Commercial Flights

Board your overnight transatlantic flight.

Hotels

Check into your hotel where your Tour Director will be waiting to welcome you. Hilton London Metropole - A glitzy superior first-class air-conditioned hotel with over 1,000 rooms, ideally located near Hyde Park and Oxford Street. The public areas include Fiamma restaurant and bar, the 24-hour lounge bar, Caffé Cino, and the 24th floor restaurant with London’s best views. There’s also an indoor pool, sauna, solarium, hairdressing salon, and shop.

Relaxation

The rest of the day is free for you to relax or start exploring the lively British capital.

At 6 p.m. meet your traveling companions for a welcome drink and dinner at the hotel. (D)

Sightseeing

Morning sightseeing with a Local Guide includes all the famous landmarks: Knightsbridge with Harrods, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben beside the River Thames, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace. The morning’s highlights are a visit to ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL, and the ceremonial pageantry of the Changing of the Guard, if held. The afternoon is free for you to sightsee on your own. For tour departures 0803 through 0824 a fascinating guided tour of nearby Parliament is a unique inclusion. See the Commons and Lords debating chambers, the Queen’s Robing Room, and other areas of the parliamentary estate, only open during the summer recess.

River Cruises

Tonight, maybe a cruise on the River Thames? (FB)

Sightseeing

A free day for independent activities. Your Tour Director will help you plan your day. A full-day optional excursion to Bath and Stonehenge, an optional afternoon excursion to Windsor Castle or to the Tower of London with its fabulous Crown Jewels might be the best way to make the most of your time. (FB)

Sightseeing

Join your Tour Director at 8 a.m. and head into the country for a lovely day’s sightseeing. In Stratford-upon- Avon take your pictures of Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and visit SHAKESPEARE’S BIRTHPLACE, with time afterwards to explore this pretty Elizabethan town at your own pace. Take a drive into the Cotswold Hills to enjoy the picturesque villages and idyllic rolling English landscapes. At Oxford, city of the dreaming spires, a local expert conducts you on a private visit to an internationally famous COLLEGE.

Hotels

Return to London around 6 p.m., with the rest of the evening free. (FB)

Sightseeing

Depart this morning for a drive southeast into Kent, the “Garden of England,” for a visit to CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL, England’s Mother Church, where you hear about Thomas à Becket and the Black Prince. Then, at nearby mighty, moated LEEDS CASTLE, which Lord Conway described as “the loveliest castle in the world,” there’s plenty of time to admire the lavish state apartments, which have hosted international summit meetings, and to take a leisurely stroll in the magnificent gardens. Return to London around 5 p.m. (FB)

Shopping

Another day with time for independent leisure activities. For that last-minute shopping a visit to Harrods is an absolute must!

A unique finale to a great week in London might be an optional special dinner followed by a West End show. Your Tour Director will make the arrangements. (FB)

Airport Transfers

Your homebound flight arrives the same day. (FB)