Downton Abbey Film Locations & Blenheim Palace Day Tour

Highlights

• Visit some of the key Downton Abbey filming locations – Yew Tree Farm, Downton village, and more
• Discover stunning villages in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds
• Tour Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill
• Travel by luxury mini-coach to locations inaccessible by larger vehicles
• Enjoy a small group tour for a maximum of 16 people

Description

Head away from London and to the rolling limestone hills of Oxfordshire to see key filming sites of the hit series Downton Abbey.

The first stop on this full-day tour is Yew Tree Farm (Cogges). After a break for tea or coffee in the delightfully refurbished and rustic Cogges Café, you’ll enjoy a tour and learn about the relationship between the tenant farmers and landowners.

Next you’ll take a short drive to Bampton, a picturesque Oxfordshire Cotswolds village. The village has been used extensively in Downton village filming. Bampton Library was the site of the Downton Cottage Hospital and doctors’ surgery. St. Mary’s Church became Downton Church and Churchgate House was used as the Crawley’s family home. Walk along the street that was the scene of shops, the post office, and the Grantham Arms.

The stunning town of Burford, traditionally known as the Gateway to the Cotswolds, will be your destination for lunch. You’ll have a chance to see the famous Wool Church, built on the wealth of the wool trade, and have time to wander around this medieval market town.

After lunch you’ll enjoy a drive through the Oxfordshire Cotswolds countryside, stopping en route at the Swan Inn in Swinbrook. The Swan Inn was the site of the elopement of Lady Sybil with Branson, the family’s chauffeur!

On the approach to Blenheim Palace you’ll see the graves of Sir Winston and Lady Churchill in the village of Bladon.

At Blenheim Palace your tour begins with an introduction to the upstairs and downstairs of a class-conscious life. Built in the early 18th century for the first Duke of Marlborough, John Churchill, this historic stately home was the birthplace of Winston Churchill in 1874.

Discover how the aristocracy lived and how the state apartments increased in importance, as you move from room to room.

After the tour of the house, there will be time for a walk through the landscaped gardens to see the Temple of Diana where Sir Winston Churchill proposed to Clementine Hozier in 1908.