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DAY
1 DEPARTURE FROM NORTH AMERICA
Enjoy full meal service on your scheduled wide-bodied flight
to London.
DAY
2 ARRIVE LONDON - OXFORD AREA (2 NIGHTS)
We will be met at the airport by our Tour manager/guide, where
we will board our own private bus and transfer into the beautiful
English countryside. We will stop to explore Oxford home to
England's oldest University dating from the 1100's, and forever
associated with many notable literary alumni including such
diverse characters as Geoffrey Chaucer, Lewis Carroll, Oscar
Wilde, C.S. Lewis and Evelyn Waugh. 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,
which was founded in 1525 by Cardinal Wolsey. The college's
Christ Church Cathedral is the smallest in England.
DAY
3 DAY TRIP TO STRATFORD-UPON-AVON
This morning we
will journey to Stratford-upon-Avon, a town forever associated
with the playwright William Shakespeare. We will visit the
modern Shakespeare Center, built next door to
Shakespeare’s Birthplace commemorating 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. Our afternoon concludes with a visit to
Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, located just outside the city
center. The cottage provides a rare insight into the life of
a family in Shakespearean times, and many of the original
furnishings are preserved inside the house
· Your First Concert Performance will be today
DAY
4 OXFORD AREA - HATFIELD - EPPING FOREST
- COUNTY
KENT (2 NIGHTS)
Our morning
begins with a visit to Hatfield House and Gardens, a
celebrated Jacobean House, which stands in its own great park
and was built between 1607 and 1611. Our tour will include:
the State Rooms, rich in world-famous paintings
(including the Rainbow Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I),
fine furniture, rare tapestries and historic armor. We will
also explore the delightful gardens, where Elizabeth I spent
much of her childhood and held her first Council of State in
November 1558. Our day continues to Epping Forest, a former
hunting grounds for the Kings of England, where we will visit
Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge (subject to dates
and opening times), built by Henry VIII in 1543. The
three-story timbered house has been fully restored, and houses
an exhibition on the history of the lodge. We will continue
to our hotel in Kent
DAY
5 DAY TRIP TO CANTERBURY
This morning we
journey to Canterbury, a city immortalized by Geoffrey
Chaucer’s famous novel, “The Canterbury Tales”. We
will explore the walled city of Canterbury, beginning with a
visit to Canterbury Cathedral, one of the most
important churches in Europe. During our visit to the
cathedral, we will view the Martyrdom, the chilling
memorial on the spot where Thomas Becket, the archbishop of
Canterbury, was brutally murdered in 1170.
· Your Second Concert Performance will be today
DAY
6 MAIDSTONE AREA - HEVER CASTLE - HAMPTON
COURT -
LONDON (3 NIGHTS)
This morning we
will visit Hever Castle and Gardens, the childhood home
of Anne Boleyn. Henry VIII wooed Anne at Hever Castle, and he
later gave the castle to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.
Highlights of our tour will include: the Anne Boleyn Prayer
Books, the Six Wives of Henry VIII, and the Model Houses
exhibit. This afternoon we will visit the grandiose Hampton
Court Palace, a stately residence once rented by Cardinal
Wolsey and given to Henry VIII. Our tour will include: the
Queen’s Apartments, the Tudor Chapel Royal and the Great
Hall. Our visit will also include a stroll through the
amazing fountain Gardens, the pond gardens and
Baroque Maze. We continue to London, Britain’s
historic capital city. Upon our arrival, 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 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 (SHAKESPEARE & DICKENS LONDON)
Today’s
sightseeing will be dedicated to William Shakespeare, the
world's greatest playwright, and Charles Dickens, one of the
finest novelists of the 19th century.
We begin with 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 Shakespearian era.
We will also have the opportunity to experience a Workshop
with a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Our day
continues with a specialist-guided Walking Tour through
the London of Shakespeare and Dickens, visiting the Dickens
Museum a simple abode in which Charles Dickens wrote “Oliver
Twist” and finished “The Pickwick Papers”.
· Your Third Concert Performance will be today
DAY
9 DEPARTURE FROM LONDON
Your enjoyable and rewarding tour will come to an end as your
tour manager/guide accompanies you to the airport for the
return flight home.
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