Downton abbey tour?

We love Downton as well. In 2022, We took the train from London to Newbury and a cab from the Newbury train station to Highclere. It was very easy. At Highclere we booked the afternoon tea experience and it was amazing.

I think it would be a real challenge to do this yourselves without a car. The two sites are 40 miles apart with no easy public transport between them.

In any case Highclere is in truth a pretty poor example of a stately home - there are much better options but they have just not been on TV.

Having been to many stately homes, we quite enjoyed Highclere. It doesn't have the same historic significance or grandeur of somewhere like Woburn Abbey, Hatfield House, Blenheim Palace etc (I could go on), but it's a very pleasant house that's on a much smaller scale, with its own charm. In addition to the Downton Abbey connection, there's also the 5th Earl's connection to the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb.

So sure, there are bigger, more historically interesting stately homes, but if you want to go it is fun, and it's an easy day trip from London by train and taxi.

I'm not really sure what added value a tour is going to bring you, except for visiting both locations in the same day. Bampton (not Brampton) can be visited pretty easily by public transport with an hourly bus service, and you can read about all the various filming sites.
on sites like this- https://explorethecotswolds.com/bampton-downton-abbey-village/

From Bampton you could then stay overnight in Oxford, Reading, Didcot or even Newbury itself, then allot the next day to Newbury and Highclere.
As well as the trains to Newbury there are also frequent buses from Reading and Didcot.

By taking two days you aren't rushing around to a fixed itinerary like you would be on a tour. If you want more time somewhere you are free to do that.

For an honest opinion of Highclere by fellow Americans see this you tube video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmNfGHpwCMk

I'll forgive you calling Downton Abbey corny! We visited during the height of the show. We rented a car out of Richmond for the day after evaluating options that all other options that seemed so inconvenient. I'm not sure what a tour package could offer you at Highclere unless it's for the transportation. When we visited on our own we were allowed to explore the rooms at our leisure; then visit the Egyptian collection downstairs and strolled around the grounds. And then if I do say so myself got a perfect family Christmas card picture with the castle in the background!

I visited Highclere Castle in 2018 as part of a long day trip from London that included time at Cogges Manor Farm (Yew Tree Cottage in the show) and the village of Bampton, which was the main village in the show--got to go inside the church and explore the town a bit. Lovely tour of the countryside as the 3 locations were 45 minutes or so apart, and then we had a good 4 hours to spend at Highclere, including a ticket to tour the interior and plenty of time to explore the grounds and gardens and have lunch. Beautiful day in early September. This was done through Viator and left London around 7 am, returning around 6:30 pm. I recall it was around $165, and I considered it well-worth the money as I got to see a lot more than just the site of my #1 favorite show--it remains a very happy memory of one of my best day trips ever. I hope you can find something similar, or go there on your own--it won't disappoint!

Thanks to all. Christa, I’ve seen the tour that you are talking about. Indeed a long day. There are a couple other tour companies that do Bampton and Highclere as a day trip. I hope to hear others’ experiences!