Discover England Fund

What is the Discover England Fund?

The Discover England Fund (DEF) aims to drive inbound visits and spend and support the domestic market through delivering world class, stand-out, bookable tourism products – in response to market opportunities and consumer needs.  

At Active England we run a range of different adventures expanding and enhancing tourism in England, and are involved in DEF projects, ‘Great West Way’, ‘Uncover the Cotswolds’ and ‘Connections’, ranging from cycling, walking and cultural weekends in the Cotswolds through to heritage and active trips across England, which are perfectly suited to current consumer needs and which are constructed and conducted in an environmentally friendly way. 

'Uncover the Cotswolds'

This project encompasses the Cotswolds, Cheltenham, Gloucester and Forest of Dean and Wye Valley. 

The aim of the project is to uncover hidden gems, especially in lesser known parts of the Cotswolds and Forest of Dean, helping to extend the season of visitor interest and encouraging more people to stay here longer – and spend more money while they’re here.  It’s experience-led, but will benefit all our tourism businesses including accommodation, food and drink providers and our many wonderful shops.

We at Active England Tours are delighted to be involved in this project, creating an ‘active’ branch of this project by creating active itineraries throughout this region, examples of which can be viewed below and through the TXGB platform, in partnership with Visit England. 

Cheltenham & The Cotswolds Way 

Cirencester & The South Cotswolds

The Forest of Dean 

Sustainable North Cotswolds 

The North Cotswolds Way 

 

'Connections'

US Connections, a Discover England Fund project, is a large-scale collaboration between 13 destinations, led by Destination Plymouth, and is set to develop a series of new, immersive, bookable themed visitor experiences specifically for the American market.

Active England Tours is proud to be a partner in delivering a product with a pivot towards a UK domestic market, in light of Covid. Our goal is to create immersive and experiential itineraries with this new focus, and with some international travel trade engagement. Examples of our itineraries, helping people to escape the everyday, explore their WWII connections, re-connecting with their history and family, can be found below.

Plymouth Ancestry and Migration

Hampshire United Allies

Bristol Ancestry and Migration

Kent United Allies

Devon Ancestry 

Bath Ancestry and Literature

Great West Way

England’s ‘Great West Way’ is a new touring route, stretching between London and Bristol. It follows a 125 mile route based on the one of the first Great Roads commissioned by the Kings of England.

The route encourages visitors to travel by car, rail, boat, bike, or on foot and to get off the beaten track to discover the towns and villages that make up this diverse meandering path through southern England. From Cotswolds villages to exploring the Kennet and Avon Canal by narrowboat, the route joins up both key icons and lesser known destinations.

Active England is proud that many of its tours make full use of the Great West Way, included specific Great West Way itineraries, with downloadable versions below:

GWW – 4 Day Biking Tour

GWW – 6 Day Biking Tour 

GWW – 4 Day Walking Tour 

GWW – 6 Day Walking Tour

 

Our Tours Are Rated 97% Excellent by Trip Advisor

  • star rating  Recently did one of the Cotswold self-guided walking tours through Active England. The itinerary was excellent, as was Jago Hartland who met with us for orientation and kept in touch... read more

    avatar thumb tonybV5950LD
    December 1, 2022

    star rating  Super helpful, friendly and amenable team at Active England helped us have a brilliant experience. We are a late 50's Australian couple and not super fit, but the ebikes ... read more

    avatar thumb Tagalongtwo
    November 1, 2022

    star rating  Our Cotswolds bike trip was Amazing!! Thank you to our fantastic guide, Conor.
    The countryside was picture perfect with great little villages and sites to take in all along our... read more

    avatar thumb denisewT7376LE
    October 31, 2022
  • star rating  I loved the freedom and flexibility of Active England's self-guided Short Walks in the Cotswolds tour. It was easy to use the provided routes, the hotels were very nice,... read more

    avatar thumb lkfwallace
    October 26, 2022

    star rating  Had an amazing 4 day bike tour in the Cotwolds with our guide Amanda, tour director Jago and support from the wonderful office staff. We have nothing but great things... read more

    Lisa N
    October 18, 2022

    star rating  The perfect way to experience the Cotswolds was on a bicycle. Four days of lovely countryside, interesting inns, old churches and charming towns. Rick did an awesome job of supporting... read more

    BRwy
    October 6, 2022
  • star rating  From the planning stages of our fabulous self guided walk in the Cotswolds to our transfer and tour of Oxford and Bath, the Active England team were excellent. Jago took... read more

    Lovewalkingholidays
    October 6, 2022

    star rating  Can't say enough about Jago and the team. Walks were stupendous, inns were stunning, and the pub/restaurant recommendations were spot on. Transportation always punctual. Jago even gave us a bonus... read more

    ronmU411MJ
    October 1, 2022

    star rating  What a fabulous few days! Our guides, Tatty and Chris looked after us incredibly well. We didn't have to look at a map/check tide times/book restaurants/drive. Great... read more

    louiseabbott
    August 30, 2022
  • star rating  So many different secret and semi-secret swimming places that I could never have found on my own - and even if I had found them, I wouldn't have wanted... read more

    EveSwimmer
    August 29, 2022

    star rating  Chris and Jago were flexible, fun and incredibly helpful during our three-week bike journey in England. Chris was amazing at 'making changes on the go,' including showing us and delighting... read more

    364elizabethk
    August 29, 2022

    star rating  My son (30) and I (69) has a splendid self guided trip arranged by Active England. The bikes were first rate, the routes were gorgeous and mostly empty of cars,... read more

    T233SDsusand
    August 21, 2022
  • star rating  I really enjoyed my self-guided cycle tour of the Cotswolds with Active England Tours. Iago was a very knowledgeable guide who was very kind and accommodating. I am so grateful... read more

    Curiosity58496342239
    August 19, 2022

    star rating  Our arrival was a bit bumpy due to the train strikes. This incredible company immediately responded and were very diligent to get to us. Jago our Host for the tour... read more

    21suzie212020
    August 19, 2022

    star rating  Imagine tree-lined paths, peaceful moments with sky everywhere, and closing the day in a cosy pub- it was everything we imagined it would be! We did a six day... read more

    DarcyTrips
    July 31, 2022
  • star rating  My son and I just completed a three week LeJog tour through Active England, and were impressed with all the guides' professionalism and caring attitudes. They also made it... read more

    Y9371OEmarkl
    July 6, 2022

    star rating  We are a Bliss of four wild women who love wild swimming and have just completed an amazing weekend of open water swimming with our wonderful guides Tatty and Laura.... read more

    katyvdv
    June 26, 2022

    star rating  The LeJog tour with Active England was a bike tour of a lifetime. 19 days of riding averaging 60 miles per day. The guides were outstanding... read more

    jpeyemd
    June 21, 2022

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