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Destination > Europe > British Isles

Scenic Delights of England

Day 1: Home - London

Depart today aboard your transatlantic flight for London. Meals will be served at appropriate times and you will also enjoy a full length movie and many audio channels.

Day 2: London (D)

Arrive in London, and after clearing customs, you will be transferred to your hotel. En route to the hotel, enjoy a panoramic tour of this city of pageantry and display, home of thinkers and speakers, birthplace of English drama, and where more than 40 theatres remain in operation year round.

Day 3: London (B, D)

Today enjoy your morning guided city walking tour. Stroll through Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Piccadilly, Parliament, Big Ben, Whitehall, Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, and more. Your afternoon is free to continue on your own to visit Buckingham Palace and watch the changing of the guards, to pop into Harrods and do a little souvenir shopping, or visit the British Museum. This evening you may choose to attend an optional theatre performance in London’s famous west end theatre district.

Day 4: London - Stonehenge - Bath (B, D)

Today is a full day excursion to the Georgian city of Bath to visit the Roman Baths. The Romans knew the value of these waters and they called this place “Aqua Sulis” (Water of the Sun). 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 compact, easy to explore on foot with the museum and elegant shops and terraces of magnificent town houses all close to each other. After your visit to the Baths, you will have a short while to meander the streets of this delightful city.

Then it is across the Salisbury Plain to Stonehenge to visit these mysterious structures whose origins are lost in time. Stonehenge is the most famous of the great prehistoric monuments of the British Isles. From a distance, Stonehenge seems curiously small and rather dwarfed by the immensity of Salisbury Plain, but when looked at close, it assumes the full magnificence of a wonder of the world and one marvels that primitive men equipped with only hand tools could have constructed such a monument. Return tonight to overnight in London.

Day 5: London (B)

A hop on hop off ticket is supplied and it is suggested that you use it today, getting on and off wherever you choose. You can use your supplied ticket to visit the Tower of London or the British Museum or St. Paul’s Cathedral. This evening you may wish to travel back to the autumn of 1888 when a series of brutal murders brought terror and panic to the streets of London’s East end. Your optional walking tour will follow Jack the Ripper’s trail of dark, deserted streets of Whitechapel.

Day 6: London (B, D)

Today is your last full day in London and is free for you to sightsee, stroll the streets of London, or shop for last minute souvenirs. This evening you may want to take in a theatre or possibly a guided walking tour of the theatre district.

Day 7: London - Chester, Warwick (B, D)

Today your day begins after breakfast when your coach arrives to transfer you to Chester, a city whose main streets are lined with buildings dating from the 13th and 14th centuries. No city in Britain is richer in archaeological and architectural treasures than Chester. One of its specialties is the Rows – a double row of shops one on top of each other. They first appeared around 1485, but the oldest surviving ones are Tudor and 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 sight of a Saxon fortress. In Chester Cathedral, view fabric woven from a spider’s web and preserved between glass, just one of the fascinations of this 11th century cathedral which began as a shrine for the bones of a Mercian princess called Werburgh. Your guide will escort you on a walking tour of this city which is essentially, a museum. Then it is on to Warwick to visit the magnificent castle Warwickshire. This splendidly preserved castle on the Avon River boasts exquisite grounds, strutting peacocks and a treasure filled interior.

Day 8: Stratford (B, D)

This morning after breakfast enjoy a full day visit to the small town of Stratford, birthplace of Shakespeare. Your guide will trace Shakespeare’s life story in Stratford from his birthplace on Henley Street to his tomb in Holy Trinity Church. There is 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 roof cottage in Shottery on the edge of the town, the early home of the playwright’s wife. The remainder of the day is free for you to explore on your own or see a play.

Day 9: Stratfod - Oxford - London (B)

Depart Stratford for Oxford, a city well over a thousand years old. Many of the colleges date back to the 13th century and the city has a total of a 28 colleges, five of which are for women. It is difficult to decide where the university ends and the town begins - the scattered colleges, quads and chapels blend in harmoniously with workday buildings, giving every street scene dreaming spires and domes. You will have some free time in Oxford before returning to London for the night.

Day 10: London - Home (B)

Cheerio London! Depart London for home.

Tour includes:

Return airfare
Arrival and departure transfers
8 nights accommodation
Breakfast daily
6 dinners
Guided walking tour of downtown London
Coach and guide for full day visit to Stonehenge and Bath
Guided tour of Bath
Entrance to Stonehenge
1 day hop on hop off ticket
Entrance to Tower of London
Coach to Chester, Oxford, Warwick, Stratford
Guided walking tour of Chester
Guided walking tour Stratford
Entrances to Anne Hathaway’s cottage and Warwick 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
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