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 Literary Tours of England - Great Britain - England - United Kingdom Literature lovers and bookworms will be tempted to indulge their interest our Literary Tours of England, guided by enthusiastic experts and set in lovely country houses in some outstandingly scenic areas. Fellow tour members include those with an interest in literature, whether would-be writers or readers who want to see what their favorite writers look and sound like. You need no prior knowledge to enjoy this trip, but do need a love of words.  Travel through some of the
UK's prettiest landscapes, visiting author's homes, literary museums, towns and
villages where stories are set, and places that obviously inspired the
writer.In Spring, we visit both the famous Hay on Wye, and burgeoning Keswick literature festivals, in the autumn we offer the Cheltenham Literature Festival, and in between, run themed tours which bring some classic works to life. From Haworth, many have enjoyed the optional Wuthering Heights walk on our Brontës holiday, in the Lakes we offer an insight into the glorious landscapes which inspired Beatrix Potter and Wordsworth and his contemporaries, while the regency world of Jane Austen is brought to life in southern England. Our prices hide nothing and represent remarkable value for money - we include 3 meals a day, accommodation and include any transport but you will probably want to spend on tickets for extra events at the literature festivals.
 Cheltenham Literature
Festival Literary legends, comedy geniuses and shining stars flock
to the world's finest Literature Festival.. Speakers include writers from all
over the world. We include visits to three events but you are encouraged to
have a look at the programme, ask or see www.cheltenhamfestivals.co.uk in
August to book any extra events. We spend every day in Cheltenham, and leave
one morning free to explore picturesque Bourton-on-the-Water. Between talks
there is free time for a bit of celebrity spotting, and to enjoy our
introduction to the delights of Cheltenham's churches, museums and art
galleries. After dinner we may decide on a literary discussion or to join in
other social activities. Staying at Harrington House on a Full Board basis.Harrington House, of considerable architectural interest, dates from Tudor times and was enlarged during 1730-40, and again in the 1920's. Built of Cotswold Stone it is quietly tucked away just 100 yards from the heart of Bourton-on-the-Water. This is one of the showpiece villages of the Cotswolds, with its green bisected by the clear waters of the Windrush. There are banks, shops, cafes and a model village and railway in the town. BY RAIL: To Moreton-in-Marsh station, about 2 hours from London. Visit thetrainline.com for train information and to book tickets. Transfer to House: (8 miles).  Hay on Wye
Literature Festival An important literary festival with tours to the
surrounding countryside as well to make the most of the holiday. Entry to four
festival events has been included, and you are free to attend some additional
activities that may appeal to you - we advise on these bookings, but you may
need your own transport to take full advantage of evening events. Most days we
leave around 9.30am and return around 6.00pm or later, but with great
flexibility. On two other days we take in evening events, too. Other evenings
are a mixture of informal sociable or literature-related activities. Stay at Nythfa House, Brecon Beacons, Mid Wales. Nythfa House is set in two acres of mature grounds, above the northern outskirts of the bustling market town of Brecon in the Brecon Beacons National Park. It is eight minutes walk from the town centre, which has a full range of shops, pubs, banks and cafes as well as the absorbing Brecknock Museum. To the south you'll find the Waterfall Country of Melte and Hepste gorges and the Black Mountains to the East. BY RAIL: To Abergavenny station, 3 hours by train from London. Visit thetrainline.com for train information and to book tickets. Transfer to House: (20 miles). We send out the festival program when published a fews weeks before the holiday.  Literary Cotswolds Tour Enter the rural English
idyll of villages, pubs and churches associated with Flora Thompson (Lark Rise
to Candleford) and Laurie Lee, grand houses known to John Betjeman and
Alexander Pope. We visit Flora Thompson villages - and walk round the Rise at
Juniper Hill. Other highlights include Kelmscott Manor, summer home of William
Morris. The tour would be incomplete without cider at The Woolpack in Laurie
Lee's village, Slad, and finally, Bibury, the ‘prettiest village in
England', according to William Morris.  Staying at Harrington House on a Full Board basis.
Harrington House, of considerable architectural interest, dates from Tudor
times and was enlarged during 1730-40, and again in the 1920's. Built of
Cotswold Stone it is quietly tucked away just 100 yards from the heart of
Bourton-on-the-Water. This is one of the showpiece villages of the Cotswolds,
with its green bisected by the clear waters of the Windrush. There are banks,
shops, cafes and a model village and railway in the town. BY RAIL: To
Moreton-in-Marsh station, about 2 hours from London. Visit thetrainline.com for
train information and to book tickets. Transfer to House: (8 miles). You don't need a special interest in literature, this themed tour has many historical, cultural and scenic references that will fascinate anyone.  Jane Austen and
the Regency Tour of EnglandWould you like to walk in the footsteps
of Jane Austen? The Regency world of Jane Austen's novels and later life
reflects a tension between the ideals of the enlightenment and the newly
emerging romanticism and dramatic challenges to social mores. We are well placed at Abingworth to visit Jane's important biographical sites - Steventon Church, Chawton and Winchester as well as Portsmouth (which is connected with her sailor-brothers and the novel Persuasion) and the Royal Pavilion at Brighton (home of the Prince Regent to whom Jane dedicated Emma). At Chawton, she was at her most prolific, producing and publishing four novels, Pride & Prejudice (revised), Mansfield Park, Emma and Persuasion, and the unfinished Sanditon and revising Northanger Abbey.Our Country House hotel caters exclusively for our guests and the atmosphere is very much like a house party - it's all a far cry from the anonymity of a conventional hotel. Public Rooms - two lounges, conservatory bar, ballroom and games area. Facilities - Boot room, drying room, laundry facilities, mini-shop, croquet, boule, 9 hole pitch and putt and table tennis and heated outdoor pool (open May to September). No Smoking - Abingworth Hall is designated as non-smoking. Smoking is also not allowed on transport provided during any holiday. BY AIR: The nearest airport is Gatwick (London). BY RAIL: To Pulborough station, 1 1/2 hours from London. Visit www.nationalrail.co.uk for train information Transfer to House: (7 miles).
 The Brontës Literature
and Countryside Unspoilt dramatic moors to old industrial valleys.
The dramatic moorland inspired the Bronte Sisters to pen novels which are
classics of English literature. Patrick Brontë found himself widowed in a remote corner of the Pennines, with six children to bring up, four of them showed marks of genius, and the three girls, Charlotte, Emily and Anne, became published authors whose works are avidly read today. The Brontes were an intensely close-knit family and their parsonage home formed the heart of their world from early childhood until the ends of their brief lives. We offer an introduction to the family through visits to sites connected with them including Thornton, the Parsonage and Brontë Museum at Haworth, the Red House used as a model in Shirley, Wycoller, Norton Conyers Hall, Cowan Bridge School and Tunstall Church. Imagine the everyday lives of the Bronte Sisters as you walk round Haworth Church and the Bronte Parsonage Museum. The cobbled Main Street in Haworth has a host of specialist shops. Discover antique books, paintings & tearooms, hotels (including the "Black Bull" - where Branwell Bronte's demise into alcoholism and opium addiction allegedly began).Many public footpaths lead out of the village, and there is much scope for rambling, though perhaps the most famous walk leads past Lower Laithe Reservoir to the picturesque (but unspectacular) Bronte Falls, the Bronte Bridge, and the Bronte Stone Chair in which (it is said) the sisters took turns to sit and write their first stories. An optional Wuthering Heights walk will add another dimension. There will be a program of evening talks on the Brontës and their works. Stay at: Newfield Hall, Malhamdale, Southern Yorkshire Dales Newfield Hall, an imposing stone mansion built in 1856, stands proudly at the end of a tree-lined drive in two acres of mature grounds. Retaining its 19th Century ambience, it has a pillared entrance, baronial hall and courtyards. The hall is peacefully situated in the southern part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and less than half a mile from the Pennine Way, which leads north to the geological wonders of Malhamdale. BY RAIL: To Skipton station. 2 hours from Manchester by train, 4 hours from London. Visit thetrainline.com for train information and to book tickets. Transfer to House: (7 miles). You will get most from the holiday if you read Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre or any of the Brontës novels in advance, but this is not critical. Sherlock Holmes and his Creator NEW Explore the mysterious worlds of Sherlock Holmes and his creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle through visits to sites connected with Doyle and the Holmes stories, such as Groombridge Place (grounds & Summer House), a Manor House in the village of Groombridge. One famous garden is the drunken garden, a favourite of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's. It was at Groombridge Place that his world famous Sherlock Holmes novel "The Valley of Fear" is set, though it should be noted that the House is renamed "Birlstone Manor". Stay at Abingworth Hall, West Sussex, South Down. Abingworth Hall occupies a country estate that dates back some seven centuries and stands beside its own lake in seven acres of parkland within the tranquil Weald. Just three miles south, the crest of the South Downs rises abruptly above the small town of Storrington. In house we’ll watch videos of Doyle’s life and discuss dramatisations of selected Holmes stories on video. BY RAIL: To Pulborough station, about 1 1/2 hours from London Visit thetrainline.com for train information and to book tickets. Transfer to House: (7 miles).  What's included in all of these
programs:O Transfers ARE NOT included, but we can book these for you by rail from London to the closest town, at added cost. O Literary tour O Accommodations , including private bath/shower. Extra nights may be available. O Breakfast, dinner and afternoon tea daily. Picnic lunches on some days. We are always able to cater for vegetarian diets OFull time guide OTransport to and from your tour each day, if needed. O All taxes (Value Added Tax VAT) Are tea and coffee making facilities available? At our own Country House accommodation, these are provided FREE in your bedroom, and often in the public lounges. Do the hotels have laundry rooms? Our own Country House accommodation have dedicated laundry rooms and drying rooms. Single supplement 50%.
Literary Tour of England - Dickens, Bronte, Wordsworth, Beatrix Potter 10 days exploring the settings of the lives and works of Dickens, Bronte, Wordsworth, Beatrix Potter, and more. Visiting author's homes, literary museums, towns and villages where stories are set Day 1 DEPART USA You board your overseas flight. DESTINATION: LONDON. Dinner and breakfast served aloft.  Day 2 ARRIVE LONDON Welcome to London! You arrive at
London's Heathrow Airport. As you exit from the Customs Hall, you meet your
experienced Lynott Tours guide and your skillful driver. You board your deluxe
motorcoach for the ride to imperial London. Remainder of the day is free to
relax. London is known for its red double decker buses and "tubes",
which go almost everywhere and are a great value for the money. Either is an
unbeatable way to see the sights of London on your own. Museums, galleries, and
superb shopping abound. Fortnum and Mason's is in Piccadilly, and Harrods in
Knightsbridge. Covent Garden, once London's fruit, vegetable and flower market
made famous in "My Fair Lady" is now a delightful shopping area with
boutiques, unusual shops, intimate bistros and restaurants. You may even see
Eliza Doolittle wandering among the shops. LONDON-DINNER AT THE CHESHIRE CHEESE
PUB The Cheshire Cheese is one of London's most historic hostelries, having
been rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1666. The interior, with its low ceiling
and open fire in the hearth has changed little. Many literary men have been
associated with the Cheshire Cheese, including Dr. Johnson, Thackeray and
Dickens. Oak tables and sawdust floors provide an atmospheric setting for stout
English cookery such as steak and kidney pie. Transfers and dinner included.
(D) Day 3 LONDON DICKENS/SHERLOCK HOLMES TOUR Your morning sightseeing of London includes a choice of "Dickens London" including his house on Doughty Street. Your walking tour of Holmesian London starts east of Baker Street past the Royal College of Surgeons (The Hound of the Baskervilles), and to Museum Street. You visit the Alpha Inn of The Blue Carbuncle, now the Plough Inn, Bloomsbury. You continue to Tottenham Court Road, associated with many works, and to the site of 221b Baker Street. This afternoon, you take a steamer down the river to follow the route of the Aurora in The Sign of Four, which started near the Tower, and ended at Plumstead Marshes. The route to Scotland Yard includes Grosvenor Square (The Noble Bachelor), Claridge's Hotel (Thor Bridge and His Last Bow),The Admirality (The Bruce-Partington Plans) to Downing Street and the famous Scotland Yard. This evening enjoy dinner at the Dickens Inn in Paddington.(D,CB) Day 4 EXCURSION TO ROCHESTER Travel to Rochester, once of the home of Dickens. Other than London, Rochester appears in Dickens books the most often. Here you'll see Restoration House and visit Eastgate and the Dickens Centre, enjoy the audio visual and the festival. Return to London. LONDON THEATER EVENING London is known around the world for the variety of its theater. You enjoy a night at a top rated show, including transfers from your hotel. (CB) Day 5 YORKSHIRE Visit the Bronte Parsonage in Haworth, home of the tragic and famous Bronte sisters. Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights were written here. The house contains many of the original furnishings, some quite touching. There are miniature books that the sisters made as children, tiny slippers and manuscripts and drawings. (B,D)  Day 6 LAKE DISTRICT Magnificent lakes, fells and
mountains border the winding roads in this area loved by poets, writers and
painters, and immortalized by William Wordsworth. Some of the most dramatic
scenery in England is here. Perfectly kept cottages trimmed with fuschia
hedges, black and white cows and bulls, and butter-golden gorse dot the
hillsides. (B,D) Day 7 ESSENDEN/STRATFORD UPON AVON Visit the home of Beatrix Potter, author of many children's books, including Peter Rabbit, in Essenden. Known primarily as the home of the Bard, Stratford is a bustling market town in the heart of England. You visit Anne Hathaway's birthplace - - a quaint thatched cottage in idyllic Shottery and Shakespeare's timber-framed home on Henley Street. Shakespeare's grammar school and Holy Trinity Church still stand. The most elaborate timbered house is Harvard House, built in 1596 by the grandparents of the founder of Harvard University. (CB,D) Day 8 EXCURSION TO THE
COTSWOLDS Travel through the Cotswolds today. Some of the loveliest towns in
all England are located in the Cotswolds, with houses of honey-colored stone
along winding lanes. This area inspired the endless fascination with
"sylan bowers", and copses of the English Romantics. Cheltenham,
Chipping Camden, Bourton-on-the-Water and Stow-in-the-Wold are but a few. You
explore these quiet, dreamy country towns. Return to Stratford for an evening
theater performance in the acclaimed Globe Theatre. (B,D) Day 9 CASTLE COMBE/BASINGSTOKE Considered to be England's prettiest village, Castle Combe is also known as the setting for the film, "Dr. Doolittle". Its charming stone cottages, arched bridge and ancient church all set the scene. Near Basingstoke was the Home of Jane Austen. Sadly, the house is gone, but the location is marked. Farewell dinner this evening. (B,D) Day 10 HOMEWARD FROM HEATHROW You bid your fond farewell to England and your Lynott Tours Guide as you board your coach for the trip to Heathrow Airport and your return flight to the U.S.A., arriving the same day. No doubt along the way you'll have met a colorful group of eccentric characters, who will be long-remembered after you return home. .jpg) Some Dickens
FestivalsBroadstairs Dickens Festival Getting into the spirit at the Broadstairs Dickens Festival 17-25 June (Every year) The Broadstairs Dickens Festival is a nine-day heritage festival at which the town once more becomes a Victorian holiday destination. Featured events include a dramatic adaptation of a Dickens novel performed in the Dickens House Museum, as well as a Victorian cricket match, readings, talks and walking tours of the town. DICKENS ROCHESTER, BROADSTAIRS AND LONDON Day 1 DEPART USA or CANADA. Flights on your own, or we can book them for you.  Day 2 ARRIVE LONDON Welcome to London!
You arrive at London's Heathrow Airport. As you exit from the Customs Hall, you
meet your experienced Lynott Tours guide and your skillful driver. You board
your deluxe motorcoach for the ride to imperial London. Remainder of the day is
free to relax. London is known for its red double decker buses and
"tubes", which go almost everywhere and are a great value for the
money. Either is an unbeatable way to see the sights of London on your own.
Museums, galleries, and superb shopping abound. Covent Garden, once London's
fruit, vegetable and flower market made famous in "My Fair Lady" is
now a delightful shopping area with boutiques, unusual shops, intimate bistros
and restaurants. You may even see Eliza Doolittle wandering among the shops.
You may wish to visit Harrods in fashionable Knightsbridge. This extraordinary,
world-famous department store is decked out in all its finery. Enjoy the
festive atmosphere as you browse through an amazing array of goods collected
from the far corners of the British Empire. The store has restaurants, an art
gallery and food halls. LONDON-DINNER AT THE CHESHIRE CHEESE PUB The Cheshire
Cheese is one of London's most historic hostelries, having been rebuilt after
the Great Fire of 1666. The interior, with its low ceiling and open fire in the
hearth has changed little. Many literary men have been associated with the
Cheshire Cheese, including Dr. Johnson, Thackeray and Dickens. Oak tables and
sawdust floors provide an atmospheric setting for stout English cookery such as
steak and kidney pie. Transfers and dinner included. (D) Day 3 LONDON DICKENS TOUR Your morning sightseeing of London includes "Dickens London" including his house on Doughty Street, the Old Curiousity Shop made famous by Charles Dickens. Step back in time as we walk through the area that inspired the works of Charles Dickens. Bloomsbury was a fashionable place of residence for wealthy merchants and aristocrats of his time. We pass Georgian homes, any of which could have housed the characters of Jacob Marley or Ebenezer Scrooge. It's a London of nooks and crannies and alleyways and gas lamps and 18th- and 19th-century houses - and no cars! It's the London where Dickens lived and worked. It's the London of the 400-year-old Old Curiosity Shop and David Copperfield and Pip and Pickwick. Stopping at Dickens' home, now open as a museum, we see many of his manuscripts and learn the fascinating history of his life. It's "Inimitable" - like Dickens himself. This evening enjoy dinner at the Dickens Inn in Paddington.(D,CB)  Day 4 A WALK THROUGH COVENT GARDEN The walk starts in St Giles
and goes through nearby Seven Dials, ‘where seaven streetes make a starr
from a Doric Pillar plac'd in the middle of a Circular Area'. These districts
were among the worst slums in Dickens London. Monmouth Street in St Giles was
‘the only true and real emporium for second-hand wearing apparel'. In his
essay Seven Dials in Sketches by Boz, Dickens wrote ‘the streets and
courts dart in all directions, until they are lost in the unwholesome vapour
which hangs over the house-tops, and renders the dirty perspective uncertain
and confined. … On one side, a little crowd has collected round a couple
of ladies, who having imbibed the contents of various "three-outs" of
gin and bitters in the course of the morning, have at length differed on some
point of domestic arrangement, and are on the eve of settling the quarrel
satisfactorily, by an appeal to blows, greatly to the interest of other ladies
who live in the same house, and tenements adjoining'. The walk ends at Somerset
House. In 1809 Dickens' father John Dickens married Elizabeth Barrow in the
nearby church of St Mary-le-Strand. He was working at the Navy Pay Office in
nearby Somerset House and met her through her brother who also worked there. It
must have seemed the foundation of a safe middle class family, built on secure
civil service employment. But in 1810 Elizabeth's father, who also worked for
the Navy Pay Office, was found guilty of embezzling money and fled to the Isle
of Man. In 1824 John Dickens was imprisoned for debt and had to resign his
post. Somerset House was the first purpose built block of Government offices
and originally housed the Royal Navy, the Royal Society and the Royal Academy.
A palatial building set around a large courtyard, it illustrates the prestige
of civil service employment in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Royal Navy was
particularly important, having played a key part in the British defeat of
Napoleonic France. It became the largest and strongest navy in the world and
underpinned the growth of the British colonial empire and Britain's major role
in world trade in the 19th century. (CB) .jpg) Day 5 ROCHESTER Travel to Rochester, once of the home of Dickens.
Other than London, Rochester appears in Dickens books the most often. Our walk
explores the remnants of Richmond Palace and the splendid houses the
aristocracy built themselves in the neighboring villages of Petersham, Ham and
Twickenham. But in Dickens' time the railway led to middle class
suburbanisation, and Richmond became a favorite destination for excursions. Eel
Pie Island was named after a tavern (now demolished) famous for its eel pies,
that attracted steamers full of day-trippers. In Nicholas Nickleby Mrs Kenwigs
came from ‘a very genteel family, having an uncle who collected a
water-rate; besides which distinction, the two eldest of her little girls went
twice a week to a dancing school in the neighbourhood, and had flaxen hair tied
with blue ribands hanging in luxuriant pigtails down their backs, and wore
little white trousers with frills round the ankles'. The eldest Miss Kenwigs
joined a party, catching a steamer from Westminster Bridge to Eel Pie island to
‘dance in the open air to the music of a locomotive band.' The walk starts
near Richmond Green, originally a common where villagers pastured their sheep
but later a medieval jousting ground alongside Richmond Palace. Only the
gatehouse and parts of the old wardrobe in the courtyard survive from the Tudor
palace. It was a royal residence from 1125 until 1688. Henry VII (1509-47)
built the Tudor palace and his arms are on the gatehouse. His second daughter
Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603) died here. During the Civil War of 1642-51 Oliver
Cromwell demolished the most important buildings. Very near to Richmond Palace
is Maids of Honour Row (1724) ‘an excellent, entirely uniform, terrace' of
three story houses. They were built for the maids of honour of Caroline of
Anspach, the wife of George II (1727-1760). In Great Expectations Estella came
to London to be introduced to aristocratic society by a Mrs Brandley who lived
here. Pip met her coach and escorted her to her new home. ‘We came to
Richmond all too soon, and our destination there was a house by the Green: a
staid old house, where hoops and powder and patches, embroidered coats, rolled
stockings, ruffles, and swords, had had their court days many a time. Some
ancient trees before the house were still cut in fashions as formal and
unnatural as the hoops and wigs and stiff skirts'. (CB)  Day 6 ROCHESTER Charles Dickens grew up in Chatham
and Rochester. Many of Dickens's books feature places and buildings in Medway.
Satis House in Great Expectations is the impressive red brick Restoration House
in Crow Lane, Rochester and Eastgate House, also in Rochester, was referred to
as Westgate House in his first novel, The Pickwick Papers, and as the Nuns
House in his last, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Here you'll see Restoration
House and visit Eastgate and the Dickens Centre. The city's Victorian High
Street glows with the sights and sounds of a scene of more than a century ago.
You wander the streets of the charming village to enjoy the spirit of the past
that is re-created here. We continue on to the lovely old city of Canterbury.
Feel the nostalgia of yesteryear as you peer through small window panes of
delightful, centuries-old establishments along the cobblestone streets. Step
through the doorways of fragrant shops to the sound of a tinkling bell. Inside,
discover candies, candles, tartans, lace and woolley mittens. In the early
evening, we attend "Evensong" at the majestic Canterbury Cathedral -
site of the martyrdom of Thomas Becket. Return to London.(CB) Day 7 PORTSMOUTH Charles Dickens was born in a modest house in Portsmouth, England in 1812. The house has miraculously survived and is now preserved as a museum furnished in the style of 1809 which is when John and Elizabeth Dickens set up the first home of their married life there. John Dickens came to Portsmouth when his job in the Navy Pay Office was transferred from London. They stayed here until 1815 when his job demanded that he return to London. Charles Dickens only lived in Portsmouth for the first three years of his life but he returned to the town on three occasions. Once he returned to research background information for his novel 'Nicholas Nickleby', and on two occasions later in life when he was a famous writer to give public readings of his work. Day 8 BROADSTAIRS VIA HASTINGS Dickens undertook four tours, giving public readings from his own works. During the second of these tours he came to Hastings and performed at the Music Hall - which is now Yates Wine Lodge - in 1861. Hastings features in many of his writings. Sikes and Nancy was one of Charles Dickens's most powerful and influential readings. It brought a drama to literary readings that had never been seen before. So graphic was his performance that more delicate audience members actually fainted and this became a guide as to how well he had performed it! 'Last night, in Hastings,' he wrote, 'we had a contagion of fainting, between 15 and 20 women, carried out quite stiff!' Dickens named Broadstairs "Our English Watering Place" and enjoyed its sun, sea and air. It is still the quaint town which he encouraged his friends to visit. For nine days every June at the Broadstairs Dickens Festival, you can sample the elegance as you mix with crinolined ladies and their top hatted escorts. See them promenade in Dickensian splendour. Even better, wear costume of the 1837-1859 period and join in the fun. Some events: Opening Parade followed by Opening Ceremony with Entertainment,Victorian Cricket Match, Duels,Melodramas, Concert by the Thanet Male Voice Choir, Morning Coffee with the Dickensians present and more. Stay at the Royal Albion, immortalized by the author Charles Dickens who, when staying at the Royal Albion in 1842, said of the town "is one of the prettiest and freshest places in all the world and consequently the proper place for you". The original letter can be seen today at the Royal Albion Hotel. The famous ‘Bleak House' - home of Charles Dickens, is within sight of the Royal Albion Hotel. The Ballard's Bar and Lounge at the Royal Albion Hotel is named after James Ballard, the owner of the hotel in the mid nineteenth century - well known to Charles Dickens who he provided with a variety of ‘delicious brews and ales'. Day 9 BROADSTAIRS Broadstairs is a town in Kent, England. Between Margate and Ramsgate, one of the seaside resorts on the Isle of Thanet. The town lies above a harbour, historically known for smuggling. Charles Dickens was a frequent visitor and the house he stayed in which he wrote David Copperfield and part of Bleak House can be visited. Charles Dickens visited Broadstairs from 1837 onwards and wrote the greater part of 'David Copperfield' during his time here. Bleak House was Dicken's home in the town. The Dickens House Museum houses many mementos from the era. A former owner, Mary Strong, was the character on whom Dickens modelled Betsey Trotwood .jpg) Day 10 LONDON ON YOUR OWN We suggest
exolpring Camden Town. Charles Dickens (1812-70) stayed in Bayham Street in
1823. A small plaque marks the site of his home. South Camden later featured in
the novel OLIVER TWIST. Nearby, Highate formed the backdrop for the PICKWICK
PAPERS. Walk past the site of Staggs's Gardens where, in Dombey and Son,
Dickens described the building of the railway line that cuts through Camden
Town.Explore Gloucester Crescent, where Dickens' wife Catherine lived when he
separated from her, after 22 years of marriage and the birth of ten children.
Alternatively, explore the hidden medieval alleys, courtyards, and gardens off
Fleet Street – an ancient road linking the commercial City of London with
royal Westminster. William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, John Galsworthy set
their work in the Temple, once the 12th century monastery of the crusader
Knights Templar, or lived in its quiet corners. From the 15th century until the
late 20th century Fleet Street was the centre of the British publishing
industry. Day 11 HOMEWARD FROM HEATHROW You bid your fond farewell to England and your Lynott Tours Guide as you board your coach for the trip to Heathrow Airport and your return flight to the U.S.A., arriving the same day. No doubt along the way you'll have met a colorful group of eccentric characters, who will be long-remembered after you return home. Estimated Cost: 25 persons land only $1845 USD 16 persons land only $2027 USD per person sharing a twin room. Single supplement is $224. We can operate this tour for any size group, with a minimum of 6. However, the price is lower with a greater number of people.
The Lake District is highlighted by beautiful mountains, valleys, dark woods and great stretches of water including Lake Windermere, the longest lake in all of England. One of the great experiences is to take a ride up the lake on one of four steamers operated by British Rail that travel the lake on a regular schedule. One of the ports of call is at Bowness, once a small fishing village, and now a charming place to headquarter your stay in the area. Just up the hill from Bowness is the town of Windermere, and the two towns offer several antique shops and centers to explore. Another stop on the lake is Ambleside, and just up the road is the village of Grasmere, where William Wordsworth and his wife Mary are buried in the churchyard. This renowned poet spent his entire life here and was inspired by the beauty surrounding him to produce his greatest works. A Wordsworth Museum is located in nearby Grasmere. As you make your way through the delightful villages, you will discover the shops are filled with collectibles and gifts in the distinctive style of the characters made famous by British author, Beatrix Potter. Her charming cottage and home are located at Hill Top, this little 17th century stone house, near the village of Sawrey at the North end of Lake Windermere. Beatrix Potter (1866 -1943) purchased this little farm with the earnings from her first book "The Tale of Peter Rabbit", and as one overlooks the garden adjacent to the cottage, you almost anticipate Peter Rabbit popping up from behind a shrub! There is a good example of traditional cottage garden, containing mainly old-fashioned flowers such as honeysuckle, foxgloves, sweet cicely, lupins, peonies, lavender and philadelphus. Roses grow ground the front door. Fruit still plays an important role in the garden - strawberries, raspberries, currants, gooseberries and rhubarb. Beatrix Potter furnished Hill Top with her favorite things. The illustrations she painted from the classic tales of Tom Kitten, Jemima Puddle-Duck, and Samuel Whiskers all contain views of Hill Top and scenes from Sawrey and the immediate area. On her marriage in 1913, Beatrix Potter moved to a nearby home and kept her beloved Hill Top as a studio. She was famed as a childrens' author, but recognized locally as a sheep farmer and devoted much of her time to that occupation. Seven of her books are based in or around Hill Top. Tom Kitten and Samuel Whiskers lived there. Hill Top is still as it was then, and is now the most visited literary shrine in the Lake District. Over a 30 year period she built up an estate of 14 farms, mostly within a 10 mile radius of Sawrey. When she died on 22 December 1943, Beatrix Potter left fourteen farms and 4000 acres of land to the National Trust, together with her flocks of Herdwick sheep. She included in her will the condition that Hill Top never be lived in again and that the rooms and furnishings should remain as they had been during her lifetime. Because of her foresight in preserving this cottage and its contents, it enables visitors to almost literally step back in time and and experience the warmth and charm present in every room. You can also purchase reprints of her books and a grand selection of collectible figurines, china and other items adorned with her beloved characters. You will also want to spend some time in the village of Sawrey, where many shops offer additional collectibes in the Beatrix Potter theme. The Beatrix Potter Gallery in Hawkshead is one of the National Trust's more unusual properties in that it has an interesting link with Beatrix Potter herself. The 17th Century building, which was once the office of her husband, local solicitor William Heelis, has remained largely unaltered since his day. The Gallery houses an annually changing exhibition of a selection of Beatrix Potter's original drawings and illustrations. Beatrix Potter was however much more than a gifted artist and author. She was, without question, a determined preserver of her beloved Lake District and a great believer in the aims of the fledgling National Trust, bequeathing her numerous farms and land to the Trust in 1943. The Gallery also contains a display covering the story of her life through its various stages, which offers an unique insight into her life and times. There is a reconstruction of part of William Heelis' office. "Miss Potter" - the Beatrix Potter film. "Miss Potter" explores the life of Potter (Zellweger) as she becomes the author of the beloved and bestselling children's book 'The Tale of Peter Rabbit', and struggles to overcome a domineering, unsupportive mother and the chauvinism of Victorian England to become a published author. Yew Tree Farm, Coniston, becomes Hilltop for the film. Filming has taken place in the countryside near Beetham, South Cumbria, The Rum Story in Whitehaven in West Cumbria, and in various locations in the Lakes.
 You must respect a government so judicious that it
doesn't extract income tax from its writers. Irish writers are national heroes.
The names of the early oral story-tellers with their tales of faries, celtic
warriors and legendary deed-doing are long forgotten though their stories
survive. George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde have infamously turned their pens
on the British, most have spent their entire literary careers trying to make
sense of their homeland, the country Shaw referred to as "the world's
largest open-air lunatic asylum." Nothing can match a visit to the nation
that bred them, especially its capital -- wandering the lanes of Dublin,
strolling around Merrion Square to see the childhood home of Oscar Wilde, or
visiting the stately campus of Trinity College, where for hundreds of years
literary giants from Jonathan Swift to Samuel Beckett have attended classes.
Maeve Binchy, Bram StokerBloomsday. The undoubted highlight of our tour. Every year on 16th June Dublin celebrates the life of perhaps its most famous son, James Joyce, born at 41 Brighton Square, Rathgar, Dublin. On Bloomsday (named after Leopold Bloom from Ulysses) there are events throughout the city. I The Writers Museum 's exhibits include letters, manuscripts, first edition books, portraits and other memorabilia such as Brendan Behan's old typewriter, the one legendarily thrown through the window of a pub in a fit of temper. A Dublin Literary Pub Crawl is a must - a rollicking tour of the city's public houses that have a literary connection -- and that would seem to be most of them. This program appears only on our website. A printed brochure does not exist for this tour. You can email a specific request to us or call us. Small Escorted Tours of Britain Harry Potter 6 day tour visiting film locations.Welsh Discovery - 4 day PRIVATE escorted tour North Wales Welsh Dragon - 4 day PRIVATE escorted tour South Wales Scottish Clan - Scotland Family Vacation - 7 day escorted tours just for families. Highlands 2 day tours 4 day Best of the Highlands, too. Scottish Insider - 9 day private guided tour for the discerning traveler by private car and driver. Ireland Scotland Escorted Tour Family Travel England/Scotland 10 day Tour CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW TOUR May 17-24, 2008. HAMPTON COURT GARDEN TOUR July 5-11, 2008 Presbyterian Tour of Scotland Larger Tours Larger Tours Scotland Tours6 day Taste of Scotland - our shortest budget tour 9 day Scottish Dream - first timer's tour with departures twice a week. 12 day Scottish Isles & Glens includes Orkneys Larger Tours Ireland & Great Britain Tours 11 day Taste of Scotland and Ireland - our shortest two country tour-budget price 10 Day British and Irish Focus - Ireland, Wales, England Best of the Neighboring Isles 15 day tour visiting Ireland, Scotland, England Scotland and Ireland Dream - 13 day tour of Ireland and Scotland British & Irish Jaunt 13 days British & Irish Grandeur15 days Ireland and British Isles Cruise Larger Tours England, Wales and Scotland 4 day Gems of Britain/British Discovery - tour of England and Scotland 4,5,8 day escorted tours of Wales 7 Day British Heritage One Week Tour of England and Scotland 9 day English & Scottish Discovery Train Tour Steam trains and preserved lines Literary Tours in England exploring Dickens, Bronte, Wordsworth, Beatrix PotterAntique Hunting in England Day tours from London Day Tours from Edinburgh and Glasgow Special Tours for groups: Dickens London, Rochester and Broadstairs Beatrix Potter & Wordsworth Lake District Literary Britain Presbyterian Tour of Scotland Methodist Tour of England Customized group travel Travel Insurance and Conditions of Travel Questions? Call Lynott Tours 9AM-5PM MONDAY-FRIDAY at 1 (800) 221-2474 USA & Canada
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| Questions? Call Lynott Tours 9AM-5PM MONDAY-FRIDAY at 1 (800) 221-2474 USA & Canada |
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