sightseeing Tours of London, sightseeing tours of UK

HARRY POTTER	Explore film locations such as Hogwarts School (Christchurch College, Oxford University), find shrunken heads and other props used in the films at the Pitt-Rivers Museum, see the Dursley's house, and visit some of the quaint villages in Buckinghamshire used as locations in 'The Goblet of Fire'. This is a wonderful day out for all the family, whatever your age! An additional optional visit is to a miniature village (a childhood favourite of our current Queen, Elizabeth II) where the children can be a giant for a while!

Experience for yourself the countryside that inspired Jane Austen to pen some of the English language's greatest novels. Our unique tour includes both a visit to her family home at Chawton, and to her final resting place at magnificent Winchester cathedral. A walking tour of this original Saxon capital of England will introduce you to the sights, including King Arthur's Round Table. We'll have lunch in an old country inn where you can treat yourself to some traditional fayre before we visit a typical Georgian village, a 'hidden' stately home, and see some splendid English countryside. This is a lovely day and not simply for Austen fans!	JANE AUSTEN'S HAMPSHIRE

Our tour begins in an area not often visited by tourists as we explore the Whitechapel area. This has long been the home of the 'rag trade'. It's an area displaying the influences of five centuries of immigration, from the Flemish Huguenots, through the Eastern European Jews to today's Bangladeshi community. Here we'll find the early morning flower market, the thieves market of Brick Lane and the famed 'Petticoat Lane'. Then, on through London of the 21st century where modern docklands architecture marks a completely different and unexpected London. Finally, to Greenwich, known to all as the place where the east and west are divided at the meridian line. In this elegant Georgian town you'll see the tall masts of the Cutty Sark, the Queen's House, Christopher Wren's magnificent Royal Naval Hospital, the Millennium Dome and a selection of interesting flea and craft markets.	SUNDAY STREET MARKETS, DOCKLANDS, GREENWICH

LONDON'S HISTORIC HOMES AND GARDENS

In London's western suburbs are a collection of the finest minor stately homes and gardens imaginable - yet not over-run by the tourist horde. We visit Inigo Jones' Chiswick House, the magnificent Osterley House, Syon House with its arboretum and Henry VIII connections and Ham House with its formal 17th century Dutch garden. You'll see tea magnate, Twining's house, a fascinating 'folly', the elegant suburb of Richmond (where many celebrities choose to live) and Royal Richmond Park. To make this a simply perfect day there's the prospect of lunch at an 18th century riverside pub or an afternoon cream tea at the original 'Maids of Honour'. An option also exists to include the botanical gardens at Kew.

A stone's throw to the west of London lie the Chiltern Hills and the Thames Valley. Here, set amidst unforgettable countryside, thatched cottage villages, old coaching towns and along the banks of the rolling river Thames, are houses lived in by some of the greatest writers in the English Language and the graveyards where their bones now lie. John Milton found his 'Paradise Lost' here. Mary Shelley was inspired to write 'Frankenstein'. Jerome K Jerome lived besides the river and thought up the classic comic novel 'Three men in a boat'. Thomas Gray composed his still resonant 'Elegy' in the same churchyard where he now lies buried.

WRITERS, ROYALTY AND THE RIVER

Kenneth Graham, also inspired by the river and 'the Wind in the Willows' gave birth to Toad, Ratty and Mole. And there's also Enid Blyton, TS Elliot and Edgar Wallace all remembered here. In addition to sites, homes and memorials associated with these literary giants there's also the original 'Mayflower barn' and Quaker resting place of William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania and of course, Windsor, best associated with H G Wells... oh, and that Royal family who have a castle here! This is a truly magnificent day out. The very best of Britain at London's back door.


	STONEHENGE & AVEBURY PRE-HISTORIC BRITAIN The British Isles have been inhabited from the earliest times. Our pre-historic ancestors left behind them some of the most enigmatic and mysterious monuments to be found anywhere in the world. What was the great Stonehenge designed for? Is it a temple? A market place? A calendar? Or maybe a signal to outer space visitors? You can decide for yourself. You'll also see some of the many tombs that litter the area. Perhaps even more exciting will be your visit to the world heritage site of Avebury where a giant ditch and three stone circles completely surround a quaint thatched village. You'll also see the unexplained Silbury Hill, the largest man-made hill in the world, and go into a pre-historic tomb. All these and a host of pretty rural villages and Roman and Iron Age hill forts.


The Cotswolds is one of Britain's best known and loved regions. Here, amidst the folds of the gently undulating hills hide some of the prettiest villages imaginable. We explore a selection of these including Burford, Stow-on-the Wold, and the Slaughters. If there are special villages, or sites, that you'd like to include on your day out (like, for example, a special garden or historic stately home), it's easy for you to choose. You'll have the vehicle and driver for your own personal use, and any tour can be adapted to suit your priorities.	THE COTSWOLDS

GARDENS OF KENT	The whole county is known as 'The Garden of England'. But, in addition to the marvellously scenic countryside, particularly beautiful in early Spring and Fall, there are also some of the greatest planned gardens in the country. There's Sissinghurst, Great Dixter, Nymans, Sheffield Park and Emmetts. Each one is individually laid out and magnificent in its beauty. Also, in the same area there are superb castles and great houses such as Churchill's Chartwell, Leeds Castle and Henry VIII's Hever Castle. On an average day out you can normally include two gardens and a castle. The choice will be yours.

Discover 'Literary London'. This is a great day our for all those with a literary interest as we explore the London of the great classical writers such as Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Dryden, Swift, Pope, Conan Doyle, John Keats, Oscar Wilde and John Milton, and the London of modern fiction. We visit museums, writer's homes, locations used as famed settings such as the Globe Theatre and Bankside, Brick Lane, and the 'Olde Curiosity Shoppe'. In addition, we take time to visit the docklands and discover the world of Victorian writers such as W W Jacobs. This is not simply a tour for the 'bookish' but a novel way of seeing this great city.	LITERARY LONDON

Stratford is, of course, somewhere that everybody aspires to visiting at least once on their travels. On our tour we visit the main Shakespearean sites including his mother's house (that also has a fine collection of hunting birds in addition to historical furniture and content), Anne Hathaway's cottage and central Stratford. Thence by a back road to the 'Dreaming Spires of Oxford'. Here you'll enjoy a walking tour of this lovely medieval, university city, visiting several university colleges including the one where Alice in Wonderland was written. Of course, as on all other day tours, you'll be accompanied by a knowledgeable and friendly driver/guide. If you wish to either include Warwick Castle with Stratford, or simply visit Oxford and the Cotswolds, then the tour can be amended.	STRATFORD-UPON-AVON & OXFORD