Places to get your Downton fix,
Oh, the drama. Season 3 saw Sybil and Matthew bite the dust, Edith resigning herself to spinsterhood and Mary becoming a new mom. Now what? We’ll have to wait until January 2014 for a fresh batch of episodes, but, in the meantime, you can get your Downton fix here:
HIGHCLERE CASTLE & GARDENS
Newbury, England
This is mecca for DA fans. They’ll instantly recognize the grand rooms as the stomping grounds of the Crawley family. In real life, the Carnarvon family has lived here since 1679. To visit, top-price tickets start at $28 per person. A tea room and gift shop provides more chances to spend like a lord and lady. highclerecastle.
BAMPTON
Oxfordshire, England
Many of the exterior scenes were shot in this cute-as-a-button village. The Church of St. Mary the Virgin, built in the 12th century, has seen visits from the Crawley household in sad times, such as the death of the young footman, William, and the joyous occasion of Mary and Matthew’s wedding. Check out the library, which also doubles as the entrance of the hospital in Downton Abbey. cotswolds.info/places/ bampton.shtml
HORSTED KEYNES STATION
Bluebell Railway, West Sussex, England
The comings and goings of Crawleys and their house guests often happen here at this beautifully restored station. It was closed in 1962, then was taken over by the Bluebell Railway and redone in the style of the mid-1920s. DA fans can take a steam train through lovely Sussex and arrive in style at the Horsted Keynes station, or spend about $4 to take a look around. bluebell-railway.
KING TUT’S TOMB
Luxor, Egypt
What’s this doing on the list?! Highclere Castle has a strange connection to King Tut. The fifth Earl of Carnarvon bankrolled the excavations of the young ruler’s tomb. Ninety years ago, he was on hand when Howard Carter entered its interior chambers and revealed untouched treasures more than 3,000 years old. See the real tomb while you can. The tomb is expected to close next year. The constant flow of tourists and the CO2 emissions from their breath are peeling the paint on the walls. egypt. travel
HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT
London, England
Does the architecture look familiar? It should. The architect Charles Barry did an extreme makeover on Highclere Castle after finishing his work on the Houses of Parliament in 1839. Barry added Jacobethan and Italianate touches (those cool towers) to the castle, which was a boring square until he got his hands on it. parliament.uk/visiting
BYFLEET MANOR
Mill Lane, Byfleet, Surrey, England.
Maggie Smith as Violet Crawley, dowager countess of Grantham, dishes out zingers that leave viewers stunned. (Like “I’m a woman. I can be as contrary as I choose.”)
You can book a private tea in the room that the dowager uses to entertain and skewer guests in her home — Byfleet Manor in the real world. It even has its own Facebook page.