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UK Self-Drive South-East of England Tour
Follow Russia footsteps in the UK
6 days/5 nights
There’s no better feeling than driving through the magnificent landscapes of the South and East of England! We have created an exclusive self-drive adventure for you to get back on the road. In 6 days, you’ll visit many exquisite places, staying in a different hotel each night, and you’ll get a chance to rediscover the splendid nature and the cultural heritage that surrounds us. And what if you’ve seen it all? Even better! Allow yourself to be mesmerized, discover the new details you previously missed, see it all from a new perspective, and you’ll be back for more.
A lot of Russians fall in love with that part of England. And there are plenty of places with links to the Russian history and culture that you can discover for yourlsef. Look out for the Russian Footprint sign in the itinerary!
This itinerary is just a draft of your holiday. Driving your own car you are free and flexible, you can choose the places of interest on the route, feel free to create your own UK Bucket List and we’ll to make it happen.
- Tour Introduction
- Tour Itinerary
- Tour Accommodation
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The Route:
London • Beaulieu • Torquay • Plymouth • The Lost Gardens of Heligan • Truro Cathedral • National Trust - Lizard Point • Saint Michael's Mount • Newquay • Tintagel Castle • Clovelly • Cheddar Gorge • Bath
New Forest National Park
The New Forest became a national park in 2005 and was once a royal hunting ground for William the Conqueror. It covers an area of 566 square km and is made up of vast tracts of unspoilt heathland, woodland, and river valleys. Clear tranquil rivers, shady groves, deer, ponies and cattle that continue roaming free in its ancient heaths and woodland... and a car-free haven for walking, cycling and horse riding! Read more abou the New Forest National Park...
Beaulieu Estate
The Beaulieu Estate has been in the ownership of the Montagu family for over four centuries. Its land was once a royal hunting lodge and the property of the Crown. In 1204, King John gifted the land to monks of the Cistercian order. The Abbey thrived, growing in size and status until the 1530s when Henry VIII launched the disbanding of the monasteries as part of his schism with the Roman Church... (read more about Beaulieu Estate)
National Motor Museum
The museum was founded in 1952 by Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu, as a tribute to his father, who was one of the great pioneers of motoring in the United Kingdom, being the first person to drive a motor car into the yard of the Houses of Parliament, and having introduced King Edward VII (then the Prince of Wales) to motoring during the 1890s... read more about the National Motor Museum
Picture: David Lauder at the English Wikipedia
Russell Cotes Art Gallery & Museum
The Russell-Cotes was the home of two Victorian collectors and travel enthusiasts, Sir Merton and Lady Annie Russell-Cotes. The main hall has a remarkable collection of high Victorian and Pre-Raphaelite art, including many works by women artists... (read more about Russel Cotes Art Gallery)
Picture author: Ethan Doyle White / Creative Commons License
The Tank Museum
The Bovington Tank Museum is a collection of armoured fighting vehicles at Bovington Camp in Dorset, South West England. It is about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the village of Wool and 12 miles (19 km) west of the major port of Poole. The collection traces the history of the tank. With almost 300 vehicles on exhibition from 26 countries it is the largest collection of tanks and the third largest collection of ...(read more about The Tank Museum)
Monkey World
Monkey World is the Ape rescue centre. The rescue centre has assisted governments around the world to stop the smuggling of primates from the wild since 1987. At the Centre refugees of this illegal trade as well as those that have suffered abuse or neglect are rehabilitated into natural living groups. Set up in 1987 by Jim Cronin with assistance from both Jeremy Keeling and ...Read more about the Monkey World
Durdle Door
Durdle Door is a fascinating natural limestone arch on the Jurassic Coast near Lulworth in Dorset. It is owned by the Welds, a family who own 12,000 acres in Dorset in the name of the Lulworth Estate. It is however open to the public and a must see destination as well... Read more about Durdle Door
Hardy Monument
The Hardy Monument stands on an exposed location above the village of Portesham in Dorset and has picturesque views across the Dorset countryside. It was built in 1844 in memory of Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, Flag Captain of HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar...Read more about the Hardy Monument
Abbotsbury Swannery
Abbotsbury Swannery is the only managed colony of nesting mute swans in the world. It is situated on a 2-acre site around the Fleet Lagoon protected from the weather of Lyme Bay by Chesil Beach. The colony can number over 600 swans with around 150 pairs...Read more about Abbotsbury Swannery
Picture: Nick Knapton at the English language Wikipedia
Eden Project
The Eden Project, an educational charity, connects us with each other and the living world, exploring how we can work towards a better future. Our visitor destination in Cornwall, UK, is nestled in a huge crater. Here, massive Biomes housing the largest rainforest in captivity, stunning plants, exhibitions and stories serve as a backdrop to our striking contemporary gardens, summer concerts and... Read more about the Eden project
Truro
Truro is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, UK. It is Cornwall's county town and only city, as well as being its centre for administration, leisure and retail. Truro's dominant feature is the Gothic-revival Truro Cathedral, designed by architect John Loughborough Pearson, rising 249 ft (76 m) above... Read more about Truro
Lost Gardens of Heligan
Heligan is one of the most mysterious estates in England. Lost to the brambles of time since the outbreak of WW1, this Sleeping Beauty was re-awakened in 1990 to become Europe’s largest garden restoration project. Today Heligan’s 200 acres are a paradise for the explorer, wildlife, plant lover and garden romantic. The botanical garden is located near Mevagissey in Cornwall, England... Read more abou the Lost gardens of Heligan
Saint Michael's Mount
St Michael's Mount (Cornish: Karrek Loos yn Koos, meaning "hoar rock in woodland") is a tidal island in Mount's Bay, Cornwall. The island is a civil parish and is linked to the town of Marazion by a man-made causeway of granite setts, passable between mid-tide and low water. It is managed by the National Trust, and the castle and chapel have been the home of the St Aubyn family since... Read more about St Michael's Mount
Land's End
Land's End is the most westerly point of mainland Cornwall and England. However, it is not the westernmost point on mainland Great Britain, as this title narrowly goes to Corrachadh Mòr in the Scottish Highlands. Tourists have been visiting Land’s End for over three hundred years. In 1649, an early visitor was the poet John Taylor, who was hoping to find subscribers for his new book Wanderings to see ... Read more about Land's End
Tintagel Castle
Tintagel Castle is a medieval-era relic located on the small peninsula of Tintagel Island, next to the village of Tintagel. Historians believe the site was most likely used in the Romano-Celtic period. Hints abound that the site was a high-status settlement that acted as an important trading location between the British Isles and the Mediterranean region... Read more about Tintagel Castle
Dartmoor National Park
Dartmoor National Park is one of the last great wildernesses in the UK with an inspirational landscape of heather clad moors and rugged tors. It was designated as a National Park in 1951, a vast tract of largely untamed countryside of huge richness and diversity stretching across 368 square miles. It's a landscape quite unlike any other, populated by lofty granite tors... Read more about Dartmoor National Park
Cheddar Gorge
Cheddar Gorge is a limestone gorge and the site of the Cheddar show caves, where Britain's oldest complete human skeleton, Cheddar Man, estimated to be 9,000 years old, was found in 1903. Older remains from the Upper Late Palaeolithic era (12,000–13,000 years ago) have been found.The caves, produced by the activity of an underground river, contain stalactites and stalagmites...Read more about Cheddar Gorge
The Roman Baths
Since ancient times, Bath has been famous for thermal springs. It took almost 300 year to build the impressive complex of Roman Baths.There, you can see the so-called Pump Room - a very elegant classic Hall, where in the 18th and 19th centuries the visitors from England and Europe took baths with musical accompaniment. You can also drink water rich in 43 minerals...Read more about Roman Baths
SOUTH-EAST OF ENGLAND:
Self-drive staycation to follow Russia footprints in the UK
DAY 1, LONDON TO DORSET ROAD TRIP (153 miles)
Today is devoted to the amazingly beautiful coast of Dorset and the New Forest National Park. Start by visiting the Beaulieu Estate (Palace House), in which the Montague Family has been living since the 16th century. There you will find the National Motor Museum where the Top Gear programme was filmed!
Beaulieu hosts the first dedicated Soviet Russian art gallery in the UK- Art Russe Gallery. Displaying a selection of paintings and sculptures from the Art Russe foundation, this thematic collection is renewed each quarter.
You can visit the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum in Bournemouth. The Russell-Cotes (formerly East Cliff Hall) was the home of two Victorian collectors and travel enthusiasts, Sir Merton and Lady Annie Russell-Cotes.
The Green Room of the Museum contains a display of art which Russel-Cotes brought from Russia in 1898.
The Europe’s largest museum of tanks is located in Bovington.
Here you can see the best medium tank of the WW11 – Russian T34 , and Russian KB tank with the sign on its tower “Ленинград, За!»
Near the museum there is Monkey World, where you can meet different types of primates. The Monkey World is an organization that provides care for monkeys with special needs. You can also visit the famous Peninsula of Portland with fortified fords that defended the coast of England and played an important role during the world wars. It is the center of the Jurassic coast with the headquarters of the United Nations.Overnight at the Moonfleet Manor Hotel.
DAY 2, DEVON (147 miles)
Today you will visit Devon. It is the sunny coast of England, carefully keeping the history of Britain’s navigation and serving as the setting for the famous novels by Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle. You will be walking along the Jurassic coast where you will observe the remains of the Iron Age settlements. On the way, you can visit the Hardy Monument and the Abbotsbury Swannery which is home to swans that do not belong to the Queen (the only one in the country!)
According to the program you can have a lunch in a cozy coastal pub, where in the open air you can relax and enjoy a pint of local ale enjoying a picturesque seascape.
There is another link to Russian Royal Family in Sidmouth. From 24th June to 24th August 1831 Grand Duchess Helena of Russia, Sister-in-Law of the Czar, born Friederike Charlotte Marie Prinzessin von Württemberg, rented No. 8 Fortfield Terrace for herself and No. 7 for her entourage. She was wife of Grand Duke Michael and later an important supporter of Alexander II's reforms. Visit commemorated by double-headed eagle, symbol of Imperial Russia, on the central pediment
Then you will go to the one of the towns of the English Riviera - Torquay, where Agatha Christie was born and began her writing career. In the evening you get to Plymouth, where Mayflower, the first ship with English immigrants, started its journey and learn about the history of the British navigation. Overnight Fowey Hall hotel.
DAY 3, CORNWALL (113 miles)
Today you will enjoy the beauty of Cornwall landscapes - an exceptional combination of history, culture and natural beauty. For nature lovers, there’s an opportunity to observe the unique ecological park, the Eden Project. Here, special structures with an artificial climate – biomes – are constructed. One of the biomes serves as home to the humid subtropics: This is the largest greenhouse in the world - 240 m long, 110 m wide, 55 m high (that’s enough space for the Tower of London!). Another biome is reserved for the subtropics of the Mediterranean, California and South Africa; and The third is located in the open air with flora of mid-European area.
The program includes a visit to the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Truro (one of three cathedrals in England with three spiers), or Lost Gardens of Heligan. You will also visit the incredible Kynance Cove Bay and the tidal island of St Michael's Mount and its castle. The fabulous St Michael's Mount is located on a high granite cliff with a view to Mount's Bay.
According to the legend a monastery was founded in the 5th century when one fisherman saw St. Michael standing on a cliff. You will learn about all the milestones of the fascinating history of the fortress while walking around the castle. Today it’s one of the few places in Britain where the descendants of the count family of St. Aubyn who bought the castle back in 1657 still live and work. And finally, you will visit the southernmost (Lizard Point) and the westernmost (Land's End) points in England, which are only an hour away from each other.
Overnight in Land`s End Hotel.
DAY 4, CORNWALL
On the 4th day of your UK adventure, you’ll explore the Cornwall, visit the resort city of Newquay, known as the capital of English surfing.
Another option is to see the ruins of King Arthur Tintagel Castle, enjoy the traditional Cornwall cream tea and drive through the Dartmoor National Park. Some of the bogs on Dartmoor have achieved notoriety. Fox Tor Mires was supposedly the inspiration for Great Grimpen Mire in Conan Doyle's novel The Hound of the Baskervilles. In Dartmoor, it is possible to come across the remains of ancient dwellings and stone obelisks of the same shape as the blocks of Stonehenge. With gloomy sights, Dartmoor, has always been the object of myths and legends, and some of them are quite ominous. Local swamps are considered to be home for the mischievous pixies. Moreover, the headless horseman and a bunch of ghostly hounds appeared in the swamps a couple of times. Among the much more friendly animals in the wastelands of Dartmoor, you can find wildly grazing Dartmoor ponies - the oldest race of ponies in the United Kingdom. Afterwards you will go to the well-known private village of Clovelly, which keeps many old traditions and touching legends, and is also home to the famous donkeys. Overnight stay at the fabulous Lewtrenchard Manor hotel
DAY 5, BATH
After delicious breakfast, it’s time to leave the beautiful Lewtrenchard Manor for Cheddar Gorge and Bath.
The day begins with a fascinating walk around the Cheddar Gorge, where traces of the ancient Cheddar Man, dating back to 700,000 years, were once found. After a walk in the open air, you will go for a tasting of the real British cheddar in Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company.
At the end of your trip you will come to Bath - one of the most famous spa cities in Britain. Once it was a favorite holiday destination for royal families. In Bath we recommend you to visit the famous Roman baths, where the Roman aristocracy relaxed 18 centuries ago, and the modern Thermae Bath Spa with four pools with warm natural mineral waters and an endless set of modern spa treatments.
Overnight at The Royal Crescent Hotel.
DAY 6, BATH
Enjoy your day with the Bath exploration before heading back home.
The program can vary. It is possible to have a quick overview of all places as well as just visit some of them according to your preferences.
South-East of England
Self-drive Staycation to follow Russia footsteps in the UK
Moonfleet Manor Hotel 
4 crown
Address
Fleet Rd, Weymouth DT3 4ED, United Kingdom
Location
Overlooking Chesil Beach and the Fleet Lagoon, this stylish Georgian manor hotel has an award-winning restaurant and spa treatments. With Weymouth just a stone throw away... In the heart of the majestic countryside, some rooms at Moonfleet Manor have picturesque sea views. The hotel offers fine dining at the 2 AA Rosette-awarded restaurant. There is a modern British and French menu, using only the best fresh local produce.
Fowey Hall hotel
3 crown
Address
Hall Hotel, Hanson Dr, Fowey PL23 1ET, United Kingdom
Location
A coastal manor rather than a hotel, Fowey Hall is perched just above the estuary, with everything you could need for a family holiday on-site: a restaurant serving seasonal Cornish cuisine, a complimentary Ofsted-registered crèche, a family-friendly spa and plenty of places for children to play. Welcome to family holiday heaven!
Land`s End Hotel
3 crown
Address
Land's End, Sennen TR19 7AA, United Kingdom
Location
The Land`s End Hotel is located at the westernmost point of Cornwall and it is famous for its unique and breath-taking views across the Atlantic Ocean to the Longships Lighthouse and the Isles of Scilly beyond!
The rooms come with a flat-screen TV and carpeted floors. It includes a terrace and free WiFi in public areas. Each room features an en-suite bathroom with a hairdryer, flat screen TV and a complimentary tray with local tea and coffee. Some rooms have stunning sea views. There is a restaurant serving local specialities is on site, as well as a bar.
Lewtrenchard Manor hotel
3 crown
Address
Lewtrenchard, Okehampton EX20 4PN, United Kingdom
Location
Lewtrenchard Manor is surrounded by the hills of Dartmoor and offers luxurious accommodation in a magnificent Jacobean house. Dartmoor National Park is almost within walking distance away and the views from the glorious gardens stretch far over the parkland. Delicious fish, beef, and pork dishes feature on a menu prepared by an award-winning chef. Some of the hotel's fruit, vegetables and herbs are grown in the kitchen gardens. Try the tasting menu, where you can experience a range of fantastic food.
Each room at Lewtrenchard Manor has unique character and charming features. Many have views across the grounds, and all feature a TV, seating area, and en suite bathroom.
The family-run hotel is situated in Lewdown. Here you can visit Launceston Castle, which boasts spectacular views over the surrounding Devon countryside.
The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa
5 crown
Address
16 Royal Cres, Bath BA1 2LS, United Kingdom
Location
This magnificent 5-star hotel is located in Bath's Royal Crescent and offers a fully equipped gym and a stunning spa, leading out onto a picturesque landscaped garden. It has an award-winning restaurant and a cocktail bar as well. The hotel spa offers a relaxation pool, a relaxation pool with massage jets, a sauna with salt therapy treatments, and a steam room.
Each room at The Royal Crescent has an 18th-century-style décor, luxury bedding and flowers. With free WiFi and paintings from period artists such as Gainsborough. The beautiful gardens are ideal for a traditional afternoon tea.
Bath Spa Rail Station is just 1.6 km away.
The hotels in the tour are a suggestion only. We are happy to offer anything from B&B to a castle suite! Just contact us and we will find the best option for you!
For many years, we have been opening the fascinating United Kingdom to the travellers from Russia and other countries via our parent company Charm Communications Ltd.
Charm stands for Culture, History, Art, Romance, and Mystery and we are proud to call it our Mission!
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Package Includes:
• Bed and Breakfast Accommodation at hotels as mentioned in the itinerary
• Entrance tickets to named Castles and visited places (if included in the itinerary)
Package Does Not Include:
• Optional activities, which we will add to you summary/quote upon request
Terms and Conditions:
• The terms and conditions will be personalized for every booking, and will reflect the supplier's conditions
• All prices are NETT / non-commissionable;
• The prices are given as indication only and can be changed in accordance with the actual date of departure and the hotels' availabilities;
• The example price from is calculated on the 15th August 2020 departure
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