England with British Tours by Tristan

When my granddaughter Melody, just 16, begged us to take her to England, I wanted her to experience the England I loved most. My husband, John, and I and our son Huntley traveled with Melody from June 29 to July 14, 2008.

We were lucky enough to find Tristan Marshall, owner of British Tours by Tristan (Denver, CO; 303/507-3844, www.britishtoursby tristan.com), on the Internet. I simply told him what I wanted: to see small, charming villages in Cornwall, the Cotswolds and York plus, of course, Stonehenge and Bath. Pubs, thatch-roofed cottages, castles — Tristan can do anything; you name it. Melody and Huntley ended up doing a lot of Harry Potter and Beatles stuff; we did museums.

Our cost, in high season, was $3,250 per person, which included 10 days and nine nights of touring, absolutely first-class B&Bs, breakfasts, dinners, pickup at our hotel in London and some entrance fees.

We stayed four nights in the fishing village of Polruan, Cornwall, and saw Daphne DuMaurier’s house, had lunch at the Jamaica Inn and went to Land’s End. Melody and Huntley spent hours exploring the ruins, beach and hidden cave at Tintagel Castle. The pubs were filled with Brits and their dogs.

In Thirsk, Melody wanted to stop and see veterinarian “James Herriot’s” (James Alfred Wight’s) surgery and the museum. We stayed two nights at Lady Anne’s B&B within the walled city.

We visited some “Harry Potter” film sites in Oxford and stayed in an 800-year-old B&B, Park Cottage, right next door to the entrance of Warwick Castle. This B&B was the most beautiful of our stay. With only five rooms, it is virtually always fully booked. Warwick Castle has demonstrations of crossbow archery and catapulting.

Typical of Tristan’s savvy, when we were going through Warwick he wanted to show us Castle Combe, not the castle but the village. We passed the sign to Castle Combe pointing to the right and went off to the left on a one-way unmarked road down into a hollow and the most charming village I’ve ever seen.

In 10 days we saw more than we have ever seen in a 3-week tour (and John and I travel internationally about four times a year). Everything was so much better than I had dreamed.

DEE HORNBACK

Los Altos, CA