Information and brochure available from following the link below: https://www.tailored-travel.co.uk/haveringartssociety_northwales_2024 Please contact Maureen Harris to book this tour Featuring Half board accommodation A full programme of included excursions & guided tours Entrance fees to non-National Trust properties included Train excursion on Day 3 included Blue Badge guide included on Days 2 to 4 Executive coach throughout Attingham Park Bodnant Gardens Plas Newydd Country House & Gardens Portmeirion Ffestiniog Narrow Gauge Railway Caernarfon Castle Llanberris Conwy Castle Plas Mawr Powis Castle & Garden ITINERY Day 1 We depart in our private executive coach from our designated pick up points. En route to our hotel we visit the National Trust’s Attingham Park in Shropshire. This elegant 18th century mansion was the ancestral home of the Berwick family for over 160 years. Each generation has left its unique mark on the house which vividly recalls the England of Jane Austen. This huge mansion is set in a magnificent deer park, artfully landscaped by Repton. One of the greatest country houses in Shropshire, it contains important collections of Regency furniture, Grand Tour paintings and ambassadorial silver. We continue to the 3* Celtic Royal Hotel at Caernarfon for a four night stay on half board basis. Day 2 Our Blue Badge guide meets us at our hotel this morning and accompanies us throughout the day. The 80 acre National Trust property at Bodnant Gardens is our destination this morning. Located above the River Conwy the gardens feature huge Italianate terraces and stunning views across Snowdonia. This afternoon we visit the National Trust’s Plas Newydd Country House and Gardens. Associated with the 1st Marquess of Anglesey, who commanded the cavalry at the Battle of Waterloo, Plas Newydd is a beautiful 18th century country house with spectacular views across the Menai Strait to Snowdonia. Day 3 We visit Portmeirion where we have free time to explore and relax in this charming Welsh village. We then enjoy an included scenic one way excursion on the Festiniog Narrow Gauge Railway from Porthmadog Station to Blaenau Ffestiniog. The rest of the day is at leisure in Caenarfon, or you may choose to accompany our Blue Badge guide on a visit to Caernarfon Castle. Begun in 1283 as the definitive chapter in Edward I’s conquest of Wales, Caernarfon was constructed not only as a military stronghold but also as a seat of government and royal palace. Day 4 This morning there is an optional excursion on the Snowdon Mountain Railway, Britain’s only rack and pinion railway. If you choose not to partake in the optional railway excursion, the morning is at leisure in Llanberris, and on an individual basis you may choose to visit the National Slate Museum. We continue with our Blue Badge guide to Conwy Castle, completed in 1287 and one of Edward I’s chain of Welsh fortresses. We then visit Plas Mawr, the finest surviving Elizabethan town house anywhere in Britain. Robert Wynn, third son of a local landowner, bought this mansion house in Conwy for £200, and between 1576 and 1585, turned it into a celebration of his life, times and wealth. Day 5 After checking out of our hotel and before returning home we visit the National Trust’s Powis Castle and Garden. Laid out under the influence of Italian and French styles, this world famous garden retains its original lead statues, and the medieval castle contains one of the finest collections of paintings and furniture in Wales. Taking carefully selected comfort stops en route we return back to our original pick up points. |