English Literary Legends

Highlights

• Tour London - Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Covent Garden, London Eye & London Tower (where you will Learn about the kings in Shakespeare's histories, hear stories of prisoners and executions, & feast your eyes on the Crown Jewels).
• London - Enjoy Shakespeare in its original setting by participating in a drama workshop at the Globe Theatre.
• Stratford - Find out where Shakespeare went to school, how he survived the plague, & why he put a curse on his own grave.
• The Lake District - Visit Dove Cottage, Wordsworth's home, on the shores of Grasmere.

Itinerary

After arrival in England, you will have a chance to view London's most well known sites, including: Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben & the Houses of Parliament. We will also stop in Covent Garden, where Eliza Doolittle first met Henry Higgins. In the evening, enjoy a flight on the London Eye. Visit the Tower of London, & meet Henry VIII & his six wives! Learn about the kings in Shakespeare's histories, hear stories of prisoners and executions, & feast your eyes on the Crown Jewels. Whew! What a day!  

London is a city with a story to tell. Join us today as we visit the best of London. The tour starts at Westminster Abbey, burial place of Britain's great and good. Then, a visit to Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guard (when available). We will also cruise down the river Thames.

Enjoy Shakespeare in its original setting by participating in a drama workshop at the Globe Theatre. Visit Wren's masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, built after the London fire of 1666. Finally, get your head around some mind-bending art at the Tate Modern.

Love Shakespeare? Want to see Britain's most amazing medieval castle? Then join us at Stratford & Warwick for a day of classic castles & barmy bards. Begin your day at Shakespeare's Stratford to find out where the writer went to school, how he survived the plague, & why he put a curse on his own grave. Then, we visit Warwick Castle. Walk the castle walls, experience medieval warfare, & see the grandeur of Countess Daisy's Royal Weekend Party.

We then travel through a land of stone walls, waterfalls, & rolling dales toward Haworth, a Victorian town that will take you back 150 years. Home of the Brontes, it's the town perched on the edge of the haunting moors that inspired Wuthering Heights & Jane Eyre, & dark characters like Heathcliff.

From Haworth, we travel to the Lake District, its mountains & lakes the inspiration for writers, poets & painters, & home of William & Dorothy Wordsworth. Ramble in the romantic landscape, & visit Dove Cottage, Wordsworth's home, on the shores of Grasmere.

We will enjoy a scenic cruise across Windermere, the area's largest lake, as well as a trip to Langdale, a picturesque valley filled with sheep and idyllic villages.

Transfer to the airport, & board return flight home. 

Optional Add Ons

You may add or exchange any of the days below as part of your literary tour.

• Stonehenge & Glastonbury - This tour will lead you straight to the Holy Grail. Stone circles, magic, mysticism, the legend of King Arthur, & miraculous healing waters in a land beyond time. We start our journey at the mysterious Stonehenge. Then it's on to Glastonbury, the Isle of Alvalon. Enjoy a short hike up Glastonbury Tor, & become king (or queen) of all you survey.
• Bath - Then we head to Bath, the setting of Jane Austen''s Northanger Abbey. See the city & Georgian high society through some of its most famous visitors, including Jane Austen & Charles Dickens.
• Canterbury - In our literary pilgrimage to this medieval walled city, we will follow the trail of Chaucer & characters of The Canterbury Tales to learn about medieval life. Then we visit Canterbury's awe-inspiring cathedral.
• Writers at War - This day explores literature in the 20th-century through the eyes of the War Poets and the Bloomsbury Set. Paired with the award-winning Imperial War Museum & the Cabinet War Rooms, this tour places the literature of the time in its unique historical context.
• Hardy Country, Dorchester & Stonehenge - Start at Stonehenge, setting for the climactic finale of Tess of the d'Ubervilles. Visit Thomas Hardy's Cottage and the real life Casterbridge to appreciate Hardy's life and work.
• Tintagel & Cornwall - Then travel to the dramatic rocky ruin of Tintagel Castle, legendary birthplace of King Arthur. Become a knight for the day in a location immersed in the power of Arthurian legend & Celtic heritage.
• Victorian London, Dickens Literary Walk/Tate Britain - Discover the darker side of Victorian times as you take a guided walk through Dickensian London, exploring a time in Britain's history where truly, ''It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.'' In the afternoon, visit the Tate Britain to discover the art of the Pre-Raphaelites & William Blake.