London, York & Edinburgh

with optional Highlands Extension

Length: 8 - 11 days  
Guaranteed Dates Available
 

London York and Edinburgh Educational Tour | Edinburgh
 
Map of London, York & Edinburgh Educational Tour
 
London York and Edinburgh Educational Tour | Scottish Kilts
 
  • Day 1 Start Tour
  • Day 2 Hello London
    Meet your Tour Director and check into hotel
    London City Walk 
    Thames River, Trafalgar Square, National Gallery Visit , Piccadilly Circus, Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Soho
    Fish & chips dinner 
    Details: London City Walk
    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.
    Details: National Gallery Visit
    Located in an impressive domed building right in Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery houses a rich collection of over 2,000 works of art dating from the mid 13th century to 1900. Explore the beautiful marble hallways to see famous paintings and learn about the work it takes to preserve and care for these masterpieces.
    Details: Fish & chips dinner
    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.
  • Day 3 London Landmarks
    London Guided Sightseeing Tour 
    Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Tower Bridge, Hyde Park, St. Paul’s Cathedral
    Optional  Windsor Castle guided excursion   $80
    Dinner at Hard Rock Cafe
    Details: London Guided Sightseeing Tour
    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.
  • Day 4 Stonehenge & Bath
    Optional  Stonehenge & Bath Guided Excursion   $115
    Curry dinner
  • Day 5 London--York
    Travel to York by train
    York Tour-Director Led Sightseeing Tour 
    Details: York Tour-Director Led Sightseeing Tour
    Charming York combines medieval mysteries with modern flair. Gothic buildings and cobblestone streets lead to bustling shopping districts; ancient stones make up the now-picturesque city walls. Explore the birthplace of Guy Fawkes with your Tour Director.
    Details: York Minster visit
    Spectacular York Minster has the largest medieval stained-glass window in the world, and holds half of all of England's medieval stained glass. The largest Gothic building in the country dazzles visitors with these intricate works, from the silvery Five Sisters Window to the apocalyptic East Window, which depicts both the beginning and the end of the world.
  • Day 6 York--Edinburgh
    Travel to Edinburgh 
    Edinburgh City Walk 
    Charlotte Square, Alexander Graham Bell’s home, Robert Louis Stevenson’s home, Robert Burns Monument
    Details: Travel to Edinburgh
    Travel through the heather-covered hills of Yorkshire, a wild, rugged landscape that looks like the setting for Wuthering Heights. Stop at York Minster, the largest Gothic church in England. "Large" is not a big enough word to describe this 534-foot-long cathedral. Step inside and gaze up at the 90-foot soaring ceilings, gargantuan pillars, and stained-glass windows so intensely coloured, they look like jewels. Bring binoculars to get a good look at the cobalt and garnet glass in the church's 128 stained-glass windows.
    Details: Edinburgh City Walk
    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.
  • Day 7 Edinburgh Landmarks
    Edinburgh Guided Sightseeing Tour 
    Royal Mile, Old Town, Sir Walter Scott Monument, Edinburgh Castle
    Optional  Scottish folklore show   $100
    Details: Edinburgh Guided Sightseeing Tour
    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.
  • Day 8 End Tour
  		• Or
  • Day 8 Start Extension to the Highlands
    Travel to Highlands via Stirling
    Stirling Castle visit
  • Day 9 Glencoe and Loch Ness
    Glencoe and Loch Ness Excursion 
    Loch Ness Monster Exhibition visit, Culloden Moor
    Details: Glencoe and Loch Ness Excursion
    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.
  • Day 10 Highlands--Glasgow
    Travel to Glasgow via Loch Lomond 
    Glasgow City Walk 
    Strathclyde University, City Chambers, George Square
    Details: Travel to Glasgow via Loch Lomond
    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.
    Details: Glasgow City Walk
    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.
  • Day 11 End Tour
    •  
    print
    Step
    1
    2
    3
    4
    price this tour


     

    Tour Includes:
    • Round-trip airfare
    • 7 overnight stays (9 with extension) in hotels with private bathrooms
    • Full European breakfast daily
    • Dinner daily
    • Full-time services of a professional Tour Director
    • Guided sightseeing tours and city walks as per itinerary
    • Visits to select attractions as per itinerary
    • 3-day London travel card
    • Tour Diary™
    • Note: On arrival day only dinner is provided; on departure day, only breakfast is provided
    RECENT TOUR DIARIES: