Overview

A sell out in 2023, this popular tour offers a great combination, steam trains, a canal boat trip, the excellent Black Country Museum where we discover the history and heritage of the West Midlands and the fascinating Museum of British Road Transport. As a contrast we feature a beautiful stately home.

Your Accommodation:

The 4 star Sketchley Grange Hotel and Spa is situated on the borders of Leicestershire and Warwickshire. This elegant country house hotel is nestled away in the Heart of England and combines the perfect blend of past and present. Facilities include Spa with indoor swimming pool. All bedrooms are en-suite and have television, telephone and tea/coffee making facilities.

Your Itinerary:

From your front door to the waiting Club Class coach for our journey to Warwickshire arriving in the afternoon at the Sketchley Grange Hotel. We enjoy tea/coffee and biscuits on arrival with time to settle in well before dinner.

Our day begins with a drive south to historic Coventry where we visit the Museum of British Road Transport, with over 400 artefacts and thousands of items of memorabilia from the golden age of cars and cycles. The museum is only five minutes’ walk from the world-famous Coventry Cathedral. We have time for lunch here before we head off to Baddesley Clinton House, not far from Warwick. This atmospheric moated house has been a sanctuary since the 15th century; the peaceful gardens, fish pools, romantic lake and walled gardens are a delight.

This morning we make for the little village of Foxton. Here we board ‘Vagabond’, an elegant motor launch, for a trip on the Grand Union Canal, seeing the Foxton flight of 10 locks, and gently passing through peaceful countryside. At Foxton, there is a canal-side pub where refreshments are available. In the afternoon, we head for the northern outskirts of Leicester where we join the Great Central Railway for a nostalgic steam train ride for 18 miles to Loughborough crossing picturesque Swithland Reservoir on the way.

We ride to Kidderminster and join the Severn Valley Railway for a ride along the valley to Bridgnorth, passing through delightfully restored stations on the way. From here we head for the Black Country Museum in time for lunch. If you’re a fan of ‘Peaky Blinders’, you may recognise the museum as many scenes were filmed here!

After breakfast we begin our homeward journey returning to our home area mid afternoon following a relaxing break.

* Insurance Premiums are renewed from 1st January 2024.