The Castles, Historic Houses &
Heritage of Kent

Day 1

We board our private executive coach at our designated pick up points. En route to our hotel we visit Penshurst Place. A ‘quintessentially English home’ to the Sidney family for over 450 years, Penshurst Place displays much of its original medieval and Tudor buildings and historic garden design. We continue to the 4* Bridgewood Manor Hotel on the outskirts of Chatham for a four night stay on a half board basis.

Day 2

Our Blue Badge guide meets us at our hotel this morning and accompanies us throughout the day. Our morning guided tour of the UNESCO listed city of Canterbury takes in the city walls and includes a visit to the Cathedral, dating back to 597AD when St Augustine, sent by Pope Gregory the Great as a missionary, established his seat in Canterbury. In 1170 Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in the Cathedral and ever since the Cathedral has attracted thousands of pilgrims, as told famously in Geoffrey Chaucer's ‘Canterbury Tales’. We continue to Leeds Castle this afternoon. Set in 500 acres of beautiful parkland and offering over 1,000 years of history, the Castle has Norman foundations, a medieval gatehouse, a Tudor tower and a 19th century country house - all of which were substantially refurbished in the 20th century by the last private owner of the castle, Lady Baillie, the heiress to an American fortune.

Day 3

We visit the National Trust’s Sissinghurst Castle Garden with our Blue Badge guide this morning. Developed around the surviving parts of an Elizabethan mansion, the gardens provide outstanding design and colour throughout the season. This afternoon we continue to Great Dixter House and Gardens, once the family home of the late Christopher Lloyd who devoted his lifetime to creating one of the most experimental, exciting and constantly changing gardens of our time. Later this afternoon we enjoy a guided tour at All Saints’ Church Tudeley, the only church in the world to have all its twelve windows decorated by the great Russian artist Marc Chagall.

Day 4

This morning we enjoy a guided tour at the Turner Contemporary Gallery in Margate, designed by the award winning David Chipperfield architects to rejuvenate the town. Turner was a regular visitor to Margate and more than 100 of his works, including some of his most famous seascapes, were inspired by the East Kent coastline. With our Blue Badge guide this afternoon we visit the English Heritage’s Walmer Castle and Gardens, transformed from a Tudor castle into the elegant home and residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. The late HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother enjoyed many summers here.

Day 5

We visit the National Trust’s Ightham Mote today. Our talk on arrival introduces us to a superb moated manor house and garden, nestling in a sunken valley and dating from 1330. The main features of the house span many centuries and include the Great Hall and Tudor chapel with a painted ceiling. Taking carefully selected comfort stops en route we return back to our original pick up points.   

We stay four nights on a half board basis at the 4* Bridgewood Manor on the outskirts of Chatham (www.bridgewoodmanorhotel.com). Ideally located near to the motorways to gain easy access to the places visited in our itinerary, the hotel boasts a bar area, restaurant and leisure centre with indoor pool. All rooms are ensuite and feature television, telephone, hair dryer and tea & coffee making facilities.

Insurance £24

Single room supplement £99

Entrance fees to National Trust & English Heritage properties (NT properties free to NT members & Walmer Castle & Gardens free to EH members)

Gratuities

All excursion travel & guided tours included