Private Day Tour to Oxford and The Cotswolds

On our trip to London, we wanted to experience the English countryside and booked the Private Day Tour to Oxford and The Cotswold. The experience did not disappoint. I was initially very disinterested in visiting Oxford as I knew nothing about it. Oh, I was so wrong. Our wonderful guide Peter made the city come alive. His knowledge of the history of Oxford and the surrounding area was fascinating. We then continued into the Cotswold's, visiting 3 lovely towns. During my research, I had saved a posting about the Porch House-England's oldest inn, and unbeknownst to me, tailored Tours had made a lunch reservation for us at their restaurant. The lunch was everything one would imagine, where we indulge in great fish and chips. Sometimes when I book through Trip Advisor getting in touch with the tour operator tends to be an issue as they are not all very responsive. This was not the case with Tailored Tours. Each time I emailed with a question, they responded in a very timely fashion. I cannot say enough wonderful things about our guide and driver Peter. The day was a highlight of our trip.

We had a group of 5 and the day was not at all what we expected, especially due to the large expense. We were basically stuck in a van all day with very poor visibility due to the high seats and head rests. We had no opportunity to stop and take pictures, we weren't even offered any water which was probably good since we were not allowed to stop and use a restroom until we insisted. And even then Will didn't want to because we didn't "have time." I had specifically asked to skip the Oxford portion to spend more time in the Cotswolds and we just flew through some amazing little towns without having the opportunity to get out and explore. The tour stated we could have lunch and we were hoping to stop in Stow on the Wold but just got blurry pictures of the beautiful main area as we wizzed by! We had a 30 minute stop to get a sandwich which we had to eat in the car because it was the only place in the little village and was swamped with people and took 20 minutes waiting in line. The day started by our guide complaining about having to pick us up at the Westin in London square and wanted to drop us at the tube at the end of the day because he didn't want to drive back through London. We felt extremely rushed all day, didn't get any lasting memories, and were talked to in a condescending way all day. I would recommend NOT taking this tour.

Tailored Tours created our best adventure! On our perfect Autumn day in the misty hills of the Cotwolds we saw where Hobbits much have first been imagined. Let your own imagination go and you will find what you dream of. We followed where our favorite authors caught inspiration walking the cobblestone lanes of Oxford. Turn your head and see towers Tolkien gazed at. At every nook and corner are reminders of C.L. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. At Holy Trinity Church in Stratford upon Avon we listened to a local bard recite Tolkien's 1936 poem Noel, just uncovered a decade ago, while standing at the feet of Shakespeare's epitaph warning to "Good Friends" to never disturb his rest. Tailored Tours created a day that exceeded our expectations! Take one of their tours or craft one of your own with them. Our amazing travel guide Christian entertained with wit and wisdom as our comfortable 21st. century coach became a time machine. Ask to have lunch at the local pub where a dog named Findlay greets you!