Victorian Bookends: Austen & Hardy with Osher Study Group Leader Dot Dudley

Dates: September 7 - 14, 2008

Day 1 - Depart for London, England

Day 2 - Winchester
We arrive this morning at London's Heathrow Airport, where we will be met by our local tour guide for the short drive to Winchester. After checking in at our hotel, there will be time to unpack, relax and stroll into the city center for lunch. In the afternoon there will be a tour of Winchester Cathedral, which has the longest nave of any Gothic cathedral in Europe and houses the grave of Jane Austen. Dinner is at the hotel.

Day 3 - Steventon/Winchester
Our excursion today takes us first to nearby Steventon, where Jane's father, George Austen, was the rector. Jane was baptized here and spent her first 25 years living in the rectory. The church remains little changed from her day, but unfortunately the rectory is no longer standing. From here we continue to Chawton to visit the Jane Austen House Museum. After our mid-afternoon return to Winchester, the rest of the day is free for individual exploration. Tentative talk for today is “The Austens of Hampshire.”

Day 4 - Stonehenge/Salisbury/Shaftesbury/Blandford Forum
An early start today takes us first to the World Heritage Site of Stonehenge. From here it is a short drive into Salisbury (Hardy's “Melchester”), where we will visit the spectacular cathedral and Mompesson House, located in the cathedral close. Mompesson was recently used in the 1995 film version of Sense and Sensibility. After free time for lunch, we'll head west out of the city for a guided tour of Wilton House, home of the Earls of Pembroke. A beautiful drive through the Wiltshire countryside, past Cranbourne Chase, brings us to the ancient Saxon town of Shaftesbury (Shaston in Jude the Obscure). It is a very short drive from here to our hotel in the old market town of Blandford Forum, where dinner awaits us.

Day 5 - Dorchester/Blandford
Often referred to as “Thomas Hardy country,” Dorset is an area of quiet back roads and quaint cottages. Today we'll visit Dorchester (Hardy's “Casterbridge”) and stop at Max Gate, an attractive Victorian villa designed by Hardy (an architect by trade), where he lived until his death and wrote some of his most popular and enduring novels, including Jude the Obscure and Tess of the D'Urbervilles. There will be free time in the town to have lunch and visit the Dorset County Museum. On our way back to Blandford we'll stop at Stinsford Church, where Hardy's heart is buried, and at Hardy's birthplace, a charming thatched cottage built by his great-grandfather in 1800. Little has been altered externally – casement windows peer out from the overhanging thatch, and roses, honeysuckle, and japonica climb the walls. The evening is free in Blandford to sample a local restaurant. Tentative talk for today is “Thomas Hardy: The World of His Novels.”

Day 6 – Sturminster Newton/Marnhull/Bath
This morning we stop in the villages of Sturminster Newton, where Hardy wrote The Return of the Native and the poem On Sturminster Bridge, and Marnhull, the site of Tess's cottage and the Pure Drop Inn (actually The Crown). From here we head north to Bath, stopping on the way to visit Stourhead Gardens, known as the “Flagship of the National Trust.” We'll have dinner at our hotel in Bath this evening.

Day 7 - Bath
A full day in Bath, Miss Austen's home from 1801-1806, and familiarly described in Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. Sightseeing will include Jane Austen's House, the Jane Austen Museum, and the Roman Baths and Pump Room. The afternoon will be free to explore this beautiful city before we gather for a farewell dinner at our hotel.

Day 8 - Return Home
We return to Heathrow Airport for the returning British Airways flight to Boston.

This itinerary is preliminary and subject to change. An updated itinerary will be sent with final documents.

Back to 2008 destination list