Downton Abbey VIP Private Tour with no ropes

You have watched every episode of Downton Abbey and probably own boxed seats of each series. Contessa’s will be conducting a one week tour in September of 2015 and  you will be able to relive some of your favorite moments through our exclusive access visit to Highclere Castle, the family home of the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon.  In addition, there are On Location visits to some of Oxfordshire Cotswolds villages featured in the different episodes.

Topped and tailed with time in London, the tour also includes leisurely visits to Hampton Court Palace, Blenheim Palace and the University of Oxford.

This will be a seven-day tour.  Contessa’s is pleased to offer this tour. We invite you to contact us now for further details and itinerary.

 

Downton Abbey/Highclere Castle – Fall 2015 Tour

On January 7th and 8th we worked all day at Contessa’s on our Downton Abbey/Highclere Castle strategy, in conjunction with our travel group contacts in the UK.  The end result of this meeting is that we are now looking at September of 2015 to visit Highclere. Like you, we were hoping to gain entrance this fall, but since there are only 90 days per year in which to visit Highclere, it is indeed difficult to gain entrance. Disappointing at best, but we will press forward to bring this tour to fruition.

Lord and Lady Canarvan take up residence during parts of each year, and there are many private events, weddings and of course there is the ongoing filming of the PBS series.  We will do our best to secure dates in September of 2015 and fill you in when any new news becomes available.

Please do stay tuned to our blog: http://www.contessas.wordpress.com for future updates.

Highclere Castle/Downton Abbey Tour to the UK

Contessa’s is in the beginning stages of preparing a tour to the United Kingdom.  The highlight of this trip is of course going to be Highclere Castle, aka Downton Abbey.  We did start collecting names of interested parties last summer and fall.  We will be in touch with those folks fairly soon by email.  For those of you who may have an interest now, we keep a ledger with names and email addresses at the shop.  Please ask Contessa if you would like to add your name to the list of possible travelers.  You are under no financial obligation or in need to commit, at this early stage, but for the sake of numbers, it will help us plan if we know about how many of you may have a wish to go with us.

This tour, due to the popularity of the series on PBS has been on our drawing board for months.  We have run into numerous hurdles and are still working with three group travel companies in the UK that have strong connections to Highclere.  We must first secure tickets into the castle and then plan the tour around those very specific dates.  We are looking at a time frame sometime between September 1st and September 15th of 2014.  The windows of opportunity to actually secure access to the castle are very tight indeed.

Our USA resident tour coordinator is my personal friend of 30+ years and she owns her own tour and travel company.  We will be visiting and planning at the shop on January 7th and 8th.  Together we will be reviewing dates, prices and destination spots along the tour in Hampshire.

As developments of the tour materialize we will make specific announcements via our blog;  http://www.contessas.wordpress.com  Please subscribe to the blog on our home page and you will automatically receive up-to-date information as we plan this exciting event.

We want to remind you that once we are able to secure tickets, the window to lock in firm commitments can be short.  The tour companies have so many requests that it’s definitely first come, first serve.  If we are given dates, we must buy on the spot.  So make sure this is a destination you really want to be part of.

This event will be fun and exciting.  Prior to departure we will gather as a group at least twice so you will meet those who plan to go along.  A 2014 Downton Abbey Calendar with beautiful pictures is available for purchase at Contessa’s now.

Contessa’s Goes To Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey, really known as Highclere Castle is the current real life home of the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon.  Downton Abbey a hugely successful drama series with over 11 million viewers in the UK and now shown in over 100 countries around the world has us all captivated.  What will happen to Branson now that Lady Sybil has died?  Will Mr. Bates every get out of prison?  Will Matthew be able to control expenses at Downton and will Lady Mary have a child soon?  So many questions that we are all on the end of our seats waiting for events to unfold.

Contessa’s is currently planning a trip to Downton Abbey in Hampshire in the Spring of 2014.  We would love to have 20 people take this tour to England with us.  Stop by Contessa’s and discuss details as they unfold.

In conjunction with the English traditions, Contessa’s will be serving our new imported British black tea every Sunday.  Stop by and have a chat with Contessa and all our Downton Abbey fans.