Day 1. Flight arrival into London international airport. You will be met by your tour guide and transferred by bus into central London. Orientation tour of the city before we arrive at our hotel. Check in and the rest of the day at leisure to relax after the inter-continental flight and adjust to the time change. Evening welcome drink and tour briefing before dinner. Overnight London
“Kings of England in times past have never had any superior but God"
Day 2. Breakfast. We pick you up from your hotel and start to examine the history of the Tudor dynasty beginning at Westminster Abbey, where Henry was crowned king in 1509. Mary I and Elizabeth I are also buried here, together with numerous monarchs and notables such as Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin and Lawrence Olivier. See Banqueting House and the site of York House, which Henry acquired from Wolsey under the coercion of Anne Boleyn and transformed into Whitehall Palace. Also discuss Westminster Hall and the Houses of Parliament, where Henry completed his constitutional revolution with the Act of Supremacy. We cross the city via the Archbishop of Canterbury’s London residence at Lambeth Palace and the intriguing Temple Church, which Henry seized from the Knights Hospitaller in 1540. Afternoon visit to the Tower of London, where Anne Boleyn, Sir Thomas Moore and Catherine Howard were all executed. You will discover the Tower’s fascinating and terrible history and see treasures including Henry VIII’s armour and the Crown Jewels. Overnight London.
“No man’s pie is freed from his ambitious finger"
Day 3. Breakfast. Visit the remains of the Palace of Placentia, where Henry VIII was born and spent much of his early life. It was also where both Mary I and Elizabeth I were born and where Henry married two of his wives. As a favoured palace, Placentia was used not only for Henry’s grand jousting tournaments but also as base from which to indulge in one of his great passions by visiting his new shipyards at Deptford and Woolwich. We visit the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich which has a “Tudor Room”, with portraits of Henry and explore Henry’s love of navy.We head for Hever Castle, the home of the Boleyn family, who converted it from a medieval castle into a Tudor mansion. It is famous for the courtship of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. At the end of the Long Gallery is the “Lover’s Window” where, according to legend, the couple would sit together. You will also have the opportunity to stroll around the picturesque moat and magnificent gardens. Diner and overnight in Kent.
“A Great Flanders Mare”
Day 4. Breakfast. We head for Rochester in Kent, which centuries later would become the childhood home of Charles Dickens. Henry arrived here in 1539 eagerly anticipating a glimpse of his next bride to be, Anne of Cleves. They met close to the imposing Rochester Castle, originally constructed at the time of the Norman Conquest. After six months of marriage, Anne was divorced and pensioned off with a number of houses, including Hever Castle. Rochester is also the home of England’s second oldest Cathedral and was the bishopric of the martyr, John Fisher, who was executed by Henry in 1535. Afternoon visit to Hampton Court Palace. Cardinal Wolsey, notorious for his opulent tastes, transformed the Palace from a small manor to one of the largest houses in England. The lavish royal residence was given to Henry in 1525 and witnessed many of the most important events in the chequered political and matrimonial history of the 1530s and 1540s. The State Apartments of Henry VIII feature some of the most magnificent rooms in the palace, including the Chapel Royal and the Great Hall. You will have the chance to wander across the Privy Garden, try your luck in the maze and may even get to watch a game of Real Tennis in the Tudor tennis court. Dinner and overnight.
"Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man”
Day 5. Windsor Castle is an official residence of The Queen and the largest occupied castle in the world.Henry VIII is buried in St George’s Chapel at the Castle, together with his third wife Jane Seymour. He also built the great gateway, which bears his name. The State Apartments include many treasures from the magnificent Royal Collection, including paintings, furniture, arms and armour from the Tudor period. Among many other items of interest is Queen Mary's Dolls House and the bullet that killed Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar. Our next stop will be Oxford; the City of Dreaming Spires. The young Thomas Wolsey, son of a disreputable Ipswich butcher, excelled here as a young student, before becoming both Lord Chancellor and Cardinal to the Roman Catholic Church. He spent part of his vast income on lavishly designing Christ Church College. Thomas Moore also studied at Oxford, in the former Canterbury Hall (administered by monks from Canterbury Cathedral). We will also see a memorial to the Oxford Martyrs; three Anglican bishops including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, who were burned at the stake on the orders of Mary I. Dinner and overnight.
“Such stuff as dreams are made on”
Day 6. Breakfast... We visit Sudeley Castle set against the backdrop of the beautiful Cotswold Hills. With royal connections spanning a thousand years, it has played an important role in the turbulent and changing times of England's past. The Castle was once home to Queen Katherine Parr, the last and only surviving wife of Henry VIII. Henry, Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey and Queen Elizabeth I have all lived at or visited Sudeley. Visit the birthplace of the Bard of Avon, William Shakespeare. A visit to Stratford-Upon-Avon involves not only a history of the world-famous playwright but will also provide a fascinating insight into aspects of Tudor life. You will tour the Shakespeare properties, a collection of Tudor houses connected to his family that have remained largely unchanged since that period. Many of Shakespeare’s plays were written during the reign of Elizabeth I, a fact that many believe resulted in a “Tudor bias” in his depiction of historical characters (the hunchback Richard III being the most memorable example). Henry VIII is believed to have been his final play. Shakespeare is buried in the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. Dinner and overnight. Option to see a play by the Royal Shakespeare Company.
“A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!”
Day 7. Breakfast. We take an opportunity to explore the demise of the Plantagenet dynasty and the very beginning of Tudor monarchy at Bosworth Fields. It was here in 1485 that Henry’s father, Henry VII, defeated the forces of Richard III. It was the last time that an English King was killed in battle. We will be given a guided walk across the battlefield and visit the new interactive exhibition. Visit to Fotheringhay, where once stood an imposing Norman mote and bailey fortress. Fotheringhay Castle was the birthplace of Richard III (Fotheringhay Castle has been completely demolished and very little ruins remain). This was also the location of the trial and execution of Mary, Queen of Scots; a scene that has caught the imagination of history. It is said that the executioner required three blows of the axe to sever her head. At the Talbot Hotel in Fotheringhay we can literally follow in the footsteps of Mary, Queen of Scots. This Elizabethan hotel includes the oak staircase (brought from Fotheringhay Castle) on which Mary walked to her execution. The Talbot’s oak beams, open fires and transformed windows recall the glorious Elizabethan age but it is also said that Mary’s ghost haunts the hotel!
“If a man shall take his brother's wife it is an unclean thing”
Day 8. Breakfast. We visit Peterborough Cathedral, a Christian place of worship for almost 1350 years. Katherine of Aragon is buried in the Cathedral. Mary, Queen of Scots, was also buried here before being removed by her son, James I, and re-entombed in Westminster Abbey. Enjoy a walking tour of Tudor Cambridge and the University, where Thomas Cramner lectured in divinity. The walk describes life in Tudor Cambridge, introducing everyday themes such as religion, medieval fairs, books and printing, and domestic architecture. Henry VIII founded Trinity College in 1546 and there is a splendid statue of the king on the Gatehouse. The Kings College Chapel was also completed during this time and the screen bears Henry's initials twined around those of Anne Boleyn. One of the Chapel's most striking features is the painting Adoration of the Magi by Rubens. We stop off at the American Cemetery and Memorial at Madingley, outside Cambridge. The University donated thirty acres of land here to the American Battle Monuments Commission. Most of the nearly four thousand soldiers buried in the cemetery died in the Battle of the Atlantic or in the strategic air bombardment of Northwest Europe during the Second World War. Overnight London
“Without the sun there can be no rainbow”
Day 9. Morning at leisure. You may like to visit the National Portrait Gallery, which includes paintings of Henry VIII, Thomas Cromwell, Anne Boleyn and many others from this period. This evening we join King Henry VIII for a medieval banquet in the magnificent 15th century surroundings of the Old Palace at Hatfield House. The House itself was built during the reign of James I, but in the extensive and beautiful garden is the surviving wing of the Royal Palace of Hatfield, where Elizabeth I spent much of her childhood. In the deer park surrounding the House an oak tree marks the spot where the young Princess first heard of her accession to the throne. Sitting in the same Great Hall that Elizabeth I held court, you will be entertained by a selection of medieval characters with singing, dancing, magic, and duelling. Throughout the evening you will be served a four course banquet and the serving wenches will ensure that your glass is never empty of wine or mead during the meal. Overnight
Day 10. Transfer to London airport for your return flight home.