Personal tours in and around London 2015

Personal tours in and around London 2015

London, 7 hrs Walks, Galleries & Museums 2 hrs Windsor, Eton & Hampton Court, 7 hrs 7 hours is recommended for an in-depth day with visits inside one or two of the most historic sights such as the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and/or St Paul’s Cathedral. 3 hours recommended for a flexible, panoramic tour with photo stops. Meet your expert guide for a 2 hour walking tour inside one of London’s great museums. Visit the National Gallery which houses Britain's greatest art collection, the British Museum with over 8 million extraordinary pieces from around the world, or the Victoria and Albert Museum, the world’s greatest museum of decorative arts and design. For contemporary art visit the Tate Modern with an expert guide. Or ask us about a Jack the Ripper walking tour: your expert British Tours guide will take you on a tour of several of the Ripper’s haunts and places thought London’s East End. Or why not jumble through one of London’s many markets? Your guide will show you where to find that rare London antique. Visit Windsor Castle, England's largest royal residence and still lived in by the Queen. See the magnificent State Apartments, St. George's Chapel, one of the finest examples of perpendicular architecture and fan vaulted ceilings in Britain and Queen Mary's Dolls' House, perfect to the tiniest detail. For first time visitors see all the major sights - Buckingham Palace, St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the River Thames, the Royal Parks, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, the Horse Guards, the Changing of the Guard, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London and the Crown Jewels. Also visit the City, the original site of London, with the Bank of England Guildhall. For regular visitors explore the lesser-known sights in London - Shakespeare’s Globe, historic Hampstead village with 17 th century Kenwood and Fenton House, Legal London including the Temples, Inns of Court & Criminal Courts, Churchill's Cabinet War Rooms, the Beatles' Abbey Road, the Barbican, John Wesley's House, Notting Hill, Portobello Market, Covent Garden and much else. Also see Eton, the famous boys school where both Princes William and Harry attended and the boys are still dressed in traditional black tail coats and Runnymede where the Magna Carta was signed in 1215. Hampton Court Palace was a favourite residence of Henry VIII, built in 1514 and beautifully situated along the River Thames. Five of his wives lived here and the ghosts of two - Jane Seymour and Catherine Howard - supposedly haunt it. See the world’s largest grape vine, the maze, astronomical clock and Henry VIII’s tennis court.

Stonehenge at Dusk or Dawn, 6 hrs In the evening after Stonehenge is closed to the public, or at dawn before it is open, we can arrange for you to visit this awe-inspiring prehistoric monument and walk among the giant sarsen stones towering 6. 4 m high and weighing up to 50 tonnes. Marvel at how stones of such monumental scale were quarried, transported and erected 5, 000 years ago when the only tools available were made of wood, bone and stone. Prices include tickets to Dawn/Dusk Stonehenge and Avebury, 8 hrs Visit the megalithic stone circle surrounding the village of Avebury. Less well known than Stonehenge, this fascinating site's first stones predate those at Stonehenge by at least 200 years and form the largest stone circle in the world which you can wander around. Then on to Britain’s most famous prehistoric monument, Stonehenge. The purpose and the construction of this awe-inspiring monument is one of the world's most enduring mysteries. Why did our ancestors build the circle - as a temple, a burial site, a place of healing, or a calendar? And how did they transport the massive stones weighing up to 50 tonnes from so far away? Arthurian legend has it that the circle was built by Merlin, assisted by giants. Cotswolds Country, 9 hrs Nestling in the low range of Cotswolds hills to the west of Oxford are some of England’s prettiest villages: Shipton-under-Wychwood, Upper and Lower Slaughter, as well as Stow-on-the-Wold and Broadway. All the houses and the churches, the mills and the pubs are built in the local Cotswold stone, a beautiful honey coloured limestone which catches the light of the summer sun and gives the area its distinctive and wistful character. Just on the edge of the Cotswolds is magnificent Blenheim Palace, home of the Dukes of Malborough and where Winston Churchill was born. Then, on the way back, take time to explore the ancient university city of Oxford. The mediaeval colleges and some of the finest of the University buildings are also built with the golden Cotswold limestone.

Winchester, Salisbury & Stonehenge, 10 hrs Bath & Stonehenge or Salisbury, 11 hrs Windsor, Stonehenge & Oxford, 12 hrs Winchester was the ancient capital of England under Alfred The Great. See its great Cathedral with a history stretching back over 15 centuries with its priceless collection of manuscripts including The 12 th Century Winchester Bible. Walk through the streets that wind their way up to the Castle where you can see the Round Table, believed to have been King Arthur’s. Bath is a fascinating World Heritage City where Roman architecture blends into the elegant, Georgian city of Jane Austen. The city was founded as a health spa by the Romans and its Roman Baths and Pump Room are among the finest antiquities in England. In the 18 th century Bath was again developed into an elegant health resort to which the fashionable world flocked for the season. Salisbury is a medieval city dominated by its magnificent cathedral built in only 60 years from 1220 to 1280 boasting the tallest spire in Britain. Also visit Stonehenge, Britain's most important prehistoric monument and time permitting Avebury, the largest stone circle in Britain. Also visit 5, 000 year old Stonehenge, one of Britain’s most enduring mysteries. Marvel at the giant stones, some of which were carried hundreds of miles over land sea. Alternatively, your guide will take you back to London via Salisbury with its splendid 13 th century cathedral boasting the tallest spire in Britain Time permitting, ask your guide to stop for a photo opportunity at Highclere Castle, the main filming location for Downton Abbey Visit Windsor Castle, the Queen's favourite country residence and England's largest royal residence. See the magnificent State Apartments, St. George's Chapel, one of the finest examples of perpendicular architecture in Britain and Queen Mary's Dolls' House, perfect to the tiniest detail. 5000 year old Stonehenge is one of the world's most amazing prehistoric monuments and most enduring mysteries. How did our ancestors transport these massive stones weighing up to 50 tonnes from so far away and why? Also visit Oxford, England’s oldest university dating back to the 11 th century with its beautiful and ornate colleges, libraries and gardens. Go inside one or two of the colleges with your guide and find out about their 'old boys' like Oscar Wilde, Tolkien and CS Lewis. Learn also about student life and ceremonies which date back centuries. This is a fast paced tour.

Oxford, 5 hrs Oxford, Blenheim Palace & Windsor, 9 hrs Stratford-Upon-Avon & Warwick, 10 hrs The ancient university city of Oxford lies on the Thames some sixty miles west of London. Its colleges with their gardens and quads cover much of the city centre. Visit Christchurch College, founded by Henry VIII, where the college chapel doubles as the city’s cathedral. Its Great Hall was modelled for the Harry Potter films. On its walls are portraits of alumni – prime ministers, churchmen and philosophers, and Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland, who taught at the college. Or visit New College, which nestles under the old city wall and where the chapel still retains some of its mediaeval stained glass and where the ancient mulberry tree is surrounded by the college cloisters. Or just wander through the narrow alleyways with their fifteenth century taverns, crowded with jostling students – especially once the exams are over Oxford is England’s oldest university dating back to the 11 th century with magnificent spires, cloistered colleges, secluded gardens and renowned libraries. Blenheim Palace, birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, is England’s grandest and most imposing Stately Home. Set in almost 3000 acres of spectacular parkland it was built to reward John Churchill, 1 st Duke of Marlborough and ancestor of Sir Winston, for his defeat of the French at Blenheim in 1704. Also visit Windsor Castle, the world's largest inhabited castle still lived in by the Queen. See the magnificent State Apartments, St George's Chapel and Queen Mary's Dolls' House, perfect to the most minute detail including tiny, fully functioning light fittings, a cellar stocked with real wine and plumbed bathrooms. Visit Oxford, majestic Blenheim Palace and the picturesque Cotswolds on your way to historic Stratford-upon-Avon immortalised by William Shakespeare. The house where Shakespeare was born still stands and now incorporates a museum. Afterwards stroll through the bustling market streets, past the mediaeval houses and the sixteenth century grammar school which Shakespeare probably attended, to Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare and his wife Anne Hathaway are buried. Include Warwick Castle in 10 hours. Warwick Castle’s history stretches back almost 1, 100 years to an early hill top fortification. The first castle was constructed in 1068 by William the Conqueror and over the ages, passing through the ownership by different individuals, families and Monarchs, Warwick Castle underwent a constant change of development - stone replaced wood, Towers and a Gatehouse were added, the grounds were landscaped. Today it is the epitome of a medieval fortress and, with waxworks, archery displays and a castle dungeon, it is great fun for kids.

Stratford-Upon-Avon, 9 hrs Cambridge and Duxford, 9 hrs Canterbury, Leeds Castle & Dover, 10 hrs Visit Oxford, majestic Blenheim Palace and the picturesque Cotswolds on your way to historic Stratford-upon-Avon immortalised by William Shakespeare. Walk on a summer's day through the shady courts of England's second oldest university. Behind them are impeccably manicured lawns leading down to the River Cam. Visit Shakespeare’s birthplace where he grew up and played, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, the idyllic, thatched cottage where William courted his future wife, Holy Trinity Church where both are buried and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. At Oxford, the rivers are hidden bystanders but here the Cam is an integral part of the display. Above the river stands the imposing mass of King's College Chapel one of the greatest surviving Gothic buildings of Europe - a jewel box that, on sunny mornings, sparkles with all the colours of its remarkable stained glass windows. Drive through Kent, the Garden of England, with its lush fields and pretty villages to the medieval city of Canterbury Cathedral is the mother church of England incorporates the earliest Gothic architecture in the country as well as some of the finest surviving stained glass. Time permitting visit one of the other Shakespeare Properties - the houses where Shakespeare's granddaughter and daughter lived or a little outside Stratford, Mary Arden's Farm in the village of Wilmcote where his mother grew up and which remains a working Tudor farm. By the Cam stands Trinity College's Wren Library one of Europe's finest library buildings. This is a fast paced tour. Leeds Castle is one of the prettiest in England, also known as Lady‘s Castle because of the many Queens of England who lived here. Swans glide silently beneath its thousand-year old walls. On the White Cliffs, high above the busiest ferry port in Europe stands the great castle of Dover. On the other side of Dover is the moving memorial to the Battle of Britain pilots – a solitary figure, in flying kit, gazes wistfully out over the English Channel. Stand beside him and, on a clear day, the coast of France is clearly visible on the horizon.

Downton Abbey , 8 hrs Harry Potter, London and Oxford, 8 hrs Normandy by Private Plane, 1 day Drive through Oxford to a picturesque village used for the film. Set in Yorkshire, Downton Abbey's exterior scenes were filmed in a perfectly preserved village of Bampton. Visit St Mary's Church and the library used for the facade of the cottage hospital in the series, and take photos outside Isobel Crawley's house. Visit the station that was the setting for the film's Platform 9 3/4, have your photo taken with a trolley disappearing into a wall, meander through the market that set the scene for the opening of the Leaky Cauldron and follow the route of the Knight Bus in London. Visit Highclere Castle (providing you have tickets) which was remodeled in the 19 th century into its Elizabethan style by Sir Charles Barry - the architect who was responsible for rebuilding the Houses of Parliament. You will recognise the Castle's salon, library, dining room and entrance hall which feature prominently in the series as the setting for the Crawley's family home. In Oxford, see many other Harry Potter sights, including the grand staircase where Mrs. Mc. Gonagall greets the children and the Great Hall that provided the model for Hogwarts Dining Hall. The University also provided the Library where Hogwart's infirmary scenes were set as well as the settings for Malfoy's transformation into a ferret and Ron’s dancing lesson with Professor Mc. Gonagall. A British Tours Ltd guide, specialising in WWll and the Normandy landings, will meet you in the morning at your London hotel and drive you to an airfield in Surrey. Board a twin-engined aircraft and fly over Portsmouth Harbour before crossing the Channel. During the flight your guide will tell you about the strategic situation in Europe during the months leading up to D-Day. Landing at Cherbourg Airport in France meet your driver to start an overland tour of the Normandy D-Day Beaches. Should you not get tickets, you can choose to visit instead Basildon Park; its library was used as the study of the family's London home, West Wycombe Park, which is used for the interior scenes of Lady Rosamund's London residence, Greys Court; the picturesque 16 th-century mansion known as “Downton Place” in the third season, the Queen’s residence Windsor Castle or Henry VIII's Hampton Court Palace. Please note if you wish to visit Highclere Castle you must purchase advance tickets for you and your guide. Visit Omaha Beach, the Normandy American Cemetery and the Pointe du Hoc cliffs scaled by 2 US Rangers on D- Day. Stop at a local fishing port for lunch, and visit St. Mere Eglise, the first town to be liberated by the Allies. On your return flight circle St Mere Eglise, fly low along Utah Beach, the Pointe du Hoc cliffs, and continue along the coast over Omaha Beach. Cross the English Channel near Chichester and circle over Arundel Castle, then north over Sussex and Surrey before landing and your drive back to London.

London to Paris by Eurostar, 1 day London to Brussels by Eurostar, 1 day Leave London's St Pancras International in the morning and travel by Eurostar to the Heart of Paris where you will be met by your expert, Englishspeaking driver-guide for your personal day tour of Paris. Leave London's St Pancras International in the morning and travel by Eurostar to the heart of Brussels where you will be met by your expert, Englishspeaking guide for your personal day tour of Brussels. D-Day, great food, William the Conqueror, all are synonymous with Normandy, and on this magnificent tour of this delightful region of France you will sample a little of all of these things. From the Grand Place to the Art Nouveau districts, from chocolate to Belgian beer, from Tintin to Magritte, Brussels has a lot to offer to visitors. Your guide will take you on foot and on the tramway throughout the city to experience the city’s amazing variety of architectural styles including the internationally renowned Grand Place and Art Nouveau districts with historic cafés. Sample some of the glorious Belgian beers, the world-famous chocolate and view some of the country’s brilliant comic strip art on display. You will travel through the stunning Norman countryside first to the town of Ranville, a small unassuming place, where the famous Pegasus Bridge is situated. Then on to Longues, the site of the only German coastal battery to have kept its guns, and then to Arromanches. The sea front war museum, recounts the whole story by use of models, machinery and movies. See Napoleon's Arc de Triomphe towering above one of the world's most famous streets Avenue de Champs Elysees, Notre Dame Cathedral where the legend of the hunchback was born, the worldrenowned Eiffel Tower, the 18 th century Pantheon, final resting place of Marie Curie and Voltaire, Hotel des Invalides, the artists quarter of Paris Montmartre, the imposing Basilica of the Sacre-Coeur, The Louvre and many more of Paris's best-known and lesserknown sights. Take the evening return train to London or spend the night in Paris and see more of France’s highlights on the following day - such as Giverny, Chartres or the Palace of Versailles. Take the evening return train to London. Normandy Beaches from Paris , 12 hrs Omaha beach is a beautiful four mile stretch of sand, which denies the ferocity of the fighting that befell it, on June 6 th 1944. Pointe du Hoc situated on a cliff top overlooking Omaha beach, which displays a shocking revelation of the obdurate plight of the Allies in their battle for liberty. Here is one the largest of the wartime cemeteries, the Normandy American cemetery, featured in the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan , where so many brave allies are laid to rest in endless rows of impersonal graves.

Gatwick, 3 hr tour and transfer Heathrow, 3 hr tour and transfer For Heathrow arrival or departure add a visit to either London, Windsor Castle or Hampton Court Palace. Windsor Castle is England's largest royal residence still lived in by the Queen with magnificent State Apartments. Hampton Court was a favourite residence of Henry VIII. See the world's largest grape vine, the maze, astronomical clock and Henry VIII's tennis court. Alternatively visit London. (Approximate travel time from Heathrow Airport to Central London is 45 minutes to 1 hour). Southampton 4 hr tour and transfer On the way to or from Gatwick add a 3 hour tour of either London, Chartwell - home of Winston Churchill - or 13 th century Hever Castle. Chartwell, home of Sir Winston Churchill for 42 years, is now kept as a memorial to him. The house has vast views of the Weald of Kent, a melodious waterfall, fish pool and walled rose gardens. Hever, a 13 th century moated castle, childhood home of Anne Boleyn and setting for her courtship with Henry VIII. Alternatively see the sights in London. An additional charge of £ 20 is made for a pick-up. An additional charge of £ 20 is made for a pick up. Approximate travel time from Gatwick Airport to Central London is 1. 5 hours. Combine your transfer to or from Southampton with a short tour to Winchester & Salisbury or Stonehenge. Visit Winchester, once capital of England with its fine Norman cathedral, ancient school and quaint streets that wind their way up to the castle where King Arthur's Round Table can be seen; Salisbury, a medieval city dominated by its magnificent cathedral built in only 60 years from 1220 to 1280 with the tallest spire in Britain. See Stonehenge, Britain's darkest mystery, no-one has yet discovered why this strange prehistoric circle of stone was erected nearly 5, 000 years ago. An additional charge of £ 20 is made for a pick up