Literary Legacies

Day 1

Depart for England!

Day 2 – London

Welcome to England where your private bus and driver will escort you on a London City Tour. See Piccadilly Circus, Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Fleet Street, the Houses of Parliament, St. Paul’s and Big Ben. Visit Westminster Abbey to see Poets’ Corner with its monuments to Chaucer, Dickens, Longfellow, Hardy and other literary notables.

Day 3 – Stratford-Upon-Avon

Travel by way of Oxford, the famous university center and “City of Dreaming Spires.” On to the enchanting Cotswolds to Shakespeare’s birthplace. Your Stratford City Tour takes you to his birthplace, Holy Trinity Church (Shakespeare’s burial site) and Anne Hathaway’s Cottage in the picture-postcard village of Shottery. This evening enjoy a Shakespearean play.

Day 4 – Lake District

Transfer to the pastoral Land of the Lake Poets in Cumbria. Visit Hill Top, home of Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny, Jemima Puddle-Duck and retreat of Beatrix Potter. Inside the 17th century house are her watercolours, dolls’ house and mementos. Visit Dove Cottage in Grasmere, home to the poet Wordsworth and the museum. Wander in the village of Grasmere, enjoy the shops and visit St. Oswald’s church where Wordsworth is buried.

Day 5 – Edinburgh

Proceed to Edinburgh. It is here that Sir Walter Scott wrote his romances and Robert Burns met his beloved Clarinda. This is also the city of Robert Louis Stevenson and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Explore the highlights on a City Tour that includes a visit to dramatic Edinburgh Castle, view the Palace of Holyrood House, former residence of Mary Queen of Scots, and a drive along the Royal Mile. Visit Hawes Inn with its links to the Stevenson novel, Kidnapped, and the charming Writers’ Museum in Lady Stair’s Close.

Day 6 – Edinburgh

A free day to explore the elegant Georgian streets and squares of Edinburgh. You may visit Greyfriars Kirk, one of Edinburgh’s most historic churches. Immediately outside the churchyard gates stands Greyfriar’s Bobby.

Day 7 – York

This morning you’ll tour Abbotsford, a fantasy in stone and baronial home of Sir Walter Scott. Then on to Brontë Country, an area of Pennine upland in West Yorkshire, England. A windswept land of heather and wild moors, this area became the inspiration for the classic works of the Brontë sisters. Visit the town of Haworth and the Brontë Parsonage Museum, home to Charlotte, Emily and Anne. Continue on through the Yorkshire dales to the ancient walled city of York. Take The Shambles Walk with your courier down the narrowest street in this city, past tiny shops and overhanging timber-framed houses.

Day 8 – London

Return to London by way of Nottingham and Sherwood Forest, home to the legendary outlaw Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men. Arrive in time to visit the Dickens’ House Museum on Doughty Street. Here you will see portions of the author’s manuscripts, letters, preliminary drawings by his illustrators, and many other exhibits including Dickens’ meticulously reconstructed drawing room. End your literary journey at a West End Theatre Performance this evening.

Day 9 – Depart

Board your flight home, with a new appreciation for the literary legacies of Great Britain.