English Masterpiece

Day 1 : Fly to London

Joined by our Tour Director, we relax during an overnight flight to Great Britain.

Day 2 : Hampton Court Palace

We arrive in London, warmly welcomed by our British Blue Badge – the UK’s most experienced tour guides. We then depart for Hampton Court, Henry VIII’s favorite palace. Located on the River Thames, Hampton Court Palace was one of England’s most modern, sophisticated, and magnificent homes of its time. Explore Henry’s opulent State Apartments, tour the vast Tudor Kitchens, and feel the eerie chill of the Haunted Gallery before strolling the glorious gardens. In the evening we settle into our accommodations in central London and get to know our fellow travelers during a Holiday Vacations Welcome Dinner.

Day 3 : London City Tour

After an included English Breakfast, we are joined by our Blue Badge Guide whose enthusiastic passion for British history and traditions enhance our introduction to London. We arrive at the Tower of London and learn about its legendary past, see Britain’s Crown Jewels, the armory, and much more. View the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Prime Minister’s Office on Downing Street, Piccadilly Circus, and Buckingham Palace. Look forward to views of the city from the Thames on a Thames River Cruise. The tour ends with a full afternoon tea with finger sandwiches, expertly brewed tea, freshly baked pastries, and scones with jam at Harrods, a department store with more than 160 years of history.

Day 4 : Shakespeare's Globe or Buckingham Palace

For departures in the Spring, we’ll travel to the South Bank of the River Thames to visit Shakespeare’s Globe, a faithful reconstruction of the Elizabethan playhouse best known for hosting William Shakespeare’s influential plays. Explore the theater grounds, its exhibitions, and an Elizabethan costume demonstration. For departures in August and September, today we tour glorious Buckingham Palace, the headquarters to the United Kingdom’s monarchy. Tour the opulent staterooms used by the royal family for public events and ceremonies, the throne room, and the garden where the Queen holds her annual garden party. Next we savor a fish and chips lunch at the Anchor Bankside Pub. The remainder of the day is ours to discover everything London has to offer.

Day 5 : Bletchley Park & Oxford

We travel northwest of London to tour Bletchley Park, where Alan Turing and many others worked in secret to unlock the German Enigma Machine during World War II. Explore the Visitor Centre and the Codebreaking Huts. After, we travel to Oxford, known as the City of Dreaming Spires. We go on a walking tour of Oxford’s city center with our Blue Badge guide, visiting local markets, Christchurch Cathedral, and more. Some of these places, including our accommodations this evening at the MacDonald Randolph Hotel, are filming locations to several popular television series.

Day 6 : Highclere Castle

This morning we travel to Bampton in the tranquil English countryside. Spend the morning exploring the quaint village, one of the oldest in all of England. Travel south and prepare to be dazzled as we tour Highclere Castle, familiar to Public Television viewers as the setting to a critically acclaimed period drama. We’ll tour the rooms made famous by the series and explore the precious treasures in the basement that recreate the discovery of Tutankamun’s tomb. Later, we journey to the Georgian city of Bath and check-in to our comfortable accommodations.

Day 7 : Bath & Devon

This morning we tour the UNESCO World Heritage Roman Baths, built over hot springs by the Romans and rediscovered in Georgian times. Next, we journey down to Devon and take a ferry to visit Greenway, mystery author Agatha Christie's vacation home on a hill overlooking the river Dart. Our overnight accommodations for the next two nights are in Plymouth.

Day 8 : Port Isaac & Cornwall

Today we travel to Cornwall. Our local guide, who is also an extra in a famous public television series, will lead a walking tour of the picturesque village of Port Isaac, the setting to a popular British medical drama-comedy. Here, afternoon we will visit Jamaica Inn, once a haven for smugglers and shipwreck looters.

Day 9 : Stonehenge

One of the most recognized prehistoric monuments in the world, few places have generated more speculation than the mysterious circle of standing stones known as Stonehenge. After breakfast at our leisure we travel to the Salisbury Plain for a tour of the fascinating landmark. We have the afternoon to learn about the site, then we travel east to the historic town of Windsor.

Day 10 : Windsor Castle

Today we visit Windsor Castle, the official residence of Her Majesty the Queen, and the oldest and largest continuously occupied castle in the world. Prominently situated on 26 acres high above the River Thames, the castle features magnificent state apartments, St. George’s Chapel and Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House, a masterpiece in miniature. We have the rest of the afternoon on our own in Windsor. Tonight, we feast with our fellow travelers at a Holiday Vacations Farewell Dinner, celebrating our final evening on the Sceptered Isle.

Day 11 : Fly Home

We return home with fantastic memories of our spectacular tour of England.