Downton Abbey Tours

Highclere Castle is lived in, and only open for touring for part of the year. I visited a few years ago from London. I bought my ticket online at the castle site, and traveled by train and taxi.
https://www.highclerecastle.co.uk

I booked my tour through Viator and had no problems whatsoever--it was the highlight of my trip to London last September! We had an excellent & very funny guide named Andrew who entertained us with a vast range of knowledge about London as we exited the city on the bus and everything we saw in between stops, and he's definitely a Downton fan, full of lots of info. The tour isn't cheap and I believe I paid approx $180 US but it was well worth every penny. https://www.viator.com/tours/London/Small-Group-Downton-Abbey-and-Highclere-Castle-Tour-from-London/d737-5528IFHIGHCLERE

First stop was Cogges Manor farm that was used as Yew Tree Farm in the show--plenty of time to explore the gorgeous farm, house, and eat scrumptious bacon sandwiches & scones at their little restaurant. An hour from there was Bampton, again plenty of time to explore the old church (lots of couples wanting their photos taken at the altar) and graveyard and see a bit of the charming village that is frozen in time, plus a little shop with official Downton Abbey items (Highclere's shop keeps the focus on Highclere items, lots of good stuff there). Another hour and we arrived at Highclere around 12:30...as we approached the grand drive he played the theme music and some of us felt quite emotional about it :) We were then on our own for a little over 4 hours, able to tour the house after 1 pm and the grounds are lovely to explore, several places to get hot and cold food items that were very tasty...artisan game sausage sandwiches, salads & such. We arrived back in London around 6 pm.

I have visited Oxford separately, and while it's also a fascinating town, I really was very happy with the 3 places we visited, the quality of the guide & the amount of time at each location and enjoyed seeing the countryside as well, thus I felt I got as thorough a look at my beloved Downton sites as I am ever likely to.

christa, your tour sounds wonderful. I understand Viator is just a broker for other companies tours. I wonder if it’s possible to book a tour with the company that did yours and not go through Viator. I ask because i’ve read posts on this forum from people who’ve had problems w Viator. I know i would love the tour you did.

I don't think I was ever aware of the actual company name--I was just so relieved to have been able to get a tour at all since I was in London on the very last weekend the Castle was open and my only free day was that Sunday. I've now booked through Viator several times--3 in England, Third Man tour in Vienna, Auschwitz, and had no problems. I generally hate being carted hither and yon in a bus with other tourists but sometimes it's the best way to see outlying areas conveniently.

Thanks christa, makes sense.

Hi:

I did that exact tour booked through Viator. I cannot remember the actual tour provider. It was a wonderful and memorable experience.

The tour departed from the Victoria Coach Station. Our guide was wonderful. I felt we had ample time in all three places. On the way back into London, our guide spoke with each of us to ask where we were staying/where we were going after the tour and she kindly asked the driver to drop us off at key points along Cromwell Road.

Enjoy!