Hardy's poetry and novels are a great reflection of Victorian England, ranging from the countryside, woodlands and farming communities through to major cities and towns. They discuss the conflict of traditional values and rural life versus the Industrial Revolution. This tour visits the locations which influenced his creation of Wessex, the ‘partly real, partly dream country’ where he based many of his novels, inspired by the towns and countryside he knew so well in the pretty county of Dorset. Follow the Hardy trail through his fictional towns and also visit important places in Hardy's own life, including Oxford, the 'beautiful city of spires' and Dorchester, his birthplace which inspired Casterbridge.
