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Day One
London - Stratford upon Avon - York

Welcome aboard and greetings from your Tour Director as you drive through the rolling Cotswolds Hills to Stratford-upon-Avon. Here visit Shakespeare’s birthplace and see Anne Hathaway’s cottage. In your free time explore the charming cobbled streets of the town or walk along the banks of the River Avon. Then travel on to Viking York. Here enjoy a walking tour of the city highlighting the ancient walls, the Mansion House, the picturesque Shambles and the magnificent York Minster. Finally arrive at your hotel in York where you will enjoy a Welcome Pub Reception with your Tour Director and fellow travellers.

Hotel: Holiday Inn, York (or similar)

 

This morning it's off to Durham, which is dominated by its 11th century Norman Cathedral. See the Castle overlooking Palace Green and other fine buildings surrounded by the picturesque River Wear. Then stop to take pictures of a section of the Roman construction known as Hadrian's Wall before driving through the Northumberland National Park. Cross the Scottish border at Carter Bar for spectacular views. Pause to view the ruins of Jedburgh Abbey before arriving in Edinburgh, Scotland’s elegant capital.

 

Hotel: Holiday Inn City West, Edinburgh (or similar)

 

Day Three
Edinburgh Sightseeing

Many fascinating highlights are included this morning on your sightseeing tour with a local expert guide. The Royal Mile, views of Holyrood House, Arthur’s Seat, Princes Street, the Scottish Parliament and a visit to Edinburgh Castle will be included. There is the possibility to visit Rosslyn Chapel located just south of the city. Rosslyn retains an aura of mystery with its many references to the Knights Templar and Freemasonry – but more recently an important feature of the ‘Da Vinci Code’. During the Edinburgh Festival you will have included tickets to the spectacular Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

 

After breakfast today drive across the Forth Bridge to the famous golf course at St. Andrews on the Fife coast where you can take a souvenir picture at the 18th hole! Then it’s into the Scottish Highlands and over the River Tay to visit Pitlochry, a charming Victorian holiday resort. There is a dam across the river here with a 'fish ladder' enabling the salmon to make their way upstream to spawn. Enjoy a visit to a local Malt Whisky Distillery where, after our guided tour, there is the chance to sample the end product! Then on to your hotel where you will enjoy a traditional Highland Dinner including the ceremony of ‘piping in the haggis’, a uniquely Scottish tradition.

 

 

Day Five
Scottish Highlands - Loch Ness - Glasgow

This morning drive to Culloden Moor where Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobite army was defeated by Government troops in the last battle ever fought on British soil. Visit the famous battlefield before continuing through Inverness to Loch Ness. Keep your eyes open for the monster when you stop to take pictures from the shores! Continue through the Great Glen to Fort William where you will see Ben Nevis – Britain’s highest mountain – before driving on to awesome Glen Coe. Finally reach the "bonnie, bonnie banks” of Loch Lomond en route to Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow – once one of the most important shipbuilding cities in the world!

Hotel: Radisson Blu/Marks Hotel, Glasgow (or similar)

 

We start today with an orientation tour of Glasgow that includes grand George Square and historic St Mungo's Cathedral before we drive through the Southern Uplands to Gretna Green. Here eloping couples married against their parents’ wishes! Now travel through the English Lake District to Grasmere where the great English poet William Wordsworth lived and wrote his most well-known poem ‘The Daffodils’. You will see his grave in the churchyard of St. Oswald’s Church. Then drive to spectacular Lake Windermere, which is the largest natural lake in England - being 10½ miles long and 1¼ miles across at its widest point with a depth of up to 220 feet. Later check in to your hotel in the city of Manchester once an engine of the industrial revolution, now it’s so urban chic that it is second only to London! Enroute to your hotel in Manchester stop for a photograph of Old Trafford, the stadium of Manchester United FC.

 

 

This morning after breakfast your first stop will be Chester where your walking tour will take in the Roman Walls, the Cathedral and the black and white Tudor arcaded buildings known as the ‘Rows’. Enjoy a unique insight into the life of a local Town Crier - an esteemed position that dates from medieval times! From here cross into Wales and the Wye Valley to view the ruins of the 12th century Tintern Abbey, which was the second Cistercian foundation in Britain and the first in Wales. It is one of the most spectacular ruins in the country and inspired Wordsworth’s poem ‘Tintern Abbey’ and more than one painting by the great British painter J.M.W Turner. It is here that you will all enjoy a special 'Be My Guest' farewell supper. Finally arrive into Bristol, the city associated with the extraordinary engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. This evening will be completely at leisure.

Hotel: Mercure Holland House, Bristol (or similar)

Day Eight
Bristol - Stonehenge - London

Make your way to the beautiful city of Bath this morning to enjoy the superb Georgian architecture and visit the Roman Baths to test the famous health giving waters. Then cross Salisbury Plain to see the mysterious and imposing monoliths at Stonehenge. Salisbury is where you will have time to admire the Cathedral and its spire – the tallest in Britain! Finally we drive through Wiltshire and Hampshire and make our way into London where sadly your tour must come to an end.