IAFOR > The European Conference on Arts & Humanities (ECAH) > ECAH2025 > Cultural Tours

Cultural Tours

Tickets for cultural tours may be added to your chosen package during the registration process. Please visit the Registration page for more details.

Pre-Conference Tour of Hever ( GBP)

Thursday, March 27, 2025

The counties of Sussex and Kent are blessed with verdant rolling hills, white cliffs and beautiful scenery, and this conference tour will take in highlights of southern England’s rich cultural heritage. The tour will begin with a visit to Bateman’s, the Jacobean home of The Jungle Book author Rudyard Kipling, including the gardens and water mill. In the afternoon we cross into the county of Kent, the garden of England, and the spectacular Hever Castle and gardens, once home to Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife. Following lunch in the castle grounds, participants will have the opportunity to explore the castle, the extensive gardens and the popular maze, before ending the day with a traditional English cream tea. Guests must be aged 14 or over.

Tour Locations

Batemans

Surrounded by the wooded landscape of the Sussex Weald, this seventeenth-century house was the family home of world-famous writer Rudyard Kipling. The rooms, described by him as “untouched and unfaked”, remain much as he left them.

Hever Castle

Hever Castle is an important historic castle on the English landscape, and was once the family home of one of England’s most famous Queens – Anne Boleyn, the intriguing second wife of Henry VIII and mother of Elizabeth I. Tour the double-moated thirteenth-century castle, the maze, the Italian gardens and the rose garden, before ending your day with an English cream tea.

Tour Schedule*
  • 09:00 Leave Brighton and travel through the Sussex countryside to Kent
  • 10:00 Arrive at Bateman’s House
  • 10:00–12:00 Explore the house, gardens and water mill
  • 12:00 Leave Bateman’s House and travel through the Kent countryside
  • 13:00 Arrive at Hever Castle and gardens
  • 13:00–14:00 Lunch at Hever Castle and gardens
  • 14:00–16:00 Explore the castle, gardens, lake and maze
  • 16:00–17:00 Enjoy English cream tea
  • 17:30 Leave Hever
  • 19:00 Arrive at Brighton

*This information is intended as a guide only. Exact tour details will be provided closer to the conference date. Times are approximate and weather conditions may affect the outdoor elements of the tour.

Important information
  • Although this is a bus tour of Sussex and Kent, it still requires plenty of walking so please keep this in mind when preparing.
  • Locations may vary depending on availability and weather.
  • Lunch will be provided at a restaurant. We are able to accommodate certain dietary needs.
  • All transportation and entrance fees are included in the price of the tour.
  • Gifts, souvenirs and food other than lunch are not included in the tour price.
  • Please note that a minimum of 15 participants is required for the tour to go ahead. IAFOR reserves the right to cancel the tour if minimum numbers are not met. In the event that the tour is cancelled for this reason, your money will be refunded in full.