Best of England

Welcome, London is calling! After your transfer into the city, drop your luggage at your hotel and hit the streets of the London metropolis to start your discovery. Be a Londoner for the day and walk the famous streets. Ramble in the parks or grab a ticket for the tube and explore further afield.

Highlights (included): 48-our hop-on/hop-off bus ticket, Westminster Abbey, Madame Tussauds
Highlights (optional): Bustronome London, St Paul’s Cathedral, The View from The Shard

Overnight in London
Tenon Recommends: Melia White House Hotel
(Breakfast included)

British food has come a long way in the past decade, so spend today sampling traditional British fare. Alongside more traditional dishes, you will find world-class restaurants backed up by incredible local producers. Of course, you need to try the infamous fish and chips, sausage rolls, bacon and egg baps, and samples from street food vendors. Wash it all down with a cup of tea, gin, beer or cider – you have endless beverage choices!

Highlights (included): London Eye with Fast Track and champagne
Highlights (optional): London food tour, Tower of London, Kensington Palace

Overnight in London
Tenon Recommends: Melia White House Hotel
(Breakfast included)

Travel northeast, making a short stop in the prestigious university city of Cambridge. Keep in mind that you have a 4-hour drive, so an early start is recommended! Walk the hallowed campuses of the colleges where luminaries such as Charles Darwin, Alan Turing and Stephen Hawking studied. Visit the historic Eagle Pub where Francis Crick and James Watson celebrated their discovery of DNA – the ceiling of the pub is still covered with graffiti from WWII servicemen. Then it’s onto the A1 motorway to York.

Highlights (included): York Minster, York’s Chocolate Story
Highlights (optional): Cambridge American Cemetery, Duxford American Air Museum

Overnight in York
Tenon Recommends: Grand Hotel York
(Breakfast included)

Today you will marvel at York Minster, the second-largest Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe. The building commenced in the year 1230 and was completed in 1472. Said to be a vision of heaven and earth in glass and stone, this site is a must-see. Take the short walk to the Shambles, one of the oldest streets in the city, which dates back to the 14th century, the inspiration for Diagon Alley in Harry Potter. Make sure to leave some time to visit Bettys Tea Room, an institution in Yorkshire!

Highlights (included): JORVIK Viking Centre
Highlights (optional): Harry Potter Walking Tour of York, York Ghost Walk, Castle Howard

Overnight in York
Tenon Recommends: Grand Hotel York
(Breakfast included)

Travel west to the maritime city of Liverpool, the home of the Beatles and so much more! Although you may see references to the Titanic in the city, the ship never actually visited Liverpool. The Titanic’s managing company, White Star Line, had its head office in the city, and many of the crew were from here. Walk along the now-regenerated Royal Albert Dock area, and see how ships carrying brandy, cotton, tea, silk and tobacco came into the city and unloaded into warehouses.

Highlights (included): Liverpool Cathedral, Mersey Cruise, Royal Liver Building 360 experience
Highlights (optional): Anfield Football Stadium

Overnight in Liverpool
Tenon Recommends: Malmaison Hotel
(Breakfast included)

Take a “Ticket to Ride” today and learn about the Beatles and British music. See John Lennon’s piano in the Beatles Story Museum and other memorabilia from the era. Visit Strawberry Fields, immortalized in the song “Strawberry Fields Forever,” which is open for the public to visit. For the full history of British popular music, visit the British Music Experience.

Highlights (included): The Beatles Story, British Music Experience
Highlights (optional): Cavern Bar, Magical Mystery Bus Tour

Overnight in Liverpool
Tenon Recommends: Malmaison Hotel
(Breakfast included)

Following Liverpool, you will head to another location associated with words and language – this time, the written word. Shakespeare will forever be synonymous with the city of Stratford-upon-Avon in England’s West Midlands. Walk in Shakespeare’s footsteps, see the timbered home where he was born and explore the cottage where he courted his wife, Anne Hathaway. Then pay your respects at his final resting place in the Holy Trinity Church.

Highlights (included): Shakespeare’s birthplace, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage

Overnight in Stratford-upon-Avon
Tenon Recommends: Arden Hotel
(Breakfast included)

Relax like the Romans when you visit the city of Bath, made famous by the Romans after they discovered hot springs here. Many of the Roman ruins remain around the city, and you can follow your visit to the original baths with a more modern version of the baths. While walking around, pop into a local cafe and buy a Bath Bun, a local delicacy. Said to be one of Jane Austen’s favorite things to eat, the Bath Bun is made from milk-based yeast dough with crushed sugar sprinkled on it.

Highlights (included): Chedworth Roman Villa, Roman baths, Thermae Bath Spa Twilight Experience
Highlights (optional): Bath food tour

Overnight in Bath
Tenon Recommends: Queensberry Hotel
(Breakfast included)

Explore beyond Bath with a short trip to the Cotswolds. This area is famous for its quintessential English market towns and villages built from a honey-colored stone. Designated in an area of outstanding natural beauty, these buildings are a sight to behold! Lacock, possibly the most beautifully preserved of all the villages, is just a short drive away.

Highlights (included): Bath food tour
Highlights (optional): Bath bike tour, Hidden Cotswold Villages Tour (6-hour tour from Moreton in Marsh), Blenheim Palace

Overnight in Bath
Tenon Recommends: Queensberry Hotel
(Breakfast included)

Discover the monument of Stonehenge, the most architecturally advanced prehistoric stone circle in the world. Consisting of a ring of standing stones, each around 13-feet high and 7-feet wide, the monument is believed to have been constructed sometime between 3000 BC and 2000 BC.

Highlights (included): Windsor Castle, Stonehenge
Highlights (optional): Bombay Sapphire Distillery

Overnight in Windsor
Tenon Recommends: MGallery Castle Hotel
(Breakfast included)

Say goodbye to England and start your journey home with memories that will last a lifetime.
(Breakfast included)