Coach trips for Downton Abbey first went on sale on Door2Tour in May 2011, but sales have rapidly increased in line with the popularity and success of the series. Such is the interest that 2012 sales have already outstripped total sales for 2011, up 55% on the total sales for 2011 alone. Sales are believed to have snowballed in line with the hit drama’s recent success at various television awards.

Despite not winning any Baftas in 2011 for which it was nominated for 3, the TV series went on to scoop 4 Emmys in September for best direction, best mini-series, best writing and best support actress. Its success across the pond was also sealed by a prestigious Golden Globe award in January, followed by the coveted Best Drama accolade at the UK National Television Awards. Kate Glanfield, Web Manager of Door2Tour.com said: “We’ve had so much demand for Downton Abbey in recent weeks that we’re not able to service all of our enquiries. We were down to the last one or two seats by the end of March and we’re still getting interest now. We were literally turning people away until new departure dates were released this week.”

The struggle to meet demand was fuelled as tour operators became unsuccessful in getting tickets to the castle. With the venue only open for limited periods between July and September and 3 ad hoc weeks in the year, combined with a low daily capacity of visitors, there are simply not enough tickets to go around. 2012 is now fully booked, with 2013 filling up quickly.

Downton Abbey portrays the lives of the Crawley family and the servants who work for them during the early 1900s. After a highly acclaimed Series 1, Series 2 of the program came under some criticism for not living up to its predecessor, but still managed to pull in a third of the viewing potential for that TV time slot. Filming for series 3 has already started filming and will be broadcast in September 2012.

Passengers wishing to book a Downton Abbey coach tour for departures in 2013 need only check out the website or call us on 0845 956 9686 where our friendly team of holiday advisors will be more than happy to help!