9-Day England and Wales Tour

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Overview

Trip Cost

$3,495 9 Days, 8 Nights, double occupancy. Single supplement $850. Does not include air fare.

Estimated Air

$1,100 (price is per person) Roundtrip airfare from Newark Airport to London, Heathrow

Tour Includes

• 2 Nights in London in Copthorne Tara Hotel 4* (not guided tour days)
• First night welcome dinner in London.
• 1 Night in Clayton Cardiff Hotel 4* (Cardiff- Wales)
• 2 Nights in Lake Vyrnwy Hotel 4* (Caernarfon- Wales)
• 2 Nights in Queen at Chester 4* (Chester-England)
• 1 Night MacDonald Alveston Manor Hotel 4* (Stratford -Upon-Avon- England)
• Farewell Dinner last night in Stratford-Upon -Avon.

*All services are subject to availability at time of booking

Daily Itinerary

Day 1: Welcome to London

• Arrive at Heathrow airport, meet your guide and coach and transfer to the Copthorne Tara Hotel.
• On your way to the hotel enjoy a brief panoramic tour of London city centre
• Spend the afternoon at own leisure
• Meet with your guide and group leader at the reception of your hotel and walk to the local restaurant for your Welcome Dinner.
• Overnight on Bed & Breakfast basis in Copthorne Tara Hotel

Day 2: London

• Full English breakfast in your hotel
• Day at leisure
• Overnight on Bed & Breakfast basis in Copthorne Tara Hotel

Day 3: Stonehenge

• Meet around 9am with your fellow travellers and your guide at the reception of the Copthorne Tara Hotel and head off to your WALES tour for the next 6 nights!
• Your first stop on this amazing journey is the famous Stonehenge site.
• Stonehenge in southern England ranks among the world’s most iconic archaeological sites and one of its greatest enigmas. The megalithic circle on Salisbury Plain inspires awe and fascination—but also intense debate some 4,600 years after it was built by ancient Britons who left no written record.
  The monument’s mysterious past has spawned countless tales and theories. According to folklore, Stonehenge was created by Merlin, the wizard of Arthurian legend, who magically transported the massive stones from Ireland, where giants had assembled them. Another legend says invading Danes put the stones up, and another theory says they were the ruins of a Roman temple. Modern-day interpretations are no less colourful: some argue that Stonehenge is a spacecraft landing area for aliens, and even more say it’s a giant fertility symbol in the shape of female genitalia.
• After visit continue your way to Bath. Upon arrival enjoy a 30 min walking tour of Bath followed with visit to the Roman Baths Constructed in around 70AD as a grand bathing and socialising complex, the Roman Baths is one of the best-preserved Roman remains in the world, where 1,170,000 litres of steaming spring water, reaching 46°C, still fills the bathing site every single day.
• The Roman Baths is the site of extensive ruins and an interactive museum filled with many treasures and visual snippets that transport you back to Roman times and the lives of the Aquae Sulis people. Walk on ancient pavements as the Romans did 2,000 years ago, and explore chambers historically housing changing rooms and tepid plunge pools.
• After visit travel to Cardiff and check in to your hotel.
• Overnight on Dinner, Bed & Breakfast basis in Clayton Hotel Cardiff

Day 4: Cardiff to Snowdonia

• Breakfast in your hotel.
• Check out from your hotel.
• This morning, enjoy a tour of Cardiff City, the Capital city of Wales, rich in ancient history. You will see many famous attractions such as Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Castle, The National Museum of Wales and the beautiful tranquil Alexandra Gardens.
• You will then visit the magnificent hilltop Cardiff Castle; built in the late 11th century by Norman invaders on top of a 3rd-centurey Roman fort. The castle was commissioned by either William the Conqueror or by Robert Fitzhamon, and formed the heart of the medieval town of Cardiff.
• Lunch on your own.
• Rolling green landscapes? Waterfalls? Characterful towns and a tranquil canal? They’re all here, in Brecon Beacons. Like a grab-bag of rural highlights, the Brecon Beacons National Park is one of the most interesting regions in Britain.
• Carved out in the Ice Age, the mountains, hills and valleys of the Brecon Beacons National Park have been moulded by nearly eight millennia of human activity. Many dozens of prehistoric monuments dot these weathered slopes. There’s a rich agricultural tradition in and around the park and the region’s one of a kind towns – outdoorsy, walker friendly Crickhowell, jazzy Brecon, food-loving Abergavenny and book mad Hay-on-Wye – are genuinely refreshing.
• Defining the park are the highest mountains in southern Britain – the Brecon Beacons – and the three ranges surrounding them, the Black Mountain Range, Fforest Fawr and Black Mountains. At their heart is Wales’ largest expanse of open hill common, about 20 miles across. Here, Welsh mountain ponies keep the vegetation in check. The descendants of pit ponies, they’re a hardy breed. They’re said to be tougher than sheep – and less fussy eaters.
• Overnight on Dinner, Bed & Breakfast basis in Lake Vyrnwy Hotel.

Day 5: Snowdonia

• Breakfast in your hotel
• Start your day with wondering around the beautiful village of Portmeirion.
• Designed and built by architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the style of an Italian village, and is now owned by a charitable trust. He wanted to show how a naturally beautiful site could be developed without spoiling it. The village was built as a place people could enjoy for its own sake, a place where events, concerts and exhibitions could take place.
• Travel to Caernarfon.
• Free time for lunch.
• This afternoon enjoy a visit the Caernarfon Castle.
• King Edward I intended the castle to be a royal residence and seat of government for North Wales. His son, the first English Prince of Wales, was born here in 1284. In 1969 the castle gained worldwide fame as the setting for the HRH Prince Charles as Prince of Wales.
• Return back to your hotel in Snowdonia area.
• Overnight on Dinner, Bed & Breakfast basis in Lake Vyrnwy Hotel.

Day 6: Snowdonia

• Breakfast in your hotel & check-out.
• Snowdonia (Eryri) is called one of Britain’s breathing spaces…
• A place for peace and tranquillity within a diverse, historic and vibrant landscape. Situated on the west coast of Britain, covering 823 square miles of diverse landscapes, Snowdonia National Park is a living, working area, and is home to over 26,000 people. As well as being the largest National Park in Wales, Snowdonia boasts the highest mountain in England and Wales – Snowdon or Yr Wyddfa is the highest mountain in Wales, at an elevation of 1,085 metres (3,560 ft) above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside the Scottish Highlands.
• Head off to Llanberis to visit National Slate Museum, previously known as the Welsh Slate Museum and the North Wales Quarrying Museum. The workshops served the needs of the quarry and its locomotives, were built in 1870 on land created from the continuous tipping of spoil from the adjacent Vivian Quarry. The quarry closed in 1969 and reopened in 1972 as the North Wales Quarrying Museum.
• After the visit continue your way to Conwy Castle for an afternoon visit.
• Conwy Castle is a medieval fortification in Conwy, on the north coast of Wales. It was built by Edward I, during his conquest of Wales, between 1283 and 1289. Magnificent medieval fortress still towers over town after 700 years
• Thanks to restored spiral staircases in its great towers you can walk a complete circuit around the battlements of Conwy Castle. We highly recommend it. This is one of the most magnificent medieval fortresses in Europe.
• In the distance rise the craggy mountains of Eryri (Snowdonia) and spread out below you are the harbour and narrow streets of Conwy – still protected by an unbroken 1,400-yard (1.3km) ring of town walls.
• Overnight on Dinner, Bed & Breakfast basis in The Queen at Chester Hotel

Day 7: Chester

• Breakfast in your hotel
• Meet with your coach and guide and transfer to Liverpool.
• On your arrival to Liverpool have a panoramic coach tour featuring famous “Beatles” places in the city like Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields.
• Visit The Beatles Story at Albert’s Dock
• Be transported on an incredible immersive journey as we tell the story of how four young lads from Liverpool were propelled to the dizzy heights of fame and fortune from their humble childhood beginnings.
• Replicas of Mathew Street, Abbey Road Studios and The Cavern authentically capture the early ’60s, allowing you to personally experience the very places that helped make The Beatles the greatest band in the world.
• With special exhibitions, authentic memorabilia and exclusive photographs, there’s all this and much more at this award-winning attraction.
• Return back to Chester
• On afternoon enjoy a walking tour in Chester – a captivating journey through 2,000 years of history, taking in all the main sites along the way including the Rows, Walls and River. Be enthralled by the tales and anecdotes of those who have contributed to the rich heritage of this much-loved city, beginning in Roman times, through the vibrant Medieval expansion period, the desperation of the Civil War, the Georgian elegance and the Victorian era.
• Overnight on Dinner, Bed & Breakfast basis in The Queen at Chester Hotel

Day 8: Stratford-upon-avon (Shakespeare’s town)

• Breakfast in your hotel.
• Check-out from your hotel in Chester and drive to Stratford-Upon-Avon.
• On your way visit the famous Warwick Castle
• Built in 1608 by William the Conqueror on the banks of the River Avon, Warwick Castle was and still is one of England’s most magnificent medieval castles. Now a historical theme park run by Merlin Entertainments, it’s a full-on medieval experience filled with fascinating exhibits and interactive tours like Wars of the Roses:
• It’s 1455 and the House of Lancaster holds the English Throne. King Henry VI’s crown is challenged by the House of York. The rival houses clash in battle and the bloody war that ensues was to last over 30 years…
• Drive to Stratford-Upon-Avon and have some free time for lunch.
• A medieval market town in England’s West Midlands, and the 16th-century birthplace of William Shakespeare. Visit Shakespeare’s Birthplace; the half-timbered house is Stratford’s most cherished historic place. The famous writer was born here in 1564.
• Descendants of the dramatist lived there until the nineteenth century, and it has been a place of pilgrimage for over 250 years.
• Check-in to your hotel in Stratford-Upon-Avon
• Farewell dinner in local restaurant
• Overnight in MacDonald Alveston Manor Hotel on Bed & Breakfast basis.

Day 9: Farewell

• Breakfast in your hotel & Check-out
• Head off to London and travel to Heathrow Airport (~ 1h 45min from the hotel) for your flight back home.
• London extension guests will transfer afterwards to the Copthorne Tara Hotel for their post-tour stay.

Tour Deposit

$500 Reserve your space by sending your deposit by May 25, 2023.