After a recent trip home to London. I was pleased to be able to use the services of Select South West Tours. It was a very personalised door to door service, in complete luxury and comfort. I highly recommend this company for any of your transfer needs. Absolutely 10 out of 10 and when I am back again from Australia, I will definitely be using again. Thank you James.
We recently used Select South West Tours for our transfer to and from London Heathrow. James collected us in his extremely comfortable Land Rover, and this made the 4-hour journey fly by. We would definitely use James again and highly recommend it
I recently used the outstanding ‘door-to-door’ travel service provided by Select South West Tours. I travelled with two members of my family on a return trip from Plymouth to Twickenham for a Rugby World Cup match in a most comfortable and spacious Land Rover Discovery driven by the proprietor James Coulton. James has a warm hospitable approach, nothing was too much trouble and I would highly recommend his services.
James Coulton is without a doubt one of the best tour guides we’ve had anywhere in the world. Knowledgeable, friendly, lively, engaging–everything you’d want in a tour guide. James provides personalized tours that are adapted to your interests.
James picked up myself and two friends in Chipping Campden and transferred us to Padstow in Cornwall and then we spent the next two days being guided around Cornwall by James. This was definitely the highlight of our ten day trip to Great Britain. James is very warm and congenial and he provides an experience that would be impossible to achieve on one’s own. His Land Rover was very spacious and comfortable and in it he was able to drive us around to areas that we would not have been able to go to on our own. When I watched videos online of driving on the tiny lanes throughout the countryside I knew we needed a driver. But James is much more than a driver. He shared history, stories, local music and his lifetime of knowledge about the area all while we were having a great time laughing and looking at all of the beautiful scenery Cornwall has to offer. James introduced us to very interesting locals and meeting these people was so very special. We had an interest in the British television shows Poldark and Doc Martin and James did an excellent job of showing us locations and sharing information about the filming of these shows that only a local would know. The sights he showed us on the coastline were truly breathtaking! He took us to wonderful historic places to have Cornish specialties such as pasties, cream tea, cakes, and seafood. Whatever we were interested in, James went out of his way to make sure we got to see or experience it. I definitely plan on going back to Cornwall in the future and contacting James once again for his services. There is so much to see I may make several trips back!
Five wonderful days with James Coulton touring merry old, and new, South West England created for my wife Suzanne and I enough precious memories to fill our memory boxes to overflowing. We visited historic, and prehistoric, sites — well and not so well-known. We strolled through marvelous gardens, castles, and homes. We tested familiar and unfamiliar fare at tables small and large and found them all tasty, especially James’ favorite pastys and creamed teas, about which he is expert. We entered tiny coves, walked among horses and sheep on the Dartmoor and viewed vast ocean landscapes framed by rugged cliffs. But that was ‘our’ excursion, and James will gently lead you to where you wish to roam, and if you nudge him a bit, he’ll sing a tune or two as well.
Our tour guide James gave us an insightful and knowledgeable tour around Plymouth Hoe and the nearby areas including the Barbican. He was full of facts and had photos on hand to enhance our experience. He answered all of our questions and left us feeling knowledgeable and having had a great time! Thank you very much
When we were first planning a trip to the Cornwall area, our travel agent suggested that we contact James Coulton of Select South West Tours. We did so, and for the next few months we were in contact with him, discussing our interests and concerns, and learning from him what might be possible after we arrived in September.
We agreed to hire James for three days, and he made each of those days truly memorable. On the first day James picked us up in the morning, and took us on a tour that he had planned, which took us to the area where some of our ancestors had lived. He had personally researched the genealogical information we had provided, and he was able to take us to some of the actual homes where they had lived so long ago, as well as showing us the areas where they had worked, and the mines and harbors that had been an important part of their lives.
He was familiar with the history of Cornwall, and we learned so much about how the people in that part of England had lived, and how the mining industry had been such an essential part of their lives.
He was an excellent tour leader, who talked to us each day about where we could go and what we could see, and let us decide what sounded best to us. We left with an understanding and appreciation of Cornwall, what it is today, and what it was in the past.
I certainly recommend Select South West Tours and James Coulton for anyone who wishes to learn about and enjoy the Cornwall – Devon part of England.
Our family group, consisting of 3 senior citizens and a recent college grad, hired James Coulton of Select South West Tours for a 3 day tour of Cornwall in September. It was a marvelous 3 days, above and beyond anything we expected. James picked us up at our hotel in St Austell the first morning and we were immediately impressed with his pleasant personality and efficiency in getting us underway. His Range Rover was perfect for touring; spotless, large, and very comfortable.
Our first day was focused on the Roche area because my sister and I were interested in tracing family roots. Our grandfather had left Roche as a teenager and there is a long family history in that area. James researched locations in Roche based on the minimal information we had provided. We were able to visit the church and graveyard where our great grandfather and those before him had been married and buried. He also found a family home and arranged a visit with the current residents with whom we shared a last name.
Roche was a mining town, both tin mining underground and clay mining above ground. We visited sites and learned the history of each. We spent time on windy cliffs seeing the remains of the mining industry and James gave us a history lesson of the area. We visited a local museum to learn more. It was all so much more than we expected, a very emotional day.
James is very familiar with Cornwall and able to provide an interesting tour each day of this beautiful area. We visited St Michaels, St Ives, and the Poldark filming locales, to name a few of the sites. He knew the local eating establishments, including old pubs, and we enjoyed Cornish pasties, tea and crumpets with clotted cream, and other local food. He shared stories, and music of Cornwall as we traveled,
We spent our last afternoon in Plymouth and visited and heard the very interesting history of that area. James had a full itinerary for each day but we were given options as to which locations might be of special interest. I would recommend James to all for an enjoyable and memorable tour. He was very personable, with much knowledge of the area. His extra research for us was greatly appreciated.
I give James 5 stars – based on his knowledge, willingness to individualize the tour to your interests, his personality, and driving skills. I recommend him highly.
Visit Devon and Cornwall! I can now check this off my bucket list all made possible by a wonderful group of friends and an expert guide, James. My friends and I early on gave James quite a lengthy list of places we wanted to see and experience during our 3 day stay. The task was daunting, but James was able to accomplish it and then some. He knew that we were fans of the TV series Doc Martin and Poldark, so he made it possible for us to visit many of the sites where filming took place. Since James is from the area, he took us to many places that were known only to the locals. There wasn’t one place we visited that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy especially the places where we were able to sample the yummy pasties and scones served with clotted cream and jam. James was knowledgeable, friendly, and always professional. I would highly recommend touring with Select Southwest Tours. It was an experience that I will never forget and dream of one day visiting again.
Mandy Bradley USA