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Have you ever wondered what lies beyond the extensive, manicured grounds of Highclere Castle – the 19th century Victorian stately home that doubles as Downton Abbey?

A celebrated walking vacation company is now running a weeklong walking tour around Highclere’s corner of England – the county of Wiltshire. Wiltshire is situated about 200 miles from the county of Yorkshire where the show is set.

The walk trail includes Castle Combe – one of England’s most beautiful villages – the extraordinary Neolithic stone circles at Avebury and the village of Lacock, where Pride & Prejudice and Harry Potter were filmed.

The walk also explores the cathedral city of Winchester, Marlborough College where the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, attended boarding school, and the House and Gardens at Bowood House.

Even with these beautiful and historic locations on the schedule, we suspect the private viewing of Highclere Castle will be the highlight of the tour.

Transfers, accommodations, entrance fees, snacks on the trail, meals featuring wine and travel tips, maps and souvenirs are all included in the walk price. The hefty $4,195 per person double occupancy (single supplement $565) charge seems pretty big to us, even when you take into account the high price of travel in the U.K. Vacationers willing to put their own trip together could probably save a few hundred dollars.

Written by insider city guide series Hg2 | A Hedonist’s guide to…

(Image: bassijpkes)

About the author

Brett AckroydBrett hopes to one day reach the shores of far-flung Tristan da Cunha, the most remote of all the inhabited archipelagos on Earth…as to what he’ll do when he gets there, he hasn’t a clue. Over the last 10 years, London, New York, Cape Town and Pondicherry have all proudly been referred to as home. Now it’s Copenhagen’s turn, where he lends his travel expertise to momondo.com.

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