Three different ways to travel with us privately, and they're not the same thing. A private tour runs one of our existing routes just for your group. A bespoke tour is built from nothing, around what you actually want. Trip planning looks past a single day to your whole visit. Here's how to tell which one you need.
Our philosophy
There's a version of luxury that arrives in a badged German saloon, driven by someone in a peaked cap who opens your door and calls you sir or madam. It photographs well. It's also completely wrong for this landscape. The Lake District isn't a city — nobody here is trying to arrive impressively, they're trying to stand at the top of a fell as the cloud lifts, or eat lunch when they're hungry rather than when an itinerary says so. That's the luxury worth having, and it has almost nothing to do with the car.
A private tour isn't private because of a badge on the bonnet — it's private because the day bends around you. Want forty minutes at Rydal instead of twenty? You get forty minutes. It starts before the day even begins: private tours pick you up and drop you off door-to-door, across most of the Lake District, so there's no getting yourself to a meeting point at an hour that suits somebody else.
Anyone can drive you around the lakes. Our guides aren't drivers with a script — they're a naturalist, a historian, a social historian, people who've spent years with this landscape and can tell you why a wall is built the way it's built. That's the difference between being driven through the Lake District and being shown it.
There's a kind of luxury tourism that's actually quite exhausting — doors opened, bags carried, everyone playing their part in a small piece of theatre. We'd rather you relaxed properly: no formality for its own sake, just a comfortable vehicle, a guide who reads the room, and a day that asks nothing of you except to enjoy it.
Two people booking the same tour can want completely different days. On a private or bespoke tour, that's exactly what happens — because it's just you, or your group, the day is actually yours to shape, not an average of what a busload of strangers might tolerate.
Luxury is doing what you want, when you want, how you want to.
Start here
The honest answer usually comes down to how much of the day you want us to design from scratch. Read the full private-vs-bespoke breakdown →
Section one
One of our existing scheduled tours — a proven route on a fixed pattern — run for your group alone. The itinerary already works; you're simply the only ones on it.
Section two
A day designed from nothing, around your interests — a morning, an afternoon, an evening, a full day, or several in sequence. From £459 per group; a £95 planning fee applies, redeemed in full against your tour.
Bespoke Tours
How you want it, where, and when — including evening tours almost nobody else offers.
Bespoke Tour Ideas
Literary, wildlife, dark skies, food and Dales extensions — browse or search by interest.
Occasions & Celebrations
A bespoke day built specifically around whoever — or whatever — you're marking.
Section three
For guests planning several days in the Lakes or Dales, not just one — sequencing where to stay, what to see on days we're not driving you, and how it all fits together. We advise; you book everything directly, since we're a tour company, not a travel agent or package operator.
Worth knowing
A private tour is one of our existing scheduled tours, run for your group alone — a proven route on a fixed pattern. A bespoke tour is built for you from nothing: where you want, when you want, for a morning, an afternoon, an evening, a day or several.
A bespoke tour is one day, built and guided by us. Trip planning looks at your whole visit — several days, several bases — and helps you sequence it well, even on days we're not driving you ourselves. We advise; you book everything directly, since we're a tour company, not a travel agent.
Trip planning is still in development and not yet a bookable service. If you'd like to register interest, get in touch and we'll let you know as soon as it's ready.
Yes — a private or bespoke tour reflects the guide's full attention and a day genuinely shaped around you, rather than a per-seat rate spread across a larger group.
Yes, well-behaved dogs are welcome on private and bespoke tours by prior arrangement, with a crate available in the vehicle. This isn't available on scheduled tours.
However half-formed. We'll point you to the right one of the three — or build something that draws on all of them.
Get in Touch