Britain: London, Snowdonia, the Lake District and Edinburgh

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in London

   London Heathrow (LHR) to your hotel in central London

   • Welcome dinner
   • Nuit : London
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into London Heathrow (LHR), where a driver meets you in the arrivals hall for the drive into central London, about an hour depending on traffic. If you are already in London or arrive by train, make your own way to the hotel. Most flights from North America land in the morning, so the afternoon is yours to rest off the night flight or take a first walk along the river. At about 6 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group at the hotel for a briefing on the eleven days ahead: two trains, one minibus, three nations, what to pack in a day bag and how the luggage moves. Then we walk to a local restaurant for a welcome dinner together. London rewards a spare day, so if you can, arrive a day early; we can book the extra night at the same hotel.

   Compris

   • Private transfer from London Heathrow (LHR)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Temps libre : Free until the 6 pm briefing

2. Jour 2 : The Tower, the Thames and Westminster

   Tower of London, by boat to Westminster, then Westminster Abbey and Whitehall

   • En bateau
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : London
   Détail du jour 2

   We are at the Tower of London when it opens, at 9 am on most days, and go straight to the Crown Jewels before the queue builds. A Yeoman Warder tour follows, then the White Tower, begun by William the Conqueror after 1066, with the royal armouries inside. Late morning we take a boat up the Thames from Tower Pier to Westminster, under London Bridge, past the City, St Paul's dome, the South Bank and the London Eye: the easiest way to see the river front on a first full day. Lunch is a sit-down meal near Westminster. In the afternoon your guide takes you through Westminster Abbey, where English and British monarchs have been crowned since 1066, then out past the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Whitehall to Trafalgar Square. The evening is free for a West End show, a pub supper or an early night.

   Compris

   • Tower of London at opening: the Crown Jewels, a Yeoman Warder tour and the White Tower
   • Thames boat from Tower Pier to Westminster
   • Sit-down lunch near Westminster
   • Westminster Abbey with your guide
   • Walk past the Houses of Parliament and along Whitehall to Trafalgar Square

   Activités en option

   • A West End show in the evening (tickets on request, price shown at booking)

   Option plus facile : Skip the walk up Whitehall and take a taxi from the Abbey back to the hotel.

   Temps libre : Evening free

   Activité : About 8 to 10 km on foot through the day, with stairs in the White Tower. Westminster Abbey is closed to visitors on Sundays, so departures start Monday to Thursday and day 2 is never a Sunday.

   

3. Jour 3 : Oxford and the Cotswold villages

   London Paddington by train to Oxford, then Burford, Bibury, Bourton-on-the-Water and Lower Slaughter to Stow-on-the-Wold

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Stow-on-the-Wold
   Détail du jour 3

   We leave London by train: about an hour from Paddington to Oxford, standard class, with the group and your guide. Our minibus and driver meet us at Oxford station and stay with us as far as York. Your guide walks you through central Oxford: Broad Street, the Sheldonian Theatre, designed by Christopher Wren and opened in 1669, the Old Schools Quadrangle of the Bodleian Library, Radcliffe Square and the Bridge of Sighs, then into Christ Church for Tom Quad, the cathedral and the Great Hall. Lunch is in a pub in Burford, at the top of its long sloping high street. In the afternoon we drive west into the Cotswolds: Bibury's Arlington Row, a terrace of weavers' cottages by the River Coln, then Bourton-on-the-Water and Lower Slaughter on the River Eye, timed for the late afternoon when the coach parties have gone. We reach Stow-on-the-Wold, a hilltop wool town, in time for a free evening on its square.

   Compris

   • Standard-class train from London Paddington to Oxford
   • Guided walk of central Oxford: the Sheldonian Theatre, the Bodleian quadrangle and Radcliffe Square
   • Christ Church: Tom Quad, the cathedral and the Great Hall
   • Pub lunch in Burford
   • Bibury and Arlington Row
   • Bourton-on-the-Water and Lower Slaughter

   Option plus facile : Stay with the minibus in Bourton-on-the-Water instead of the short field-path walk to Lower Slaughter.

   Option plus active : Walk the 1.5 km field path from Lower Slaughter to Upper Slaughter while the minibus waits.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Stow-on-the-Wold

   Activité : You lift your own suitcase onto the train at Paddington. Christ Church Great Hall closes some lunchtimes and for college events; if it is closed, your guide swaps in the cathedral cloister and Christ Church Meadow. Christ Church restricts visiting on Sundays, so day 3 is never a Sunday.

   

4. Jour 4 : Stonehenge and Bath

   Stow-on-the-Wold across the Marlborough Downs to Stonehenge, then Bath

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Bath
   Détail du jour 4

   We leave Stow at 8 am and drive south through Cirencester and over the Marlborough Downs to Stonehenge, about two hours, for a timed entry around 10 am, ahead of the midday crowds. A shuttle runs from the visitor centre to the stones, or you can walk the 2 km across the open grassland with your guide. The great sarsen circle was raised about 4,500 years ago, and Stonehenge has been on the UNESCO list, together with Avebury, since 1986. From there it is about an hour west to Bath for a sit-down lunch in the centre. In the afternoon we visit the Roman Baths, where hot spring water still flows into the Great Bath, then your guide walks you up through Georgian Bath to the Circus and the Royal Crescent, built between 1767 and 1774. The whole city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the evening is yours to explore it.

   Compris

   • Stonehenge with a timed entry and the visitor centre exhibition
   • Sit-down lunch in Bath
   • The Roman Baths
   • Guided walk of Georgian Bath: Bath Abbey, the Circus and the Royal Crescent

   Activités en option

   • An evening at the Thermae Bath Spa rooftop pool (book ahead, price shown at booking)

   Option plus facile : Take the shuttle bus both ways at Stonehenge, and ride back to the hotel after the Roman Baths.

   Option plus active : Walk the 2 km from the visitor centre to the stones across the grassland, and the shuttle back.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Bath

   Activité : About 2 hours from Stow to Stonehenge and 1 hour on to Bath. Stonehenge entry is by timed ticket, which we book for the group.

   

5. Jour 5 : Into Wales by the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

   Bath north through Shropshire to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Llangollen, then over the Horseshoe Pass to Conwy

   • Environ 4.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Conwy
   Détail du jour 5

   This is the trip's one long day on the road, about four and a quarter hours of driving, so we break it twice. We leave Bath at 8 am and head north up the M5, with a coffee stop in Shrewsbury after about two hours, then cross into Wales and reach the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct near Llangollen late in the morning, about three hours of driving from Bath. Thomas Telford's cast-iron trough, opened in 1805, carries the Llangollen Canal 38 m above the River Dee, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Walk across on the towpath, 307 m with a railing on the outer side and the canal on the other, and watch the narrowboats slide over the valley. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Llangollen, beside the river. The last stretch is short, about an hour and a quarter over the Horseshoe Pass and across the Vale of Clwyd to Conwy, arriving by about 4 pm. Conwy is our base for two nights, a walled town with the castle a few minutes' walk from the hotel.

   Compris

   • Coffee stop in Shrewsbury
   • Walk across the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct
   • Sit-down lunch in Llangollen
   • The Horseshoe Pass and the Vale of Clwyd

   Option plus facile : If heights are not for you, watch from the canal basin at Trevor at the foot of the aqueduct instead of walking across.

   Temps libre : Late afternoon and evening free in Conwy

   Activité : The longest drive of the trip, over the 4-hour guide, because Bath to North Wales cannot be split without an extra night. It is broken by a coffee stop in Shrewsbury after about two hours, then the aqueduct walk and a sit-down lunch after about three; the last leg to Conwy is about an hour and a quarter.

6. Jour 6 : Caernarfon, the slate country and the Llanberis Pass

   Conwy to Caernarfon, Llanberis and the Llanberis Pass, back through Betws-y-Coed

   • Environ 2.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Conwy
   Détail du jour 6

   We drive about 45 minutes west to Caernarfon Castle and go in as it opens. Edward I began it in 1283, with banded stone walls and many-sided towers, and in 1969 it was the setting for the investiture of the Prince of Wales; with Conwy, Harlech and Beaumaris it forms the UNESCO listing of King Edward's castles and town walls in Gwynedd. Then we turn inland to Llanberis, the slate country at the foot of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), at 1,085 m the highest mountain in Wales. The National Slate Museum fills the old Dinorwig quarry workshops, with a giant waterwheel and slate-splitting demonstrations, and the terraced quarry faces rise above Llyn Padarn. The slate landscape of north-west Wales joined the UNESCO list in 2021. After lunch in Llanberis we drive up the Llanberis Pass to Pen-y-Pass, down through Capel Curig and Betws-y-Coed, and home along the Conwy valley for a free evening.

   Compris

   • Caernarfon Castle at opening
   • National Slate Museum, Llanberis
   • Sit-down lunch in Llanberis
   • The Llanberis Pass, Capel Curig and Betws-y-Coed

   Activités en option

   • The Snowdon Mountain Railway from Llanberis towards the summit of Yr Wyddfa (seasonal, weather permitting, price shown at booking)

   Option plus facile : Stay at the Slate Museum and the Llyn Padarn lakeshore while the active group walks.

   Option plus active : A guided walk up through the quarry paths to the Dinorwig viewpoints above Llanberis, about 4 km with a steady climb.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Conwy

   Activité : Castle stairs and uneven quarry paths. The weather in Eryri (Snowdonia) changes quickly; bring a waterproof.

   

7. Jour 7 : Conwy Castle, then north to the Lakes

   Conwy Castle and the town walls, then the A55 and M6 north to Ambleside

   • Environ 3.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Ambleside
   Détail du jour 7

   Conwy Castle opens at about 9:30 and we are there for it, with an hour inside: eight round towers, the Great Hall and the view from the battlements over the estuary, the harbour and Thomas Telford's suspension bridge of 1826. Then we walk a stretch of the town walls, which still run almost complete for about 1.3 km around the old town, with 21 towers and three gateways. A short stop on the quay shows you the tiny red Quay House, often called the smallest house in Great Britain. Late morning we drive east along the A55 and north up the M6, about three and a half hours with a stop on the way for lunch on your own, to Ambleside at the head of Windermere. We arrive in the middle of the afternoon, our base for two nights. The rest of the day is free: walk down to the lake at Waterhead or up to Stock Ghyll Force, a waterfall ten minutes from the town centre.

   Compris

   • Conwy Castle at opening
   • Walk on Conwy's medieval town walls
   • The quay and the Quay House

   Activités en option

   • A Windermere cruise from Waterhead in the late afternoon (price shown at booking)

   Temps libre : Late afternoon and evening free in Ambleside

   Activité : The castle has steep spiral stairs to the towers; you can stay on the ground level and the walls have short stepped sections.

8. Jour 8 : Grasmere, a fell walk and the Ullswater steamer

   Ambleside to Grasmere, then over the Kirkstone Pass to Glenridding and by boat down Ullswater to Pooley Bridge

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Ambleside
   Détail du jour 8

   A short drive to Grasmere for Dove Cottage, where William Wordsworth lived from 1799 to 1808 and wrote many of his best-known poems, with the Wordsworth Grasmere museum beside it. Then the walk: an easy fell walk on Loughrigg Terrace, a broad path above Grasmere and Rydal Water with the view back up the valley, about 6 km and 2 to 2.5 hours, with one steady climb of about 100 m. Lunch is in Grasmere village, with a stop at the gingerbread shop by St Oswald's Church, where Wordsworth is buried. In the afternoon we drive over the Kirkstone Pass, the highest road pass in the Lake District, to Glenridding at the head of Ullswater, and board one of the Ullswater 'Steamers' for the length of the lake to Pooley Bridge, about an hour on the water with Helvellyn behind us. The minibus meets us there, and dinner tonight is together in Ambleside.

   Compris

   • Dove Cottage and the Wordsworth Grasmere museum
   • Guided fell walk on Loughrigg Terrace above Grasmere and Rydal Water
   • Lunch in Grasmere
   • The Kirkstone Pass
   • Ullswater steamer from Glenridding to Pooley Bridge
   • Dinner together in Ambleside

   Option plus facile : Walk the level lakeside path along Grasmere and back instead of the climb to Loughrigg Terrace, about 3 km.

   Option plus active : Carry on from Loughrigg Terrace to the summit of Loughrigg Fell, 335 m, for the view over Windermere, adding about an hour.

   Activité : Walking boots or shoes with grip for the fell path, and a waterproof: the Lake District is the wettest corner of England.

9. Jour 9 : Through Wensleydale to York

   Ambleside to Hawes and Aysgarth Falls in the Yorkshire Dales, then York

   • Environ 3.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : York
   Détail du jour 9

   We leave the Lakes after breakfast and cross into the Yorkshire Dales by Sedbergh and Wensleydale, stopping in the market town of Hawes for coffee and at Aysgarth Falls, where the River Ure drops over a run of broad limestone steps, a short woodland walk from the car park. From there it is about an hour and a half to York, arriving for a sit-down lunch, about three and a quarter hours of driving in all. In the afternoon your guide takes you into York Minster, one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in northern Europe, finished in 1472, to see the Great East Window and the Chapter House. Then we climb onto the medieval city walls, which still circle much of the old city, and come down into the Shambles, a crooked street of overhanging timber-framed houses. The evening is free in York, our base for one night.

   Compris

   • Hawes in Wensleydale
   • Aysgarth Falls
   • Sit-down lunch in York
   • York Minster with your guide
   • Walk on York's city walls and through the Shambles

   Option plus facile : Skip the walls and stay in the Minster precinct or the hotel.

   Temps libre : Evening free in York

   Activité : York Minster can close parts of the building for services and events; your guide adjusts the order of the afternoon.

10. Jour 10 : York to Edinburgh by train

    York station by train along the East Coast to Edinburgh Waverley, then the Old Town

    • En train
    • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
    • Nuit : Edinburgh
    Détail du jour 10

    A free morning in York: walk the Shambles before the shops open, visit the National Railway Museum, which is free to enter, or climb the 275 steps of the Minster's central tower on its own ticket. The minibus takes our bags and us to York station late morning, where we say goodbye to our driver. The train north takes about two and a half hours on the East Coast Main Line, past Durham Cathedral on its hill, over the Tyne at Newcastle and along the Northumberland coast, with the sea on the right, through Berwick-upon-Tweed into Scotland. We reach Edinburgh Waverley in the early afternoon, in the valley between the Old Town and the New Town, and walk to the hotel. Later a local guide leads us along the Royal Mile from the castle esplanade towards Holyrood, through the closes and wynds of the Old Town and past St Giles' Cathedral. Tonight is our farewell dinner together.

    Compris

    • Standard-class train from York to Edinburgh Waverley
    • Guided walk of Edinburgh's Old Town and the Royal Mile with a local guide
    • Farewell dinner

    Activités en option

    • The York Minster tower climb (275 steps, own ticket, price shown at booking)

    Temps libre : Morning free in York

    Activité : You lift your own suitcase onto the train; the guide helps the group with bags at both stations. Sit on the right-hand side heading north for the sea views.

    

11. Jour 11 : Edinburgh Castle and goodbye

    Edinburgh Castle, then Edinburgh Airport (EDI) or Waverley station

    • Environ 30 min de route
    • Petit-déjeuner
    Détail du jour 11

    Edinburgh Castle opens at 9:30 and we hold the first timed entry, so we reach the top of the rock before the main crowds arrive. Your guide takes you to the Honours of Scotland, the oldest crown jewels in the British Isles, to St Margaret's Chapel, built in the 12th century and the oldest building in Edinburgh, through the Great Hall and the Scottish National War Memorial, and out to the ramparts for the view north over the New Town to the Firth of Forth. The Old and New Towns of Edinburgh have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995, and from the battlements you can see why. The trip ends on the castle esplanade at about 12 noon. Anyone flying out rides with the minibus to Edinburgh Airport, about 30 to 40 minutes; book a flight leaving after about 3 pm, or stay on in Edinburgh: our Scotland trip starts here.

    Compris

    • Edinburgh Castle at first timed entry with your guide: the Honours of Scotland, St Margaret's Chapel and the Great Hall
    • Private transfer to Edinburgh Airport (EDI)

    Option plus facile : Stay on the lower levels of the castle and meet the group at the Great Hall; the climb up the castle rock is steep and cobbled.

    Activité : Book a flight leaving after about 3 pm. Extra nights in Edinburgh can be added at the trip hotel.

Faune et météo : April to October brings long days, up to about 17 hours of daylight in Edinburgh in June, and every site open. Rain is possible in any month, most of all in Snowdonia and the Lake District, so each walking day has a lower-level option. July and August are the busiest and dearest months; May, June and September are quieter.

• London2 nuits
• Stow-on-the-Wold1 nuit
• Bath1 nuit
• Conwy2 nuits
• Ambleside2 nuits
• York1 nuit
• Edinburgh1 nuit