Tour Inclusions

• Traditional accommodation with private facilities
• Driver/Guide companion
• Transportation by 16-seat mini-coach
• English Breakfast daily and 2 Dinners
• Entrance fees: Kirby Hall, Bosworth, Kenilworth Castle, Harvard House, Lord Leicester Hospital, Christ Church Hall, Sudley Castle, Hampton Court Palace

DAY 1 Monday - Stratford-upon-Avon
Departing London we first drive to Kirby Hall, one of England’s greatest Elizabethan houses and famous for its richly decorated Great Hall and state rooms.  Sir Christopher Hatton’s gardens are now partly restored and laid out in elaborate cutwork design. We then travel to the battlefield site which marked the ascendancy of the Tudors; Bosworth. Before our evening stop, we visit the magnificent ruined castle of Kenilworth which has connections with John Dudley, who was beheaded to the Tower for ‘Bloody’ Mary.  (D) Overnight: Warwickshire

Day 2 Tuesday - Warwickshire
What finer place to start our day than Stratford-upon-Avon and nearby Warwick. Shakespeare provides one major theme to the day, but we also learn about daily life during the late Tudor period as we visit some of the houses associated with his life and family. Later today we visit Harvard House which was the home of Katherine Rogers, the mother of John Harvard. It is then a short drive to the nearby town of Warwick, where we visit the Lord Leycester Hospital. Queen Elizabeth I’s favourite, Robert Dudley, converted the picture-book buildings of the dissolved Warwick Guilds into a retreat for old soldiers. Overnight: Warwickshire. (B)

Day 3 Wednesday - Cotswolds
It is a delightful journey to the academic and historic city of Oxford. Many of the colleges (including Christ Church) here were endowed during the Tudor period. We then venture through the back roads of the magnificent Cotswolds region, an important source of wealth throughout the Tudor period. We will stop at typical picturesque villages in the area and also visit Sudeley Castle, the home of three queens and houses the marble tomb of Katherine Parr, the wife of Henry VIII. Overnight: Warwickshire (B, D)

Day 4 Thursday - Hampton Court
We start our day at Hatfield House, built by Robert Cecil and where Elizabeth I spent most of her childhood. It was while she was living in the Old Palace, in 1558, that Elizabeth learned of her accession to the throne. We then head to the jewel in the Tudor crown, Hampton Court Palace, perfectly positioned on the River Thames.  The palace was one of Henry VIII's favourite palaces, its six acres of magnificent buildings are well worth exploring. The tour ends back in London late afternoon at our tour hotel. (B)