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Here are three tours, designed and timed so that you can take
one, two or all three of
them in a convenient combination.
All tours are extremely
flexible, allowing you freedom to add extra time and travels
before or after, and sometimes even during the tour as well.
Scotland's Castles and Monsters
Full
details of this tour can be found here.
You'll want to leave the US
on or before Saturday 8 May to join this tour in London
on Sunday 9 May.
The next day, we travel by
first class train up to Scotland for a special tour by luxury
coach through the Scottish highlands. Our first two nights
are spent in a haunted castle dating back to 1296 - but don't
worry, the ghost, who infrequently makes herself known, is a
'musical' and benign ghost; nothing to be afraid of.
We continue north
through the highlands, with a visit to
Loch Ness where you just might possibly see Nessie - the Loch
Ness monster, herself. We'll spend two nights in the
Inverness region in the lovely little village of Beauly, at a
family owned small inn.
Another highlight of the
tour is when we travel all the way north to John O'Groats - the
famous northernmost point in Britain. If you also do the
second tour, you'll travel down to Land's End - Britain's other
extremity, and become one of the special few people to have
traveled 'From John O'Groat's to Land's End' in a single tour.
We also include a stop at Dunrobin Castle on this day's touring.
We then drive down to
Edinburgh, where the tour concludes with two nights in the
Scottish capital of Edinburgh.
You can then
return back to London by first class train in time to join the
start of our Mysteries of Beautiful Britain tour if you wish, on
Sunday 16 May. Or, if you prefer, you can extend
your stay in Scotland or go elsewhere.
Full
details of this tour can be found here
Option : Travel two days
(or more) earlier to London and enjoy a steam train day excursion
on Saturday 8 May to Oxford and Worcester.
Ask David for details.
Mysteries of Beautiful Britain
Full
details of this tour can be found here.
You'll want to leave the US
on or before Saturday 15 May to join this tour in London
on Sunday 16 May.
The next day, we travel by
train down to Cornwall, arriving in Penzance in the south west
corner of England that afternoon. We spend two nights
overlooking the sea in the beautiful town of St Ives.
We'll visit 'Land's End' - the southwestern tip of England, and
if you were on the Scotland's Castles and Monsters tour the
previous week, you'll now be a member of the elite group of
travelers who can claim to have traveled Britain 'from John O'Groats to Land's End' in a single tour.
We see some fascinating
mysterious stone circles that are not as well known as
Stonehenge (due to being much more remote and smaller) and visit
a Tin mine. Another highlight of our
time in Cornwall is a visit to Tintagel, where we see the ruined
castle associated with the story of King Arthur.
King Arthur is a feature of
our visit to Glastonbury Abbey as well, where his probable grave
will be seen. Glastonbury Abbey is believed to have been
founded by Joseph of Arimathea and is associated with the Holy
Grail.
We spend a night in the
stately Roman town of Bath, and then travel on to the beautiful Cotswolds where we spend two nights in
Burford, one of the beautiful 'picture postcard' villages in the
region.
Our last day takes us to
Oxford, and then we travel back to London by train for one last
night. The tour concludes on the morning of Sunday, 23
May. You could then travel on to join the start of our
Russia - Land of Imperial Splendor tour if you wish, or stay
longer in Britain.
Full
details of this tour can be found here.
Option : Travel five
days (or more) earlier to London and do a steam train day
excursion on Wednesday 12 May.
Ask David for details.
Russia - Land of Imperial
Splendor
Full
details of this tour can be found here.
You'll want to leave the US
on or before Saturday 22 May to join this tour in Moscow
on Sunday 23 May. If you're joining the tour after
enjoying our British touring, you can simply fly from London to
Moscow on Sunday 23 May - it is about a 3.5 hour flight.
This tour exposes you to the
imperial extravagance that was Russia in the time of the Tsars,
tempered with the effects of 70 years of Communist rule and 13
years of independence. Russia today is a heady mix of
evolving opposites, anchored by centuries of unchanging
tradition that is quickly being restored.
We first spend four days in
Moscow, then as a special experience, we travel by first class overnight
sleeper train to St Petersburg, the glorious former imperial
capital, and now largely restored to its former grandeur.
We spend four more nights in St Petersburg.
You'll have a chance to
see the major sights and sites, including the Kremlin complex and Red
Square, Lenin's Tomb, the distinctive St Basil's Cathedral, and also an
interesting visit into the countryside to Sergiev Posad where we
visit the Orthodox Monastery, considered to be the holiest place
in Russia. Drink some of the holy water from the spring
there - it is reported to have miraculous powers. We also
add a visit to Moscow's best circus, and its Tretyakov Gallery
and Pushkin Museum. If you'd like to attend
a performance at the Bolshoi or elsewhere, we can help you
arrange that, too.
In St Petersburg we'll visit
the astounding Hermitage Museum - with over 3 million items in
its collection, possibly the largest and greatest museum in the
world. We'll also travel by high speed hydrofoil to the former imperial palace of Petrodvoretz,
an amazing palace and gardens that rivals Versailles for its
water fountains and beauty, and then continue on by coach to the
opulent Catherine Palace, home of the now restored Amber Room.
We'll visit the Peter Paul
fortress, where the last Tsar has now been formally buried, and
spend time enjoying and absorbing the atmosphere of this stately
city.
St Petersburg is entering
its 'White Nights' season at this time - due to its northern
location, the sun barely sets at night during this festive
period.
The tour ends on Tuesday
2 June. You are free to extend your time in St Petersburg or
to then travel on elsewhere, or back home again.
Full
details of this tour can be found here.
Originally published
7 Jan 2004, last update
27 Sep 2008
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