About us
Our Brand Promise - “Discover the Past, Enrich your Story.”
With each tour, we will take you on an extraordinary personal journey through history.
Our Vision
To be the ultimate choice of travel experience, inspiring a never-ending curiosity to “Discover the Past, Enrich your Story,” and uncover the links between past and present.
Our Mission
To provide the highest quality of personal customer service by offering guided tours that embrace history and culture, allowing every guest to “Discover the Past, Enrich your Story.”
Our Core Values
Excellence - A dedication to making each and every guest experience exceptional.
Passion - An excitement about sharing our love of history and the Middle Ages.
Respect - To appreciate and value the people, places and environment everywhere we go.
Integrity - Authenticity, honesty and transparency in everything we do.
Enjoyment - Cultivating curiosity and engagement through activities and discussions that bring history to life.
Together, these values guide us in creating tours that invite every participant to “Discover the Past, Enrich your Story,” through meaningful connections and memorable experiences.
About Me – The Heart Behind Plantagenet Discoveries
I’m Maxine — but please call me Max — and I’m the founder and host of Plantagenet Discoveries.
I’m the kind of person who feels things deeply and notices the quiet details others might miss — the weight of a worn stone step, the faded brushstroke in an ancient fresco, the stillness of a forgotten abbey. I’m drawn to meaning, to story, to the threads that connect us to the past and to each other. I love the quiet magic of discovery, and I believe that travel should be about more than ticking boxes — it should move us, challenge us, and stay with us long after we’ve unpacked our bags.
I don’t do “big and flashy.” I do thoughtful, personal, and quietly unforgettable.
Books were my gateway into the past, and over twenty years ago, Sharon Kay Penman’s The Sunne in Splendour changed everything for me. Her portrayal of Richard III didn’t just teach me history — it opened a door. I stepped through it, and I never really came back. That book sparked an all-consuming love of everything medieval, particularly the Plantagenet era, that led me down rabbit holes of research, across continents, and into the lives of kings, queens, and countless others whose stories deserve to be remembered.
In 2017, after experiencing a beautifully curated tour of Scotland, I went searching for something similar focused on the Plantagenets — especially in France. But nothing existed. So, I created it.
And that’s how Plantagenet Discoveries began — it was my way to offer something meaningful and personal to others who love history the way I do. Creating these small-group, Plantagenet themed historical tours wasn’t a business idea so much as a calling. I’m deeply introverted (just barely!), endlessly curious, and someone who feels life intensely. I believe history isn’t just dates and castles — it’s human. And if you let it, it can change you.
If you're the kind of traveller who’s not just looking to see the past, but to feel it — to walk where they walked, and wonder who they were… then welcome. I’ve been saving you a seat.
Max
Photo of Max outside Guedelon Castle © Plantagenet Discoveries