We depart the Blackmore Vale and head to our hotel in Harrogate with a stop for lunch. We aim to get to our hotel for mid-afternoon where you will have time to freshen up before dinner. The Cedar Court Hotel is located in the heart of historic Harrogate overlooking 200 acres of the pristine Stray parkland.

Day 1: After breakfast, we will visit the unique Ryedale Folk Museum, where local history – from the Iron Age to the 1950s – is brought to life through the Museum’s buildings and collections. This includes a typical Iron Age roundhouse, a Medieval crofter’s cottage, a thatched Elizabethan Manor House, an 18th Century thatched cottage with rare wooden witch post. An Edwardian daylight photographic studio – the oldest in the country. A nostalgic 1950s village shop and chemist.

In the afternoon we will be visiting where James Herriot, the world’s most famous vet, lived, worked and relaxed. See his home and surgery in Thirsk; travel back in time to what life was like when James was a vet in Yorkshire. You will see his 1940’s Home, Original Austin 7 Car, the Farrier’s Workshop, Herriot Memorabilia and much more!

Day 2: In the morning you will have free time in Harrogate to shop or relax. In the afternoon we will be going uphill and down dale, to visit the Yorkshire Dales National Park which is home to some of Yorkshire’s most iconic scenery and attractions. With spectacular limestone valleys, picture-postcard villages and historic castles, it’s a place that will stir your emotions and stimulates the senses.

Day 3: Today we will visit Scampston Hall, one of the finest examples of a Regency country house in Yorkshire. Restored to its full glory in the 1990s. One of Scampston’s team of experts will guide us through the hall’s magnificent collection and of the family that has resided here since the late seventeenth century. Then outside to the Walled Garden which is a strikingly beautiful contemporary garden set within the 18th-century walls of the original kitchen garden.

In the afternoon we will travel to visit Castle Howard, one of Britain’s finest historic houses. Discover the house at your own pace, admiring its awe-inspiring architecture, interiors and world-renowned collections. Castle Howard’s 1000 acres of parkland are a mixture of lakeside terraces, woodlands, temples and statues.

Day 4: After breakfast, we say our farewells and start the return journey home. A stop for lunch and then a leisurely journey back to Blackmore Vale arriving late afternoon/early evening.

Included:

• 4 nights dinner, bed and breakfast at The Cedar Court Hotel, Harrogate
• Complimentary drinks throughout your journey

Depart Stalbridge: 09:00  –  Return Stalbridge: 19:00 approx (All itineraries are approximate and subject to change)