Today, I am delighted to announce the official launch of my next tour, the quirkiest, most eclectic adventure of them all, a 15-day exclusive Top to Bottom Tour, from Sept. 22 to Oct. 6, from Edinburgh, Scotland, to London, England.
On the way, we will see so much more: Holy Island, Lindisfarne, Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Durham Cathedral, the Lake District, Liverpool, Chester, Stratford-upon-Avon, Oxford and the iconic city itself, London.
In Edinburgh, we will visit all the key sights, including the castle, the Royal Mile, and the famous botanical garden. We will also do a whisky tasting.
Before leaving Edinburgh, we have added a one-day excursion to Falkirk, Stirling and the lovey village of Luss, considered one of the prettiest in Scotland.
From Edinburgh, we want to travel down the beautiful Northumberland coast to Berwick-upon-Tweed, visiting the famous Holy Island and Lindisfarne, Alnwick Castle and Garden, and Bamburgh before arriving in the Geordie capital of Newcastle, with its impressive seven bridges, most significantly the iconic Tyne Bridge.
From Newcastle, we want to visit Durham to explore its landmark cathedral, the iconic Angel of the North statue, and the highly-rated Beamish Living Museum.
Newcastle has long captured my imagination, not only because of the music of Lindisfarne, which I loved in the 1970s, and the delightful TV detective series Vera, but also because of its evolution from an industrial and shipbuilding powerhouse to the modern, vibrant, classy city it is today with its impressive Quayside area.
Leaving Newcastle, we will cross the country to reach the Lake District where we plan to visit Keswick and take a boat trip down Lake Windermere to reach our destination for the night, a beautiful country hotel by the lake. Very beautiful.
From there, we will skip to Kendal to see the fabulous Levens Hall and famous Tudor topiary gardens and then move on to Liverpool.
In Liverpool, we want to see all the sights of the city, take the ferry across the Mersey, see the Liver Building, famous Albert Docks, Lime Street, and the places the Beatles hung out. In the 70s, I was in Liverpool often. As a journalism student in Preston, it was easy for me to get there for poetry concerts. I got to know the Mersey Poets, Adrian Mitchell and Roger McGough, quite well and even hired them a few times for poetry nights.
While in Liverpool, I want us to nip down to Chester for the day to see the beautiful city’s Tudor buildings, Roman ruins, and lovely centre. I think it will be a fabulous trip.
From Liverpool, our route will take us south through Stratford-upon-Avon, birth place of the Bard. We will stop to see Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and Shakespeare’s birthplace before continuing on to Oxford for a couple of nights where we plan to see all the sights and enjoy a little culture time around the Radcliffe Camera, Christ Church Collage, and the illustrious botanical garden. We will also see sights known to C.S. Lewis, author of the Narnia Chronicles, and places used to film Harry Potter movies. Oxford is always a brilliant place to visit.
From Oxford, we will head into London, where we will stay, this time on the South Bank. This location gives us beautiful views of the city and St. Paul’s and easy access to all the key sights and shopping streets.
We have added a free day to plan a theatre trip, pub crawl, shopping adventure, or museum/art gallery visit. We will have our farewell dinner, but we can always stay on extra days to see and do more.
Price: $10,417 per person.
Single occupancy: $14,124.
TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT:
Contact: Lyle at lyle.truden@trudentravel.com or call 778-400-5544.
Please feel free to contact me with questions any time at swhysall@hotmail.com
