Exploring Ancient Britain on foot

Join Odyssey on the Walking Ancient Britain tour, a fully escorted, small-group, 20-day program that will take us through Britain's ancient towns and walkways, hidden gems steeped in over 5,000 years of human history. We will walk through the region surrounding Salisbury, Bath, and Stroud in the southwest of England and along the border with Wales. The tour includes some of the greatest walkways in England. We will typically walk between ten to twelve kilometres to explore these routes and you'll enjoy the beautiful scenery with like-minded people.

Walk on England's Oldest Walkways

This walking tour of ancient Britain will take us through sections of some of the most amazing walking tracks in England:

• Silchester Circular Track
• Great Stones Way
• Ridgeway Track
• Cotswold Way
• Offa’s Dyke Path
• Malvern Hills Track

We will walk along some of the oldest roads in Europe, following in the footsteps of traders, pilgrims, herdsmen, soldiers, and travellers. On this tour, we visit Neolithic hill-top forts, ditches, ramparts and burial sites, Bronze and Iron Age villages markets, houses, and ruins. We will see evidence of Roman occupation and visit Norman castles and cathedrals. On each walk we will uncover more about the thousands of years of human enterprise that this part of England has witnessed.

Explore Ancient Britain's Myths and Legends

The tour will give us the opportunity to explore myths and legends and learn about ancient rituals. We will see where Saint George slayed the mighty dragon and where King Arthur had his legendary round table. We will see one of the oldest maps on Earth. And, above all we will visit Britain’s most famous landmark, the Woodhenge and Stonehenge complex. We will learn that there is more than one explanation for this unique structure.

This walking tour of ancient Britain takes us across rolling hills, beside mighty rivers, through deep valleys, along man-made dykes, through woodlands, around lakes, into magnificent caves and across farmland where sheep and cows graze. The lumps and bumps in the landscape as well as the dry stone walls are all integral to the history.Views are often quite stunning.

Salisbury Cathedral will impress, and so too will the range of abbeys, churches, quaint villages, museums, manor houses, markets, canals, battle sites and natural hot pools. This is also the best part of England to see chalk carvings, often of white horses, on hillsides.

Enjoy a Pleasant Stroll in Autumn

There will be picnics and lunches at cosy pubs. Comfortable hotel rooms to return to, group meals and plenty opportunities to dine out and sample the local cuisine.

The tour is at the end of summer and beginning of autumn. Mornings will be crisp with generally quite pleasant afternoons. The colours of autumn will surround us giving the landscape a special, memorable beauty. Conkers lay scattered about, squirrels gather nuts, birds flutter by and England’s wildlife will be in all its glory. We will enjoy the scrunch of leaves underfoot as we stroll along tracks and through parks dusted with auburn, red, and golden leaves. We will admire early evening sunsets with the sky illuminated by bursts of turquoise and pink.

We will be accompanied throughout the tour by an Odyssey Tour Leader. There will be local guides with specialist knowledge to assist in the presentation of information. We will always have at our disposal a comfortable modern coach with frequent stops.

Walking Ancient Britain tour is offered to the active mature walker in the Autumn as the leaves begin to turn. As a result, this is a holiday program suited to a senior couple or solo travellers who enjoy a good walk. The total number of participants in this tour will be 12 or fewer with the addition of an Odyssey program leader.

Walking Ancient Britain is only one of many walking tours offered by Odyssey Traveller. These active tours are designed for the mature traveller to enjoy in a small group holiday and learning environment. Other England tours by Odyssey Traveller may also be of interest.

For more details of this tour, click the ‘Top 5’ or ‘Itinerary’ buttons above! If you’re keen to experience this tour, please call or send an email. Or, to book, simply fill in the form on the right hand side of this page.

• Active
• Hiking and Walking
• Level 3 - Moderate to Challenging