HIGHLIGHTS OF BRITAIN & IRELAND - 2010

16 days incl. travel, or 15 days from London to London (GK)

Return to Ireland Vacations

Vacation Overview

Journey through the lands of kings, queens, and leprechauns! Begin in London with two overnights and guided sightseeing that features Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and visits to St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Changing of the Guard, if held. Depart the city to admire the breathtaking gardens at Henry VIII’s Hampton Court Palace, then venture on to prehistoric Stonehenge, picturesque Salisbury, and the Roman excavations at Bath. Cross into Wales and spend the night in Newport, then to the Welsh capital of Cardiff before ferrying across the Irish Sea to the Emerald Isle. Highlights are a guided walking tour in Waterford, Blarney, the resort town of Killarney, the Ring of Kerry, Limerick, the Irish National Stud in Kildare, and an orientation drive in Dublin that includes St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Trinity College. Return across the Irish Sea and through scenic North Wales into England’s Lake District. Enjoy a cruise on Lake Windermere before heading to the Scottish Lowlands and Edinburgh for visits to Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace. On your way back to England, visit the Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe’s Floors Castle, and see the abbey ruins at Jedburgh and a section of Hadrian’s Wall. Stop to admire the impressive gothic York Minster, explore Shakespeare’s Stratford-upon-Avon, and visit beautiful Blenheim Palace before returning to London for the end of your adventure.

Special Departures:
Tickets for the world-famous Edinburgh Military Tattoo are included for tours departing July 26th through Aug 16th.

Things to see on your vacation: View Vacation Photo Slideshow

A Vacation Story "Story of Mary, Queen of Scots"

"Crowned Queen of Scotland at less than a year of age in 1543 and heralded as the true Queen of England by many Catholics at age 15, as well as the Queen Consort of France at 16, Mary, Queen of Scots was charismatic, shrewd, courageous and beautiful. She loved archery, riding horses, hunting and hawking and played golf, billiards, cards and chess. Despite her passion for fun, she entered the world’s stage at a time of especially heated conflict between Catholics and Protestants. It was this conflict that drove the intrigue, plotting and backstabbing that dominated much of her life. In 1568, Mary, Queen of Scots, was unjustly accused of complicity in the murder of one husband and later imprisoned in England for 19 years, not because she was guilty of a crime but because her freedom would have been a threat to the English throne. At age 44, she was executed for treason in a plot to kill Elizabeth I, a conviction that was purely political. Despite the fact that Mary and Elizabeth I were blood cousins, queens of contiguous countries reigning at the same time and inextricably bound by political rivalry, Mary and Elizabeth never met. Only in death did they become close: Both are buried in Westminster Abbey."