Day 1 - London
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Flight arrival London.
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Panoramic orientation tour of London.
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Visit to the London Dungeons (or similar) , for something informative but also easy-going after the continental flight.
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Overnight London.
Day 2 - London
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Trafalgar Square and National Gallery, including works by Monet, Turner and Leonardo da Vinci. The adjoining National Portrait Gallery includes famous portraits of Shakespeare, the Brontë sisters and Jane Austen.
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Buckingham Palace and Changing of the Guards.
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Sherlock Holmes house on Baker Street (Arthur Conan Doyle).
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Platform 9 ¾ at Kings Cross Station (Harry Potter).
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British Library, including earliest versions of some of the greatest works of English literature (such as Alice's Adventures Under Ground and Shakespeare's First Folio). Other highlights include Magna Carta and the Gutenberg Bible, together with a wealth of illuminated manuscripts.
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Overnight London.
Day 3 - London
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Westminster Abbey, including poet’s corner. The group will also see the Houses of Parliament and Downing Street.
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Free time to explore London.
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Evening visit to the Globe Theatre to a Shakespeare production or similar.
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Overnight London.
Day 4 - Chawton and Stonehenge
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Jane Austen’s house and museum, Chawton. Winchester Cathedral, where Jane Austen is buried and the house where she died.
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The World Heritage Site of Stonehenge.
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Overnight London.
Day 5 - Cambridge
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The historic English city of Cambridge, with the University, its buildings and the beautiful Backs. Visit to King's College Chapel, the most famous building in Cambridge and contains the painting “The Adoration of the Magi” by Rubens.
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John Milton’s Cottage in Chalfont St Giles.
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Overnight Coventry.
Day 6 - Oxford and Stratford
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University town of Oxford, seat of ancient learning and the city of Dreaming Spires. Our walking tour includes a visit to Christchurch college (the eating room where Harry Potter was filmed) and the Cathedral with windows by William Morris. Visit the Church where C.S. Lewis is buried and the pub where he, JR Tolkien and others met (the “Inklings”).
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Private educational lecture.
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Overnight Stratford.
Day 7 - Stratford
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Tour of Stratford Upon Avon, including Shakespeare’s birthplace, Ann Hathaway’s Cottage, Mary Arden’s House.
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Royal Shakespeare Theatre to a Shakespeare production or similar (depending also on the Globe London's production).
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Overnight Stratford.
Day 8 - Bronte Country
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Into Brontë Country and the home of the Brontë sisters at the Haworth Parsonage. Visit the museum here and church.
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Overnight near Haworth.
Day 9 - Lake District
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Lake District, including Lake Windermere, the location for Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons.
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Visit to Wordsworth’s home at Dove Cottage. Samuel Coleridge was also a frequent visitor.
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Beatrix Potter’s home at Hill Top cottage.
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Overnight Carlise.
Day 10 - Scotland
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Gretna Green, where young couples would famously elope to be married by the Blacksmith Priest. The site was referred to in many literary classics.
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Abbotsford and the fabulous home of Sir Walter Scott.
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Rosslyn Chapel, the mysterious Knights Templar chapel with a superabundance of sculpture, recently made famous in Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code as the final resting place of the Holy Grail.
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Panoramic orientation tour of Edinburgh, including sites associated with JK Rowling’s work on the Harry Potter series.
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Overnight Edinburgh.
Day 11 - Edinburgh
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The great fortress of Edinburgh Castle, including the Scottish crown jewels and the great Mons Meg cannon.
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Writer’s Museum, with permanent exhibitions on Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson and Sir Walter Scott.
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Overnight Edinburgh.
Day 12 - Edinburgh
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Free time in Edinburgh.
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Return flight.