Customized Group Travel and Tours to Europe Asia Middle East North America STS

Destination > Europe > British Isles

Enchanting Islands

Day 1: Home

Depart on your wide bodied flight to Europe. Meals will be served at appropriate times and earphones will be supplied so you may enjoy the full length movie and the many video channels.

Day 2: Dublin - Waterford (D)

Arrive Dublin and after clearing customs and immigration you will be transferred by coach to Waterford and check into the hotel. Remainder of the time free to acclimatize to the time change. This evening enjoy dinner at the hotel before calling it a night.

Day 3: Waterford - Blarney - Kilkenny - Dublin (B)

You will begin your journey this morning en route to Dublin with a visit to the famous Waterford Crystal Factory. Then to Blarney to visit the medieval Blarney Castle where you will climb the castle’s rampart and kiss the stone that promises eternal eloquence. Upon arrival in Dublin, the capital of Ireland, check in at the hotel.

Day 4: Dublin (B)

This morning go on a ½ day sightseeing tour of historic Dublin. Trinity College, founded by Elizabeth I in 1592 originally offered free education to Catholics as long as they accepted the Protestant faith. Until 1966, Catholics who wished to study at Trinity had to obtain dispensation from their bishops or face excommunication. Today more than 70% of Trinity’s students are Catholic, an indication of how far away those days seem to today’s generation. Ireland’s largest collection of books and manuscripts is housed in Trinity College Library. Among the 2 ½ million volume library is the principal treasure the Book of Kells, a beautifully illustrated manuscript of the Gospels dating from the 8th Century. St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the largest church in Ireland dates back to 1190, is the national cathedral of the Protestant Church of Ireland and has had many illustrious deans. The most famous was Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels, who held office from 1713 to 1745. Only fragments of the original 13th century Dublin Castle survives, what you see today is essentially an 18th century building. Visit the State apartments, formerly the residence of the English Viceroys and now used when a new President of Ireland is inaugurated. This evening enjoy a play at the Abbey Theatre.

Day 5: Dublin - Dun Laoghaaire - Holyhead - Carnarvon (B, D)

This morning after breakfast depart Dublin. You will transfer by coach to the ferry terminal at Dun Laoghaire to board a ferry for Holyhead and then travel by coach to Caernarfon to visit the castle where the first Prince of Wales was presented to the Welsh in 1284. Upon arrival, check into the hotel. Enjoy dinner in a local restaurant. Overnight in Bangor.

Day 6: Carnarvon - Chester - Stratford (B, D)

After breakfast at the hotel, depart for Stratford. En route stop in Chester for a sightseeing tour of this city which is rich in architectural and archaeological treasures. One of its specialties is the Rows – a double row of shops one on top of the other. They first appeared around 1485, but the oldest surviving ones are Tudor and Stuart. Archaeologists have spent many years digging up what they left behind, and Chester is riddled with Roman buildings, foundations, inscriptions and artefacts. Many of them are packed into the remarkable Grosvenor Museum. The 19th century colonnaded buildings generally known as Chester Castle were probably once the site of a Saxon fortress. Chester Cathedral – fabric woven from a spider’s web and preserved between glass is just one of the fascinations of this 11th century cathedral, which began as a shrine fro the bones of a Mercian princess called Werburgh. Later continue to Stratford where you will overnight. Dinner in Stratford.

Day 7: Stratford (B, D)

Start your day with breakfast prior to your guided tour of Stratford. The small town of Stratford in Warwickshire is where Shakespeare was born in 1564, he returned to marry and live there after his wild and creative years in London had earned him enough money to settle down as the solid bourgeois he was at heart. You can trace his life story in Stratford, from his birthplace on Henley Street to his tomb in Holy Trinity Church. There’s still an aura of Old Elizabethan England among Stratford’s timbered inns and 16th century houses with their oddly protruding upper story. Then to Anne Hathaway’s thatched cottage in Shottery on the edge of the town, which is the early home of the playwright’s wife. Dinner at a local restaurant.

Day 8: Stratford - Bath - Stonehenge - London (B)

Breakfast is at your hotel this morning before you board your coach for your tour to Stonehenge and Bath. In Wiltshire, the most rural and the most undisturbed of the Southern Counties with its quiet market towns set in the shadow of the vast Salisbury Plains, is Stonehenge, the most famous of the great prehistoric monuments of the British Isles. From a distance Stonehenge seems rather dwarfed by the immensity of Salisbury Plain and curiously small, but looked close to, it assumes the full magnificence of a wonder of the world, and one marvels that primitive men equipped only with hand tools, could have constructed such a monument. No one knows the exact combination of purposes for which Stonehenge was built, but we do know that its axis was carefully aligned with the sunrise on the longest day of the year June 21st. It is thought that its purpose was broadly religious and perhaps with the worship of sun god. Then to Bath. The Romans knew the value of these waters, and they called the place “Aqua Sulis” (Water of the Sun). The remains of the Roman Baths will be visited. To this day, these springs gush from the earth at a constant temperature of 46 – 50 C. The town is a perfect 18th century city, perhaps the best preserved in all of Britain. It is a compact place, easy to explore on foot, the museums and elegant shops and terraces of magnificent town houses are all close to each other. Continue your journey to London. Upon arrival, check into the hotel and relax.

Day 9: London (B, D)

You will begin today with breakfast at the hotel before beginning your tour of this masculine city of ever erupting ideas and trends, scene of pageantry and display, home of thinkers and speakers, birthplace of English drama, where more than 40 theatres remain in operation the year round. Your tour will show you Piccadilly, Trafalgar Square, Parliament, Big Ben, Whitehall, Downing Street, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and more. This afternoon is free to continue to sightsee on your own or shop in one of England’s many shopping neighbourhoods and famous department stores.

Day 10: London (B)

Begin with breakfast before your full day on your own to explore and visit sites of your choice. Make sure you pick up those last minute souvenirs and sample your favourite British delicacies.

Day 11: London - Home (B)

Cheerio London. Transfer to London airport for your flight home, arriving home the same day.

Tour includes:

Return airfare Home – Dublin / London – Home
9 nights accommodation with private facilities - Participants will be in multiple bedded rooms. Chaperones in double rooms.
Breakfast daily
4 dinners
Touring coaches in Ireland and England until arrival in London
Ferry from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead
Driver guide on Day 2 and 3 in Ireland
Local guides during sightseeing tour of Dublin, Chester, Stratford, Bath and London
Ticket performance at Abbey theatre
Admission fee to Waterford Crystal Factory
Admission fee to Blarney Castle
Admission fee to Caernarvon Castle
Admission fee to Shakespeare's birthplace
Admission fee to Anne Hathaway’s Cottage
Admission fee to Roman Baths
Admission fee to Stonehenge
Admission fee to Tower of London
Entrance in Dublin to Trinity College and the Book of Kell's, St Patrick's Cathedral, and Dublin Castle

#17 - 15168 - 22nd Ave, Surrey, B.C. V4A 9T4 Phone: (604) 538-2853 Fax: (604) 538-2863
Toll Free: 1-866-538-2853 Email:ststours@telus.net B.C. Reg. No. 24835
Copyright © 2004 STS Group Tours. All rights reserved.
Created & Maintained by In Vancouver Web Services