Dawn Blee

Guide profile:

I am one of a small team of professional Blue Badge awarded tourist guides working throughout Kent, East and West Sussex, Surrey and Windsor in the beautiful South East of England.

The Blue Badge confirms us as entertaining and reliable, informative and professional. We are both enthusiastic and practical, think on our feet and can cope with the unexpected - going the extra mile when required.

We pride ourselves on providing enjoyable and memorable tours by car, coach and on foot, ranging from a few hours to several days, for individuals, private groups and tour companies.

You may have a specific itinerary in mind, or would like us to propose a tour to cover your interests, arranging visits to particular locations: we will be delighted to help. We enjoy planning and recommending interesting themes, including both the iconic and less well known treasures of the region and can advise on the most suitable options for different groups.

Tour guide services/sample itinerary:

Site visits to cathedrals, castles, stately homes and country estates, world famous gardens, museums and art galleries, battlefields, heritage railways, stunning scenery, coastline and beaches, marshes and forests, orchards and vineyards.

For 2012 we are specialising in the English monarchy & HM Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, the bicentennial anniversary of author Charles Dickens and of course, the Olympic Games.

We can devise bespoke tours especially for you to see areas not on the typical tourist trail or can help you select the iconic favourites from popular tourist spots in the region.

Town walks including Brighton, Canterbury, Chichester, Cranbrook, Dover, Faversham, Hastings, Lewes, Rochester, Rye, Sandwich, Sevenoaks, Tenterden, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells and Windsor.

Discovery tours including highlights of history from the Romans to World War Two, architecture, agriculture, geology and geography, art and literature, historic parks and gardens, famous people and royal connections, film locations, food and drink, contemporary life and culture, The Garden of England.

We can also guide at Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace.

Transportation by tour guide:

Transportation ranges from private chauffeur- driven limousines to full size coaches

Private sightseeing & group tours offered by this guide:

Tour guide interests:

It’s the social history that really excites me – how people lived in other times and the landscape they created - the coastline of the South East and inland, the Garden of England.

My special subjects are royalty in South East England, in particular the life and times of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn from Hampton Court to Hever Castle, racy Regency Brighton and the incomparable Windsor Castle.

I also guide literary tours of the South East, following in the footsteps of its residents such as Charles Dickens and Sir Winston Churchill, including of course that loveable character Winnie the Pooh and his 100 Acre Wood.

I’m interested in anything and everything to do with all the glorious gardens and country estates that the South East has to offer, notably the great plantswoman Gertrude Jeykll and the significance of her legacy in gardens such as Salutation House in Sandwich and the garden of Vita Sackville West’s Sissinghurst Castle.