Bridge & Sightseeing holiday

On these holidays the timetable will be as follows:

Arrival day:

Your room will be available from 2.30pm onwards. Please join us for tea between 4pm and 5pm to meet the leader and your fellow guests (UK holidays).

The first bridge competition will start at 5pm.

Other days:

On three days you will depart at around 9.30am for a sightseeing excursion in the company of your leader, returning around 3.30pm.

On two days there will be bridge seminars with practice hands in the morning. Afternoons are free for you to relax or explore the local area.

Each evening there will be a bridge competition from 5pm to 10.30pm, with a break for the evening meal.

On 7 night holidays we include a free day, usually the Wednesday, where you may enjoy exploring the local area.

What to bring

All your bridge stationery and equipment will be supplied. You may, however, like to bring a notebook and pen to make your own notes.

EBU members - remember to bring your EBU membership number to earn Master Points on these holidays.

Sightseeing tours for:

Malhamdale

Sunday: We visit Brontë Country today, travelling over Keighley Moor to Haworth where the Brontë sisters wrote many of their novels, and we will see the Brontë Parsonage Museum and village. Then on to Airedale to view the fascinating Jacobean mansion of East Riddlesden Hall (National Trust).

Tuesday: We first spend some time at the peaceful beauty spot of Bolton Abbey, with its lovely priory ruins overlooking the tranquil River Wharfe, and then on to the busy market town of Skipton. Here you may decide to visit the well-preserved Skipton Castle, browse in the shops, or take a stroll along the canal towpath.

Friday: Today we visit Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal. This huge estate is a World Heritage Site and is full of beauty, contrasts and surprises including the largest abbey ruins in the country and one of England’s most spectacular Georgian water gardens. We then spend some time in the bustling village of Grassington, with cosy cafés and shops centered around a cobbled market square.

Bourton-on-the-Water

Sunday: Our first visit of the day is to the ruins of Hailes Abbey. Once a Cistercian abbey, founded in 1246, Hailes never housed large numbers of monks but had extensive and elaborate buildings. It was financed by pilgrims visiting its renowned relic, 'the Holy Blood of Hailes’, allegedly a phial of Christ's blood. From here we will travel to Snowshill Manor, an Arts and Crafts-style garden designed to complement a handsome Cotswold manor house.

Tuesday: This morning we shall visit Hidcote Garden. This beautiful garden was designed by Lawrence Johnston and is made up of exquisite garden rooms, each possessing its own special character. In the afternoon we will explore Chipping Campden, one of the loveliest small towns in the Cotswolds.

Friday: We start today by visiting the town of Burford. We then travel to Fairford where we can admire the church with its stained glass windows. After lunch we will continue on to Buscot Park. Built around 1780, the Park has exquisite gardens including the Water Garden designed by Harold Peto and the Four Seasons Walled Garden. The House contains the Faringdon Collection, an extraordinary array of paintings, furniture and objets d’art.

Haytor

Sunday: Today we visit the market town of Tavistock on the western side of Dartmoor. We will spend some time here wandering around the popular pannier market. We also visit Buckland Abbey, one of the monasteries closed by Henry VIII during the Reformation. It was later bought by Sir Francis Drake and remained in his family until the 20th century. The property is now managed by the National Trust. It contains, amongst other treasures, Drake’s Drum which it is said will sound when England is in peril.

Tuesday: The day will start with a visit to Widecombe-in-the-Moor, the home of the famous fair to which Uncle Tom Cobley and his friends were riding in the local folk song Widecombe Fair. We then visit Princetown where Conan Doyle stayed when researching “The Hound of the Baskervilles” and where the notorious Dartmoor prison still stands.

Friday: We start the day with a visit to the ancient city of Exeter, with remnants of the city walls still standing and the cathedral, with its Norman towers. With both river and canal the waterside was once the centre of Exeter’s prosperity. Today it is a pleasant area to stroll around antique shops and have a Devon cream tea. In the afternoon we visit the enchanting Powderham Castle. Fascinating guided tours of this magnificent 600 year old castle – one of the oldest family houses in England and home to the 18th Earl of Devon - reveals secret doors, stunning castle rooms, amazing architecture and intriguing stories that really bring the history to life.

Malta

Sunday: Today we visit Valletta - the World Heritage City with visits to the War Rooms from where the whole of the Mediterranean theatre of war was controlled, and St John’s Co-cathedral, a must for any tourist.

Tuesday: We take the ferry to the island of Gozo. Here we will visit the Xewkija Rotunda Church, and the prehistoric temples at Ggantia, as well as having time to explore Victoria.

Friday: Our final tour is to southeast Malta where we’ll visit the Hypogeum, Tarxien Temples and Ghar Dalam cave before we have time to explore the colourful habour town of Marsaxlokk.