THE WULFHALL TOUR
Monday, 2nd May to Wednesday, 11th May 2022, and Monday, 3rd October to Wednesday, 12th October 2022.
For the 2022 tours, we will following Henry VIII’s great Reformation Progress of 1535, on which he was accompanied by Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell and toured England’s lovely, scenic West Country. We will also be visiting some of the beautiful historic locations where the BBC’s highly successful TV series, Wolf Hall, based on Hillary Mantel’s best-selling novels, was filmed, and other historic sites. We have noted on the itinerary below the sites Henry VIII visited and the Wolf Hall locations.
Alison Weir will lead the tour, assisted by leading historians Sarah Gristwood, Nicola Tallis, Julian Humphrys, Tracy Borman (Thomas Cromwell’s best-selling biographer) and Michael Jones, an expert on the Tudor and medieval periods. There will be other guest speakers too.
It will be a tour with a plus, offering opportunities to visit special places that are off-period, such as Roman and Georgian Bath and the Fox Talbot Museum of Photography.
Staying at two historic five-star hotels:
5 nights at The Manor House Hotel, Castle Combe 5*
The Manor House is a fourteenth-century luxury hotel and golf club in a magnificent setting, offering romantic nights away, Michelin-starred dining and a dedicated gin bar. Head into the adjacent historic village of Castle Combe to the hotel’s twelfth-century pub or take a short buggy ride up to its championship golf course. All bedrooms are individually styled each with their own special features and ooze five-star luxury. With a Michelin starred restaurant, alfresco dining, The Full Glass Bar, lounges for coffee, lunch or afternoon tea, and private dining rooms open to residents and non-residents alike, they provide a dining experience and atmosphere for every occasion. The Manor House is the perfect destination.
4 nights at Royal Crescent Hotel, Bath 5*
The iconic Georgian Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa is a haven of elegance and tranquillity in the historic centre of Bath. Step inside and discover a multi-talented hotel that offers so much more than just a place to stay. It is an iconic sanctuary in the city set in an acre of glorious gardens, a sensational spa for a blissful escape and beautiful bedrooms, each one uniquely designed with spectacular views. All this underpinned by impeccable service, delivered by staff dedicated to making your stay unforgettable, and with a prestigious history that spans more than 250 years.
Visiting:
Ewelme village
Lacock Abbey and Village and the Fox Talbot Museum of Photography
Berkeley Castle
Montacute House
Longleat House
Salisbury Cathedral
Hailes Abbey
Winchcombe
Sudeley Castle
Westwood Manor
Castle Cary
Lytes Cary Manor
Chavenage House
Tetbury
Farleigh Hungerford Castle
Wells Cathedral
The Bishop’s Palace, Wells
The City of Bath (optional guided walk)
Glastonbury Abbey (optional visit)
The Roman Baths, Bath
Wolfhall Manor
Marlborough
The Vyne
Included meals:
5 dinners
The Manor House Hotel, Castle Combe
Berkeley Castle, Gloucs.
Royal Crescent Hotel, Bath
Ravello, Bradford-upon-Avon
The Roman Baths, Bath
2 lunches
Welcome buffet lunch at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel, London
Lunch at the King’s Arms Inn, Montacute
FEEDBACK
"Thank you for leading us on another memorable historical tour in England. It was wonderful to see you and all the other AWT staff as well as our AWT friends. It felt like a return to normalcy, something we desperately needed. We have been fortunate enough to travel to many countries, but none of the other tours we've been on can hold a candle to AWT. Your tours truly are the best of the best and a highlight of our year!"
"I wanted to share my deepest gratitude to the entire AWT team for making me feel so welcome, special, and comfortable."
"Alison, you and your team were amazing and I can’t say enough."
"I have had the most wonderful time on the Wulfhall tour! I’m very glad I came and am really looking forward to the next one."
"As always, it was wonderful to be with the AWT crew."
"I have had the most wonderful time on the Wulfhall tour! I’m very glad I came and am really looking forward to the next one."
"As always, your latest tour was absolutely wonderful, and such a terrific group of guests and speakers."
"The time I spent on the tour was so much more than I expected. I enjoyed every bit. Congratulations to everyone for the incredible planning of this trip. I hope I can join you again in the future."
"Alison, you worked so hard to give us such a wonderful trip."
"Many thanks for all your hard work to provide such a spectacular trip."
"Thank you for everything on our tour. I had a terrific time and everything was first rate as usual. It was wonderful to travel with people I consider friends.Thank you also for the lovely gifts. There are so many books to read from the historians on the tour which will keep me busy for quite a while. Thank you again for such a wonderful tour. I truly enjoyed it and wish you the very best going forward."
"John and Jo, thank you so much for all your help on the AWT tour. I had a wonderful time. All of the special arrangements you made for me were flawless.
Thank you again for everything. It is wonderful to have you both as friends."
"I wanted to thank Alison especially but also Siobhan & all the historians & John & Jo for The Wulfhall Tour. I know how much work went into the planning & execution, & I am still amazed at how much I learned & want to investigate further, including reading all of the books I brought home & the ones I still need to search out! There is no better way to make history come alive than with Alison Weir Tours. It was wonderful seeing you all again & I appreciate everyone's incredibly hard work & efforts throughout the tour. I definitely hope to join you all again!"
"Alison, I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to join you, all the other amazing historians, and the guests on the tour. It was a unique and remarkable experience that I will never forget. I was impressed by the luxurious accommodations and fascinated by the rich historical content of the lectures and the sites, but what I will remember most is your grace, kindness, and hospitality. I hope to read many more new books that you author, and to see you again on another tour."
"Thank you to Alison, all her historian friends, and Joanna and John for another fabulous time. I loved our time together and will miss you all."
"Wonderful tour. Terrific company."
"I thoroughly enjoyed the tour, it was fabulous, as always."
"Wulfhall was a rousing success, well-planned and flawlessly executed. We saw wonderful historical sites of interest and heard fascinating lectures from outstanding historians. It was a special treat and I thoroughly enjoyed it."
"I loved this tour. It had an incredible camaraderie. I think of the tours as Alison’s Weir’s extended family. The quality of the historians, the in-depth historical information can’t be beaten."
"I have had the most wonderful time on the Wulfhall tour! I’m very glad I came and am really looking forward to the next one."
"We had a great time on the tour. The Julian and Mike team are a great addition to the historians."
"Wulfhall was my first AWT trip but definitely not my last. It gave me a greater appreciation of my own country and the knowledge of my fellow travelers from the US and Australia was extraordinary. Most of all I loved spending time with the historians. Their interaction, debate and banter brought the Tudor world to life."
"The Wulfhall tour was wonderful and I enjoyed every moment! Also, I appreciated staying in only two places. It’s restful to unpack and to settle in for a few days at a time. Please give my compliments to Alison and all her team for a well organised and most successful tour. Those of us touring with AWT feel as though we belong to a broad family where we are made to feel truly welcome."
"[We] had a wonderful time on the Wulfhall tour and are looking forward to future tours. Seeing 'The Lost King' with Mike was very special."
"We were both so impressed with this wonderfully curated tour, such attention to detail, it was a joy to hear all of the lectures and meet and speak with all of the historians."
"The tour was great and it was especially wonderful not having to pack up every two or three days!"
"This was the best trip that I have ever taken and would love to do it twice a year if possible."
"Such a lovely group of people, it made the tour extra special. I enjoyed every minute of it."
"The Wulfhall tour was another magical experience, engaging, interesting and fun. The historians were brilliant, as always. Thanks to all involved for another wonderful memory."
"I thoroughly enjoyed the Wulfhall tour! Being with like minded travelers, the fabulous historians, and John and Jo was perfection. Thank you and the Alison Weir Tours team for a remarkable tour! I look forward to more adventures with AWT!"
"Thank you so much for a wonderful trip. I've learned so much from all the talks on the bus and the lectures, and I can't wait to dig into all of these subjects further."
"We have had a wonderful time on this beautifully curated tour. What a fabulous group of historians you have put together! I enjoyed all the wonderful places that we got to explore, but my favourite were all the lectures. Such a memorable experience."
"Many, many thanks for a tour I will always remember. You and your wonderful team were so very welcoming and friendly and the historians were fabulous! You all really made history come alive. Everything was so well organised, and as for the lovely gifts, you blew me away! I absolutely loved everything, and I learned so much. Thank you!"
"Thanks so much to everyone with AWT. The trip was an incredible adventure! I loved the stays at the Manor House and the Royal Crescent. I really appreciate everyone helping with the back issue I encountered. Alison was so kind to trade rooms with me in Bath. I was able to enjoy visiting everything, just avoided some upstairs spaces."
"The tour exceeded my expectations. I loved Castle Combe, and enjoyed staying there. The hotel in Bath was gorgeous. The historians on the tour were terrific and the talks were pitched at the right level - very entertaining. A real highlight for me was Chavenage. I knew nothing about it. Seeing a place that is still lived in has a completely different feel to somewhere where things are roped off. Of course Caroline and George were wonderful and Caroline in particular had me in stitches. Similarly with Westwood. Having read about people playing the virginals, I now know what they look and sound like."
"I really enjoyed The Lost King and it was special to have Mike [Dr Michael Jones] with us. This was my first Alison Weir tour and I'm addicted! I loved all the historians - their commentaries were excellent and they interacted so well with all of us. They even knew my name. The accommodations and meals were first class. I was a bit concerned but I learned there would be over 30 guests but it worked. Everyone was friendly and we had common interests. I also recognized how important John is to the success of the tours - he's a true professional."
"Best time! Thank you."
"What an incredible trip! Oh my gosh, I will be thinking about it for a long time."
"I so loved the recent tour, it was incredible. The trip far exceeded any of my expectations and it was simply fantastic. My children said that they cannot remember my being so happy and excited. Thank you for that gift."
"Many thanks again AWT for another phenomenal adventure."
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