath is a stop on many of our luxury walking and cycling holidays. Our Cotswold Ride to Bath takes you from the magnificent university town of Oxford, over the hills and through the valleys of the charming Cotswolds – featuring chocolate-box villages like Bibury and Burford – and on to Bath. A variant of this tour includes a visit to Stonehenge, the ancient megalith in the heart of southern England . If you fancy taking things at a statelier pace our luxury Cotswold Way holiday features ten days of walking south, beginning at Chipping Camden and passing through picturesque Painswick and wonderful Wooton-Under-Edge, and ending in Bath. Finally, our England's Great West Way cycling holiday has you spend a night in Bath on the twelve day journey from the trendy city of Bristol to England’s iconic capital, London – where Austen often visited her brother.

Our top favourite things to eat whilst in Portugal

2023-10-05T17:01:44+01:00

Portugal as a travel destination has been growing in popularity in recent years and rightfully so. Flanked by the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, this travel destination is the perfect choice for avid foodies. Here are our top favourite things to eat whilst in Portugal.

PASTÉIS DE NATA: In Portugal it's not just socially acceptable to devour sugary pastries for breakfast, it's actually expected. You can savour these little beauties everywhere in Portugal for breakfast, as a snack or dessert. Be careful, they are quite addictive.

BOLINHO DE BACALHAU: Delicious fish cake with salted codfish as main ingredient. Also try the croquettas version. Excellent as a snack or accompanied with a glass of beautiful Douro wine.

SARDINES: Barbecued, salted, grilled or even mashed up in butter you will be amazed at the incredible number of options when it comes to enjoying sardines in Portugal.

CATAPLANA: A delicious stew based on seafood or a combo of clams and pork prepared in a cataplana pot, hence the name of the dish. It’s rich and full of flavour.

CHOURIÇO: A distant cousin of the Spanish Chorizo, this lovely pork sausage has many varieties depending on the region you visit and is fabulous to nibble on with a glass of Douro wine.

BIFANA: A Lisboan sandwich with thinly sliced pork that's been slowly cooked in white wine, garlic, and spices.

TRAVESSEIROS DE SINTRA: A fluffy puff pastry shaped like a pillow, sprinkled with sugar on the outside and filled with velvety egg and almond cream on the inside.

FRANCESINHA: This sandwich, originally from Porto, is not for the faint of heart. It contains sausage, roast meat or ham in the centre topped with melted cheese and a special tomato sauce infused with beer.

POLVO: Octopus is very popular and it comes in many variations throughout the country. Served cold or warm, we guarantee that olive oil and garlic are at least 2 of the base ingredients.

All this delicious food needs to be accompanied by quality wine. You’re in luck as one of the oldest and most alluring wine regions in the world is to be found in Portugal. The Douro Valley, declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2001, is a stunning region in the north of Portugal where the mighty Rio Douro meanders through the landscape. Although parts of the region do produce excellent regular white and red wines, the region’s true recognition comes from the different styles of fortified wine or port wine that are produced here. These are some of the recommended wines to try:

All perfect excuses to make Portugal your next travel destination. Your suitcase is waiting…

new winter walking trip

2022-12-05T19:22:25+00:00

Winter sun in Provence is a new 5 night gentle walking tour especially designed for the winter months in Provence with its mild temperatures and blue skies lighting up the enchanting scene.

Stays are in buzzy locations – St Remy, the heart of Van Gogh’s landscapes in the Alpilles region, charming Isle sur la Sorgue in the different setting of the Luberon mountains and Avignon with its notable wine and gastro options. Arles can also be included in the tour. Our usual mix of luxury boutique hotels and short transfers to carefully crafted easy walking routes make this a holiday full of Provencal charm and flair.

It is available from November to the end of April.

The Lake District tops poll of most instagrammed region in UK

2023-10-05T17:01:01+01:00

A recent study has found that The Lake District is officially the most Instagrammed nature spot in the whole of the UK!

This probably (definitely) isn’t a surprise to locals, or holiday makers that have found beauty in the vast and remote expanses of the area. With lots of tough competition including Loch Ness, Ben Nevis and Stonehenge, The Lake District beat many of the other glorious spots that the United Kingdom has to offer.

With many holiday makers returning to the areas in and around Cumbria every year, there is a clear desire for walking and cycling holidays that offer incredible scenery, and a lovely change to the everyday hustle and bustle.

The Lake District is also officially the UK’s largest national park so it makes sense to see its beauty recognised in posts on Instagram. Containing 16 lakes and more than 150 high peaks, this popular nature spot is a favourite beyond the UK with international tourists too.

Be sure to check out one of England’s highest and most prominent mountains based within the Lake District - Helvellyn - if you’re up for a 5 mile walk and climb with our recommended guide.

As well as the scenic views, there are clear benefits of outdoor holidays to both physical and mental health,and if there is one positive to come out of the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s our reconnection and rekindling with the great outdoors. The contrast could be especially beneficial to residents of cities, where there is a constant hum of public transport and activity.

Just 30 minutes or one hour walking outdoors each day, breathing in fresh air and getting exercise is a sure-fire way to feel refreshed and grounded (so imagine how amazing you will feel after a week of walking in The Lake District!)

Because hiking holidays are often enjoyed in small groups of friends and family, they have significant links to happiness levels and endorphins associated with laughter and human interaction.

The study of Most Instagrammed Nature Spots was conducted by Absolutely Bear, a sustainable men’s clothing brand based in the UK. By combining data of exact match and associated hashtags of the top 100 beauty spots, they discovered the top 15, and surprise surprise we have trips to most of them - see links above!

Walking has been one of the few safe and social activities we have been able to do over the past year in the pandemic. In fact, there have been over one million people searching for “walks near me” in the UK alone in the last year!

As we look forward to the easing of restrictions and the impending opportunities to meet more friends and family outdoors, taking a trip to The Lake District should be definitely something to consider

Life in lockdown - guilt free viewing

2021-03-18T15:38:46+00:00

As we sputter on through what we hope are the final days of lockdown in Britain we are all looking forward to a more normal life and to taking trips and holidays that invigorate and restore us. We hope that the projected May 17 date for the opening of hotels in Britain will mark the start of the holiday season for us this year. We have many tours already booked and we welcome fresh enquiries.

In the meantime, here are some guilt free viewing ideas, all available on Amazon Prime - hopefully some a little less known than others...

HARRY POTTER

What better excuse than lockdown for a Harry Potter marathon! All 8 films with so many iconic moments from the flight of the Ford Anglia over Glenfinnan; stunning views of Glencoe; Hogwarts Dining Hall at Christchurch Oxford and many more culminating in the Warner Bros Studio Tour. Take a look at Highland lochs and isles for a ride on The 'Hogwarts Express' alias The Jacobite seen steaming over Glenfinnan Viaduct in the picture above or contact us to design the perfect tour for you.

FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD

An apt title for this period - this 2015 film adaptation of Thomas Hardy's wonderful novel, tells the story of Bathsheba Everdene's struggles in Victorian England to run her farm and choose between 3 very different suitors. Take a peek at the film trailer then plan your own escape from the crowds with a cycling trip in Doset and the New Forest - click here for more information.

MISS POTTER

Renee Zellweger plays the part of Beatrix Potter as her childhood stories and paintings are brought to life and become some of the best loved stories of all time, and allow her to indulge her love of the Lake District; buy Hill Top Farm and save some of its treasures for us today. See the film trailer then plan a walk in her footsteps on our Quintessential Lake District holiday

SUNSHINE ON LEITH

This feelgood film will make you laugh and cry as two young soldiers return from Afghanistan to pick up the threads of life and love in Edinburgh. Weaving the songs of The Proclaimers throughout it ends with a raucous finale near the castle. Even if you don't watch the film, listen to the music and you will want to add an extra day to our Lochs and Glens to Edinburgh cycle tour!

Spotlight on Suffolk

2021-03-05T16:11:56+00:00

Here is a county well worthy of a spotlight! We love it for its unspoilt coast with a slightly old fashioned air, the mix of reed beds, sandy heaths, woodland and sinuous estuaries, a slower pace of life, timbered buildings, arty finds and a landscape enabling marvellous flat cycle rides and fascinating walks.

In the wider world, Suffolk is also known for its music and literature links, its foody ethos of farm shops, relaxed pubs with quality offerings of local foods and drink and the medieval town of Lavenham.

The charming coastal spots of Orford, Aldeburgh and Southwold are linked with Woodbridge on our gentle cycling holiday A Suffolk seaside jolly. With a day off in each place, you can chill out, walk or enjoy various boat trips too -a perfect mix for a family holiday. Pick the luxury version if you want gorgeous boutique hotels and the classic choice for handpicked charm.

Our Suffolk coast walking holiday enjoys the same lovely overnight stays with the option of alternate days off if that's your pace. There's magnificent variety in the walks and in discovering Suffolk's other gifts.

A heart in the arts

Harry Potter's fictional birthplace of Godric's Hollow was inspired by Lavenham and its magical streets. Benjamin Britten is linked with Aldeburgh where you can visit his house and Snape Maltings where he founded a music venue. Suffolk is synonymous with artists so for a great gallery check out Southwold's Co-op on our Suffolk coast walking holiday.

Stars of food and drink

No Michelin stars in the county, but little gems galore. Try The Unruly Pig in Woodbridge, Orford's artisan Pump Street Bakery, Aldeburgh's fish and chips and the Pinney family's locally reared oysters at The Butlery Orford Oysterage. And of course, Southwold brewed Adnams beer and brewery tours are not to be missed. See our Suffolk seaside jolly.

Quirky buildings

It doesn't get more quirky than the House in the Clouds in the mock Tudor holiday village of Thorpeness. Not far away is one of the unusual Martello Towers built to defend the coast. And the Tidemill in Woodbridge is a rare example of a mill still working today. Spot all these on our Suffolk coast walking holiday and our Suffolk seaside jolly cycling holiday.

Unspoilt coast

Unspoilt it is - an area of outstanding natural beauty where the heaths, woodlands, beaches and estuaries are all protected. Enjoy a river boat foray or paddle a canoe on the Alde, guided walks through reeds and lagoons at RSPB Minsmere or sit in the dunes at Walberswick. Take tea as you sail on a 19th Century rigged barge or love the colours on Dunwich Heath. Enjoy all these on our tours!

5 Safe and wonderful places to go now

2020-07-07T16:23:05+01:00

With quarantine arrangements refined and Foreign Office advice now allowing holiday travel to defined countries, we can all gear up and book a holiday with some certainty. And boy are we all looking forward to one after lockdown!

With safety very much at the top of the list, our suppliers checked for cleaning and social distancing measures, we think our self guided walking and cycling holidays are the perfect getaways, full of fresh air and away from the crowds in rural areas. Don’t be daunted by cycling – E bikes, are widely available and we are the home of gentle cycling with short distances and holidays that are relaxed.

Here are our 5 top suggestions for safe and wonderful places to holiday this summer:

Provence, France

Provence offers that magical combination of a sunny clime, rural backdrop and marvellous food and wine. If you don’t fancy flying or arriving by train, then driving is a realistic option and we can arrange parking for the duration of your tour. With a choice of luxury and classic hotels, the walking is stunning yet leisurely with picturesque mountain villages, the scent of cedars and landscapes beloved by Cezanne. If you prefer to pedal, we’ve sorted a gentle route that weaves through the lovely rural landscape and into the wilds of the Camargue. This is a gem of a trip!

Emilia Romanga, Italy

If you want seaside coupled with time for pampering and a very leisurely cycling holiday, then head to Emilia Romanga to find our clutch of family owned, luxury hotels that we link together with fascinating yet flat rural cycling and the historic gems of Ravenna. We have already had clients holiday here since lockdown and customer feedback for this trip is always exemplary.

Connemara, Ireland

This area on the west coast of Ireland is another rural beauty – sometimes referred to as ‘the western wonderland of Europe’ with its stunning Atlantic beaches and rugged mountains. Here we focus on luxury hotels only and a choice of gentle walking or gentle cycling through this far from the madding crowd territory. Inbuilt in the itinerary is plenty of time to relax.

The Cotswolds, England

The gorgeous Cotswolds are a really good option for your summer holiday this year and always a favourite of international visitors for obvious reasons. But this year, tour groups (along with seaside crowds) will be absent. So with endless chocolate box villages set in a rural idyll and hugely characterful small hotels, both luxury and classic, its no surprise we have plenty of walking and cycling holidays here. Most cycling is not hilly as we have carefully designed our routes; but E bikes are available. Our walking trips take in the hills with their amazing views but most have relaxed distances. For 2020, this is a winning area.

The Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland, England

Our final top pick is the north of England for fabulous, ‘blow the cobwebs away ‘ walking. Choose the world class historic gem of Hadrians Wall for a vast and beautiful landscape peppered with Roman remnants and enjoy luxury hotels along the way. Or discover the idyllic rural valleys and villages of the Yorkshire Dales where in a week’s walking you will see barely a modern day development. We can eulogise about this area forever, but you need to go and find out for yourself!

Moving Towards a 'New Normal'!

2020-05-18T11:40:05+01:00

As the UK begins tentative steps to relax the lockdown we are starting to think about how we will move forward in a responsible way that protects our clients, our partners, our environment and our business and still allows us to organise exciting and authentic holidays which introduce our clients to the hidden gems and local secrets that even the locals may not know are on their doorstep.

We will miss many of our international friends this summer – but as they say ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ – and we will have a very warm welcome waiting for you next spring!

And while we trust that our fellow Brits will remain aware and alert and take steps to avoid a second wave of the pandemic, we recognise that many are in need of something to look forward to, and a much needed holiday as soon as it is sensible to do so – and we think we have just the thing! Our holidays, by their very nature are a chance to get away from it all – cycling or walking off the beaten track, discovering quiet routes and tiny villages, boutique accommodation and special foodie stops, avoiding the crowds and popular honeypots in favour of the lesser known and unspoilt treasures. But we have also put our heads together to tweak some of our trips to make them even more ideal getaways for the ‘new normal’

Skip the Cities

While Oxford is one of our favourite places and the hub for many of our walking and cycling tours, we are relocating our starting point to a lovely hotel on the river outside the city. Anyone who still wishes to visit the wonders that Oxford has to offer can still do so with a short walk or cycle along a quiet stretch of the river without being based ‘in the thick of it’. Similarly on our Lochs and Glens to Edinburgh tour, we are now offering the option to skip taking the train to Edinburgh and adding an extra day’s cycling along the river and through the Pass of Killiecrankie to Blair Atholl Castle. (If you follow us on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook you will have seen some of our experiences from a brilliant trip in May 2019). We are looking at all our holidays to see where it may be appropriate to re route around busier areas – but as ever if you have any questions, please ask.

Arrive by car

We are also aware that our guests may be more likely to be arriving by car than train or plane for a while so we are making arrangements for guests to park their cars for the duration of the trip and transferring passengers either to the start of their adventure or back to their cars at the end. For example our Devon Coast to Coast is an essentially rural and traffic free cycle from the north coast of Devon down to Plymouth and we will meet you at the end to take you back to your starting point near Barnstaple and your car or onward journey. As ever we will be asking how you plan to arrive for your holiday so we can make the best arrangements for you.

Family Friendly Holidays

We have a selection of Family Friendly Holidays which generally have shorter distances and very traffic free routes and are ideal for children (and parents!). We have also put together a new ‘Chiltern Traffic Free Jolly’ which we think is a perfect short break for seven year olds and up, with glorious cycling along canals and woodland trails with exciting stops at 2 very special museums and a chocolate shop! Have a look at our ‘Inspire Me’ section which features some of our favourite family holidays for more ideas or ask us – we can often adapt other trips to suit your requirements.

Terms and Conditions

Please continue to look at our website and dream of better times and if you would like us to prepare you an itinerary, do get in touch. We have amended our Terms and Conditions in this unique period so that when you book, your deposit is fully refundable if the government advice is that it’s not safe or possible to travel. We will request the balance payment just 30 days before your trip and again if government advice changes between then and the start of your trip, this will be refundable. We do recommend you take out travel insurance to cover any other circumstances.

At this point we are unsure when hotels and other hospitality venues will be available but we are hoping that the phased opening through July will mean we can operate from August – and we are also unsure whether at that point demand will exceed supply so if you are seriously considering a getaway later this summer we would love to hear from you.

We look forward to the day when we have lots of explorers ‘out on the road’ but in the meantime we’ll keep planning ahead! Stay safe and keep well!

Life in Lockdown - Guilt Free Viewing!

2020-04-27T14:13:53+01:00

Our thoughts are with everyone affected in different ways by the current sad and surreal situation in which we find ourselves, and our gratitude to the health professionals and other key workers who are keeping our society functioning is immeasurable.

For many people isolated at home this may be a worrying time, but also a chance to step temporarily off the treadmill; to reconnect with simpler pleasures; clear some clutter; watch TV without feeling too guilty and make plans for the future.

A little escapism may also be in order so we thought we would share some of our favourite TV series and films. As well as being an entertaining and educational way to pass a few hours, we think they really embody the beauty of Britain. We remain positive that things will improve and that a holiday in the glorious British countryside will be just what the Doctor ordered once this is over.

In the meantime we wish you and your loved ones a safe passage and happy viewing!

SOME OF OUR FAVOURITE SERIES...

MIDSOMER MURDERS - DI BARNABY - THE CHILTERNS

For 23 years, Midsomer Murders or Barnaby as it is known around the world, has portrayed a fictionally darker side of the beautiful Chilterns Hills where the detective series is set. This is our own backyard and we recognise many of the features in our own local Flower Show or Cricket Club – although without the body count! Have a look at Chilterns Chalk and Cheese or for the diehard fans ask us for our Meandering Through Midsomer version!

DOC MARTIN - CORNWALL

Martin Ellingham is a Doctor with a fear of blood and a challenging bedside manner, who sets up a general practice in the fictional Cornish village of Portwenn. With a supporting cast of quirky characters Doc Martin saves lives while murdering social skills against a back drop of the real Port Isaac in north Cornwall, which you can visit on our Captivating Cornwall Cycling Tour.

MORSE AND LEWIS - OXFORD

Set amongst the dreaming spires of Oxford, the irascible but brilliant Inspector Morse, with his love of beer and opera, embodies cultured Britishness. Together with his partner DS Lewis, (who got promoted to a series of his own), Morse has been solving clever crimes amongst the intellectuals of this most famous university city since 1987. What better way to explore their haunts in Oxford and the Cotswolds than by bike.

DOWNTON ABBEY

We were all enthralled by the lives of Lord Grantham and his family in the early 1900s despite some of the storylines! Was it the glorious setting of Highclere Castle and the National Trust village of Lacock? the elegant costumes? the whole British class system and parallel stories of ‘upstairs’ and ‘downstairs’ ? or Maggie Smith’s wonderful sarcasm!

...AND FILMS

HARRY POTTER

What better excuse than lockdown for a Harry Potter marathon! All 8 films with so many iconic moments from the flight of the Ford Anglia over Glenfinnan; stunning views of Glencoe; Hogwarts Dining Hall at Christchurch Oxford and many more culminating in the Warner Bros Studio Tour. Take a look at Highlands and Hebrides, or let us design the perfect touring itinerary for you.

FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD

An apt title for 2020! - this 2015 film adaptation of Thomas Hardy's wonderful novel, tells the story of Bathsheba Everdene's struggles in Victorian England to run her farm and choose between 3 very different suitors. Take a peek at the film trailer then plan your own escape from the crowds with a cycling trip in Dorset and the New Forest.

MISS POTTER

SUNSHINE ON LEITH

This feelgood film will make you laugh and cry as two young soldiers return from Afghanistan to pick up the threads of life and love in Edinburgh. Weaving the songs of The Proclaimers throughout, it ends with a raucous finale near the castle. Even if you don't watch the film, listen to the music and you will want to add an extra day to our Lochs and Glens to Edinburgh cycle tour!

All of these great series and films are currently available on Amazon Prime so get a cup of tea and a biscuit and transport yourself to another place and time...