Special interest tours

The subject is narrower than a destination and more particular than a theme. Rather than touring a region and taking in what it holds, the itinerary is built around a single pursuit and goes wherever that pursuit leads, which is often somewhere you would never otherwise think to go.

Alongside your Tour Manager, many of these tours travel with a recognised authority on the subject. Tresco Abbey Garden's curator on the Cornish gardens, a garden writer in Wales, a naturalist in Corfu, a lecturer in decorative and fine arts in County Durham. On the craft tours, you also work with local tutors who have the tradition first hand.

No. The workshop-based tours are pitched to mixed abilities, complete beginners included, and the tutors are used to teaching people who have never tried before. On everything else, curiosity is the only requirement.

Often, yes. A tour built around Shetland knitting also sits under textiles, and a steam railway tour also sits under rail. The collections are different ways into the same range, so browse whichever route suits how you think about a holiday.

It varies widely, since the subject decides the day. Workshop tours involve a good deal of sitting, while island and railway itineraries can mean uneven ground, cliffs and steps. Each itinerary carries an activity level of light, moderate or active so you know what to expect before you book. 

Very much so, and many guests travel solo. A tour built around one shared enthusiasm is about the easiest company there is, since everyone has arrived for the same reason and the conversation starts itself.

Earlier than most. Several of these tours are tied to a single fixed event or a short season, Up Helly Aa among them, so departures are limited and tend to go well ahead.