Geoff the driver gave an interesting comentary and clear instructions on how long we had at each stop, making sure we had enough time left for the final stop at Vindolanda. As the description says, this is still being excavated and is brimming with Roman history. Make sure that you have enough time left to enjoy the museum too. We then had the added pleasure of coming home over Shap with the sun shining brilliantly on the snow'topped mountains. An extra bonus was driving past five of the lakes.
Driver Duncan Brown. Friday Sept 24th 2021. As regular day trip tourists my wife and I had a wonderful 9 hour experience with Duncan. He was a very careful and considerate driver with regular comfort stops. His on board commentary was clear and applicable to our trip.A highly recommended day tour!
The one star is because we actually liked the Driver Tess BUT we think she has never done this tour before. She was adamant that the parish church in Ambleside is St Katherines (it’s not). She got lost numerous times (including going via Gretna Green) leaving us with less time at the places of interest than we should have had. Worst moment of the day was when she drove the minibus on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic when turning right because she “thought it was a dual carriageway” The driver was a lovely affable lady though leaving me to think mountain goat had dropped her into this route without proper training. She was very stressed and I did not want to make a chaotic day worse by taking my own frustration out on her. I won’t be travelling with mountain goat again needless to say.
We toured from Windermere with our tour guide Derek and he did a fantastic job. He was so engaging and made a point of explaining everything that was available to see. Many spots of wall still visible. The archaeological site was fascinating. It was a fairly long drive but enough spots for Derek to point out along the way that it worked well.
The day trip to several sites along and about Hadrian's Wall was an excellent way to see quite a lot in a relatively short amount of time. The driver and guide Derek was interesting and informative and kept the group moving along on schedule while remaining utterly patient and without seeming to rush us. In addition to the information he provided about the Romans and Hadrian's Wall, I particularly appreciated the additional commentary about the flora, agriculture, and economy in the area.