DAY    1            DEPARTURE FROM WASHINGTON
Enjoy full meal service on your scheduled wide-bodied flight to London.

DAY    2            ARRIVE LONDON - CHAWTON - WINCHESTER - WESSEX
(3 NIGHTS)
We will be met at the airport by our Tour manager/guide where we will board our own private coach and transfer into the beautiful English countryside.  Our first stop will be in the town of Chawton, where we will visit Jane Austen's Home.  The author lived in this house with her sister and her mother, and it was here that she wrote and revised Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion.The home is preserved as it would have been in Austen’s day and memorabilia, first editions, and even the writer’s donkey cart help to recreate her life, and we will see the drawing room where she did her writing, always listening for the creaking of the door, which warned her that visitors had arrived.Next we will visit nearby Winchester, closely associated with Alfred the Great and once the ancient capital of England.  Our sightseeing begins with a visit to the remains of Winchester Castle where a round oak table, King Arthur's Round Table, is attached to the wall.  We will also visit Winchester Cathedral, the longest medieval cathedral in Britain and the burial place of Jane Austen. We continue to our hotel in the Wessex region.

DAY    3            DAY TRIP TO STONEHENGE, OLD SARUM & SALISBURY
This morning we visit mysterious Stonehenge, a huge circle of lintels and megalithic pillars and one of the most impressive prehistoric monuments in Britain.  We continue to nearby Old Sarum where a Celtic hill fort as well as Roman, Saxon and Norman strongholds once stood.  We will spend the afternoon in Salisbury where we will visit Salisbury Cathedral.  Our visit will include the cathedral's 13th-century octagonal chapter house that displays one of the four surviving original texts of the Magna Carta.  

DAY    4            THOMAS HARDY’S WESSEX, CORFE CASTLE & LULWORTH COVE
Our morning is dedicated to exploring Thomas Hardy’s Wessex.  Hardy was one of Britain’s finest writers, known for his spectacular settings that can be seen throughout Dorset County.  Our morning commences with a visit to Hardy Cottage in Higher Bockhampton, where he was born and died.  Our day continues to nearby Stinsford Church, his local parish church where we will view Hardy’s Grave.  We continue with a visit to the spectacular fortress ruins of Corfe Castle, romantically crowning a jagged pinnacle of rock above the charming unspoilt village of Corfe.  The castle has dominated the landscape since the 11th century and became famous after Sir John Bankes’ wife and her retainers, mostly women, courageously held out against 600 Parliamentary troops in a six-week siege during the English Civil War.  Time and weather permitting, we will take a scenic Walk along the coastal path from Lulworth Cove to Durdle Door Natural Arch.

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DAY   4            GLASTONBURY, WELLS & WOOKEY HOLE
This morning we will journey to Glastonbury, a sight often associated with the legend of King Arthur.  We will climb Glastonbury Tor in search for the Holy Grail before visiting the beautiful ruins of Glastonbury Abbey, burial place of King Arthur and site of the first Christian church in England.  Growing in the abbey grounds is a cutting from the famous Glastonbury thorn, said to have miraculously grown from the staff of St. Joseph of Arimathea and continuing to astonish by flowering each Christmas.  We continue to Wells for a visit to the magnificent Cathedral, highlighted by the 365 medieval statues of kings, knights and saints on the West Front and the unique scissor arches on the interior.  We will also stroll along the Vicar’s Close, one of the oldest complete streets in Europe, before concluding our afternoon with a visit to Wookey Hole, an extensive cave system once inhabited by Iron Age man.

DAY    5            WESSEX - TINTERN ABBEY - BATH - STRATFORD-UPON-AVON AREA (1 NIGHT
This morning we travel to the English/Welsh border, known as the Wye Valley.  We begin with a visit to Tintern Abbey, immortalized in Wordsworth’s sonnet; Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey.  Much of the 13th century abbey still stands and its picturesque setting among wooded slopes in a winding valley made it a place of pilgrimage for the Romantic poets.  Next we continue to Bath, a city with some of the strongest literary associations in England.  Bath provided the inspiration for Charles Dickens’ Pickwick Papers and was the setting for two of Jane Austen’s novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. We will take a Walking Tour of Jane Austen’s Bath, beginning with a visit to the Jane Austen Centre, dedicated the novelist and her time in Bath.  Our walk will provide insight into the Bath of Jane Austen’s time, and will include the Pulteney Bridge, the house where Austen lived with her parents for 5 years, and the Georgian splendors of the Royal Crescent and the Circus.  Our afternoon in Bath will conclude with a visit to the Roman Baths, first associated with the Celtic King Bladud, and later established by the Romans in the 1st century.  We continue to Stratford-upon-Avon for the night.

DAY    6           STRATFORD-UPON-AVON AREA - OXFORD - LONDON
(3 NIGHTS
We begin this morning with a visit to Shakespeare’s Birthplace, where the Bard was born on April 23, 1564 and died on the same date 52 years later, as well as the modern Shakespeare Centre, built next door to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Bard's birth.  We continue with a brief visit to Holy Trinity Church, the parish church where Shakespeare is buried, located in an attractive setting near the River Avon. This afternoon we visit Oxford, England’s oldest University City.  We will take a Walking Tour to view many of the colleges that make up Oxford, as well as the Sheldonian Theater and the Bodleian Library.  We will also visit Christ Church College, Oxford’s biggest and grandest Renaissance College, founded in 1525 by Cardinal Wolsey.  The college’s Christ Church Cathedral is the smallest in England.  We continue to London, Britain’s historic capital city. This evening we can take a leisurely Walking Tour of Westminster and Whitehall, including: Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Horseguards Parade, Parliament Square, Downing Street, St. James’s Park and Buckingham Palace.  

DAY    7            LONDON (THE KINGS AND QUEENS OF ENGLAND)
We begin with a visit to Westminster Abbey, where English kings and queens have been crowned since 1066.  We will take a Blue-Badge guided tour, which will include the Royal Chapels, holding the tombs of the monarchs, as well as Poets' Corner, featuring memorials to famous British literary figures.  Our morning continues as we walk past the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben before taking a Thames River Cruise, a relaxing way to view many of London’s most magnificent sights.  This afternoon we will visit the Tower of London, one of Britain’s most fascinating and important historical structures, with its macabre associations with the legendary figures imprisoned and/or executed here.  Our visit will include the armories, a display of instruments of torture and execution, and the Crown Jewels Exhibit.  This evening we will spend time around Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square, two of London’s most vibrant and lively areas.

DAY    8            LONDON
Our morning begins with a visit to St. Paul’s Cathedral, Sir Christopher Wren’s Renaissance-style masterpiece.  Our visit will include an ascent to the Whispering Gallery, an acoustic marvel in which the faintest whisper can be heard clearly on the opposite side, as well as the American Memorial Chapel, honoring the 28,000 U.S. service personnel who lost their lives while stationed in Britain during World War II.  This afternoon we will enjoy a specialist-guided Walking Tour through the London of Shakespeare and Dickens, followed by a visit to the Shakespeare Globe Theater Museum, dedicated to the experience and international understanding of Shakespeare in performance.  The museum explores the costumes, the special effects, the music, and the printing and publishing process during the Shakespearean era.  

DAY    9            DEPARTURE FROM LONDON
Your enjoyable and rewarding tour will come to an end as your guide accompanies you to the airport for the return flight home.