Step behind-the-scenes for guided tours of a host of gardens, museums and historic venues to treat your group to a unique experience. 

Group travel organisers have an exclusive opportunity to get ‘behind-the-ropes’ for a private tour of The Royal Yacht Britannia in Edinburgh.

A guide will give a fascinating insight into the history and legacy of the late Queen’s former Royal Yacht. The experience begins with a red-carpet arrival before an expert guide shows you around the iconic ship with visitors able to step inside the Admiral’s Cabin and get a close-up look at the elegant State Dining Room where Her Majesty entertained royalty, dignitaries and celebrities from around the world. 

Groups can go behind-the-scenes at Wimbledon, the world’s most famous tennis club and home of The Championships. Led by a Blue Badge Guide, you’ll tour the grounds to learn how Wimbledon’s distinctive grass is cared for and how the site is developed each year.

You’ll be able to see the facilities provided for the press and world’s best tennis players as well as get up close to The Championships Trophies in the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum. Private groups of 15-30 benefit from group rates. 

Royal Albert Hall tour

Source: Andy Paradise, Paradise Photo

Groups can get a glimpse of the work that goes into staging more than 390 different events each year at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

On rare occasions at London’s Royal Albert Hall, groups can go behind the curtain of the Grade I listed building and see parts of the hall normally closed off to the public. The Behind-the-Scenes tour takes you under the stage, into the dressing rooms and underground into the bustling loading bay.

A guided tour is an ideal way to explore Historic Dockyard Chatham in Kent and with tailored group visits and exclusive catering packages, you’re set for a great experience. It’s the only official location tour for the hit TV series, Call the Midwife, and you can book your group onto a tour of various areas used in the programme as well as see an exclusive exhibition with sets, props and costumes.

Other group tours include the Royal Dockyard Tour which discovers 400 years of maritime history, or Women of the Dockyard, which delves into the previously untold stories of Chatham’s extraordinary women. 

Burghley House, Lincolnshire

There are opportunities to see conversation in action with a specialist furniture or textiles tour of Burghley House. 

Burghley House in Lincolnshire is offering the opportunity to see conservation in action with a specialist furniture or textiles tour. You’ll be able to meet onsite conservators, see inside their workshops and learn all about their fascinating work. The tour, which can be tailored to your group’s requirement, includes refreshments, a talk, workshop tour and an accompanied visit to the Elizabethan house. 

Look out for details on Highgrove Gardens’ exclusive Group Garden Tours in 2023. A place of peace of tranquillity, Highgrove in Gloucestershire is the private home of King Charles III and The Queen Consort. The gardens have been designed, as the King says, to “please the eye and sit in harmony with nature”. 

Highgrove Gardens

Source: GAP Photos/Highgrove - Robert Smith

The Sundial Garden at Highgrove in Gloucestershire, the private home of King Charles III and The Queen Consort.

The National Gallery in London is offering new and exclusive group guided tours with the option to visit outside of opening hours at 6pm on Tuesdays. You’ll be able to explore more than 700 years’ worth of wall-to-wall masterpieces, all without the usual crowds. Tours can also be tailor made including for specialist groups.

You can experience the British Museum out-of-hours with a private group tour such as The Beginnings of the British Museum which will take your group on a journey through its founding collection. Make the day even more memorable with breakfast under the iconic glass roof.

Groups of 20 plus can also book private visits outside of opening hours at Rockingham Castle in Leicestershire, with a guide. You’re promised a comprehensive and entertaining tour of the castle and then free time to explore the gardens and grounds.