Heart of England
Anonymous July 2025

A very enjoyable trip. Covered a lot of the great sites.
Vehicle was good for the narrow roads. (Only suggestion would be to have Wi-Fi on board)
Group size about right.
The Guide was excellent. Very knowledgeable and entertaining.
Anonymous July 2025

It was a good tour, we saw and experienced as much as we could absorb. Recommended.
Anonymous July 2025

All good
Anonymous July 2025

The tip provided more experiences than I had anticipated.
Also, Terry was an exceptional guide. He was informative and caring.
Wendy Wi July 2025

The Backroads Heart of England tour was wonderful and my highlights was the Shakespeare history in Stratford Upon Avon and the gorgeous Cotswold villages and the yellow stone dwellings.
Anonymous July 2025

The Back Roads Tour, The Heart of England, was absolutely wonderful. Our guide, John Kerr and driver, Dan, were exceptional. We were well informed of the background stories to the places we visited and local guides were a wealth of local knowledge. Throughout the tour our fellow travellers were friendly and inclusive. Our accommodation was extremely clean and comfortable and included meals were well presented, tasty and enjoyable. We were well looked after throughout the tour and would not hesitate to book another tour and highly recommend Back Roads to others.
Anonymous June 2025

The tour was lovely overall, and Mike, our tour guide, was very knowledgeable and friendly.
The reason I rated it as 4 instead of five stars was due to the hotel accommodations on our tour. My hotel room in Stratford at the Swan's Nest was not acceptable. The room smelled horribly of cigarette smoke and the carpet was filthy. I asked if we could switch rooms, but they were fully booked. We ended up sleeping with the windows open to try to minimize the smoke, but we are allergic to smoke, and had difficulty resting in the room.
Similiarly, our hotel in Bath was also challenging because we did not have air conditioning, and the internet at the hotel constantly malfunctioned. Several other guests on our tour were placed in rooms without air conditioning, and we reported the problem, but the issue was not resolved in our room at it we visited in June when it was quite warm. Again, the hotel was fully booked and could not change our room, so we slept with our windows open and a fan.
Shirlie June 2025

I'm 86 years old. With very bad knees. And I'm here to tell you I would do this tour again in a heartbeat, with the exception of the long international flight and the one night with no air-conditioning during a heat wave. WHICH our great tour guide, Mike, did his best to alleviate, and we were moved for the second night to another room.
There was more walking and standing than anticipated, but I didn't want to miss a thing.... and didn't. We saw SO much. And learned SO much, And had so many unforgettable experiences, such as the beautiful and delicious high tea in a village where the newer houses were built in the 1600's!
I was hoping to see a few thatched houses.... I didn't see any mundane, American-style houses at all. And those back roads are really back roads!
I loved the stops in movie-set worthy villages. Everyone was friendly. The food was good to excellent.
One of the most beautiful parts of the journey was the delightful group of fellow travelers. The kind of people you would like to have long-term in your life. Aa treasured journey!
Anonymous June 2025

Well paced, well organised, well informed.
Excellent tour guide Terry Gibson and driver Ashley.
Thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Liked the small group.
Would recommend to all.
Alexis Vi June 2025

The Heart of England Back Road Tour was great, I saw some amazing places in the UK.
The Tour guide was informative and friendly and the Driver was great. A very memorable trip for my first time in England.
Regards Alexis Vining
8-6-25 to 13-6-25
Susan Id June 2025

This tour was more than we expected
Our bus was lovely and our tour guide Terry was absolutely amazing.
I would definitely tour with Back Roads again
Lynnette Da June 2025

had such a wonderful time. The guide was so knowledgeable and thorough in his presentation. I always enjoy traveling on the smallest roads possible and the comradery that is possible with small group travel
Anonymous May 2025

Thoroughly enjoyed our trip through the Cotswold region. Our tour guide and driver were the very friendly, knowledgeable and simply the best. Lots of interesting stops and free time to explore on our own.
Angela Ma May 2025

As we were due to do a cruise around the British Isles, this tour was the perfect add on to see this beautiful part of the country. We couldn’t have been more impressed by the gorgeous scenery and achingly pretty little villages. Our guide Daz and driver Phil were an added bonus, they were just fabulous. We would certainly recommend this tour to anyone wanting to see the true heart of England.
Carol K May 2025

Absolutely loved the tour! The small group is the way to go. You get personalized attention from the tour guide and you get to know your group.
Seeing the Cotswolds was the best- very beautiful. There is plenty of time allowed to see the different parts of the villages.
Daz, the tour guide and bus driver Phil were super friendly and knowledgeable.
Would definitely recommend!
Anonymous April 2025

Excellent value and experience
Jennifer Gr October 2024

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.
Jennifer Gr October 2024

Anonymous October 2024

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.
Jon Fi October 2024

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!!!
Lyn October 2024

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.
Anonymous October 2024

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.
Douglas Mc October 2024

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.
Anonymous October 2024

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.
Anonymous September 2024

Lovely villages, interesting history
Matthew Go September 2024

Charlie was outstanding.
Michael Ma September 2024

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.
Jean Ma July 2024

Anonymous June 2024

Anonymous June 2024

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.
Robyn Ch June 2024

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.
Anonymous May 2024

Will recommend this wonderful tour to all my friends.
Russell Smith
Sandra Ke May 2024

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.
Anonymous May 2024

Exceeds expectations
Anonymous April 2024

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
Sybil Ma April 2024

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
Anonymous April 2024

Easy paced
Very informative
Excellent accommodation
Well structured
Judi Ve October 2023

Cramped coach & the Wellington hotel VERY poor performance - it lets down the trip.
Cherryl Sp October 2023

It was really resonable for the type of small group. Driver & Guide made the trip special for us.
Susan He October 2023

It was wonderful. Only a small group. Our guide Rachel was perfect for the role.
Anonymous September 2023

Well worth the cost. Good value
Lauren Ba September 2023

Trip covered our most desired locations
Anonymous September 2023

Tour was great because of the places we visited.
Jennifer We September 2023

Excellent Tour!! I would recommend this tour and would use this company again.
Anonymous September 2023

Interesting places to see and good timing when travelling between them
Anonymous September 2023

Ruth We September 2023

This tour had almost everything we wanted to see. We would even consider taking it again.
Anonymous July 2023

Good value for the money!
Anonymous June 2023

Tour gave a taste of England outside of London, which we know well. Delightful towns, beautiful countryside, and fascinating history.
Anonymous October 2022

Very good guided tour both tour guide, drivers and fellow travellers
Brian Ga August 2022

Beautiful countryside with informative commentary from our guide.
Chester N September 2019

Beautiful countryside, history in our midst.