Heart of England

This tour is wonderful. The places we went to were spectacular. It's hard to pick favourites, but mine were the Cotswolds and Bath.
I had an amazing time and as a solo traveller I was welcomed and befriended by all the other guests. I especially liked the small group size.
Our guide Terry Gibson was fantastic. He was so friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.
Phillip, our driver was great. It was lovely that he joined on us on certain occasions.

Guide Terry Gibson (and driver Phil) were outstanding and toook the best care of us all. The tour was well planned, the sites we visited were beautiful and well presented. Our high tea was amazing (thank you Anna at Old Rectory Pop Up Teas) and our gatherings in the evening were jovial and breakfasts pleasant.

This was truly the best group tour I have ever been on. It was well organized, perfectly placed, very entertaining, and highly informative. The tour guide, Terry Gibson, was professional and helpful, while the driver, Phil, was both highly skilled and entertaining!! The high tea was a total delight!!!

The tour was excellent. The highlight was the Cotswold villages with their stone houses, thatched roofs and running streams. Our tour guide and driver provided a fun atmosphere. Hotels were of a good standard. Very enjoyable few days.

Very well organized. Guide (Darren) and driver (Phil) simply the best. Fun tour. Enjoyed seeing the beautiful Cotswold villages and learning the history of the area.

Guide Darren and driver Phil treated us to a fact and fun filled week around the Cotswolds. Darren’s commentary and banter was well received and added to the enjoyment and knowledge of this beautiful parts of England. Loved it.

Our tour guide, Darren, and the driver Phil were both great. We never felt pressured to rush, and Darren was very knowledgeable and fun. Our only disappointment was the Wellington Blue Orchid Hotel. It took forever to check in, the room was ok, but there were no outlets in the bathroom to use the hair dryer and no Mirror to use it outside of the bathroom. Food was not very good either. The staff did their best to be helpful and were very friendly but didn't have much to work with, can't blame them in the least. That was the only thing we weren't happy with. Everything else was great.

Lovely villages, interesting history

Charlie was outstanding.

The tour takes you to great places. The Cotswalds and Bath are scenic wonders and if you had any relationship with Shakespeare in school,, Stratford on Avon may be the most fun. Our guides were very good. The Mercedes van rides nice but can feel a wee bit cramped if you are a tall or wide person. Hotels were nice and perfectly located with fairly good food as well. My only criticism is that the tour tried to cram a little too much into 5 days. There was little time to explore on your own anywhere other than Bath. The other days you went to about 6:00 p.m.

We covered a lot of ground in the five days. We were taken care of and had zero issues or concerns about getting from one place to the next.

Saw many lovely places I've only seen on TV. Our tour guide was so knowledgeable and gave so many insights into historical places. He was also very friendly, patient and kind. Would certainly take a tour he was hosting any time.

Our tour guide, Lesley and driver, Dennis looked after us throughout the tour. Our bus was a great size and accessible to parking and areas larger buses wouldn’t be able to go, also easy to see out, so we could see the countryside as we toured the back roads. We enjoyed the villages we visited, the tours organised despite the rainy weather on one day. The tour of Oxford which was take. By a student was informative but lasted for 1 1/2hrs was too long. Longleat Stately Home tour was amazing. We enjoyed the tour, lots for us to see and make new memories.

It was a most enjoyable tour. My special thanks to the Tour Leader and to the Tour Driver for all that they did for us. I was happy with the places we visited and were well covered, plus their knowledge and hospitality leave me with the best of a great time.

Nick was a super, knowledgeable guide, and Romeo was an excellent driver. The area covered in this tour is wonderful!
My only concern is that Day One of Back Roads tours begins at supper-time in London, so the tours are more rushed than they used to be.

Will recommend this wonderful tour to all my friends.
Russell Smith

Excellent tour guide

We were very much looking forward to this tour and in most aspects it did not disappoint. The beautiful countryside that we saw on the way to Oxford and in the Cotswold's was a feast for the eyes. A camera just does not capture the beauty, you need to see it to appreciate it.
We highly rate the tour of Oxford by a local guide as one of the highlights of this trip.
A low light was that Janice, our Tour Leader was unwell, not completing the tour. It was disappointing that Backroads did not have a real back up plan to ensure that we were given the optimum experience of the tour. Lee, the driver did his best but it's a hard ask expecting him to step up without notice.

Exceeds expectations

The sites we saw were great. Our tour guide did not seem knowledgable about the area. She also did not give us advance notice about our daily itinerary and texted us the night before as how to prepare for the next day. She gave conflicting information about where to meet and at one point left some of us behind. Sadly, she became ill and had to leave the tour on our last day. The driver got us to where we had to be but no one from the tour company met us there.

This was my first tour and it was very unsettling for me not to have a daily start and end time. I thought that would be easy to provide well in advance of the tour but I was repeatedly told to wait.

The hotels were good. The Swan's Nest was my favorite.

Well planned, good guide & driver.
A very happy tour.
I have done 7 tours with BRT now, all of a high standard of organisation & interest with flex ability when needed.
I have 2 more tours before I go home again.
Cathy Robson

The tour would be great for those who haven’t been to mid England before.
There was a huge amount of time by yourself to fill in. I would have preferred more to do eg be shown some of the local special spots or activities.
Bad weather didn’t help. But my fault for being in England at this time.
Thanks tho

Easy paced
Very informative
Excellent accommodation
Well structured

Cramped coach & the Wellington hotel VERY poor performance - it lets down the trip.

It was really resonable for the type of small group. Driver & Guide made the trip special for us.

It was wonderful. Only a small group. Our guide Rachel was perfect for the role.

Well worth the cost. Good value

Trip covered our most desired locations

Tour was great because of the places we visited.

Excellent Tour!! I would recommend this tour and would use this company again.

Interesting places to see and good timing when travelling between them

This tour had almost everything we wanted to see. We would even consider taking it again.

Good value for the money!

Tour gave a taste of England outside of London, which we know well. Delightful towns, beautiful countryside, and fascinating history.

Very good guided tour both tour guide, drivers and fellow travellers

The tour itself was very good. I took my mom who is 80 and the pace of the tour was excellent. The sleeping arrangements were good except for the Shakespeare hotel. It was awful, out dated, dirty and the staff were rude. Otherwise all the other hotels were great.

Beautiful countryside with informative commentary from our guide.