sightseeing tour of england, east anglia, Viking England

Discover the 'hidden' attractions of Eastern England, home of the Vikings
13 day tour inc. arrival/departure days

TENTATIVE ITINERARY	NIGHTSTOP
DAY ONE
Arrival at London's Heathrow airport where you'll be met by your Back-Roads Touring Co. Ltd representative and transported to our London hotel accommodation. Following a short orientation tour of the neighbourhood that we use as our base, you'll be free for the remainder of the day to discover area (it has a charming historic home and garden, and the artist William Hogarth's home museum, nearby) or take the underground/bus to the city centre.	London

DAY TWO
As we leave London behind us, we head east into the fascinating and little visited area of East Anglia. This is the countryside of Turner and Constable and we'll visit sites painted by Constable which are still easily recognisable today. Our mid-day stop is at the medieval village of Lavenham, one of the prettiest villages of East Anglia. We'll take time to have lunch and explore this captivating village before continuing our journey. We pas through the attractive market town of Bury St Edmunds on our way to the ancient priory town of Thetford. This as the home town of Thomas Paine and we'll find a statue of the man himself in the town centre. If we have time, we'll also explore the remains of Thetford Castle, before making our way to Norwich and our base for the next two nights.	nr Norwich

DAY THREE
Today's touring will be leisurely and relaxed. We'll begin by exploring the Norfolk Broads made up of 30 large and very beautiful tracts of water, often linked by navigable channels. The best way to appreciate the character of the Broads is from a boat and we'll take the opportunity to spend some time cruising on these unique waterways. After taking lunch at a country pub, we'll head into the fine old cathedral city of Norwich where we'll spend the afternoon. There is much to see including the square Norman keep of Norwich Castle, housing the city museum and art gallery, the beautiful Norman cathedral and adjacent cathedral close and school, once attended by Nelson, later Admiral Nelson, the Strangers' Hall museum, a fascinating preserved medieval merchant's house, the bustling market beside the old Guildhall, built in the 15th century of local knapped flint and the many curious old streets and alleys that you'll find at almost every turn.	nr Norwich

DAY FOUR
Our first port of call this morning is at the village of Little Walsingham with its shrine of Our Lady. Founded in the 11th century, virtually every English king from Richard I to Henry VIII came here. From here, we'll follow the road that hugs the north Norfolk coast - we'll see the wide sandy bays backed by wild salt marshes that are so typical of this area. After lunch we'll drop in on the Queen's Norfolk residence at Sandringham. Here we'll take time to explore the magnificent 19th century house and grounds before continuing our journey to the medieval port of King's Lynn. Journeying south, we now find ourselves in the flat fertile fenlands of Cambridgeshire.	Cambridgeshire (Huntingdon)

DAY FIVE
Our first visit this morning is to Ely, the cathedral capital of the Fens. Oliver Cromwell was once the local tax collector here and his house is now the town's tourist information centre. Having explored Ely, we head south to one of the great university cities of the world, Cambridge. The university was founded as early as the 13th century and we'll visit one of the colleges on our walking tour of the city. You'll have 'organised independence' to take lunch an explore at leisure, perhaps even taking the opportunity to punt on the river Cam, before we continue our day's touring. This afternoon we'll visit a fascinating Bronze Age excavation at Flag Fen near Peterborough.	Cambridgeshire (Huntingdon)

DAY SIX
Today we head north to Lincolnshire. Our first stop is at Stamford, justly considered one of the most beautiful stone-built towns in England. Having explored this picturesque town, we'll continue our journey northwards. The ancient cathedral city of Lincoln is our next port of call. This busy city has an abundance of Roman and Norman remains, in fact, two of the oldest domestic buildings are Norman, dating from around 1170.	York

DAY SEVEN
A full day in York. This fabulous Viking walled city has much to offer its visitors, from the splendid Minster to the medieval shopping 'Shambles'. After a walking tour, you'll be free to explore at leisure. Dinner is not included tonight to allow you some additional city freedom.	York

DAY EIGHT
A short drive from our Yorkshire base, is the most spectacular stately home in Yorkshire, Castle Howard, and first on the agenda today. This beautiful palace is still lived in by the Howard family who built it back in the 18th century. You'll have free time here to explore the house and grounds. Then we head to the heather-covered moors for a change of transport. You'll board a train (subject to schedules) at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and for the duration of the journey you'll relive the nostalgia of the steam age. The area we'll be passing through is Captain Cook country. After our steam train ride we'll continue our explorations of this sometimes bleak and remote countryside towards Hexham stopping enroute at the majestic cathedral town of Durham.	Hexham

DAY NINE
The market town of Hexham makes a splendid starting point for our day exploring along the great Roman, Hadrian's wall. Built by the Romans in the 2nd century to hold back the unruly Picts and Scots, this incredible engineering feat spans the breadth of the country. Along it we'll find Roman fortresses to visit and section of the wall to walk.	Hexham

DAY TEN
Then we drive through the dipping dales of Northumberland towards the Scottish borders and the town of Jedburgh. Following our visit here (following Mary Queen of Scots footsteps) we drive a short distance to another marvellous Borders town, Melrose. Here we'll visit the ruined abbey where the great Robert the Bruce's heart is buried, and also Abbotsford, the home of Walter Scott. Then we turn towards the coast, driving through the gently undulating Borders scenery to the small coastal town of Bamburgh.	Bamburgh

DAY ELEVEN
Lying just off the coast, and reachable only at low tide, is the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. Here we'll discover an ancient monastery, a seat of learning from the 7th century onwards. We'll also visit the stunning Bamburgh Castle, which sits inviolably on a cliff top. Our day also includes Berwick-on-Tweed; an old seaport that changed hands between England and Scotland no less than 13 times between 1127 and 1482 alone! Needless to say, it has splendid fortifications! If the weather allows, we'll end our day with a boat trip around the Farne Islands.	Bamburgh

DAY TWELVE
Our final day takes us firmly back into Scotland. Amongst the highlights will be Traquair House, one of the oldest inhabited castles in the United Kingdom, a woollen mill for some shopping, and Flodden Field-scene in 1513 of the most emotive of all battles between Scot and Englishman. We arrive in Edinburgh where our tour completes. Dinner is not included tonight.	Edinburgh

DAY THIRTEEN
Alas, 'tis home time and you'll be transferred to the airport or train station. You may, however, wish to stay on in this lovely city and enjoy a few leisurely day's exploring before returning home. We'll be pleased to assist you with any accommodation arrangements you might wish to make. Those clients joining us on our Scotland tour will accompany the guide to Glasgow this afternoon and enjoy Saturday exploring Scotland's capital before the start of their Bonnie Scotland adventure on Sunday.
Information concerning internal flights Unless you are booking an 'open jaw' ticket (i.e. one that allows you to fly into one UK airport and depart from another), you will need to return to your airport of arrival to fly home. You can catch a train or fly. There are now some very inexpensive low-cost airlines operating between UK cities. You can book your ticket either on-line yourself, or we'd be happy to do so for you. Please note, the closer you get to the flight date, the more expensive the ticket becomes so we recommend booking your internal flight at the same time you book your main tour. Transfers can be provided to your airport of departure but please note there is a small supplementary charge if is any airport other than Heathrow.