5 Day - Haunted Ghost Tour of Wiltshire, Bath, Wales, Cotswolds & Stratford-upon-Avon

This tour is designed so that a pre/post tour London extension can be added to the tour. Alternatively the tours can be combined to make a longer tour.

Day One - Stonehenge - Lacock Village - Bath
Morning visit to the mystical and awe-inspiring stone circle at Stonehenge. On then for an afternoon visit to medieval Lacock village, dating back to the 13th century and remains largely unchanged over the centuries and has many lime washed, half-timbered and stone houses. During the Middle Ages Lacock became a prosperous and thriving town through its wool industry. On arrival visit the 13th Century Abbey which is no stranger to sightings of the undead, according to local author Kathleen Wiltshire. Her book 'Ghosts and Legends of the Wiltshire Countryside' tells several tales of ghosts in the abbey. It was said that two children staying at the abbey were frightened when an ugly little man walked through their room. Many years later a skeleton was found buried in the wall of that particular bedroom - the skeleton of a deformed man. The ghost of a young woman has been seen near the lake and her identity is not known although it could be any number of fair maidens who died here, including Rosamund, the lover of Henry II. She may have met her death at the hands of Queen Eleanor (formerly Eleanor of Aquitane, Henry's older and jealous wife). This will be followed by a visit to the Fox Talbot Museum, commemorating the life and work of William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-77), a former resident of Lacock Abbey. A gentleman scholar of considerable means and social standing, he studied the arts and sciences and kept detailed notes of his endeavours. In 1840 he discovered the negative/positive photographic process. Continue to Bath to check-in at your accommodation for the next 3 nights.

Day Two - Open top Bus Tour of Bath - Roman Baths & Pump Room - Ghost Tour of Bath - Bath
After breakfast enjoy an Open Top Bus Tour of Bath, taking in the major sights. This will be followed by a visit to the Roman Baths & Pump Room, the best preserved Roman religious Spa from the ancient world. Enjoy some free time for independent sightseeing or shopping in this beautiful Georgian City. In the evening enjoy a Ghost Tour of haunted Bath.

Day Three – Tintern Abbey – Castell Coch – Cardiff Castle – Bath
After breakfast take a day excursion into Wales for a visit to Tintern Abbey, the best preserved abbey in Wales and ranks among Britain’s most beautiful historic sights. Elaborately decorated in ‘gothic’ architecture style this church stands almost complete to roof level. Turner sketched and painted here, while Wordsworth drew inspiration from the surroundings. On then for a visit to Castell Coch, a fairytale castle in the woods and designed by William Burges as a country retreat for the 3rd Lord Bute, every room and furnishing is brilliantly eccentric. The young son of Dame Griffiths fell into a bottomless pool of dark water within the precincts and was never seen again. His mother was inconsolable and soon died from her grief. Her ghost restlessly continues to wander about the castle and its surrounding woods. Following the death of the Marquis of Bute, Lady Bute continued to live in the castle but was, it is rumoured, driven out by the constant appearances of the ghostly white lady. Continue into Cardiff for a visit to Cardiff Castle, where the second Marquess of Bute began restoration of Cardiff Castle but died in 1848. He is said to appear by walking through the fireplace of the library. He leaves this room by passing through a six-foot-thick wall into a corridor, and then passes through the wall of the chapel into the room in which he died. The main dining-hall of the castle is also disturbed. At precisely 3:45am heavy doors open and shut by themselves and the lights flash on and off. A "faceless vision in a flowing grayish-white skirt" has also appeared in a stockroom close by, where things get disarranged. Return to your accommodation in Bath late afternoon.

Day Four – Tour of Cotswolds Villages – Sudeley Castle – Cotswolds
Depart for a tour of the lovely honey stone coloured Cotswolds villages to include time for browsing and shopping in the quaint villages. During your tour a visit will be included to Sudeley Castle, set against the beautiful backdrop of the Cotswolds hills. Despite its history of royal attachments dating from the twelfth century, Katherine Parr being a resident here at one time, the only known ghost who remains is that of a former housekeeper known as “Janet”. A former secretary to the owner saw the woman in a mop cap, a white blouse, a long skirt in faded pink and white cotton which reached to her ankles and black shoes, gently moving about the ‘needlework bedroom`. She has also been seen standing in the main bedroom and coming out of the Rupert Room, by a number of visitors. `Janet` once lived in a cottage in Rushley Lane and was deeply devoted to the castle. Check-in at your accommodation in the Cotswolds for the next 2 nights.

Day Five - Warwick Castle – Shakespeare’s Birthplace – Stratford-upon-Avon - Afternoon Tea – Cotswolds
Depart your hotel for the journey to Warwick for a visit to Warwick Castle, where Medieval England is bought back to life and the history of the castle dates back to the 10th century. There will be an opportunity view the Great Hall, State Rooms, Chapel and Ghost Tower and a pre-booked entry visit to the Castle Dungeon, are you brave enough to enter? It has witnessed some of the darkest, bloodiest and most frightening times in history. This experience is set to echo part of the Castle’s past, taking you back to 1345, when the town was gripped by the plague. In true Dungeon style, gore seekers will be greeted by decaying bodies, chanting monks, torture implements, execution and ‘the labyrinth of lost souls’. Continue to Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare to include a visit to Shakespeare’s Birthplace. Finally a traditional afternoon tea at haunted Ettington Park Hotel, where a grey lady has been known to materialise near the great stone staircase and drift about the spot where she reputedly died, having been pushed down the stairs on an unspecified date. As she remembers her tragic demise a ghost, whom staff have christened “Lady Emma”, sometimes drifts along the cloister-like terrace, her translucent figure resplendent in a flowing white dress. Meanwhile, on the banks of the River Stour that flows through the grounds, the wraiths of two children, wearing old-fashioned clothing have been seen. One guest was woken by the sound of a child sobbing outside and, on looking out of the window, saw the shadowy phantoms gazing pensively into the river. In the library bar, a battered copy of Sir Walter Scott’s St Ronan’s Well has sometimes been lifted off the shelf and flung across the room, where it always opens at the same page on which the text concerns a curse. Return to your accommodation in the Cotswolds for overnight.