WINCHESTER AND OXFORD Literature and Art

7 days | £2950 per person | 25 April - 1 May 2027

Literature and Art

A little over fifty miles separates the cities of Winchester and Oxford and although both share longstanding historical significance, the former as England’s ancient capital, the latter as a global bastion of learning, they retain a distinct character that has been immortalised by the pen or brush of many an artist. Winchester was the centre of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England that grew out of Alfred's Wessex, serving as the primary capital of England between the 9^th – 11^th centuries. As the royal seat, the city became a magnet for the arts, enticing great literary figures and master craftsmen alike and imbuing it with a grandeur and mystique that inspired Thomas Malory to claim Winchester for King Arthur’s legendary capital of Camelot in his 15^th-century text, Le Morte d’Arthur. In the early 19^th century, so moved by the beauty of the city was the visiting poet John Keats, he penned one of his most famous odes to it. We too will follow his path and drink in the air he deemed to be ‘worth sixpence a pint’.

Oxford has been seducing scholars since the 12^th century, and its dreaming spires have inspired and nurtured countless works of outstanding literary and artistic genius. Belloc stated that, ‘there are few greater temptations on earth than to stay permanently at Oxford in meditation, and to read all the books in the Bodleian’ and the city’s intoxicating atmosphere of academic history and youthful spirit ensure a visit is always a restorative and deeply inspiring experience. This charming new tour will pay homage not just to these two urban jewels but will also celebrate the wider landscapes that knit these cities into the patchwork of the lovely English countryside. Offering the chance to appreciate some of southern England’s most picturesque landscapes and the myriad artistic works they have inspired, it is not to be missed.

Day to day Itinerary

Day 1

Independent afternoon arrival at our hotel in Winchester. After settling in, enjoy drinks and an introductory talk from your tour lecturer, which will set the scene for the week’s explorations.

Day 2

A day on foot in Winchester, where literary connections echo through the centuries. As our footsteps converge with those of Chaucer’s characters in the Canterbury Tales, our own literary pilgrimage will include Jane Austen’s tomb in Winchester Cathedral, and Winchester College, where the second, previously unknown, manuscript copy of Sir Thomas Mallory’s Morte d’Arthur was discovered in 1934. In the afternoon, we follow Keats’ Walk, the beauty of which inspired his famous Ode to Autumn. Continue to Saint Cross, pausing to share in the panoramic view described in final tragic pages of Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles before our walk concludes at St Cross Hospice, which sits in the serene water meadows alongside the River Itchen. Return by coach to our hotel.

Day 3

By coach to Itchen Valley. Admire the view across the lake to handsome Avington Park before visiting Avington Church. Built by Margaret, Marchioness of Caernarvon in 1768-1771, the charming interior retains all of its original fittings, salvaged from an Armada galleon, alongside a notable memorial to John Shelley, brother of Percy Bysshe Shelley. Afterwards, a stroll along the River Itchen, primary inspiration for Izaak Walton’s much-beloved classic, The Compleat Angler, takes us to an idyllic riverside inn for some lunch before we travel on to The Grange at Northington, one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture in England. Our final visit of the day is Hinton Ampner House, the inspiration for Henry James’ chilling gothic novella, The Turn of the Screw. Less haunting are the fine gardens, in which we will enjoy refreshments before returning to Winchester.



Day 4

Bid Winchester farewell after breakfast. En route to Oxford, our journey will take in Watership Down, the prominent chalk hill that inspired Richard Adam’s classic novel of the same name, and Sandham Memorial Chapel, home to Stanley Spencer’s stirring mural cycle commemorating the ‘forgotten dead’ of WWI. Enter Oxford via Boar’s Hill, setting of two of Matthew Arnold’s most famous poems, The Scholar Gypsy and Thyrsis, the success of which drew many further artists and poets to the area, Robert Bridges, John Masefield and Robert Graves among them. Continue into the city to check in to our hotel before a visit on foot to the magnificent mediaeval Duke Humphrey’s Library, the oldest of the 27 libraries at the Bodleian, and nearby All Souls College.

Day 5

A day on foot in Oxford. We begin at Merton College, renowned for its links to J.R.R. Tolkien, who was inspired to write many of his stories during his time as Merton College Professor of English Language and Literature, and T.S. Eliot, who was a student here. Continue to the Botanic Garden, where Lewis Carroll frequently walked with young Alice Liddell and her sisters whilst working as a lecturer at nearby Christ Church. After lunch, visit New College Chapel, which boasts an El Greco and Jacob Epstein’s moving Lazarus sculpture. Our day concludes at the fabulous Ashmolean Museum, Britain’s oldest public museum, with a collection that spans half a million years of art, history and archaeology.



Winchester Royal Hotel

A former bishop's home dating back to the 16th century, the Winchester Royal Hotel sits at the heart of one of England's most beautiful cities. Characterful and welcoming, with an award-winning restaurant and a pretty walled garden, it makes the perfect base for exploring ancient Winchester.

Tour Price:  £2950

Single Supp:  £375

Deposit: £350

Departure Dates:

25 April - 1 May 2027

Duration:

6 nights / 7 days

Your Holiday Includes:

• Three nights’ bed and breakfast at the Winchester Royal Hotel
• Three nights’ bed and breakfast at The Store, Oxford
• Private coach transfers and excursions
• Three evening meals and three lunches
• Guided visits to the sites and monuments listed in the programme
• Services of the Tour Lecturer and a Tour Manager
• All entrance fees, taxes, and gratuities for coach drivers and serving staff
  

Tour Lecturers

Nigel McGilchrist

Living and teaching in the Mediterranean area (Italy, Turkey and Greece) for over forty years, Art Historian Nigel McGilchrist began work with the Italian Ministry of Arts in the field of wall painting conservation. He has taught for universities both in the USA and in Italy, and now lectures independently for the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and for a number of other cultural organisations.. He has accompanied over eighty art and architecture tours in both Europe and Asia. With a particular interest in Buddhism and its art, and a family connection with Japan, he has taken groups to Bhutan, India, Cambodia, Thailand and Japan. He is the author of a 20-volume series of books on the art, history and architecture of the Greek Aegean Islands; and his most recently published book on Pythagoras (When the Dog speaks, the Philosopher listens) draws on the deep connections between Greek and Eastern philosophy.



Travel Information

The price does not include extras at the hotels or travel insurance.

Please note that Art Pursuits use hotels of character featuring a variety of rooms & styles.

Stamina

Please note that most of our tours involve a large amount of walking, across uneven ground and often without the opportunity to sit down for at least half an hour. We ask that clients inform us if they have difficulties before booking to avoid any issues whilst on tour.

This tour in particular involves extensive amounts of walking.