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

DAY    2            ARRIVE LONDON (6 NIGHTS) - WINDSOR
We will be met at the airport by our Tour manager/guide, where we will board our own private bus and transfer to nearby Windsor, where we will visit Windsor Castle, the world's largest inhabited castle, with 1,000 rooms. Our visit will include the richly decorated State Apartments and St. George's Chapel, a pantheon of English monarchs. After a bit of free time to explore Windsor, we will 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    3            LONDON (LONDON'S FAVORITE "HAUNTS")
Our day begins as we take a City Bus Tour, which will reveal many of London's most famous landmarks. Late this morning, we will stop at Buckingham Palace to view the fascinating Changing of the Guard ceremony. This afternoon, we will cross Tower Bridge to the city's Southwark area, where we will "hop off" to visit the London Dungeon, a ghoulish place designed to chill the blood, while reproducing the conditions of the Middle Ages. Exhibits include: a burning at the stake; a torture chamber with racking, branding, and fingernail extraction; a spine-chilling "Jack the Ripper Experience," and a show called "Judgment Day," where you are sentenced to death (by actors) and taken on a boat ride to meet your fate. After dinner, we will continue our journey into London's netherworld, with either a ghoulish Ghost Walk, or a chilling Jack the Ripper Walk.

DAY    4            LONDON (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    5            LONDON (ARTIFACTS & ARCHITECTURE IN LONDON)
Our morning begins with a visit to the British Museum, one of the most comprehensive collections of art and artifacts in the world. Highlights of our visit will include: the Rosetta Stone, whose discovery led to the deciphering of hieroglyphs, the Elgin Marbles, from the Parthenon in Athens, and the Sutton Hoo Treasure. After a bit of free time to shop and explore Carnaby and Regent Streets, we continue 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 evening, we will dine and explore the area around Covent Garden, before attending a West End Theater Performance.

DAY    6            DAY TRIP TO SALISBURY, STONEHENGE & BATH
This morning we will journey into wonderful Wessex, beginning in Salisbury, where we will visit Salisbury Cathedral. Our visit will include the cathedral's 13th-century octagonal chapter house, which displays one of the four surviving original texts of the Magna Carta. We continue with a visit to mysterious Stonehenge, a huge circle of lintels and megalithic pillars, and one of the most impressive prehistoric monuments in Britain. Our afternoon concludes in the ancient Roman city of Bath, where we will visit the Roman Baths, first associated with the Celtic King Bladud, and later established by the Romans in the 1st century. We return to London for the evening.

OR

DAY    6            DAY TRIP TO STRATFORD & OXFORD
This morning we will journey to Stratford-upon-Avon, a city forever associated with the playwright William Shakespeare. We will visit Shakespeare's Birthplace, where the he was born on April 23, 1564, and died on the same date 52 years later. The modern Shakespeare Centre was 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. 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. This afternoon we will stop to explore 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, which was founded in 1525 by Cardinal Wolsey. The college's Christ Church Cathedral is the smallest in England.

DAY    7            LONDON (LONDON TODAY)
We begin the day with a visit to a London Street Market to look for some bargains and experience a real "taste" of London life. We continue with a Special London Walking Tour (the Sherlock Holmes Mystery Trail, a Beatles Magical Mystery Tour or The Shakespeare and Dickens Walk). The remainder of the day will be free to explore or shop in London at our leisure.

DAY    8            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.