THE BEST OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND - 2010

8 days incl. travel, or 7 days from London to London (GV)

Return to England Vacations

Vacation Overview

See the places you’ve always read about on this exciting journey through southern England. Begin in London with guided sightseeing that shows off the city’s most famous landmarks: Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and visits to St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Changing of the Guard, if held. Head southwest and stop to admire the breathtaking gardens at Henry VIII’s Hampton Court Palace, then drive through Runnymede, site of the signing of the Magna Carta, explore the university city of Oxford, and pause in Bladon at the gravesite of Winston Churchill. Spend the night in Stratford-upon-Avon and visit Shakespeare’s birthplace and Anne Hathaway’s cottage. Continue west through the scenic Cotswolds, stopping at the Elizabethan village of Broadway and at 12th-century Tintern Abbey in southeastern Wales. See the amazing Roman excavations in Bath, contemplate mysterious Stonehenge, and cross the Salisbury Plain on your way to the seaside resort of Brighton. Tour the Royal Pavilion and visit moated Leeds Castle before returning to London for the completion of your vacation.

Take A Break getaway

If you want to see and do it all but have limited time, Globus offers these fulfilling vacations that are one week or less. You can still get the best that your destination has to offer.

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."