- General
- FOD & Wye Valley
- North Cotswolds
- South Cotswolds
- East Cotswolds
- Royal Cotswolds
- Pick-Ups
- Hotel Collections
Marchants Coaches Are Proud to Present A New Series of Guided Day Tours For 2011
Every Tuesday between April and October, we can meet you at one of our Gloucester and Cheltenham coach stops and take you on a really interesting and enjoyable day out. All of our sightseeing tours are with a qualified tour guide. There will be a mid-morning stop, a stop at lunchtime and again a stop in the afternoon before we make our way back to Gloucester and Cheltenham.
We will visit destinations as far apart as Thornbury and Berkeley in the south to Chipping Campden and Broadway in the north, Forest of Dean and Wye Valley in the west and Oxfordshire in the east.
Join us for many informative and memorable guided coach tours. Enjoy the stunning countryside and discover more about this important region in and around Gloucestershire and the Cotswolds. So leave your car behind and join us on one of our special days out.
Adults £20.00
Senior £19.00
Child £15.00
Forest of Dean & Wye Valley
Our full day tour will uncover some of the mysteries and beauty of the Forest of Dean, which lies between the River Severn and River Wye. During the afternoon we will explore the picturesque and dramatic limestone gorge of the lower Wye Valley.
We will take a scenic route into the Forest to enjoy the broadleaved woodlands and conifer plantations carpeted with dense green bracken and grazed by deer, wild boar and sheep. This wooded sandstone plateau was once very heavily mined and quarried for its rich sources of coal, iron ore and building stone. Today we only get interesting glimpses of the Forest of Dean’s past industrial activities. We will, from the comfort of our luxury coach, enjoy the tranquil and natural beauty of the landscape and hear stories about Free Miners, Admiral Lord Nelson and even the fictional Harry Potter.
For lunch, we will stop in one of the border market towns of Coleford, Monmouth or Chepstow, so you can lunch, sightsee or shop before we set off to travel alongside the river Wye. In the early 19th century this area attracted the first English tourists, including famous writers, poets and artists. Our professional tour guide will tell you more about the history and heritage of this unique area of outstanding natural beauty, as we pass the romantic ruins of Tintern Abbey and see a towering Norman stone castle built on the cliff edge above the mouth of the river Wye.
Depending on the time of year, we will choose a stop for afternoon tea at a craft centre, a village or a viewpoint to enjoy more of the highlights of this fascinating area before we head back to Gloucester and Cheltenham.
North Cotswolds
Our full day will depart from Gloucester and take you to the Regency town of Cheltenham famous for its 19th century spas. We will explore the historic town centre before travelling north, passing Cheltenham Racecourse, home of the National Hunt Festival and the Gold Cup. We will drive along the western edge of the Cotswold escarpment to enjoy stunning views across to the Malvern hills. We will travel through the ancient Saxon town of Winchcombe, through some charmingly pretty honey coloured Cotswold stone villages as we make our way to Broadway for coffee.
This famous village, much loved by visitors, has lots of stylish cafes and historic coaching inns to enjoy, as well as many individual quality shops to discover. After coffee we will travel further into the Cotswolds to enjoy the beautiful landscape and discover more medieval towns and villages. Our lunch stop will be in one of the market towns such as Moreton in Marsh, Chipping Camden, Stow-on-the- Wold or Bourton-on-the Water.
After lunch we will continue on through some lesser known villages, a little off the beaten track, towards the town of Burford. We will stop for afternoon tea before taking a look at a village which William Morris described as “the most beautiful in England” before we return to Cheltenham & Gloucester.
South Cotswolds & The Severn Vale
From Cheltenham, our full day will take you via Gloucester to the edge of Coopers Hill where the strangest of sports takes place. Coopers Hill is the venue for the internationally famous “Cheese Rolling” competition. We drive on to Painswick village, known as “The Queen of the Cotswolds” which is famous for its church and 99 Yew trees.
We will stop for coffee in Stroud, an old town, standing in the centre of the five valleys, where many fine and productive cloth mills enabled the town to grow in prosperity. We will travel on to explore the variety of Cotswold stone villages that nestle spectacularly in river valleys around this area.
From here we will either follow the river Severn, to explore villages around the market town of Berkeley. We will catch sight of the oldest inhabited castle in England overlooking the east bank of the Severn. It is still inhabited today by descendents of the family from whom the town takes its name. It was here in the town that Dr Edward Jenner famously inoculated a young boy with cowpox to prevent him getting the more virulent and deadly Smallpox.
Alternatively we will pass fascinating monuments and visit the intriguing ‘wool’ towns of the south Cotswolds such as Dursley, Wotton-under-Edge and Chipping Sodbury.
Whichever route we take, you will hear about some of the influential personalities who have made their mark here, the history, the pageantry and folklore of the area as well as seeing some of the best views in the county.
East Cotswolds
For our full day tour we will depart from Gloucester and Cheltenham and make our towards Stow-on-the-Wold. There are many interesting scenic routes to take so we may drive past stone relics left by prehistoric man, as we head out towards the glorious village of Woodstock so you can visit the museum, shop or find lunch in on of the many fine coaching inns or quaint little tea shops. Here we will find out about the World Heritage Site, Blenheim Palace, which was built as a reward for the Duke of Marlborough for winning a war.
Another option is to travel through the Cotswold Water Park, said to have more lakes than the Norfolk Broads and on to Lechlade, a riverside town on the banks of the River Thames. St Laurence church with its tall spire was where Percy Bysshe Shelly composed his poem ‘Stanzas in a Summer Evening Churchyard’. Here you can enjoy an interesting stroll over Halfpenny Bridge and watch the boats on the upper reaches of the navigable river, or look around the shops or have lunch in a coaching inn in this historic town. We will probably make our way home through the fascinating medieval town of Burford, whose historic main street crosses The meandering River Windrush over an ancient packhorse bridge. There are a variety of interesting places to explore on this scenic tour of the East Cotswolds.
Or we may take another route via the Roman town of Cirencester and meander through the back roads and interesting villages towards Witney and the dreaming spires of Oxford. We give you time for lunch and a chance to explore the chosen destination before making our way back to Cheltenham and Gloucester.
Royal Cotswolds
As this is the year of the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, this full day tour will explore some of Gloucestershire’s royal connections past and present.
We will depart from Cheltenham Racecourse, famous for its Gold Cup Festival, beloved by the Queen Mother and visited by Her Majesty, the Queen in 2009. Prince William and Kate Middleton have also attended the races along with many other royals and famous celebrities, who come to enjoy the excitement and the atmosphere of Gold Cup Week in March.
We will make our way through some interesting Cotswold towns and villages, with royal connections, towards Cirencester, where Princess Anne and Princess Diana and their families have enjoyed shopping from time to time. After a coffee stop in Cirencester we will travel across Minchinhampton Common, through Hampton Fields, near the home of Princess Anne towards the attractive market town of Tetbury, famous for its Woolsack Races. A lunch stop in Tetbury will allow you to visit the Highgrove shop opened by Prince Charles in 2008. Tetbury shops have served the Royal Household for many years and some have gained the prestigious Royal Warrant. After lunch we will travel past Highgrove, the Cotswold home of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall as we make our way down the escarpment for our afternoon stop before heading back to Gloucester and Cheltenham.
A choice of places to meet the coach.
SP-1 From Cheltenham to Gloucester
- 09.15 Race-course car park (Free parking & P+R nearby)
- 09.30 Royal Well (Bus stops, Taxi rank & car-parks nearby)
- 09.38 94 stop Benhall (opp GCHQ)
- 09.42 94 stop Arle Court (opp GCHQ)
- 09.45 Churchdown
- 09.50 Nine Elms (old Gloucester Rd)
- 10.00 Lister Buildings (Bus stops, taxi rank and car-parks nearby)
SP-2 From Gloucester to Cheltenham
- 09.15 Lister Buildings (Bus stops, taxi rank and car parks nearby)
- 09.25 Nine Elms (old Gloucester Rd)
- 09.30 Churchdown
- 09.33 94 stop Arle Court (GCHQ side)
- 09.37 94 stop Benhall (GCHQ side)
- 09.45 Royal Well (Bus stops, Taxi rank & car-parks nearby)
- 10.00 Race-course car park (Free parking & P+R nearby)
Meeting times may vary slightly because of traffic congestion, however the coach will not depart from these places before the time stated.
Hotel Collections
For visitors to Cheltenham staying at our outlying hotels we are pleased to offer a new collection service from your hotel to meet the coach in the centre for a small additional fee.
Bookings can be made through the Tourist Information Centres in Cheltenham and Gloucester or direct at our office in Clarence Street, Cheltenham in person or by telephone.
Adults £20.00
Senior £19.00
Child £15.00