For details and Booking form click here

• Bologna – guided city tour, guided tour at the Pinacoteca Nazionale, the Anatomical Theatre & the International Music Museum & Library

• Mantova – guided tour of Palazzo Ducale & Palazzo Te

• Ferrara – guided city tour

• Ravenna – guided city tour, Neonian Baptistery, Mosaics of St Vitale & Mausoleo di Galla Placidia

We stay five nights at the 4* Hotel Touring in central Bologna (www.hoteltouring.it). Located close to Piazza S. Domenico, facilities at this hotel include a breakfast room and a lounge. All rooms are ensuite and feature television, telephone, hairdryer and a mini-bar.

A set three course dinner (as detailed in the itinerary) is included at a carefully selected trattoria near our hotel on the first and last evenings, and the remaining three nights are on a bed and breakfast basis.

• Insurance (including Covid cover) £79

• Single room supplement £149

• Local accommodation tax to be paid directly to the hotel (approximately €3 per person per night)

• Lunches • Dinners on Days 2 to 4 EXTRAS TO YOUR TOUR ACCOMMODATION

Click here to view the Brochure

Click here to view the details and booking form for the Extended Visit to Berlin and Potsdam between 21st and 26th April 2024.
 

The brochure and booking form for the extended visit for The Chateaux and Gardens of Normandy are now available.

In order to book for this trip please  click here to view the brochure and download and print the form and then send it to Eileen Gerrard along with your payment – either cheque or Debit/Credit card details. Her details are on the brochure.

In a change to what has happened in previous years the website will be the main access for the brochure. However, Eileen  does have a supply of hard copies and if anyone has a problem accessing the information on line then please get in touch with her on 01494 488322 and she will arrange for you to get a copy.

The different system has been driven by a need to try and give access to all our members, taking into consideration the fact that our numbers at “live” meetings have been reduced since the pandemic. Eileen will have copies at the September meeting but hopes that everyone who is interested will have been able to access the information by then.

In line with the day visits, which are now run in conjunction with High Wycombe, the opportunity to book on this will be offered to members of High Wycombe. So I recommend booking swiftly in order to secure your place

Having had to postpone the 2020 trip to Bologna three times before finally cancelling it was decided that the next visit would be within the United Kingdom. So in 2022 we are planning to cross the border into Scotland, with no flying or airports involved. The travel will be by private coach the whole way, keeping the coach for our visits while in Scotland. On the journey to Glasgow we will be visiting Little Moreton Hall in Cheshire while on the return journey we will visit Coventry Cathedral.

We will stay at the Hilton Glasgow Grosvenor which is situated in the city’s West End, adjacent to the Botanical Gardens and close to Glasgow University. From there our visits will include St Mungo’s Cathedral, Scotland Street School Museum, the Hunterian Gallery, the House for an Art Lover and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. We will also spend one day out of Glasgow sailing on Loch Lomond before visiting Hill House at Helensburgh on the River Clyde. On all of these visits we will be accompanied by a Blue Badge Guide.

In order to book a place on this visit please download the brochure and booking form.

Once the form has been completed please send it along with a cheque for your deposit and insurance (if required) to Eileen Gerrard. All the details for this are on the form.

In order to simplify the logistics of collecting completed forms and to adhere with safety procedures no completed forms or cheques will be collected at a lecture.

Please send all forms and cheques to Eileen Gerrard by October 20th at the latest.

This is a slightly different system to what has happened in the past but like everything – times are changing!!

Click here to view the Booking Form/ Brochure

Please click here to view the brochure

Click here for Tour Brochure

Features

• All excursions & guided tours included
• Entrance fees to non-National Trust
   properties included
• Welcome & farewell dinners
• Blue Badge guide on Days 2, 3 & 4
• Executive coach throughout
• Gratuities included
• Audio listening headsets on Days 2, 3 & 4

What we wiil see
• Kedleston Hall
• Liverpool – guided city tour
• Metropolitan Cathedral
• Liverpool Cathedral
• Walker Art Gallery – guided tour
• Port Sunlight Village
• Lady Lever Art Gallery – guided tour
• Ferry on the River Mersey
• Princes Road Synagogue – guided tour
• Antony Gormley’s ‘Another Place’ at
Crosby Beach
• Albert Dock
• Tate Liverpool – guided tour
• The Lowry – introductory tour
• Salford Quays

Accomodation

We stay four nights at the centrally located
4* Marriott Hotel (www.marriott.co.uk) at
Liverpool. Overlooking Queen Square,
facilities at the hotel include a restaurant
and bar. All rooms are en suite and feature
television, telephone, iron, hairdryer, an in
room safe, and tea & coffee making
facilities. Dinner is served at our hotel on
the first evening, with the second and third
night on bed & breakfast basis. A farewell
dinner will be served at a restaurant near to
our hotel on the final night.

Tour Extras.

• Single room supplement £99
• Insurance £24
• Entrance fee to National Trust’s Kedleston
Hall (free to NT members)
• Ferry on the River Mersey
 

Find inspiration in the Dutch Masters of Rubens and Rembrandt at the Rijksmuseum and visit the world renowned art collections at the Van Gogh Museum. Travel to The Hague for the Mauritshuis Museum, housing The Royal Cabinet of Paintings and also home to approximately 800 pieces of work, mainly from the Dutch Golden Age with art by Johannes Vermeer, Jan Steen and Frans Hals amongst others. Explore the laidback and relaxed city of Amsterdam, with its canals, world famous art galleries, museums and historical sights, making it one of the greatest small cities in the world.

Please Click here to view the Tour Brochure

You can obtain Booking Forms and Booking Conditions from Eileen Gerrard. Please send completed booking forms and payments (cheques payable to Norman Allen Group Travel Ltd) to Eileen at the address below:
Eileen Gerrard
Highwood
Bryants Bottom
Great Missenden
Bucks
HP16 0JT—01494 488 322 / eileenigerrard@gmail.com

Vienna's old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, reflecting in its splendid architecture its historic status as the capital of the Holy Roman and Austro-Hungarian Empires. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Vienna was the music capital of the world and the home of many famous composers, including Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms. There are numerous museums and art galleries, including the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History) as well as many coffee houses which allow visitors to relax over cream topped pastries and watch the world go by.

Please Click here for more detailed information on the tour

Barcelona is the capital city of the autonomous community of Catalonia in Spain and the country's 2nd largest city, with a population of 1.6 million within its administrative limits. Its urban area extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of around 4.5 million people, being the sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union, Founded as a Roman city, in the Middle Ages Barcelona became the capital of the County of Barcelona. After merging with the Kingdom of Aragon, Barcelona continued to be an important city in the Crown of Aragon. Besieged several times during its history, Barcelona has a rich cultural heritage and is today an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination. Particularly renowned are the architectural works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner, which have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean is located in Barcelona. The city is known for hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics as well as world-class conferences and expositions and also many international sport tournaments.

The Itinerary for this years visit to Barcelona is as follows Monday 20 April - Travel to Barcelona Tuesday 21 April - Parc Guell, La Sagreda Familia, Montjuic and Miro Wedn'day 22 April-Montserrat,Museum of National Art Thursday 23 April - Figueres, Dali and Girona Friday 24 April - Las Ramblas, Gothic Quarter and Picasso Saturday 25 April - Sightseeing and Home For more information please click "About us" then "Documents" and then "Barcelona Brochure". To read the brochure you will need Adobe Reader installed on your machine. If you do not have Adobe reader on your machine go to www.adobe.com/uk/products/reader.html‎ and install the free programme.

The Itinerary for this exciting tour - Wednesday 23rd April - Depart from Heathrow to Munich Thursday 24th April - Munich Tour & Nymphenburg Palace Friday 25th April - Residenz Palace Saturday 26th April - Bavarian Alps Sunday 27th April - Munich "Art Area" Monday 28th April - Airport and Home

Our first stop is a visit to Haddon Hall in Derbyshire. Originally a fortified manor house held by one of William the Conqueror's sons for 100 years, passing into the hands of the Vernon family. Henry V111's elder brother Arthur was a frequent guest of the Vernon family. The Hall passed through marriage into the Manners family in the 16th century.When the Dukedom of Rutland was conferred on the Manners family in 1703 they moved to Belvoir Castle and Haddon lay dormant for 200 years. This was its saving grace as the Hall escaped the major changes of the 18th and 19th centuries, ready for the restoration by the 9th Duke of Rutland at the beginning of the 20th century. Haddon Hall is a popular location for film and television productions. Pride & Prejudice was filmed there and the BBC dramatisation of Jane Eyre. We stay overnight at the Rutland Arms Hotel in Bakewell, for dinner, bed & breakfast. Bakewell is a very attractive market town with Anglo-Saxon origins, probably established by the warm springs,overlooking the River Wye and well worth exploring before we meet for dinner at the hotel. We spend a full day at Chatsworth House on the second day of the trip. Chatsworth was built in 1555, set on the banks of the River Derwent in 1,000 acres of parkland.The house is home to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, formerly the home of Deborah Devonshire, the Dowager Duchess who did so much to establish Chatsworth as a very significant tourist attraction in Derbyshire, and a significant art collection with master drawings on a par with Windsor Castle and the Ashmolean. There are 105 acres of garden with giant water features, a 300 year old cascade and a gravity-fed Emperor fountain, an exhibition of modern sculpture by William Turnbull and wonderful views. We arrive home at 7-8.00 pm depending on traffic.

What we saw The Hepworth Wakefield guided tour Durham guided tour Durham Cathedral guided tour Beamish Open Air Museum Alnwick Castle Cragside House & Gardens Lindisfarne Castle Boat trip to Farne island Hadrian's Wall country Hardwick Hall