Walking Holidays and Private Tours

DAY ONE Arrive at your accommodation and settle in. DAY TWO Visit Hardy's Cottage, his birthplace, set amongst a peaceful landscape of woodland and heath and where he wrote Far From The Madding Crowd and Under The Greenwood Tree. Wander the surrounding countryside and then visit Stinsford Church where his heart lies buried alongside his family and both his wives. DAY THREE A tour of north Dorset where he lived with his first wife and where he wrote Return of The Native. See the setting for Tess's Cottage, The Pure Drop Inn and Rollivers before heading back through some of the most bucolic countryside in England. DAY FOUR A day at leisure to explore Dorchester and its Hardy connections. See his original study which he left to the County Museum, stroll around Maumbury Rings which features in his novels and the Shire Hall old courthouse. DAY FIVE Visit Max Gate, the home Hardy designed and built for himself and where he lived until the end of his life. Here he wrote his later novels including Tess of The D'Urbervilles and Jude The Obscure. Afterwards, take a drive passing some of the settings for his novels and visit the tomb of the D'Ubervilles. DAY SIX Head home after a hearty breakfast.