Blenheim Palace Tour and The Cotswolds Day Trip from London

Amazing tour with very educated guide!

Our tour was amazing! Our guide James went above and beyond to make sure all of our needs were met and all our questions answered. Blenheim palace was absolutely beautiful. Highly recommend not just seeing the castle but make sure to go inside as well. We then went to two different locations in The Cotswolds. Our wonderful guide James gave us some great lunch spot recommendations while there. On the way back my fiancé and I asked for some more recommendations on things to do and see in London and James gave us an excellent list! Such a great day!

Very very pleasant!

The guide (Chistey) and driver (Paul) were terrific. Despite the turbulent traffic, Paul was a extremely talented driver. We felt very safe on his bus. Christey was multi-lingual which put our mixed group of Japanese + English speaking guests at ease. Christey's tone of voice was perfect! Her transitions between languages was seemless.The itinerary was a bit steep for the time allowed. The first two stops would have been enough. Overall, great tour!

Day Trip

We loved Blenheim Palace, but the exhibition happening at the Palace was distracting and would have appreciated a headsup. Wish we had more time in Bourton on the Water as it was so lovely!

Fun!

We had a great day in the English countryside. Bampton Village for Downton Abbey fans, the Cotswold, beautiful country homes and Blenheim Palace, just stunning!

Great day trip!

Our guide Ruth was awesome and I learned so much on this trip! Our bus driver was equally as good and got us safely to our destinations.

Great experience

Great history of the locations and great recommendations for food at lunch in the Cotswolds. Very timely and prompt tour.

Overall disappointing

Although the tour guide was good and the coach was comfortable, this tour was overall disappointing. Here's the reality: The stop at Bampton village (exterior shots from TV show Downton Abby) was a waste of time. Downton fans will be disappointed. You walk by the church and one other building that was used for the hospital. Remember, it isn't a TV set, it is a real village that isn't as quaint as it appears on TV. Bourton-on-the-Water is a major tourist trap. I've been fortunate to see many authentic Cotswold villages, and this is not one of them. The little stream running through town with bridges makes a good photo-op, but other than that, you will be fighting with dozens of other coach tours to get a quick bite to eat before the tour leaves. If Americans are familiar with "South of the Border" on I-95, Bourton-on-the-Water is similar. Blenheim was the biggest disappointment. You pay 38 pounds to see four rooms. And when we were there, there was a fashion exhibit of British fashion icons with mannequins and fashion exhibits blocking all of the Blenheim furniture and art. If you like British fashion, you will love this. If you are looking to experience Blenheim, make sure the exhibit is closed. Also, this is totally out of the tour company's control, but because the tour leaves from Victoria Coach Station, be prepared to spend 2.5 hours of the tour stuck in Central London traffic. If you are comfortable taking a train to get to the tour locations, that would be a better option. Most of my criticisms aren't the tour company's fault. They are trying to give as many experiences as possible on one tour. Just be aware of the true reality.

Unhappy with our experience

We were told on our way back to London that we could tip the guide and driver - he even said he had a special small machine we could use with our Visa card - or he would give us his bank details 😳. We arrived back in London more than an hour before advertised arrival time.

Amazing day trip to Blenheim Palace

The trip is lovely. Very well organised leaving Victoria at 9.00 AM and arriving back at 19.00. The little villages were beautiful and Blenheim Palace was fantastic . The host James was lovely and extremely helpful and friendly. Definitely worth it

Downtown Abbey and the Cotswolds Tradition

The tour God was extremely experienced and knowledgeable. He had an easy way about him. His communication skills were superior. His personality was in finding. His background was a specially relevant to the places we were going. I couldn’t ask for a better tour guide. Andy Jackson was very very knowledgeable.

Blenheim and the Cotswolds

Ruth was an outstanding guide and provided us with a wealth of historical information. I suggest dropping the short stop at Downton Abbey and spend more time enjoying and relaxing in Bourton on the water. Ruth has an encyclopeidic knowledge of Blenheim Castle and the Churchill family.

More history, less fashion

Simon was awesome and provided interesting information. I was disappointed that the fashion exhibit took over the entire palace and detracted from it mightily; however, none of that was within the control of our tour.

Stunning!

I had so much fun! It was so informative and the views were stunning ✨ Definitely be prepared to take lots of photos! And Simon, our guide, is such a funny and pleasant person to lead the tour :))

Amazing Day at the Cotswolds and Belenheim Palace!

Amazing tour! Learned so much from Simon our tour guide. Schedule was followed to the tee. Blenheim Palace was amazing!!!

Blenheim Palace and Cotswold

Shelia and Barrington were a great team Shelia was a great tour guide and Barrington a great driver with a fun personality

Great tour, would recommend!

Blenheim Palace was very impressive and Burton on the Water was as charming as a town could possibly be. Sheila and Barrington were both great and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this tour to others.

Disappointed about cancellation.

I was supposed to go on this trip on the 7th of May but it got cancelled! Was so looking forward to seeing Blenheim and the Cotswolds If I were to rate on communication and accommodations offered it would be a five. They gave me many options to choose instead but none of them worked with my schedule.

guide/driver were very good; tour had a lot of wasted time

The guide, Kevin was very good. He was knowledgeable, professional, and funny. The driver, Corey, did a great job on the narrow roads. The issue we had was with the wasted time going to see Downton Abbey exterior stuff. Of 25 people, only 4 were interested in it. It took an hour, I think, to get there for approx. 30-40 minutes. Cut out this part and give more time in the bigger first village.

Fun day !

Lovely trip !! Many thanks to Kevin and Kory . Very cooperative and accommodating! Highly interactive tour . Looking forward to book again soon !

Educational & great fun! Highly recommend

My family much enjoyed our visit to Blenheim Palace & the Cotswolds. The modern high-fashion exhibit in May 2024 juxtaposed magically with the Palace's 18th & 19th century furniture & art. Our tour guide Kevin was fun, energetic & very knowledgeable. Our driver Corey did a great job maneuvering narrow roads. My family highly recommends this tour guide & this day trip!

Wonderful

Lesley was an EXCELLENT guide. Wish the bus could have dropped us off closer to the palace. But Lesley was wonderful.

Chrissy is an excellent guide!

We had a lovely day trip to Blenheim Palace and the Cotswolds. Our tour guide was Chrissy who was excellent. She took great care of everyone on the tour and provided very informative and interesting commentary with a calm soothing manner. Thanks Chrissy.

Relaxing

It was a very nice relaxing trip. Tour guide was very knowledgeable, she gave more information about surrounding areas during entire trip. I would suggest to skip last village and instead spend more time in Bourton on Water. Next time I will book weekend in Cotswold, very nice town with lots shops and pubs

Our guide was fantastic...

Our guide was fantastic and shared a lot of interesting information about the areas, plus gave us additional entertaining facts about the cities and the country.

Great day in the beautiful English countryside! Well worth it!

We enjoyed the whole tour! Kevin was a great tour guide especially being from the Cotswold area. A special treat for us was the village where they filmed Downton Abbey!

Amazing fun tour

Fantastic tour. Kevin the tour guide was very informative and entertaining. Comfortable new coach. Day flew by very quickly.

Not enough time at Blenheim

We spent 10 hours (total) on the tour. Only 1 hour and 15 minutes was spent at Blenheim and that included the 15 minutes it took to walk from the bus (at the far end of the parking) to the Palace and 15 minutes back again. It was not possible to see the palace and the gardens, let alone the special exhibit on Churchill, which seemed very interesting. The time spent at the other sites was more than sufficient, including a long lunch break at a minor village. It would be MUCH better to spend more time at Blenheim and reduce or skip the other destinations.

Little time at Blenheim

We spent 10 hours (total) on the tour. Only 1 hour and 15 minutes was spent at Blenheim and that included the 15 minutes it took to walk from the bus (at the far end of the parking) to the Palace and 15 minutes back again. It was not possible to see the palace and the gardens, let alone the special exhibit on Churchill, which was very interesting. The time spent at the other sites was more than sufficient, including a long lunch break at a minor village. It would be MUCH better to spend more time at Blenheim and reduce or skip the other destinations.

Evans Evans Tours “A GOOD CHOICE!”

I have relied on Evans Evans Tours on multiple occasions for UK tours. Their punctuality, tour prices, and quality of tour guides is of the highest level. I would highly recommend Evans Evans Tours based on our experiences.

Surprised, amazing food and friendly staff.

Booked for a family birthday and was impressed. Chose here as lovely surroundings and they did a children's menu. The Sunday roast was brilliant. Piping hot and tasted amazing. Everyone cleared their food. Good choice of puddings and range of drinks. The staff were friendly and really looked after us. We will definitely be going back.

The universe always works out!

Deborah and Rad were phenomenal. Wife were suppose to go on a different tour but ended up on this one and it honestly made our trip. Phenomenal!!!!

Amazing Sunday tour

I had a wonderful time . Guide Debra and Rad were wonderful . I would surely recommend this tour to my friends and family . Thanks

Must do when visiting London!

The tour is amazing! The itinerary is right on time, and all the places we visited were truly beautiful. Also, oir guide Deborah was absolutely incredible!! Her explanations were really interesting and she made sure we were all ok.

I would visit Belheim...

I would visit Belheim Palace again, but when the weather is nice. It was too cold and windy to do much outside to see the garden areas. I would have enjoyed walking around the grounds. Simon was an entertaining guide and answered any questions I had. The link to Winston Churchell added to the visit. The Cotswold area was also interesting to visit. Beautiful scenery and picturesque villages even in winter. If you are a Downton Abbey fan, you would particularly enjoy this day trip.

Cotswolds unmissable

Fantastic day out. Reliable company, well organized tour and very friendly and knowledgeable guide (Simon). Paul, the driver, was very efficient and kind. Thoroughly recommend the tour. The palace is stunning and the Cotswolds are exquisite.

Good bus tour

This was a whistlestop tour - the Belheim palace tour was only 2 hours so don't expect to see everything. Our guide godfrey was very organised, knowledgeable and helpful though a summary of our itinerary at the start would have been helpful.

Nice day trip away from London

Nice tour seeing Blenheim palace and the Cotswold areas, the tour guide was helpful in giving insights and tips for places to eat. Time traveling was a bit lengthy without breaks (2+ hours) so just keep that in mind whenever you do have a chance to use the toilets.

Absolutely dreadful tour

We did the Blenheim Palace, Downton Abbey Village & The Cotswolds Tour, which was a disaster: > We received an email the day before the trip, mentioning that the meeting point was at Evans Evans (15 minutes walking distance from Victoria Coach Station, where upon booking we initially understood the tour departed). Upon arriving there with some time in advance of departure, the lady at the reception told us the meeting point was indeed at Victoria Station, unlike mentioned in the email... When I asked her to call her colleagues to ask the bus driver to wait a few minutes for us to arrive, since we were given false information, she told me "yeah, that's not going to happen". Besides, the phone number provided to contact Evans Evans in their email in case of emergency just doesn't work, and we were not provided with a contact number for our guide...... We therefore had to take a cab to Victoria Station in haste, and had to stop our bus which had departed and was almost on the road (note that the the departure gate was also not provided....). > We were lucky to be able to get on the bus, or so I thought... Upon arrival at Blenheim Palace, the tour guide told us that the tickets were going to be 35£ each. The advertising on the website is misleading, as the ticket price is NOT mentioned for those who book the tour without entry tickets to the Palace. > The tour rushed across the three 3 locations, which we were not given enough time to visit (we barely had time to see the gardens at Blenheim, we were given 1h20 at Bourton-on-Water to have lunch and visit 2 museums, which was ridiculous, and we stayed exactly 32 minutes in the Downtown Abbey village). All in all the tour felt badly organised, rushed and terribly expensive (228£ for two people, for this price you can clearly take the train and stay one night in a hotel in one of those places, or another, and have time to enjoy your trip). Needless to say that I am never returning to an Evans Evans tour, and advise you to avoid it!!

Maybe a little less time at Blenheim in favor of more Cotswold experiences.

The guide was very knowledgeable and spoke for hours. She was very helpful with all listening devices.

Well done

A delightful day with Norma. She demonstrated both subject matter knowledge and a rye sense of humor. Though not realizing we were taking a large tour bus, it was comfortable. Recommend

Frans group to Blenheim

Great tour/ guide Enjoyed the lunch in Burton by the river Fish and chips Bus comfortable and driver and guide professionals Satisfactory bathroom stops Overall good day troip

Wonderful

Godfrey and Jerry were excellent. Talked a bit fast and a little hard to understand but I was laughing pretty much everytime he told us stories. I wish there was more time for each spot but with the information Godfrey packed in each time we got in the bus, I felt like I had barely lost anything at all.

Very nice

Beautiful palace but we would’ve loved more time in the Cotswolds to explore and enjoy the town, 1 hour is not enough.

😕

Visit to cotswold was disappointing. I was expecting to see nice stone houses but there was nothing much in Bourton-on-the-Water. I would suggest that for those who wants to see more of the villages to opt for the full day tour to Cotswold instead of this

Great tour! Fun sites and guide and driver were excellent!

Great tour guide and driver. Lots to see! Manon and Raad were very knowledgeable and courteous. Had plenty of time at each stop. Great food options, too.

Amazing Day

Blenheim Palace was awesome. The Cotswolds were a real treat. Great shopping, friendly people, wonderful experience.

Very nice tour of Blenheim and the Cotswold

Amazing and such beautiful buildings, countryside and scenery. Really enjoyed the trip. Tour guide Charisse was very knowledgeable and witty - made the tour even better

Cotswold gems

Blenheim Palace was amazing and the village of Bourton on the Water was a beautiful Cotswold village. The village of Bampton was average. The guide Eileen was excellent, friendly, funny and very helpful.

Blenheim and Cotswolds are very cool to see!

Enjoyed the castle and Cotswolds tour a lot. The driver was great at those back roads and the tour guide told some interesting fun facts and stories. You can’t help but feel a bit uncomfortable and unwelcome in Bampton. You can tell the town has dealt with many tour buses full of people wandering their private streets but it was cool to see if you at a Downton Abbey fan.

Just a lovely tour!

Guide and driver were both amazing: entertaining, engaging and well informed. Blenheim Palace is spectacular but nothing can quite compare to the postcard perfect villages in the Cotswolds. Despite a very rainy day, we absolutely loved the tour.