Buxton Festival

The Friends of the National Collections of Ireland
Buxton Opera Festival Visit

The Buxton Opera and Literary Festival, one of Britain’s largest opera-based festivals, takes place each summer in the historic spa town of Buxton, set at an airy 1,000 ft and surrounded by the limestone hills of the Peak District National Park.

One of England’s most ancient hotels, where Mary Queen of Scots was once held prisoner, now beautifully restored and conveniently located only a few minutes from the opera house, is an ideal base for attending 3 opera performances and exploring the architecture, collections and gardens of the aristocratic residences of Chatsworth, Renishaw and Haddon Hall.

TRIP ITINERARY

DAY 1

D included

The Aer Lingus flight departs Dublin at 12.30 and arrives in Manchester at 13.25, where we meet the tour leader and have a private coach transfer to Buxton (1 hour). There is time to settle into our rooms before a short guided walking tour of Georgian Buxton, seeing the Crescent, built in 1780 on the orders of the fifth Duke of Devonshire as a fashionable rival to Bath, and learning of the origins of the spa in a Celtic votive spring and a Roman baths complex. We have an early dinner in our hotel before strolling across the square to Buxton Opera House (restored to its Edwardian opulence in 2001) for Bampton Classical Opera’s acclaimed production of “The Marriage of Figaro” by Marcos Portugal (1762-1830).

DAY 2

B, L, D included

After a leisurely breakfast we depart at 09.30 by private coach to Chatsworth House, the magnificent 17C home of the Duke & Duchess of Devonshire. A private guided tour (starting before the house opens to the general public) introduces the history of the house and family and showcases masterpieces from the Devonshire Collections. After lunch we can stroll in the beautiful 105 acre gardens and park before returning to Buxton. There is an option of attending a free 30 minute opera talk (starting at 18.15) prior to the second opera performances, a double bill of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Kashchei the Immortal” and Sibelius’ “The Maiden in the Tower”. We have a late dinner in our hotel restaurant after the operas.

DAY 3

B, L, D included

We depart at 10 am for the 1 hour drive to the Georgian period Renishaw Hall, home of the Sitwell family for 400 years. We have coffee and biscuits on arrival, a private guided tour of the Hall, Museum and Exhibition Gallery, then lunch. After time to explore the formal Italianate gardens we have a cream tea before returning to Buxton. This evening we can again attend the pre-opera talk before the performance of Richard Strauss’s autobiographical comic opera “Intermezzo” and dinner post opera.

DAY 4

B, L included

We depart from Buxton at 10 am (with our luggage on board the coach) for the short drive to Haddon Hall, a fortified manor house dating from the 12C, the home of Lord & Lady Edward Manners – considered the finest house surviving from the middle ages, Haddon recently starred in the film of “Pride and Prejudice”. We have a private guided tour of the Hall, some free time to walk in the terraced Elizabethan gardens, then lunch before departing for Manchester airport. Our flight to Dublin departs at 16.35, concluding our Buxton Opera Festival visit.

Caveat

The performances described are (very rarely) subject to change by the organizers. Actual activities or their order may therefore vary from those described in the itinerary.

Tour leader

Delia Gray-Durant is a Blue Badge guide for Oxford with an academic background mainly in History of Art and French - since 1993 she has been leading tours in England and France and writing for the Blue Guide series.

Price includes:

All accommodation for Days 1 through 4, on a twin shared basis

All meals (with wine at dinners) as listed in the daily notation

All entrance and sightseeing fees except during free periods

Tickets for 3 opera performances as listed in the itinerary

Gratuities for hotel and restaurant staff

Visa and Health Requirements

Visitors from Ireland currently require a valid passport, but not a visa, for entry to Britain. If you are a national of any other country, please check visa regulations with your nearest British Embassy.

At present there are no specific and compulsory health requirements for entry to Britain. Residents of countries in the EU can claim free (emergency) medical treatment in Britain by presenting their European Health Insurance Card (EHIC).

Insurance

It is essential, and a condition of booking, that you protect yourself with a suitable travel insurance policy as soon as you book a trip.