Our Great West Way: Matthias from Galahad Tours

Hello! Please introduce yourself:

I’m Matt, the founder of multi-award winning Galahad Tours.

Tell us a little more about what you do on the Great West Way:

I offer private driver-guided sightseeing tours in a luxury Mercedes touring vehicle for up to 6 people. My carefully created Day Tours from Bath explore the very best locations along the Great West Way like the Cotswolds, Blenheim Palace, Stonehenge, Avebury, Cotswold Vineyards, Glastonbury and Wells.

What do you love most about your job?

Driving around beautiful English scenery and wandering around incredibly historic places on a daily basis.

What’s a typical day like for you?

I pick my customers up from their fantastic Bath hotel and then we hit the road for an unforgettable adventure. There’s always a tasty stop for lunch along the way in a quality, traditional English pub. I personally guide my guests around the villages, sites and locations that we visit and give them lots of interesting and entertaining commentary as we drive. At the end of the day it’s back to Bath, where they can relax and enjoy some of the iconic city’s wonderful restaurants and bars.

Do you work with a wider team? If so, tell us a bit about them:

I have deliberately kept my business small and personal, so it will only be me who delivers the private experience that you booked and nobody else. I firmly believe that this is the only way to guarantee consistently excellent customer satisfaction from booking to saying goodbye after a memorable tour.

What do you find inspiring day-to-day? What keeps the enthusiasm going?

There’s always more to learn about the rich tapestry of heritage and history in this stunning region of England. I strive to find more engaging and fun ways to tell these stories to people.

Any interesting or funny anecdotes related to your role or your experiences with visitors that you can share?

On one of my Cotswold tour itineraries, we had to pull over on a narrow country lane as an enormous flock of sheep were being herded down the road. There must have been a thousand sheep and there was nothing to expect to sit, wait and watch the local rush hour pass us by for 10 minutes.

What does slow travel mean to you?

The beauty of taking a private tour, rather than a group or coach tour, is that the whole day is slower. The pace of my tours is relaxed - when we visit somewhere you get to experience and take the place in properly.

What do you think makes the Great West Way special?

The sheer array of amazing locations and sites along the route. Some are world famous like Bath, Stonehenge and Blenheim Palace, while others are still relatively undiscovered gems like Avebury and Wells.

Do you have any insider tips or advice for travellers who want to experience the touring route ‘like a local’?

Jump on the Great Western Railway - it is easy, safe and faster than driving. This train line runs directly east to west along the route and it’s a truly historic experience as the world’s first great railway. Invariably, you will start and end the trip in London but you will spend potentially hours crawling in and out of the capital by road. It takes 1 hour 20 minutes by train from London to Bath.

Describe your perfect adventure on the Great West Way:

Choose the beautiful and historic City of Bath as your base from which to explore. Spend a few days here exploring the UNESCO city itself and easily reach Stonehenge, the Cotswolds and more. I firmly believe that London is a great base for seeing London but a poor one for exploring anywhere else!

What’s your favourite thing to eat or drink along the touring route (can be a meal, a local delicacy or a favourite tipple)? Any cafes, restaurants or pubs you can recommend?

I recommend that visitors try our wonderful English wines, which are thriving and winning numerous international awards. You can join me on my new Cotswolds Vineyards & Wine Tasting Tour

Are you a city, town or country person?

They all have their considerable charms around here, so I'm a bit of a chameleon.

If you could choose one must-visit attraction along the Great West Way, what would it be and why?

Definitely head to charming Wells, which has rightly been voted the UKs number 1 visitor destination. This incredibly picturesque little town is actually the smallest city in England and it contains Europe’s oldest street, arguably the country’s finest Gothic cathedral, a moated Bishop’s Palace and much more. The beauty is that somehow Wells is still largely undiscovered by international travellers.

What do you think will surprise first-time visitors about the Great West Way? Any secret, lesser-visited spots you’d like to recommend?

Apart from the above, I’m always amazed at how few people have heard about the stunning prehistoric stone circle of Avebury. Everyone knows Stonehenge but Avebury is actually the largest stone circle in the world (by circumference) and here you can still wander freely amongst the stones. It’s part of the same, vast UNESCO World Heritage landscape as Stonehenge and can be combined in one amazing day!