What is a Specially Themed Tour? Our definition is a tour that appeals to a number of clients because they share a similar interest. It may be Birdwatching or Antiques; Books, Literature and Film Locations; History of Transport or Industrial Heritage; History in general or a particular period - for example, the Tudors. There are numerous opportunities here in Great Britain and with our great variety of annual shows and festivals, most specially themed tours can include a particular event or festival.

GREAT WRITERS

Beginning in London, this 10-night tour shows the visitor London as known by Dickens, Shakespeare, TS Eliot, the Bloomsbury Set and many other writers for whom the city was so important. A day to Canterbury and Rochester covers Chaucer and Dickens before travelling to Brighton with a stop at Pooh Corner and Kipling's House. Jane Austen's home and Hardy's Country follow before finishing at Stratford-upon-Avon, birthplace of the greatest of them all…the bard, William Shakespeare.

Features:

The Rose and Globe Theatres, Batemans, Charleston Farmhouse, Jane Austen's Chawton, Winchester Cathedral, Hardy's Cottage, Athelhampton, Shakespeare's Birthplace
· Drinks at Dickens House, London
· Walking tour to Piglets House and a chance to play Poohsticks
· Enjoying the gastronomic delights of a Pooh tea
· Theatre tickets in London and Stratford

The writers included in this tour are not exhaustive and your group may like to add a few nights and include the Lake District (Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter), Herriot Country (Yorkshire Dales), Bronte Country, Catherine Cookson Country (Newcastle) and Burns Country (Scotland); or Du Maurier's Cornwall and Lorna Doone's Devon.

Ask us for alternative itineraries - your group may even want to concentrate on one author!

ANTIQUES & FINE ARTS

This 9-night itinerary can be arranged around one of the major Antiques Fairs and begins in London with a visit to the Bermondsey Antiques Market and to the Wallace Collection. Travel from London to Wells and onto Worcester with time allowed everywhere for poking around in country antique and "nick-nack" shops in the West Country, Cotswolds and Welsh borders area around Ludlow. Help can be offered with shipping purchases if necessary!

Overnights:

London (2) Wells (2) Abberley (3) Oxford (2)

Features:

Dyson Perrins Porcelain Museum, Blenheim Palace, Stokesay Castle, and Kelmscott Manor
· Lord Normanton's Private Art & Porcelain collection
· Private visit to Milton Manor
· Great Antiques Race!

HOMES THROUGH THE AGES

England offers a tremendous variety of examples of homes from all historic periods. From the timbered houses and moated manors of Suffolk, to the ancient area associated with the Vikings around Grantham and the villages huddled around the church and pub; the Cotswolds with their villages of golden stone and manor houses built by wool merchants; Bath with its Roman remains and fine classical Regency buildings; London with homes from most periods after the Great Fire.... homes from all ages will satisfy all interests

This l1-night tour encompasses both grand stately homes of different styles and more humble dwellings from all periods from the Romans to the Saxons, to the present day.

Overnights:

Lavenham (2) Grantham (2) Stratford-upon-Avon (2) Bath (2) London (3)

Features:

Gainsborough's house, a 1480's farmhouse, Jacobean Audley End, Anglo-Saxon Village of West Stow, farmhouse home of Isaac Newton, Belton House, Warwick, Snowshill Manor, Chedworth Roman Villa, Linley Sambourne House (Victorian), Chiswick House (Palladian)
· Welcome dinner in a Tudor Manor
· Private hosted lunch in Palladian Mansion
· Private farewell dinner in Roaring Twenties Mansion

CHRISTIAN HERITAGE

The Christian Church in Britain began when St Columba landed off the coast of Scotland in AD563. It soon stretched the length and breadth of the country to Canterbury where St Augustine converted Saxon King Ethelbert and founded an archiepiscopal see.

This 14-night programme travels mainly on the east side of England and into Scotland visiting all the major Christian sites from Canterbury to Iona and back to London and includes visits to birthplaces grand Cathedrals, village churches and also time for church services.

Overnights:

Canterbury (2) Cambridge (1) York (2) Durham (2) Edinburgh (2) Oban (2) Glasgow (1) London (2)

Features:

Canterbury, Ely, York, and Durham Cathedrals; John Wesley's birthplace, Rievaulx Abbey, John Knox's House, Lindisfarne Gospels at the new British Library
· Lindisfarne, Iona, Jarrow - early Christian Heritage sites associated with St's Columba, Cuthbert and the Venerable Bede
· Evensong at King's College, Cambridge
· Social event with the congregation of a local parish church