driver to Highclere Castle

[lifeizgr8]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a driver to take us to Highclere Castle from London?  Thank you

[cruiserking]

On 6/22/2021 at 4:43 PM, lifeizgr8 said:

Does anyone have a recommendation for a driver to take us to Highclere Castle from London?  Thank you

You have posted a question in the middle of the Anthem Roll Call section. 

 

A much more appropriate spot to glean information for your trip to London would be here at the British Isles/Western Europe forum:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/148-british-isleswestern-europe/

 

Jonathan

[Host Kat]

On 6/22/2021 at 3:43 PM, lifeizgr8 said:

Does anyone have a recommendation for a driver to take us to Highclere Castle from London?  Thank you

 

Howdy @lifeizgr8 

 

Welcome back to the Cruise Critic message boards!  I see it has been awhile since you have posted on the boards. 

 

To help you out I have moved your new thread to the Ports of Call - Europe - British Isles/Western Europe forum mentioned above by @cruiserking. Please browse through the thread titles on this forum l👀king for threads of interest. You will probably find  your fellow Cruise Critic members have already posted questions and received answers that will be of interest to you.

 

Be sure to use the Follow feature on this thread. That way you will not have to go l👀king to see if there are replies because they will come l👀king for you!  If you need more info on how to do it, please see How to: Follow Topics & Forums (Subscribed Threads/Forums Info). 

 

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I sincerely hope this will be helpful and glad to have you back aboard Cruise Critic! 

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat  

[phabric]

On 6/22/2021 at 4:43 PM, lifeizgr8 said:

Does anyone have a recommendation for a driver to take us to Highclere Castle from London?  Thank you

I took an all day Coach tour with -

 

www.evenevenstours.com

[turnip eater]

Should that be evanevantours.com?

auto correct strikes again 😳

[phabric]

2 minutes ago, turnip eater said:

Should that be evanevantours.com?

auto correct strikes again 😳

No, it is www.evenevenstours.com

[turnip eater]

Do you know where they are based? 

 

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, turnip eater said:

Should that be evanevantours.com?

auto correct strikes again 😳

 

1 hour ago, phabric said:

No, it is www.evenevenstours.com

 

There is no website for either name. But there IS a web site for https://evanevanstours.com/

 

🙂 

 

Note that their day trip from London called "BLENHEIM PALACE, DOWNTON ABBEY VILLAGE & THE COTSWOLDS" artfully mentions the Downton Abbey "village" and does not mention Highclere Castle, nor does the tour description mention Highclere Castle let alone an inside visit.   In fact, when you scroll to the bottom of the tour page, it says this:

 

"This Tour does not visit Highclere Castle from the Downton Abbey series"

 

"Disclaimer: This Tour is an unlicensed and unauthorised tour of sites featured in the television series 'Downton Abbey' produced by Carnival Film and Television and NBCUniversal International Limited. Evan Evans Tours Limited and this tour do not have any association with, connection to, sponsorship by or endorsement of, the television series 'Downton Abbey', Carnival Film and Television or NBCUniversal International Limited"

 

Edited June 30, 2021 by Turtles06

[turnip eater]

Oops a bijou typing error on my part, but it does take you to correct site.😳

A bit naughty to name Downton Abbey village etc. We’ll spotted!

[phabric]

If you go on www.evenevenstours.com - under

 

 Day Tours from London-

bottom of page-

Highclere Castle & Oxford Tour from London from £89. 

 

This is the tour I took in 2018.

 

[Post Captain]

Just to help sort out the confusion over various "Downton Abbey" locations -- and at the risk of inadvertently adding to the confusion:

 

The so-called "Downton Abbey village" and Highclere Castle are in two entirely different locations.  Many of the exterior scenes set in "the village" were filmed in Bampton, some 20 miles west of Oxford.  Exterior scenes set in the grounds of "Downton Abbey," as well as "upstairs" interiors, were filmed at Highclere Castle, approximately 35 miles south of Bampton.  (And the "downstairs" kitchen and servants quarters were sets constructed at Ealing Studios, London.) 

 

The easiest way to reach Highclere Castle is by train from Paddington Station to Newbury, then taxi from Newbury station to Highclere.  Pre-pandemic, I believe tickets for admission to Highclere Castle had to be booked in advance; presumably the same procedure will obtain whenever the castle is again opened to the public.

 

 

[phabric]

6 minutes ago, Post Captain said:

Just to help sort out the confusion over various "Downton Abbey" locations -- and at the risk of inadvertently adding to the confusion:

 

The so-called "Downton Abbey village" and Highclere Castle are in two entirely different locations.  Many of the exterior scenes set in "the village" were filmed in Bampton, some 20 miles west of Oxford.  Exterior scenes set in the grounds of "Downton Abbey," as well as "upstairs" interiors, were filmed at Highclere Castle, approximately 35 miles south of Bampton.  (And the "downstairs" kitchen and servants quarters were sets constructed at Ealing Studios, London.) 

 

The easiest way to reach Highclere Castle is by train from Paddington Station to Newbury, then taxi from Newbury station to Highclere.  Pre-pandemic, I believe tickets for admission to Highclere Castle had to be booked in advance; presumably the same procedure will obtain whenever the castle is again opened to the public.

 

 

This was the tour Highclere Castle & Oxford.  I took with Even Evens tour company.  We stopped in Oxford, we walked around on our own. Drove to Bampton walked around on own to see the exterior film sites. Drove to Highclere Castle walked around the castle and grounds.  Our ticket did not include the lower area - kitchen area.

 

We received a signed copy of The Countess of Carnarvon’s book Lady Catherine and the Real Downton Abbey.

[John Bull]

20 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

 

There is no website for either name. But there IS a web site for https://evanevanstours.com/

 

🙂 

 

Note that their day trip from London called "BLENHEIM PALACE, DOWNTON ABBEY VILLAGE & THE COTSWOLDS" artfully mentions the Downton Abbey "village" and does not mention Highclere Castle, nor does the tour description mention Highclere Castle let alone an inside visit.   In fact, when you scroll to the bottom of the tour page, it says this:

 

"This Tour does not visit Highclere Castle from the Downton Abbey series"

 

"Disclaimer: This Tour is an unlicensed and unauthorised tour of sites featured in the television series 'Downton Abbey' produced by Carnival Film and Television and NBCUniversal International Limited. Evan Evans Tours Limited and this tour do not have any association with, connection to, sponsorship by or endorsement of, the television series 'Downton Abbey', Carnival Film and Television or NBCUniversal International Limited"

 

 

 

As per the posts by Post Captain & Phabric, Turtles is looking at a different EvanEvans tour. The tour taken by Phabric is this one https://evanevanstours.com/tours/day-tours-from-london/highclere-castle-oxford-tour-from-london/

 

JB 🙂

Edited July 1, 2021 by John Bull

[Turtles06]

5 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

 

As per the posts by Post Captain & Phabric, Turtles is looking at a different EvanEvans tour. The tour taken by Phabric is this one https://evanevanstours.com/tours/day-tours-from-london/highclere-castle-oxford-tour-from-london/

 

JB 🙂

 

JB, thanks very much for pointing that out. 

 

(Interestingly, Phabric has continued to insist they toured with Even Evens.  🙂 )

[John Bull]

8 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

JB, thanks very much for pointing that out. 

 

(Interestingly, Phabric has continued to insist they toured with Even Evens.  🙂 )

 

Evan Evans is patently Welsh.

Evans is the fourth most-common family name in Wales. And centuries ago in Wales the father's forename became the children's surname, so such names aren't uncommon. Plenty of double-barrelled surnames in Wales too, because the limited number of forenames caused confusion about family ties. So Evan Evans might be forename & surname, or might be a double-barrelled surname.

No real mention of the family history in the Evan Evans website, but a pound to a penny their origins are in Wales

 

JB 🙂  

[Langoustine]

20 hours ago, phabric said:

 Our ticket did not include the lower area - kitchen area.

The kitchen area at Highclere has been extensively modernized, and looks NOTHING like the set constructed for  Downton.