Four Counties Karmann Ghia 2027 International Meeting
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| The Karmann Ghia Owners Club (GB) is delighted to announce its 2027 Four Counties International, taking place from Friday 11th to Sunday 13th June 2027. |
| Based at the Regency Park Hotel in Thatcham, on the edge of the beautiful market town of Newbury, the weekend promises to be a wonderful celebration of our much-loved Karmann Ghias, combining memorable driving roads, spectacular countryside, fascinating attractions, good food and, above all, great company. |
| Over the course of the weekend, our Karmann Ghias will travel through West Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and North Hampshire, enjoying some of southern England’s finest scenery. Expect picturesque panoramic views across The Ridgeway, sweeping roads through the North Wessex Downs, charming villages and rolling countryside — the perfect setting for a convoy of classic Karmann Ghias. |
| Friday – Welcome to the Four Counties International |
| For those wishing to start their weekend a little earlier, there will be an optional visit to the Aston Martin Heritage Trust Museum at Wallingford in Oxfordshire before checking into the hotel. |
| The museum celebrates the remarkable history and heritage of Aston Martin, with displays, archives and historic material charting the development of one of Britain’s most famous motoring marques. This optional visit will be subject to an additional charge, with final costs and timings to be confirmed. |
| Afterwards, we’ll make our way to the Regency Park Hotel, our home for the weekend. |
| Once checked in, the afternoon is yours. Relax after your journey, enjoy the hotel’s spa facilities or perhaps take a dip in the swimming pool before joining fellow club members for the official start of the weekend. |
| On Friday evening, we’ll gather in the Paris Suite for a relaxed buffet-style meal, providing the perfect opportunity to catch up with old friends and welcome new faces. |
| Dinner will be followed by the all-important Drivers’ Briefing, where we’ll run through the routes, timings and arrangements for the weekend ahead. |
Four Counties, three unforgettable days and just 30 Karmann Ghias — bookings open 1st October!Saturday – The Ridgeway, Wroughton & Classic Motoring
Saturday morning sees the Four Counties International getting properly underway.
Leaving the hotel, we’ll head into Oxfordshire, enjoying some wonderful driving roads before following the historic Ridgeway towards Wiltshire. With sweeping countryside, distant views and a colourful convoy of Karmann Ghias, this should provide some fantastic driving and photographic opportunities.
Our first destination is somewhere particularly special – the National Collections Centre at Wroughton.
Part of the Science Museum Group, the National Collections Centre is housed on the former RAF Wroughton airfield and provides a home for a remarkable part of the Science Museum Group’s internationally significant collection. The Group cares for some 7.3 million items covering science, technology, engineering, medicine, transport and media, with the Wroughton site providing specialist storage and long-term care for hundreds of thousands of historic objects.
This promises to be a fascinating opportunity to see behind the scenes of a collection very different from a conventional museum visit.
From Wroughton we’ll continue through Wiltshire to another destination that should appeal to every classic-car enthusiast – the Atwell-Wilson Motor Museum.
The museum has a wonderfully personal history. The collection was started by the late Richard and Hasell Atwell with the purchase of a 1937 Buick Albermarle. More cars soon followed, and what began as a private collection gradually developed into today’s museum. Its main hall was completed in 1989 and the museum has operated as a charity since 1997. Today it houses more than 100 cars and motorcycles, together with cycles, a 1930s-style garage and a wide range of motoring memorabilia.
We’ll enjoy lunch at the museum before having time to explore its collection of cars, models and motoring memorabilia at our leisure.
After an action-packed day, we’ll make our way back to the Regency Park Hotel, where there will be time to relax, freshen up and perhaps swap a few stories from the day’s drive.
Saturday Evening – Gala Dinner
Saturday evening will be one of the social highlights of the Four Counties International.
We’ll gather in the hotel’s Parklands Suite for our Gala Meal, giving everyone the opportunity to enjoy a relaxed evening together without having to think about maps, directions or the next turn!
It promises to be a wonderful evening of food, conversation and Karmann Ghia camaraderie before we embark on Sunday’s route through North Hampshire.
Sunday – North Wessex Downs, Bombay Sapphire & Milestones
Sunday morning brings another great day on the road as we head south through the spectacular North Wessex Downs.
Designated for its nationally important landscape, the area is characterised by rolling chalk hills, sweeping valleys, farmland, woodland and some magnificent panoramic views. It should provide another superb backdrop for our Karmann Ghias.
Our first destination of the day will be the Bombay Sapphire Distillery at Laverstoke Mill.Set within a beautifully restored former paper mill on the banks of the River Test, the distillery is home to Bombay Sapphire gin. During our visit we’ll enjoy a guided tour, discovering more about the botanicals, production process and history behind the famous blue bottle.And, of course, there will be some gin samples to take away and enjoy later — once the driving is finished!
From Laverstoke, it’s only a relatively short drive to our final major destination of the weekend, Milestones Living History Museum in Basingstoke. Milestones is no ordinary museum. Step inside and you are transported back in time into a remarkable recreation of Hampshire life from the Victorian era through to the 20th century. Its full-size indoor streets are filled with reconstructed shops, houses, workshops, vehicles and period displays. Wander along cobbled streets, peer into old-fashioned shop windows and discover how people lived, worked, travelled and shopped in generations gone by.It’s a wonderfully atmospheric setting and a fitting final destination for a weekend dedicated to classic motoring and nostalgia.
What’s Included? The cost of the 2027 Four Counties International will include the activities and visits listed as part of the main weekend programme, together with the Friday evening buffet, Saturday lunch and Gala Meal. The Friday visit to the Aston Martin Heritage Trust Museum is optional and will carry an additional charge, with the cost and timing to be confirmed. Further information regarding accommodation, the full weekend package, routes, timings and booking arrangements will be provided with the official booking information.
Please note, at this early stage, some of these visits are provisional and there is a small chance that the program will change slightly.
BOOKINGS OPEN 1st OCTOBER
There’s one very important thing to remember:The 2027 Four Counties International is limited to just 30 cars. With four counties, two days of scenic driving, fascinating destinations and a full weekend of social activities, we expect places to be in high demand. Bookings open on 1st October. So polish the chrome, check the oil, get the Karmann Ghia ready and make a note in your diary.