Thank you to Hagerty for an article in their latest newsletter (December 2011), sent to 25,000 people.

We are also featuring in Wanderlust magazine and You & Your Wedding magazines as our tours are being featured for honeymoon ideas!

Click here to read about touring in your classic

October 2011
New England Fall Colours reconnaissance trip

Leaving Stowe was a wrench – such a beautiful place. The weather has been truly glorious and it really lights up the colours of the foliage and seems to make it glow and hillsides appear ablaze. Apparently the colours this year are not as good as normal, thanks to Hurricane Irene with her torrential rain and winds causing the leaves to brown early or fall off. All I can say is that it sure looks wonderful to me, so ‘normal’ years must be incredible!

We headed south along ‘temptation alley’ so named as it’s lined with specialist food producers, with such delights as cider doughnuts, and Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream, to Waterbury. Turning west to the shores of Lake Champlain, we visited the superb Shelburne Museum. This is really worth a visit of at least 3-4 hours, wandering around an open-air collection of period buildings from across the region, a paddle steamer, and an incredible array of artefacts within each. This is one of New England’s ‘must see’ attractions, giving a rare and fascinating insight into life of the early settlers in the 1600s through to the early 20th century.

Next door is Shelburne Farms, a showcase farm created by the omnipresent Vanderbilts, and a beautiful demonstration of perfection in agriculture. For those interested in horses, the Morgan Horse Stud is also not far away either, near Middlebury – itself a nice college town. The route then winds across the Green Mountains to Rochester and south to Woodstock, where the tour is staying for three nights over the Columbus Weekend. This is a gorgeous little town and the Woodstock Inn is really stunning and extremely comfortable. This part of Vermont was badly affected by Irene in August but I am amazed and extremely impressed just how hard Vermonters have worked to clear up, repair the roads and bridges, and make good the flood damage. It is really hard to believe that so much can be done in just 6 weeks, so I doubt there will be too much evidence next year, and certainly no disruptions. We have encountered a few route detours as some roads and bridges are out at the moment, but these will be fixed in the coming weeks.

Woodstock has a buzz about it, being the long holiday weekend. As the Inn is right in the centre, the entire town is within a 5 minute walk and there is no need to drive. There are lots of events over the weekend, from craft and country fairs to fall festivals and farm events. I have put together a short drive on one day, encompassing the Coolidge Homestead at Plymouth Notch, and the other day is free for participants to visit the Billings March Rockefeller Farm and Homestead, visit the nearby Sugarbush Farm to see how maple syrup is made (and taste and buy many items made with it), or just relax in the sumptuous inn. We managed to do all of that, and visit the local craft fair, see the Quechee Gorge, with Simon Pearce Glass Studio alongside, and wander around town, drifting into the variety of shops and galleries lining the sidewalks.

From Woodstock we drove south to our next stop, Dorset, in southern Vermont. We stopped in the charming village of Weston, nestled around its village green, and visited the tiny ‘historical district’ with its water mill, tin-worker and old crafts. There are also two superb country stores in the village – both well worth a visit. These stores are like a step back in time, and it’s incredible to see the sheer range of items and products they stock, often merchandised with every-day antiques, old signs and country implements. Each has a food ‘hall’ where we bought some lunch and enjoyed a lovely picnic in the dappled sunshine on the green. We crossed the Green Mountains again, to Manchester and onto Dorset. We’re staying at the divine Dorset Inn – a quintessential old Vermont inn with oodles of character.

After an indulgent breakfast of pancakes and maple syrup (well, why not?), we drove the small circular loop we’ve planned for the tour, taking in a visit to Calvin Collidge’s homestead at Plymouth, and then going to Manchester. Manchester is particularly known for it’s quality retail outlet stores, so we did a spot of shopping. It’s also a mecca for fishermen, as it’s the hometown of Orvis and the flagship store is here, along with a large trout lake, to test the rods and equipment. Down the road in Manchester village is Hildene, home of the Lincoln family, and also worth a visit. We bimbled back to Dorset, stopping at the old marble quarry, which is now a lake, and marvelled at the enormous blocks of pale marble that has been used for building in much of the area – including all the sidewalks in Dorset.

We have very much felt that Vermont has been our favourite state. Which will yours be?

October 2011
New England Fall Colours reconnaissance trip

Leaving the Maine coast we headed inland, across country on the back roads, where the colours are really starting to turn with increasing reds, oranges and yellows in the leaves. The drive took us around Lake Sebago, along the water’s edge, and then onto Lake Winnepesaukee, New England’s largest lake. A stroll around the genteel lakeside town of Wolfeboro broke the journey, before driving along the west shore of the lake to Meredith. We stayed in the same hotel we’re using for the tour, the truly gorgeous and charming Church Landing at Mill Falls. Located right on the lake edge, the views are gorgeous, but the interior of the hotel easily matches up. This easily has to be one of the most charming hotels I’ve been in anywhere, with a really creative interior design using wood. We enjoyed a sun drenched afternoon wandering around Mill Falls, which has a small collection of shops and inns based around a small falls channeled to power the original mill, and a promenade along the lake. Dinner in the hotel was superb and I am 100% sure  this will be one of the many highlights of the tour. The following day we headed north into the White Mountains, and the highest mountain in the eastern United States, Mount Washington at 6,288ft. The Auto Road up the mountain is 8 miles through four distinct climate zones, emerging in arctic tundra at the summit, and offering views to Canada and the Atlantic on a clear day. We descended again and went north around the mountain range to Bretton Woods, to stay at the magnificent Mount Washington Hotel. Set to take advantage of the wide open mountain views in all directions, and therefore blankets of autumn colour, this imposing place evokes the past splendour of its heyday of the early 1900s. After an incredible breakfast, we drove over Crawford Notch, where we saw our first moose, diligently standing close to the road, just within the trees. Much excitement particularly after seeing so many road signs for moose, with out any other sign of these immense animals. From Conway we took the Kancamagus Highway, one of the most scenic roads in New England and particularly famed for viewing the fall colours. It makes for a very beautiful drive as it follows the river, and offers plenty of photo opportunities. We then turned north across the Franconia Notch, with a quick stop at Clarks Trading Post where we saw black bears, albeit in captivity. The drive today is quite simply stunning. North of Franconia Notch the landscape widens and there are fabulous, far-reaching views as we left New Hampshire and entered Vermont, and the colours got richer and more intense – peak foliage. We finished the journey in the enchanting town of Stowe, a well-known ski resort, but also a fabulous base for exploring northern Vermont. We’re staying at an exquisite hotel, with sensational views of Mount Mansfield. There’s are three pools, each with mountain views and hot tubs, which offer the perfect spot for enjoying a sundowner. And the restaurant is excellent too, so again, I’m sure this will be a real hit with tour participants. I’ve put together a short circular drive of just over 40 miles for the following day, which runs over Smugglers’ Notch, a winding, narrow road through the trees, and past massive boulders, descending to Jeffersonville to the north. The roads will give drivers a lot of fun. As will Stowe itself, and for anyone that still has energy or time to spare, then there are so many activities we can arrange, such as dog sledding, hot air ballooning, river kayaking, or perhaps just relaxing… It would be great to finish the day with a beer or cup of tea at Ye Olde England Inn, owned by expat Brit, Chris Francis, who also organises the British Invasion, one of the largest classic car shows in the USA. Chris will also hopefully gather some local classic owners to meet us next year. Tomorrow we head to southern Vermont and Woodstock, for the Columbus Weekend. More to follow soon…

October 2011
New England Fall Colours reconnaissance trip

The last five days have been travelling along the coast from Rhode Island to Cape Cod and then up to Maine, and the scenery is ever-changing and beautiful. It was the most fabulous weather to drive this coastline and I took the back roads from Falmouth to Chatham, along the south shore of Cape Cod, along the beach, then inland past the weather-board and cedar-shingle cottages and houses that dot this area. The beach-house look is perfected here, with washed tones of greys, blues and whites, and it all just looks too idyllic. It’s the end of the season and most people have gone home, so the towns and villages have that pleasant feeling of being their ‘secret season’ – without the crowds, the hot weather and chaos.

Chatham is one of the prettiest villages on the Cape with a lovely feel to it. The main street is lined with little craft shops, galleries, boutiques and the occasional tavern. The hotel I have chosen is just tucked down a side street, only 200m from the centre of the village. It’s a small inn with the main house and five further houses. Each house has four or five rooms, and they’re tucked away in little gardens. It means there are no long hotel corridors or vast parking lots – just a cosy collections of cottages. It’s an ideal base for discovering Chatham. After a short drive along the local shoreline, I spent the evening wandering along the main street, and enjoying a chat with the hotel manager at the bar, being regaled with stories of whale watching and the carnival atmosphere at Provincetown in the far tip of the Cape.

The following day dawned with a sea fog, which was actually rather nice and atmospheric. I headed up the shore road to P’town in the north. The town is a renowned haunt for the gay community, and is therefore very chic and colourful. There are also whale watching excursions available from the town quay, although they were cancelled due to the fog that day. No matter – this entire coast is good for whale sightings. After a stroll around town (and the odd raised eyebrow at some of the shop displays) I headed south again, hugging the shore where possible. The north shore of Cape Cod is a very pretty drive past the old fishing villages from Brewster to Sandwich.

Leaving the Cape behind I drove to Plymouth, best know for being the landing place of the Plymouth Pilgrims in 1620. Although this is rather open to debate, the site is an important symbol in American history. The Plymouth Rock is marked with a Greek-style portico and there is a very good replica of the Mayflower, the ship they sailed in from England.

It was then easiest to take the Interstate highway into Boston, as no-one wants to get lost driving in a city. The tour will be staying at the most fabulous hotel in the centre of Boston, right next to the waterfront and a five minute walk from the Faneuil Hall and the Freedom Trail. The hotel boasts great underground parking, as well as a pool and spa, and all the little luxuries you could wish for, so I’m sure that those on the tour will enjoy this. I was fortunate to be staying with John & Kim Legelis, who run Blue Routes, Classic Travelling’s counter-part in New England. John & Kim have a wealth of knowledge on the roads of New England and have been invaluable in their help with this tour. Tour participants will have a well-earned day off in Boston, to explore this beautiful and historic city.

The drive north from Boston winds through lovely scenery and quaint villages such as Ipswich and Newburyport, crossing from Massachusetts, into New Hampshire and then into Maine. A wander around Portsmouth is recommended before heading on to the coastal village of Kennebunkport, either of which make an ideal spot for lunch. Finish the day with a drive up to Freeport, one large outlet shopping town and home of LL Bean, and onto the fabulous coastal region of the Boothbays. We’re staying for two nights at a delightful resort on Southport, set in 45 acres of pine forest, right on the water’s edge. There are kayaks or canoes to explore the inlets and skerries and perhaps see the seals bobbing around. On the first night we’re planning a traditional lobster bake in seaweed with steamers – all fresh from the ocean.

With a day off in the Boothbays we are planning a whale watching tour for everyone, although this is weather dependent. The 3.5 hour boat trip virtually always sees whales, such as humpbacks, minke, blue, fin, and northern right whales, as well as porpoises and seals. This is going to be a real treat. Sadly I was not able to make the trip this year as it was rather torrential rain – a real change from the previous shorts and T-shirt weather. However, I drove up the coast to Camden, a really lovely village set around a charming harbour, and then headed down to Pemaquid Point and lighthouse on the return journey. There isn’t a restaurant at Ocean Gate Resort so we ate at two nearby places, both of which were very good. With so much to see and do wonder Maine is known as ‘vacationland’.

Tomorrow we leave the coast and head inland to New Hampshire…

September 2011
The New England Fall Colours reconnaissance trip 

The first four days of the New England Fall Colours Tour travel from New York (well Newark to be precise, but then across New York City), to Long Island, and then by ferry to Connecticut and onto Newport, Rhode Island. I am currently on the reconnaissance tour exactly a year ahead, for the real tour in September/October 2012, and so far very much enjoying myself, as I know tour participants will too.

I’m fortunate to be given either free rooms in the hotels we’re using, or vastly discounted rates, so rest assured this trip is adding very little in cost to the tour, but an incredible amount to my knowledge, which I can then pass onto tour participants, both in the tour book and in person. The sheer amount of information I’ve collected thus far is staggering, and I’m really glad I have a car in which to put it all for the moment. I just have to try and condense it onto the computer and the tour book before I fly home!

After arriving at JFK in the pouring rain, and stupidly relying on a sat nav/GPS to guide me across NYC (Manhatten at Friday rush hour in the rain is not to be recommended!), I eventually arrived at the beautiful house of Dennis & Barbara Mamchur in Verona, New Jersey. The Mamchurs were on our Italian Job Tour in July and are a really lovely and interesting couple. Sadly Dennis was away (at a car show) so Barbara and I chatted away over dinner in a superb restaurant overlooking New York.

On Saturday I went to visit the first hotel of the tour, the Short Hills Hilton, which is just 20 minutes from Newark Airport and the arrival port of the cars. Most importantly it has underground parking, and we are planning on having the cars transported to the hotel the day before tour participants arrive, as I figure that most people will not wish to start their tour at the docks. It also happens to be a luxurious and well-appointed hotel, albeit not the most beautiful on the outside, with spacious, comfortable rooms, a spa and pool, and great restaurant for our welcome dinner.

I then headed across to Long Island, taking the interstate past the Statue of Liberty, and then the Holland Tunnel to pop up on Manhatten. Taking the West Side Highway took me past the World Trade Center site, which is now a fabulous memorial park, and down to Battery Park, and across the Brooklyn Bridge: wonderful to see so many famous land-marks. The Long Island Expressway is by far the easiest way to get out of the city and onto Long Island proper, and after 20 miles I turned north to Glen Cove on the north shore – an area known as The Gold Coast, that once held the greatest concentration of wealth and power in America, in the gilded age before the Great Depression. Thousands of acres were purchased by the likes of JP Morgan, the Vanderbilts, the Roosevelts, & FW Woolworth to create their incredible mansions and estates, and the area is the setting for F. Scott Fitzgerld’s 1925 novel The Great Gatsby. I went to visit Mrs Bernstein, mother of Lex who, with his wife, Donna, was also on the Italian Job Tour. Mrs B and I had dinner so I was privy to lots of excellent information on the area and the best places to see.

The next day dawned foggy but soon cleared as I made my way north to Sag Harbor and took the first ferry to Shelter Island. It’s a lovely drive through pleasant wooded areas, past pretty houses and rocky coastlines. Another ferry from Shelter Island to the North Fork, which is renowned for its vineyards, before heading up to Orient Point. From here it’s a longer ferry (80 mins) to New London, Connecticut. It’s been warmer than usual, with temperatures in the low 80s (high 20s) and definitely shorts weather, which makes being by the sea even more delightful. I stopped at Mystic Seaport, formally known as The Museum of America & The Sea, with sixty buildings reflecting life in a 19th century sea-faring village, with its associated workshops and stores. Further along the coast the old fishing village of Stonington is also pretty, with whitewashed, clap-board houses. Afterwards I made my way to Newport, which is a real gem, and where the tour will be based for two nights at the superb Hotel Viking, one of the historic hotels of America. I continued along the north shore and then crossed to the South Fork to Hampton Bays and headed along to East Hampton. I’ve always wanted to visit the Hamptons, to see the holiday homes of the uber-rich and famous and I was not disappointed. Truly stunning architecture and enormous, yet somehow not too ostentatious homes in wonderful, natural materials such as cedar shingles which weather to a beautiful silver-grey, set in large, lawned gardens and some with a superb beach setting. Those lucky folk. And of course the towns had all the sorts of expensive boutiques you’d expect in such a neighbourhood, located on pretty high streets. All very stylish and desirable. And I’ve found a perfect hotel in East Hampton, the trendiest of the Hamptons, an easy walk from both the beach and town, that I’m sure the tour participants will love. I can also vouch that the beds are immensely comfortable.

I have to admit that I’m a huge fan of Newport. I visited the town in 2000 when we were part of a Morgan Club tour to America (the tour that essentially made me start Classic Travelling), and I loved it then. Now, having spent 2 nights here, I still think this is a fabulous place and I would happily move into one of the exquisite coastal houses on Ocean Drive (I wish). The town has so many historic buildings (pretty old even by European standards – 300 years or so) that give it such charm, with quaint streets, and beautiful buildings painted in lovely muted colours. The waterfront wharfs have a great selection of bars and restaurants from which to watch the yachts, or even enjoy a sunset cruise. Then there is the incomparable Bellvue Avenue, lined with the most incredible mansions, from the Vanderbilts’ (yes, them again) ‘The Breakers’, to slightly more modest fare. Think of Europe’s stately homes, huge chateaux and castles and put them all in one town and you have an idea of the sheer wealth that dominated. Many of the mansions can be visited, or you can see them all from the lovely 3.5 mile cliff walk. The town is also home to a variety of other museums, galleries, shops and is just a lovely place to enjoy.

Tomorrow I head to Cape Cod, then on to Boston and up the Maine Coast, from where I shall write my next blog.

Friday 9 September 2011
I have spent the morning at Southampton Docks (yes, glamorous I know!) looking at ships and seeing exactly how cars are shipped for roll-on/roll-off. This is all for our New England Fall Colours Tour next year, as we shall be shipping cars from the UK and Europe to the USA for the three week trip.

I am very impressed with the operation that Wallenius Wilhelmsen are running. Firstly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many new Jaguars, Land Rovers, Range Rovers or Minis in one place, which makes me positive about the current British car industry. And with the launch next year of the Jaguar CX-16 this will no doubt increase. So I reckon if WW ship all these cars all over the world, they should be able to handle our classic cars.

The ship I was shown around can hold up to 6,600 cars! Each car is driven onto the deck and secured at each end with strong webbing straps onto the wheels or towing eyes. For our cars the wheels will be secured, around the tyres, to strapping points in the floor. At no point do they let any metal touch metal and all the straps metal parts are covered in soft rubber. Each car is parked 40cm apart so that they never touch.

RO-RO has a number of advantages over containerisation. The most obvious is price; it’s less than half the price of shipping in containers. We are looking at a ball park figure of £2,300 per car (depending on the cars value), which will include all handling, shipping, customs, marine insurance, temporary import bonds etc., compared with around £5,000 per car in a container with 1 or 2 other cars. Containers also have the disadvantage of occasionally falling off the ships – never to be retrieved if this is at sea! This is clearly a massive issue, albeit a rare one.

I appreciated the time WW spent talking it all through with me, and showing me around. They care about cars and I would be happy to entrust them with my E-type or Morgan. Someone else had too – there was a S1 E-type from Mississippi. And over the course of three weeks, shipping is the equivalent cost to hiring a SUV once in the USA. So in many ways it makes sense to ship your own car!

Read more about our New England Tour here.

We are planning a two week tour to Tuscany & Umbria in Italy from 20th April to 5th May 2013, on behalf of the Jaguar Drivers’ Club. The tour is open to all Jaguars (including non-members).

More details to follow soon…

Please contact us if you would like to pre-register for this tour. This is not binding, but you will be the first to know when more details are available and bookings open.

We all enjoyed a day off yesterday (Monday), which for most was a day of wandering arounf Neuchatel at the foot of the Jura mountains in Switzerland. Terry Light took the train to Geneva to collect his distributer that arrived the day after we left last week. Fortunately his car has not needed it and is still running “as good as ever” on the makeshift roadside version. Other members of the group took the boat or train to Murten, a pretty medieval lakeside town.

Today (Tuesday) was a much better day weather-wise than forecast. The journey up to La Vue des Alpes offered a stunning panorama, particularly for those who left earlier. We continued on to La Chaux de Fonds, epicentre of Swiss watchmaking. Some of us visited the International Horology Museum, which was simply stunning and awe-inspiring, andd incredibly interesting.

From there we passed many famous watch brands and their factories and then pressed on, across the border, into France. Today’s drive was mainly on good, fast open roads, across lovely rolling countryside with far-reaching views. It was great fun to have totally different roads from the Alpine extravaganza we enjoyed previously.

We had a truly international pack in our little group today, with a car from Idaho, USA, two cars from South Africa (Cape Town and Durban), a Swiss E-type and of course our British coupe. A brief stop for lunch at a great boulangerie gave us more time for enjoying the roads.

So we’re now in Troyes for our penultimate night. This is a gorgeous, half-timbered medieval city, also famed for its factory outlets, so I don’t think it will be a particularly early start for anyone on our last day, as we head north towards Calais.

Sadly it’s been a less than perfect driving day with torrential rain and low cloud. Which is immensely sad as we left Courmayeur this morning, touched on France briefly through Chamonix and Col de la Forclaz, and into Switzerland. It’s been a stunning route, as I well know having driven this many times in sunny weather, but hardly anyone has been able to enjoy it, as the low cloud has hampered visibility. Also most people have been mopping up and bailing out – E-types are not exactly the most waterproof of cars, even the fixed head coupes.

However, many of us stopped in Martigny to enjoy the car museum and Monet exhibition at Fondation Pierre Gianadda, before pressing on to the Ollon-Villars hill climb and over the Col de la Croix to Les Diablerets. The mountains get smaller and more open as we head towards the pre-alpes. Next stop was Gruyeres, the gorgeous, medieval hilltop town, known for its eponymous cheese. Fondue for lunch followed by visits to the cheese factory, and then the delicious Cailler chocolate factory for dessert. The Swiss dairy industry was well-supported by us all.

Open plains beckoned as we drove north to lovely Fribourg and on to Murten (where we return tomorrow), before rounding Lake Neuchatel to the city of Neuchatel, where we’re staying for 2 nights, right on the lake edge. Dinner tonight is in the restaurant overlooking the harbour, and the skies have cleared and the sun is out. And the cars have a chance to dry out.

We could not have asked for a more beautiful day – clear blue skies and warm weather – and the mountains looked at their very best. We headd off first to the location where the Mafia met the Aston and E-types. This is a narrow stretch of road with nowhere to stop, so we continued on to the road where the cars were filmed driving fast just before the encounter, before turning around to photograph the Mafia location. (We are adding photos to the gallery on Facebook and www.classictravelling.com/gallery).

From there we headed back to Aosta and then up the Grand St Bernard Pass. Wow, what a drive – fast, sweeping turns and great road surface. I think every car had the film sundtrack track playing as we re-created the opening scenes of the Italian Job film. One participant said he could now die happy, having now driven the road he’d wanted to drive his entire life.

We headed on up to the top, where we gathered for a group photo shoot, and then descended inot Switzerland and Martigny. Quite a few visited the Fondation Pierre Gianadda, with its fabulous car museum, sculpture park and art gallery, currently with a superb Monet exhibition.

The return journey was over Col de la Forclaz, into France and through Chamonix and the Mont Blanc tunnel to Courmayeur. We had a couple of breakdowns at the entrance to the tunnel – one car with alternator problems and another with a throttle linkage issue.

We were treated to yet another excellent dinner at the hotel, an afterwards everyone retired to the bar, buzzing with happiness.