Our readers have enjoyed adventures all over the world in 2024, and they’ve shared their tales and travel tips from a wide array of tempting destinations, from Italy’s Aeolian Islands to the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro.
This week, we’re hearing from a Pleasanton couple whose recent travels took them to a very famous part of England. Read on for details, then find more travel inspiration at www.mercurynews.com/tag/wish-you-were-here/.
Wish You Were Here
ENGLAND: Pleasanton residents Paul and Carol Christensen’s recent trip to London included a memorable day trip — a bus tour to see Highclere Castle, home of the eighth Earl and Countess of Carnarvon and globally famous as the setting for “Downton Abbey.”
“The next series is now being filmed, so we were on one of the last tours (for now),” Paul says. “The furnishings are original to the castle with a few exceptions — table lamps are exchanged to reflect the era being filmed. The kitchen scenes are filmed in a studio in London due to the small size of the kitchen at Highclere. The grounds are extensive — over 1,000 acres — (and) the gardens near the castle had azaleas and rhododendrons in full bloom.”
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TRAVEL TIPS: Several tour companies run day trips to Highclere Castle, typically costing $220-$260 per person, with various additional stops. Downton Abbey fans, take note: The tour the Christensens took “included neighboring Bampton, where town scenes are filmed. The beautiful church, St. Michael and All Angels, is a stone church that is larger and more elaborate than usually found in small villages.”
Join the fun! Send a photo of yourself on your latest adventures — local, domestic or international — to jburrell@bayareanewsgroup.com. Tell us where you are, who everyone is and where they’re from, and share a travel tip or two to help fellow readers go there, too.
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