DAYS
5
TOUR CODE
HAWE-27
COST
£1975
DAYS
5
TOUR CODE
HAWE-27
COST
£1975
The celebrated poet and novelist Thomas Hardy is inextricably linked to the Dorset landscape, which he immortalised in his novels. This brand-new tour offers an opportunity to explore scenes and themes of Hardy’s life and novels.
Overview
“There are some heights in Wessex, shaped as if by a kindly hand
For thinking, dreaming, dying on…”
– Thomas Hardy, Wessex Heights, 1896
The historical market towns of Dorchester and Sherborne, and the North Dorset Blackmore Vale landscape, are amongst sites intimately linked in the nation’s cultural mind with ‘Hardy’s Wessex’ – the fictional world dreamt up and still haunted by the influential poet and novelist Thomas Hardy (1840–1928). This brand-new tour immerses travellers in this beautiful region and offers opportunities to explore some of the key sites and monuments linked to Hardy to enable a greater understanding of his life, times and work.
At the heart of our tour is a visit to Hardy’s Cottage at Higher (formerly Upper) Bockhampton, memorialised in his early poem Domicilium and where he was born in 1840. It was at this small cob and thatch cottage, built by his grandfather in 1800, and surrounded by ancient woodland and heathland, that Hardy wrote Far From the Madding Crowd and Under the Greenwood Tree – his second novel and first success. We will also tour Max Gate, the house designed by Hardy and built by his brother, that was to be the writer’s home from 1885 until his death 43 years later.
Many towns and villages across Dorset were reimagined by Hardy into settings for his novels, and with their unspoilt historical charm one can still imagine his characters and their stories unfolding as if just out of sight; so much so that many sites have been used as filming locations for screen adaptations of his works.
Dorset’s county town, Dorchester, was the basis for ‘Casterbridge’ in The Mayor of Casterbridge and Sherborne became ‘Sherton Abbas’. We will also wander amidst the ancient charm of the quintessential villages of Marnhull (Tess’s home village of ‘Marlott’) and Evershot (Evershead) amongst others.
Meanwhile, the Blackmore Vale landscape of North Dorset exemplifies the archetypal agricultural settlements and communities of Hardy’s world; it was central, in particular, to The Woodlanders, Tess and Jude the Obscure. We look forward to taking some gentle guided walks through this picturesque countryside to become immersed in the landscape, gaining an appreciation of how it inspired Hardy and a truly embodied understanding of its layers of historical and cultural significance.
Our tour will not only set Hardy’s life and work in its geographical context; we will also consider the literary representation of landscape for moral purposes in the transition from the Victorian to the Edwardian era and the age of ‘modernism’. Hardy was a pre-eminent Victorian ‘realist’, as well as a social critic, and we will consider his place within the literary scene of the time, as well as intersections with his contemporaries.
Tour Director
Caroline Hopkinson-Woolley
Caroline Hopkinson-Woolley is an award-winning freelance writer and expert in literature.
View tours with Caroline Hopkinson-Woolley
This tour will be led by Caroline Hopkinson-Woolley, BA, who gained her degree in English Language & Literature from Merton College, Oxford, before training as a lawyer. She is now a freelance writer who has published her fiction in anthologies and won several awards (including Country Life’s short story competition, judged by Alexander McCall Smith, in 2013), as well as contributing to the Times Literary Supplement, Spectator, Literary Review, The Oldie, Slightly Foxed, Oxford Today, The Lady, The Tablet and, most regularly, Country Life.
– ACE customer on a 2025 tour
Our Accommodation
Our base will be the four-star King’s Arms Hotel in the heart of the historical market town of Dorchester. This former Victorian coaching inn is where Thomas Hardy is thought to have written The Mayor of Casterbridge, and where he entertained various literary friends, including Robert Louis Stevenson. Now a charming and elegant boutique hotel, the King’s Arms is located just a few minutes’ walk from the Dorset Museum & Art Gallery and a short coach journey from Hardy’s Cottage and his former home, Max Gate, providing a fitting base for our explorations. The hotel’s restaurant prides itself on serving local, seasonal and organic produce wherever possible.
Itinerary
Day 1
Tour assembles 1330 at the King’s Arms, Dorchester, for four nights. Afternoon orientation walking tour of Dorchester: Hardy statue, Shire Hall (where Hardy was a magistrate – exterior) and visit to Dorset Museum & Art Gallery (gallery devoted to ‘Hardy’s Dorset’; works by Gainsborough and Elizabeth Frink). Welcome and introductory lecture.
Day 2
Morning: Hardy’s Birthplace Visitor Centre, short walk through Thorncombe Wood Nature Reserve (ancient woodland and heath) and visit to Hardy’s Cottage and gardens. Afternoon: village of Stinsford for St Michael’s Church (where Hardy was baptised and where his heart is buried; stained glass memorial and inscription) followed by visit to Max Gate (Hardy’s home from 1885 until his death in 1928).
Day 3
Excursion through the North Dorset (Blackmore Vale) landscape for gentle walks: villages of Evershot, Melbury Sampford and Marnhull (reimagined as settings in Hardy’s novels), Cerne Abbas (hillside Giant), Sturminster Newton. Free evening.
Day 4
Morning: Athelhampton (where Hardy was a frequent visitor, inspiration for fictional houses). Afternoon: Sherborne Abbey (exquisite fan-vaulted ceiling; filming location).
Day 5
Tour disperses after breakfast at the hotel.
Frequently Asked Questions
To read our full list of frequently asked questions please visit our general FAQs here.
What is the maximum group size of this tour?
What is the deposit cost for this tour?
What tour staff will be on this tour?
Am I fit enough to travel on this tour?
Fitness Requirements
The majority of ACE Cultural Tours are active in nature. To make the most of our time in a destination and provide excellent value for money, they are busy – there are often several visits included each day. As such, our tours require a certain minimum level of physical and mental fitness, mobility and stamina.
Many visits will involve navigating several steps, uneven ground, steep ascents and descents, and could involve embarking and disembarking aircraft, coaches, trains and cruise vessels. Plenty of walking, punctuated by lengthy periods of standing, is the norm. Some tours may involve long coach journeys.
It is essential that all customers are sufficiently fit and able enough to fully participate. Furthermore, every tour comprises a group of guests. We cannot allow the entire group to be negatively impacted by one participant, either holding up the pace we reasonably need to maintain or disproportionately requiring the attention and support of the tour staff.
We carefully consider the intensity, fitness and other requirements of each itinerary and describe them on the tour pages of our brochures and website. Please study these descriptions closely. When you call to book, we will reiterate those requirements and ask you to confirm that all group members are indeed fit enough and otherwise able to meet the criteria. It is your responsibility to answer fully and honestly. If it transpires that you are not able to keep pace with the tour and/or it reasonably appears you are negatively impacting (or are reasonably likely to negatively impact) the enjoyment of the rest of the group (including their ability to complete all scheduled visits), we may ask you to sit out certain days/visits, take a taxi at your own expense (if available in the location), or even, if we consider there is no other reasonable alternative, ask you to leave the tour and make your own way home.
This programme involves a significant amount of time spent on foot and will include some longer walks on Day 3. These will be taken at a leisurely pace, but please note that the terrain can be rough, uneven, slippery or hilly, with grass, stones and mud underfoot, so appropriate footwear and clothing should be worn and care should be taken. Our visits will also involve time spent standing, as there are not always opportunities to sit down at historical sites, and it will be necessary to navigate steps and some areas with lower light levels. Participants should have a good level of fitness and mobility, and meet ACE’s fitness requirements as outlined in our Booking Terms & Conditions.
As a minimum, participants should be able to successfully complete the following self- assessment tests:
- Walk for one hour at a reasonable pace and without needing to take a break to rest
- Climb at least two flights of stairs at a reasonable pace
- Stand unaided for at least 30 minutes
- Stand up and sit down ten times in one minute
- Carry or otherwise move your own luggage
Please ensure you have read and understand our full fitness requirements as described in our terms and conditions.
UK Government Travel Advice
For additional travel information from the UK government please consult the following pages.
Cost Details
Hardy's Wessex
March 30 - April 3, 2027
Included: accommodation based on sharing a fancy twin or double bedded room, four breakfasts, two lunches, three dinners with wine, water & coffee, excursions & admissions, gratuities & all taxes.
Not Included: travel insurance, cosy double room for single use supplement £200, comfy double room for single use supplement £320.
Places are limited.
Please contact the office for more details on 01223 841055.
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