Day 1

We meet our tour manager and depart by private executive coach from our designated pick up points. On arrival in London we visit The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace. Here we have an audio guided tour at the exhibition entitled ‘Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style’. To mark the centenary of Queen Elizabeth II’s birth, we explore the largest exhibition of the late Queen’s fashion ever mounted. The exhibition features clothing worn in all ten decades of her life, from birth to adulthood, from princess to queen, and from off-duty style to dressing for momentous occasions in Britain’s history. We continue to the Holiday Inn Kensington High Street in London for a two night stay. A welcome dinner is included in our hotel this evening.

Day 2

This morning we visit Tate Britain, the home of British Art. Here we visit the ‘Vanessa Bell & Duncan Grant: Inside Bloomsbury’ exhibition. During our free flow visit we explore the vivid world of the Bloomsbury group’s famous artistic duo. This major exhibition feature the work of two of the most celebrated British artists of the twentieth century. ‘Vanessa Bell & Duncan Grant: Inside Bloomsbury’ delves into the extraordinary relationship between the artists, whilst tracing their remarkable creative partnership that spanned more than 50 years. The group’s commitment to living lives centred around freedom and radical experimentation had a significant influence on the course of art, literature, and societal thought in Britain. The exhibition features over 300 works, including vivid portraits, still lives, landscape paintings, decorative works on furniture, ceramics, textiles, and much more. A once in a life time restaging of the artists’ studio, relocated for the exhibition from their Sussex home, Charleston, is an unmissable highlight. We join our guide Ian Swankie on a guided walking tour at Battersea Power Station this afternoon. During our 90 minute guided tour we discover the exciting regeneration of the iconic former power station with its famous four chimneys. During the walk we see the glitzy new apartment blocks by well known architects including Norman Foster and Frank Gehry, before exploring the power station outside and inside. It is a triumph of redevelopment combing new retails, commercial and residential spaces, while maintaining many elements of the industrial heritage. During our guided tour we

learn about the construction of the original power station between 1929 to 1955, its importance for London, its decommissioning, dereliction, and recent multi billion pound rebirth. Our afternoon concludes with a visit to the Battersea Power Station Chimney Lift Experience. Prepare to ignite your curiosity, immerse your senses and elevate your perspective at London’s most epic viewing experience, The ChimneyLift. We make a thrilling ascent 109 metres to the top of the north-west chimney where we take in stunning 360 degree views of London’s skyline (this afternoon, we will be split into 2 groups. The first group will embark on a guided tour of Battersea Power Station, followed by the Chimney Lift experience. The second group will embark on the Chimney Lift experience, followed by the guided tour of Battersea Power Station). After spending some free time at Battersea Power Station to purchase an early dinner, we continue to the Aldwych Theatre to see this evenings performance of ‘Sinatra The Musical’. It is New Year’s Eve, 1942, and a skinny 27-year-old Italian-American singer is about to step onto the stage of New York City’s Paramount Theatre and give a performance that will change music history. But as Frank Sinatra’s voice captures a nation, his heart is torn between his wife, Nancy, and movie goddess, Ava Gardner. When scandal and a hostile press send his career into a tailspin, the young crooner fights back and stages the greatest comeback in show business history. Featuring over twenty classic hits, including ‘That’s Life’, ‘One For My Baby’, ‘The Best Is Yet to Come’ and ‘I‘ve Got the World on a String’, ‘Sinatra The Musical’ is the most revealing portrait ever told about the legendary singer.

Day 3

After checking out of our hotel we travel to Chelsea Harbour Pier where we enjoy an included scheduled one-way boat excursion on the River Thames to Embankment Pier. We then visit The Courtauld Gallery. The Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery has one of the most important collections in Britain, including world-famous Old Master, Impressionist and Post- Impressionist paintings, and an outstanding prints and drawings collection featuring works by Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Cézanne and Turner. The collection includes around 530 paintings, 7000 drawings and 15,000 prints as well as significant holdings of medieval, Renaissance and modern sculpture, ceramics, metalwork, furniture and textiles. Taking carefully selected comfort stops en route, we return back to our original pick up points.

This tour is now fully booked.

Day 1

We depart by private executive coach from our designated pick up points. En route to our hotel we visit the National Trust’s Calke Abbey in Derbyshire. With peeling paintwork and overgrown courtyards, Calke Abbey tells the story of the dramatic decline of a grand country house estate. We continue to the 4* The Yorkshire Hotel in Harrogate for a four night stay on a half board basis.

Day 2

With our Blue Badge guide we visit Castle Howard this morning. Set in a beautiful 1,000 acre park adorned with rose gardens, lakes and fountains, this magnificent 18th century house is home to the Howard family and has been richly furnished throughout. We continue to the National Trust’s Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden, which has been attracting visitors since the 18th century. Together the Cistercian abbey, Georgian water garden, medieval deer park, Elizabethan hall and Victorian church offer an unparalleled opportunity to appreciate the range of England’s heritage at this World Heritage Site.

Day 3

Our Blue Badge guide accompanies us on a visit to Whitby, a resort dominated by the cliff top ruins of a beautiful 13th century abbey and with old cobbled streets, picturesque houses and a sandy beach. This afternoon we enjoy an included one way nostalgic steam train journey from Whitby to Pickering through the picturesque North Yorkshire Moors. Preserved in 1967, the North Yorkshire Moors Railway has gone from strength to strength and has featured on television and film, including ‘Harry Potter’.

Day 4

Our Blue Badge guided walking tour of York takes in sights such as the City Walls, the Shambles, and includes a visit to the Minster, the largest Gothic cathedral in northern Europe. We then enjoy a guided tour at the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, built between 1357 and 1361 and one of the best preserved medieval guild halls in the world. We then spend some time at leisure in York, and on an individual basis you may choose to visit the National Railway Museum, or visit York Castle Museum with its recreated Victorian street, Kirkgate.

Day 5

After checking out of our hotel and en route home we visit Wentworth Woodhouse in South Yorkshire, one of the grandest stately homes in the country. During our guided tour we discover the formal staterooms including the Marble Salon, Whistlejacket and the Painted Drawing Room. The tour encompasses the rise and fall of the house from its beginnings in the 1600s to its time as a family home and teacher training college, right through to the present day and the work of the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust. Time is then at leisure to explore the gardens, home to a wildflower meadow, ancient trees, shaded woodland copses and 18th Century follies. Taking carefully selected comfort stops en route, we return back to our original pick up points.

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Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

Day 1

We meet at our designated pick up points and transfer by private coach to Bristol Airport for our direct scheduled Easyjey flight to Malta. On arrival in Malta we are  met by our guide and transfer by private coach to the 4* AX The Victoria Hotel at Sliema for a five night stay on a half board basis.

Day 2

Our guide meets us at our hotel and accompanies us throughout the day. Valetta, the capital city of Malta is our destination today, with its fine array of Baroque buildings, palaces and churches. We start at the Upper Barracca Gardens for a panoramic view of the Grand Harbour. We continue to St John’s Cathedral to see the famous Caravaggio painting ‘The Beheading of St John’. Our visit to the  Grandmaster’s Palace, which houses Parliament and the offices of the President of Malta, includes a visit to the Tapestry Chamber. We visit the National Museum of Fine Arts this afternoon, located in a palace and home to a fine collection of paintings, including works by Guido Reni, Jusepe Ribera and William Turner.

Day 3

We visit the Three Megalithic Temples of Tarxien with our guide this morning, first discovered in 1915 and dating back to 3000 BC. The Tarxien Temples are notable for their fine workmanship and decorative carvings, including domestic animals carved in relief and exquisite spiral designs. We continue to Ghar Dalam, ‘the Cave of Darkness’, and its fossilised remains of prehistoric animals from the glacial period. We then spend some time at leisure for lunch in the nearby picturesque fishing village of Marsaxlokk, with its colourful ‘Luzzus’, traditional Maltese fishing boats. On arrival in Sliema this afternoon we enjoy an included Grand Harbour cruise, taking in the two natural harbours on either side of Valetta.

Day 4

Firstly we visit the Church of St Mary in Mosta. Built in 1860, the church is renowned for its dome which is the third largest in Europe. We continue to Mdina, the ancient capital city of Malta. Locally known as the ‘Silent City’, our guided tour takes in the defence bastions dating back to the 9th century and St Peter and St Paul’s Cathedral. We then spend some free time in Mdina, and on an individual basis you may choose to visit the Mdina Glass Shop. Mdina Glass is Malta’s original and leading producer of handmade glass. Finally, we visit the Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum, the former home of Captain Olof Frederick Gollcher, the son of a prosperous shipping merchant of Swedish descent. Gollcher was an artist, scholar and philanthropist, but also a discerning collector of objetsd’art and historical objects. Palazzo Falson was not only his home, but also a setting for his works of art and antiques.

Day 5

Our guide accompanies us on our full day excursion to the island of Gozo, meaning ‘joy’ in Castlian. We drive to Cirkewwa where we embark on a ferry crossing to Gozo, the legendary abode of Calypso, daughter of Atlas. We start with a visit to the Ggantija Temples, one of the most important archaeological sites in Malta. Round in shape and containing statues of full figured goddesses, the Ggantija Temples were dedicated to the Great Mother Earth and probably included an oracle. One of the Ggantija Temples is the oldest stone structure in the world, predating Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids by hundreds of years. We continue to Calypso’s Cave, the

legendary home of Ulysses for breathtaking views of the red sands of Ramla Bay. We then spend some time at leisure in the picturesque resort of Xlendi. We ontinue to Victoria, the capital of Gozo. Time is at leisure to explore the town, or you may choose to accompany our guide on an uphill walk to the Citadel, to visit St Mary’s Cathedral, erected shortly after the earthquake of 1693. We return by ferry back to Cirkewwa.

Day 6

We transfer to Malta Airport for our direct scheduled Easyjet flight to Bristol, and onwards private coach travel back to our original pick up points.

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St Paul's Cathedral, Mdina; picture courtesy of Wikipedia.