All Aboard! National Trust Routemaster Road Trips

By Sponsor Last edited 125 months ago
All Aboard! National Trust Routemaster Road Trips

This is a sponsored article on behalf of the National Trust.

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This October, the National Trust has teamed up with Arriva Heritage Fleet to offer Londoners the chance to visit National Trust properties in and around the capital on board the first ever Routemaster Coach.

The RMC 1453 was first introduced in 1962 as a Green Line Routemaster Coach. Although London’s iconic buses are now well-known for their bold red colour, in its first incarnation this bus was green, so Arriva and the National Trust have given it a complete refurb and restored it back to its original splendour (video below).

Each of the trips will be hosted by special guests who know their biz, which means you'll get a personal insight into these historical properties. Plus, some of the locations are not easily accessible by public transport so it is a fantastic opportunity for those without a car to visit.

Although there are eight excursions in total, only three still have tickets available, so get booking and join a unique road trip across London before they sell out.

Style City: 1930s London
Saturday 19 October, 11am-3pm, £30/£26. Book here.

Join architectural historian-slash-bus driver-slash-Royal College of Art professor Joe Kerr on an exploration of interwar London and its art deco highlights. Stop offs along the way include 2 Willow Road (home to Erno Goldfinger in the late 1930s), Senate House (famous as the model for the Ministry of Truth in Orwell’s 1984), and Park Lane Hotel.

Clandon Park and Hatchlands
Sunday 20 October, 10.30am-6pm, £20/£16. Book here.

Venture out of the big smoke for a day exploring 18th century splendour at the Palladian mansion of Clandon Park near Guildford — the only historic Maori meeting house in the UK, and nearby Hatchlands Park — a Georgian mansion which contains Europe’s largest collection of keyboard instruments.

Ightham Mote
Sunday 27 October, 10.30am-6pm, £20/£16. Book here.

Take a trip to Ightham Mote, a 700 year old moated manor house and its lovely surrounding gardens and courtyard. Experts from the house will speak on the journey there so you’ll know when to look down for the crypt, up for the Tudor painted ceiling, and around the corner for the country’s only Grade I listed dog kennel.

If you’d like a nosey at your mode of transport before you book, here is a video following the restoration of the Green Line Routemater Coach.

For more information and to book tickets visit the National Trust website, or follow @NTlovesLondon on Twitter.

Last Updated 15 October 2013