TRPrivate itineraries
Private tours by car, with the driving times written down honestly
Twelve itineraries, each built around what a car can actually do in a day rather than what a list of highlights suggests it might.
- 12 itineraries
- Real drive times
- Four to eight stops
- Tickets booked by you
Written quotation, usually within the hour
Private chauffeur tours: summary
First Class Chauffeurs runs twelve private chauffeur-driven tours across Britain, from a single day around London to multi-day itineraries in the Lake District, the Scottish Borders and North Wales. Each itinerary lists four to eight stops in a sensible driving order with honest timings, the total mileage and the hours the day actually takes. Tours run in a saloon, an MPV or an SUV depending on party size and luggage. Admission tickets are booked by the guest; the chauffeur plans the driving around any timed entry. All rates shown are guide figures confirmed in a written quotation.
Itineraries
Twelve
Shortest day
Six hours
Coverage
England, Scotland, Wales
Booking
Hourly or by the day
01Overview
Most private tours fail because nobody adds up the driving
The failure mode of a private tour is always the same. Somebody assembles a list of places that all sound close together, nobody adds up the driving, and the day turns into a series of car parks. Stonehenge and Bath in one day from London is eleven hours before you have looked at anything; the Lake District is not a day trip from anywhere south of Manchester, whatever a booking page might imply.
So every itinerary below carries its real numbers: the miles, the hours in the car, and the hours on your feet. Where a day works beautifully, it says so. Where it only works if you start at seven and accept a long evening, it says that too, because finding out at four in the afternoon is nobody’s idea of a good tour.
02At a glance
How a touring booking works
- Itineraries
- Twelve
- Shortest day
- Six hours
- Coverage
- England, Scotland, Wales
- Booking
- Hourly or by the day
03Days out
Nine itineraries that fit into a single day
04More than a day
Three that do not work as a day trip, and we will not sell them as one
05Method
Four rules that every itinerary on this page obeys
Driving order first
Stops are sequenced so the day travels in one direction. A list of highlights that crosses its own path three times is not an itinerary.
Count the walking
A stop is only as long as the walk plus the queue plus the looking. Timings here include all three, which is why there are six stops and not ten.
Work back from the ticket
Timed entry does not move. Where you hold a slot at Stonehenge, a castle or a studio tour, the driving is built backwards from it.
Say when it does not fit
Three of these itineraries need two days from London. Several others lose a stop in winter. Both are written on the page rather than discovered at four in the afternoon.
06What it costs
Touring days are quoted by the hour
An itinerary is a series of decisions taken while it is running, and pricing it as a set of transfers removes the ability to take any of them. The hourly arrangement covers the car and the chauffeur from the first collection to the last drop, with the mileage folded in, so an extra half hour at a stop costs a half hour and not an argument.
Admission is not included. We do not sell tickets, take commission from attractions or book restaurants on your behalf. Published figures live on the pricing page and the written quotation confirms what your day comes to.
07Services
The services a touring day is booked under
- Private sightseeing tour chauffeurPrivate tour days planned around opening times, timed tickets and daylight rather than a list of sights.
- Multi-day UK tour chauffeurA week or more on the road with one chauffeur, planned around sensible daily mileage and real roads.
- Chauffeur for the day hireOne chauffeur, one car and the whole working day, with the schedule free to move as it goes.
- Hourly chauffeur hire, as directedA chauffeur and car held by the hour, as directed, with the route free to change all day.
- Personal chauffeur serviceA regular chauffeur for one household, with standing bookings and a driver who learns the routine.
- Long distance and intercity chauffeurIntercity journeys by road, quoted on the route, with breaks planned and driving hours counted.
08Answers
Questions about private tours
Is the chauffeur also a tour guide?
No, and we would rather be clear about it than blur the two. Our chauffeurs drive, know the country well and are good company on a long day. They are not registered guides and do not give formal commentary. Where you want proper interpretation, a Blue Badge guide travels with you and we leave a seat for them.
Do you buy admission tickets for us?
Tickets are bought by the guest, directly. Several of the sites on these itineraries use timed entry that sells out weeks ahead, so the sensible order is to secure the tickets first and then tell us the times. We plan the driving around the slots you hold.
Can an itinerary be changed while the day is running?
Yes, within reason, and that flexibility is the main argument for a private car. Stops can be dropped or extended and the chauffeur will tell you what a change costs in time. The exception is a timed ticket, which cannot be moved once the slot has passed.
Which tours genuinely do not work as a single day?
The Lake District, Edinburgh and the Borders, and North Wales, from a London start. Each is a five-hour drive or more in each direction, which leaves no day at the other end. All three work well as multi-day itineraries or as one-way runs paired with a train or a flight, and the pages say so.
How many people can travel on one of these tours?
Up to three in a saloon with luggage, up to seven in the V-Class, and more in the larger Sprinter. Group size affects the itinerary more than most people expect: seven people take noticeably longer to get in and out of a vehicle at each stop, and across eight stops that adds up to a real difference.
FCReservations
Tell us which day you want, and we will tell you honestly whether it fits.
Send the date, the number of people, where the day starts and anything you have already booked a slot for. You will get a written quotation and, where the itinerary is too full for the hours, a version of it that is not.
- Telephone
- +44 7775 554848
- Hours
- Reservations answered around the clock, every day of the year.