This specially designed tour takes you to Thomas Hardy’s Wessex, including Dorchester (Casterbridge), Salisbury (Melchester) and Stonehenge. The tour is completely private. You and your party will be our only guests. What’s more, the pace is unhurried. You’ll have plenty of time to immerse yourself in Hardy’s world and enjoy every site you visit (literary, non-literary, film and TV locations).
The Thomas Hardy Tour has been thoughtfully designed by the experts at Literary Tours of England. However, we’re flexible: the tour can be modified to reflect your personal tastes and preferences. The itinerary can even be adjusted en route to take account of weather conditions, local events, etc. If you wish, your tour can be extended to include London and/or other areas of England.
The tour includes:
- Met by guide at LHR
- Personal guide/driver
- Comfortable vehicle
- 4-star luxury hotels
- Breakfast every day
- Expert city guides
- Site/attraction entrance fees
- Tips, service charges, etc
- 24/7 local support
For lunch, afternoon tea and dinner (per your preference) your tour guide will help you find the type of eating establishment and food you like, from country pub to fine cuisine.
Day 1: Drive to Dorchester
You are met at London’s Heathrow Airport by your personal driver / tour guide. The relaxing drive to Dorchester takes approximately two hours. Your four-star hotel is right in the town center, within walking distance of all amenities.
Day 2: Explore Dorchester
A full day to enjoy this charming town and its Hardy associations.
Dorchester was the inspiration for Casterbridge in Hardy’s novels. In the town center there’s a striking statue of the man himself. From there it’s a short walk to Hardy’s last home, Max Gate, now owned and managed by the National Trust. A trained architect, Hardy designed and supervised the building of Max Gate himself and he lived there from 1885 until his death in 1928. Attached to the house is a beautiful garden, still very much as Hardy planned it, with high walls and tall trees for maximum privacy. There’s also a pet cemetery in which Hardy buried his beloved dogs and cats. Hardy wrote some of his greatest novels at Max Gate, including The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the D’Urbervilles (1891) and Jude the Obscure (1895). He also wrote almost a thousand poems there. We’ll also visit the Dorset County Museum, which houses the largest collection of Hardy artifacts in the world, plus a faithful reconstruction of his study at Max Gate with his furniture and books. (Note: the museum is closed for extensive redevelopment until the summer of 2020). There’ll be plenty of time for shopping and visiting other local attractions, including The Keep Military Museum and The Teddy Bear Museum.
Day 3: Explore nearby villages
A full day to visit Hardy’s birthplace and grave and other sites.
It’s a short drive from Dorchester to the village of Higher Bockhampton. Here, nestled in the Dorset countryside, is Hardy’s Cottage, where Thomas was born in 1840 and spent the first 34 years of his life. Like Max Gate, the property is now owned and managed by the National Trust. From the Visitor Centre an easy walk through ancient woodland brings you to a clearing that provides a spectacular view of the pretty thatched-roof cottage below. Built by Hardy’s great-grandfather, the cottage has been preserved much as it was when the family lived there. With its tiny rooms, small windows, stone floors and open hearths, it’s clear that rural life in 19th Century England was not at all easy. It was here that young Thomas learned about the hard lives and traditional customs of neighboring villagers. The idyllic setting also fired his imagination, with its proximity to the splendors of nature. He wrote his first great novel, Far From the Madding Crowd (1874), in his bedroom. In the nearby village of Stinsford is Hardy’s grave. At least, his heart is buried here (in St Michael’s Church): his ashes are buried in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey in London. Close by – and well worth a visit – is Clouds Hill, also a National Trust property, the remote retreat of TE Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). Lawrence would meet with friends here, among them Thomas Hardy. Lawrence was living at Clouds Hill at the time of his death in 1935, age 46, in a motorcycle accident on a nearby road.
Day 4: Drive to Salisbury
Enjoy picturesque villages, ancient towns and historic sites along the way.
Eight miles north of Dorchester we’ll stop briefly in Cerne Abbas, a quintessentially quaint Dorset village, famous for the Cerne Giant, a 180 ft high ancient chalk figure carved into the steep sloping hillside above the village. These days the Giant is looked after by the National Trust. A further ten miles north we’ll come to the ancient market town of Sherborne, one of the most beautiful small towns in all England, with its old-world high street full of irresistible shops. Sherborne’s historic buildings include the Abbey Church, Sherborne School, Sherborne Castle & Gardens (where we’ll plan to spend an hour or so) and Sherborne Old Castle. The town’s Abbey Close was a prominent location for the 2015 film of Far From the Madding Crowd. From Sherborne we turn east for the 16-mile drive to Shaftesbury, another typically Dorset market town, with thatched cottages, quaint tea shops and small specialty shops. Shaftesbury is one of the oldest and highest towns in England, with a history going back to Saxon times. Gold Hill – one of the steepest streets in England – affords magnificent views over Hardy’s Blackmore Vale. We’ll linger in Shaftesbury for a while before driving the 20 miles across Cranborne Chase (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) to Salisbury. Your four-star hotel is right in the city center, within walking distance of all amenities.
Day 5: Explore Salisbury
A full day to enjoy this splendid city and its many historic sites.
The beautiful and ancient city of Salisbury (Hardy’s Melchester) contains many timbered buildings and some of England’s finest historic houses. The city’s centerpiece is the ornate 13th Century cathedral with its soaring spire and working 14th Century clock. The Chapter House holds the best preserved of the four original Magna Carta manuscripts dating from 1215. We’ll visit Mompesson House (in Cathedral Close, another National Trust property) which served as Mrs Jennings’ London home in the award-winning film of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (1995). We’ll also visit nearby Wilton House, the magnificent home of the 18th Earl of Pembroke, which has been used as a location in many popular films including The Madness of King George (1994), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Mrs Brown (1997), Pride and Prejudice (2005) and The Young Victoria (2009). Scenes from The Crown (2016-19) and other TV shows were also filmed in the house and grounds.
Day 6: Visit Stonehenge
A full day to enjoy the great prehistoric monument and nearby sites.
Standing on Salisbury Plain, just nine miles from the city, is the massive and mysterious marvel of Stonehenge: a ring of standing stones, each around 13 feet high and weighing around 25 tons. This stone circle is a masterpiece of engineering that archeologists believe dates from 3000 BC to 2000 BC. Together with Avebury and other prehistoric relics in the area, Stonehenge is a unique World Heritage Site. It’s a suitably eerie setting for the final scene of Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles and was used as such in the BBC’s worthy 2008 adaptation, starring Gemma Arterton and Eddie Redmayne.
Day 7: Drive to Heathrow Airport
The easy return journey to London’s Heathrow Airport takes only one-and-a-half hours. We’ll stop at significant sites along the way if time permits.