Family Vacations & Adventure Travel

England - Hadrian's Wall & The Lake District

The landscape that inspired Wordsworth and Coleridge is our home for this seven-day journey across the romantic Lake District and rugged Northumberland.

Following the course of Hadrian's Wall, we trek through wild, unpopulated country, climbing low fells and high crags, crossing open moorland and following remote bridleways. We see Roman towns, bath houses and military forts, meander through sleepy northern villages and eat hearty pub lunches.

A highlight of this trip is our time at Lake Windermere, the largest and most impressive of the lakes. Here we visit Rydal Mount, Wordsworth's elegant home, and Beatrix Potter's garden at Hill Top.

• ACTIVITY: Walking & Hiking Vacations, Eco-Travel & Cultural Exploration
• WHERE: United Kingdom, EUROPE
• AVAILABILITY: June, August
• FROM: $3,895
• DURATION: 7 days
• AUDIENCE: Solo Adventure Travel and Singles Vacations, Family Vacations & Adventure Travel, For Groups: Adventure Travel With the Experts!, Vacations for Couples & Partners
• MEMBER'S WEBSITE: Walking Hadrian's Wall and in England's Lake District

England - Jane Austen Country

 

One of English literature's best-loved authors, Jane Austen, wittily observed preindustrial English society from a sheltered and gentrified family life in Hampshire.

The literary walk of her lifetime takes us to many of her haunts, including Steventon where her father was Rector, and the gentle rolling countryside that forms the backdrop to much of her work. A walk through rich meadows and snug valleys, handsome estates and civilized landscapes intersperses two visits to Chawton, where Jane moved at the age of 33, and a talk and discussion with a Jane Austen expert. These take us on paths she probably used passing timeless cottages she would have known.

The week closes in Winchester, once capital of the ancient kingdom of Wessex, where Jane is buried in the ancient cathedral.

• ACTIVITY: Walking & Hiking Vacations, Eco-Travel & Cultural Exploration
• WHERE: United Kingdom, EUROPE
• AVAILABILITY: July, September, October
• FROM: $3895
• DURATION: 7 days
• AUDIENCE: Solo Adventure Travel and Singles Vacations, Family Vacations & Adventure Travel, For Groups: Adventure Travel With the Experts!, Vacations for Couples & Partners
• MEMBER'S WEBSITE: Walking Vacations in Hampshire England, home of Jane Austen

England - Cornwall's Creeks & Coves

Exotic plants and sunny beaches contrast with craggy coves and stormy seas in the Celtic county of Cornwall, home to some of Britain's most atmospheric landscapes.

With the crashing waves of the Cornish coast never far from sight, we follow in the footsteps of novelist Daphne du Maurier on the South West Coast Path, visiting ancient fishing villages, secluded beaches and sub-tropical gardens. We explore storm-weathered castles, eat in traditional thatched pubs and sail across peaceful estuaries.

One of the Walk's highlights is a trip to the mysterious Lost Gardens of Heligan, a once-neglected Victorian estate, now fully restored to its former glory. Another is the estuarial ravine garden of Trebah from where the US troops embarked for Omaha beach in the D-Day landings of 1944.

• ACTIVITY: Walking & Hiking Vacations, Eco-Travel & Cultural Exploration
• WHERE: United Kingdom, EUROPE
• AVAILABILITY: June, October
• FROM: $3,895
• DURATION: 7 days
• AUDIENCE: Solo Adventure Travel and Singles Vacations, Family Vacations & Adventure Travel, For Groups: Adventure Travel With the Experts!, Vacations for Couples & Partners
• MEMBER'S WEBSITE: Walking vacation in Cornwall in England

England - The Cotswolds & Oxford

Golden limestone and thatched cottages form the backdrop to this gentle journey through one of England's prettiest regions.

Walking historic footpaths, Roman roads and winding lanes through sleepy villages, we discover the world-class gardens of Hidcote Manor, designed by Lawrence Johnson, and walk through the grounds of Batsford House. We eat hearty pub lunches with local ale and meet a farmer and his sheep dog. We visit the Duke of Marlborough's estate at Blenheim and see the quiet village graveyard in Bladon where Sir Winston Churchill is buried.

We explore the ancient university town of Oxford and try our hand at punting on the river.

• ACTIVITY: Walking & Hiking Vacations, Eco-Travel & Cultural Exploration
• WHERE: United Kingdom, EUROPE
• AVAILABILITY: July, September, October
• FROM: $3,895
• DURATION: 7 days
• AUDIENCE: Solo Adventure Travel and Singles Vacations, Family Vacations & Adventure Travel, For Groups: Adventure Travel With the Experts!, Vacations for Couples & Partners
• MEMBER'S WEBSITE: Walking vacations in England- The Cotswolds and Oxford

England - The Bronte Trail

Walking Tour of Yorkshire and Derbyshire, the lands that inspired 'Jane Eyre'.

Wild, heather-clad moorland, ruined farmhouses and the remote parsonage where the young Brontës' creativity was nurtured make a stark, striking backdrop to this Walk in one of Britain's most evocative literary landscapes.

In Yorkshire we explore Haworth village and the Brontë Parsonage Museum, trek to Top Withens Farm (Wuthering Heights), walk along the Pennine Way and learn more about the Brontës ' lives at a pre-dinner talk by expert Ann Dinsdale.

In Derbyshire we enjoy spectacular views from Stanage Edge, passing several locations from Jane Eyre including North Lees Hall, before a guided tour of Haddon Hall (the BBC's location for Thornfield Hall).

• ACTIVITY: Walking & Hiking Vacations, Eco-Travel & Cultural Exploration
• WHERE: United Kingdom, EUROPE
• AVAILABILITY: June, September
• FROM: $3,895
• DURATION: 7 days
• AUDIENCE: Solo Adventure Travel and Singles Vacations, Family Vacations & Adventure Travel, For Groups: Adventure Travel With the Experts!, Vacations for Couples & Partners
• MEMBER'S WEBSITE: Luxury Walking Vacations in England - Yorkshire & Derbyshire, The Bronte Sisters

England - Coast to Coast

Across hills and dales, lakes and moorlands, this challenging Walk from Cumbria to Yorkshire spans 85 miles of quintessentially English landscape.  Following in the footsteps of Charlotte Brontë and William Wordsworth, we discover the wild, unspoiled Lake District and the mountains of Cumbria, pass tranquil lakes and climb by craggy tarns. In Yorkshire we encounter pastures and dales, winding rivers and rocky valleys.  We explore royal castles and Gothic abbeys, sample local ales and traditional cheeses.  Wildlife is the real star of this walk and at any moment on our trip we might spot a grouse or plover, kingfisher or deer.

• ACTIVITY: Walking & Hiking Vacations, Eco-Travel & Cultural Exploration
• WHERE: United Kingdom, EUROPE
• AVAILABILITY: June, July, September, October
• FROM: $3,995
• DURATION: 8 days
• AUDIENCE: Solo Adventure Travel and Singles Vacations, Family Vacations & Adventure Travel, For Groups: Adventure Travel With the Experts!, Vacations for Couples & Partners
• MEMBER'S WEBSITE: Walking Coast to Coast in England

Northern Ireland - Giant's Causeway & Glens of Antrim

Enjoy two Irelands for the price of one as our Northern Ireland walk is enhanced this year with a visit to Londonderry, one of the finest walled cities in Europe and UK City of Culture in 2013, and a two night visit to Donegal in the Republic of Ireland, including a relaxed day's walking on Doagh Island (now a peninsula) and a visit to the Famine folk museum.

The delights of Antrim and its coast encompass some of the UK's finest visual experiences such as the iconic Giant's Causeway and Rathlin Island with its colony of seals competing for attention with the haunting cries of seabirds soaring and diving around rugged cliffs.

• ACTIVITY: Walking & Hiking Vacations, Eco-Travel & Cultural Exploration
• WHERE: United Kingdom, Ireland, EUROPE
• AVAILABILITY: July, September
• FROM: $3,895
• DURATION: 7 days
• AUDIENCE: Solo Adventure Travel and Singles Vacations, Family Vacations & Adventure Travel, For Groups: Adventure Travel With the Experts!, Vacations for Couples & Partners
• MEMBER'S WEBSITE: Walking Vacations and Tours in Northern Ireland