London, Dublin & Edinburgh With Highlands Extension

Step outside your hotel, for a stroll through the streets of the heart of the English-speaking world. In this city of nearly seven million, you'll see everything from 12th-century fortifications to modern skyscrapers, formal parks to punk rockers. Your Tour Director will lead you to some of the most famous sites. Walk along the Thames River. Cross Trafalgar Square. See bustling Piccadilly Circus. Pass trendy shops and cafés in Bohemian Soho on your way to Covent Garden, a 13th-century fruit and vegetable garden transformed into a maze of narrow streets and pedestrian walkways burgeoning with street performers, open-air markets and boutiques.

Nothing’s more British than fish and chips—there are eight fish and chip shops (“chippies”) for every McDonald’s in the country. Head to an authentic pub with your Tour Director for a taste of this national food, generally served with malt vinegar.

Join a licensed local guide for an in-depth look at London, from the royal haunt of Buckingham Palace (the official London residence of Queen Elizabeth II) to the slightly more democratic Speakers’ Corner of Hyde Park, where anyone can pull up a soapbox and orate to his heart’s content. You’ll see the changing of the guard (season permitting), the clock tower of Big Ben with its 14-ton bell, and Westminster Abbey, where almost every English king and queen since William the Conqueror has been crowned. After a stop at the Houses of Parliament, continue on to the magnificent St. Paul’s Cathedral, the masterpiece of London architect Christopher Wren.

See how the Queen relaxes on this guided tour of the royal weekend estate, originally built as a fortress in the 11th century under William the Conqueror. Tiptoe through the tulips (and other flowers) in the East Terrace Gardens, marvel at the Gothic St. George's Chapel, or peek into the rooms of Queen Mary's doll house with its gallery of pint-size perfect furniture. Get decorating tips for your own country estate (or dorm room, as it may be).

Get a friendly introduction to Ireland’s capital city, compliments of your Tour Director. Discover an international urban scape of Georgian buildings, castles and cathedrals. Literary legends and budding musicians. All while one million people welcome you with smiling eyes. Stroll bustling O’Connell Street, once (at 150 ft wide) the widest street in Europe, and still the busiest thoroughfare in Dublin. Pass shop after shop of local and global wares and flairs, and a lush street-meridian lined with tall trees and ebony statues of Irish leaders. Make your way to the end of the strip to Parnell Square, an antique scape of red brick townhouses and classic Irish theaters. As you wander the streets, take in the international glamour of Ireland’s most cosmopolitan city.

Join a professional licensed tour guide on an adventure to Dublin’s finest attractions. Pass the residence of Ireland’s president, Mary MacAleese, along your journey through Phoenix Park. Within Europe’s grandest enclosed park, encounter 1,760 undeveloped acres scattered with cricket pitches, grazing cows, and red deer. Stop to eye a stone phoenix rising from flames atop the Corinthian-style Phoenix Column. Tour the roads along the River Liffey to 12th-century St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the largest of its kind in all Ireland. Get a glimpse of the neighboring park where St. Patrick (who brought Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century) baptized converts. Continue on to Trinity College, the stone-clad sprawling campus where Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett studied. Stop by the Long Room in the Old Library for a zoom-view of the illuminated edition of four Gospels, the Book of Kells. The original manuscript was penned in Latin around AD 800 by four Irish Monks who used multicolored ink from plants and bugs. Take some time to study the brilliant latticework of curvy Celtic symbols woven with animal figures that enlivens the script.

Imagine the most picture-perfect Irish countryside you can, and you still can’t imagine the beauty of County Wicklow. Waterfalls slice through craggy mountains; medieval ruins carve out space in out-of-this-world green hills; wildflowers flourish everywhere. See the culmination of this beauty in the gardens at Powerscourt house, a mansion once belonging to a powerful Anglo-Irish family. The gardens meander over 45 acres of the 14,000-acre estate, with walled gardens and formal terraces giving way to rambling hills and natural lakes.

The capital of Scotland, Edinburgh has steep streets and stone buildings zigzagging up hills and down into small valleys, and the brooding Edinburgh Castle looms over the whole thing. Follow your Tour Director through New Town's Charlotte Square, with its elegant Georgian townhouses. See where inventor Alexander Graham Bell was born in 1847, pass Robert Louis Stevenson's birthplace near the Royal Botanic Garden, and stroll by the monument commemorating Scottish poet Robert Burns. Hear the castle's ramparts echo with gunfire at 1 p.m. Gaze out at the steep slopes and craggy cliffs of the northwest Highlands, visible from Edinburgh's highest points. Peer down into the blue sea stretching out beyond the city.

Edinburgh Castle, the historical and emotional heart of the city, is just one of the many sights you will see on this tour, led by a licensed professional guide. Make your way along the Royal Mile, the main thoroughfare of the 16th and 17th centuries. (It's actually one mile and 107 yards long--from Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyrood House). As you make your way along cobbled streets, you'll see a handful of the several thousand buildings officially protected in Edinburgh because of their architectural or historic importance. The 200-foot spire of the Sir Walter Scott monument soars above the East Princes Street Gardens. Grand figures from Scottish history adorn its heights, make sure you also look down -- the figure below the marble statue is Scott's favorite dog, Maida.

If you think fairies are cute little twinkly things, think again. Take in the Scottish folklore show and learn about the kelpies, banshees, and selkies that inhabit this harsh land.

The idea that Loch Ness is inhabited by some sort of mysterious aquatic beast has been around for more than 1,500 years. If the monster does exist, the misty Loch, which is 24 miles long and as deep as 700 feet, would be the perfect place for Nessie to hide.

Head for Glasgow. On the way, you'll pass the largest expanse of fresh water in Britain. Loch Lomond is five miles wide at its broadest point and has more than 30 islands in the middle of it, three of which are inhabited. It's a favorite recreational spot for the Scots and is full of native wildlife.

Home of Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and the Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow is the center of contemporary Scottish culture-and a hotbed of trendy restaurants, boutiques and pubs. Glasgow grew around a church built in the mid-6th century, but many of its most impressive buildings are from the 19th century, when an industrial boom led to a building frenzy. Your Tour Director will lead you to some of the city's most famous sites, passing Glasgow's blend of modern and traditional architecture. See the Venetian-style colonnaded façade of the city chambers, take in the statuary at George Square, and peek into the academic world of Strathclyde University. Glasgow has more than just buildings. It's often referred to as "The dear green place," because of its many parks.