Grand Tour of Britain: England, Wales & Scotland

Today you explore the great sights of London with your expert local guide. You visit the mighty Tower of London, guarding the dazzling Crown Jewels, take in Buckingham Palace, ideally timed for the Changing of the Guard, and gaze up at Westminster Abbey, the coronation church of English monarchs, and the Houses of Parliament with Big Ben. You see St Paul's Cathedral, cross Tower Bridge, and explore the world-class British Museum, home to the Rosetta Stone and treasures of the ancient world. You might enjoy a cruise on the Thames or a ride on the London Eye. The history and grandeur are captivating. As the day ends, you return to your hotel. This evening, savour the city's dining or a West End show. Rest well, for tomorrow you visit royal Windsor and ancient Stonehenge.

Today you take memorable excursions from London to royal Windsor and ancient Stonehenge. You begin at Windsor Castle, the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world and a favourite royal residence, exploring its magnificent State Apartments and St George's Chapel, where monarchs are laid to rest. You then journey west across the countryside to Salisbury Plain and mysterious Stonehenge, the great prehistoric stone circle standing on the open plain, one of the wonders of the ancient world, raised some five thousand years ago, and gaze in wonder at its mighty stones. You may pause at the medieval city of Salisbury, with its soaring cathedral spire. As the day ends, you return to London. This evening, enjoy a final London dinner. Rest well, for tomorrow you journey into the beautiful Cotswolds.

Today you leave London and journey into the beautiful Cotswolds. Travelling through the gentle English countryside, you may pause at magnificent baroque Blenheim Palace, birthplace of Winston Churchill, or in the historic university city of Oxford, with its ancient colleges and dreaming spires. You enter the Cotswolds, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, where honey-coloured stone villages, rolling hills, ancient churches and welcoming inns create a timeless idyll, and wander picture-perfect villages such as Bourton-on-the-Water, with its little bridges over the River Windrush, and Stow-on-the-Wold. As the day ends, you settle into your hotel in the heart of the Cotswolds. This evening, dine at a welcoming country inn, savouring the best of local produce. Rest well, for tomorrow you journey to Georgian Bath.

Today you journey from the Cotswolds to the beautiful city of Bath, exploring on the way. You wander another Cotswold gem, such as Bibury, once called the most beautiful village in England, or enchanting Castle Combe, and pause at the beautifully preserved village of Lacock. You reach Bath, a UNESCO World Heritage city built in golden stone in the Georgian age around the hot springs the Romans first prized. You admire the sweeping Royal Crescent and the Circus, masterpieces of Georgian architecture, and explore the remarkably preserved Roman Baths, where steaming water still fills the ancient pool, and take tea in the historic Pump Room. As the day ends, you settle into your Bath hotel. This evening, dine in this elegant city. Rest well, for tomorrow you cross into Wales and the Welsh capital.

Today you cross into Wales and explore its lively capital, Cardiff. Travelling west over the River Severn into Wales, a proud nation with its own language and identity, you reach Cardiff and visit Cardiff Castle, a remarkable fortress in the heart of the city, with its Roman walls, Norman keep and lavish Victorian-Gothic interiors created by the Marquess of Bute. You explore Cardiff Bay, the revived waterfront with its striking Wales Millennium Centre and the Senedd, and stroll the elegant Victorian arcades. You may also glimpse the wild Brecon Beacons nearby. The city and its heritage are captivating. As the day ends, you settle into your Cardiff hotel. This evening, savour Welsh hospitality and cuisine. Rest well, for tomorrow you journey north through Wales towards the beautiful Lake District.

Today you make a scenic journey north from Wales to the beautiful Lake District. Travelling through the heart of Wales, you may take in the magnificent mountains of Snowdonia (Eryri), with its soaring peaks and glacial lakes, and pass a mighty Welsh castle such as Conwy, a UNESCO World Heritage Site rising above its walled town, before crossing into England. You continue to the Lake District, England's largest national park, a landscape of shining lakes and soaring green fells, and settle into your hotel amid the mountains. The scenery grows ever more beautiful as you travel. As the day ends, you take a first stroll by a lakeside village. This evening, savour hearty Cumbrian cooking. Rest well, for tomorrow you explore the beautiful Lake District with a Windermere cruise.

Today you explore the beautiful heart of the Lake District, by water and on foot. You cruise on Windermere, the largest natural lake in England, gliding past wooded shores and grand houses with the fells rising all around, perhaps aboard a classic heritage steamer. You visit Grasmere, the beloved home of the poet William Wordsworth, seeing Dove Cottage where he wrote much of his finest verse, and tasting the famous Grasmere gingerbread. You take in beautiful Derwentwater and the pretty town of Keswick, and, for the energetic, there is a scenic fell walk with glorious views over lake and mountain. You breathe the clear, fresh air. As the day ends, you return to your hotel. This evening, savour a Lakeland supper by the fire. Rest well, for tomorrow you journey north to magnificent Edinburgh.

Today you journey north from the Lake District into Scotland and magnificent Edinburgh. Travelling through beautiful countryside, you may pause in the historic border city of Carlisle, or at the great border abbeys and rolling hills of the Scottish Borders, a gentle land of salmon rivers and romantic ruins. The scenery grows ever grander as you approach the capital. You arrive in Edinburgh, one of Europe's most beautiful and dramatic cities, built across volcanic hills between the medieval Old Town and elegant Georgian New Town, and settle into your hotel. As the day ends, you take a first stroll along the historic Royal Mile, or up Calton Hill for a sweeping view at dusk. This evening, dine on the best of Scottish cuisine. Rest well, for tomorrow you explore magnificent Edinburgh in full.

Today you explore magnificent Edinburgh with your expert local guide. You climb to Edinburgh Castle, perched on its ancient crag high above the city, home to the Scottish crown jewels and the Stone of Destiny, with sweeping views over the rooftops and the Firth of Forth. You walk the historic Royal Mile, past St Giles' Cathedral and down closes steeped in centuries of history, to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the monarch's official residence in Scotland. You take in the elegant Georgian New Town, the views from Calton Hill, and perhaps the National Museum of Scotland or a fine whisky. As the day ends, you return to your hotel. This evening, savour Scottish cuisine and perhaps a wee dram. Rest well, for tomorrow you journey deep into the Highlands to legendary Loch Ness.

Today you journey deep into the Highlands to legendary Loch Ness. Travelling north through the magnificent Cairngorms National Park, a land of rounded mountains, ancient pine forest and heather moor, perhaps pausing at mighty Stirling Castle or pretty Pitlochry, you reach the Great Glen. You travel along the wooded shores of Loch Ness, deep, dark and mysterious, and take a cruise on its peaty waters, gazing into the depths where the legend of Nessie was born, and explore the romantic ruins of Urquhart Castle, dramatically set on a headland above the loch. As the day ends, you reach Inverness, the capital of the Highlands, on the banks of the River Ness. This evening, savour a Highland supper. Rest well, for tomorrow you explore Culloden and a Highland distillery.

Today you explore the moving history and famous whisky of the Highlands around Inverness. You visit the poignant battlefield of Culloden, where the Jacobite cause finally fell in 1746, its story movingly told in the excellent visitor centre, and perhaps the ancient Clava Cairns nearby, standing stones raised thousands of years ago. You visit a classic Highland single malt distillery, on Speyside or in the glens, for a guided tour and tasting, learning how the golden whisky is made from malted barley and pure Highland water, and savouring smooth, smoky drams. You take in the beautiful Highland scenery and perhaps the pretty town of Inverness itself. As the day ends, you return to your hotel. This evening, savour a Highland dinner. Rest well, for tomorrow you cross to the spectacular Isle of Skye.

Today you journey west to the spectacular Isle of Skye through some of Scotland's finest scenery. You travel through wild glens and past shining lochs of the western Highlands, pausing at picture-perfect Eilean Donan Castle, romantically set on its own small island where three sea lochs meet, one of the most photographed castles in the world. You cross onto Skye, the largest and most beautiful of the Inner Hebrides, a world of jagged peaks, sea lochs and dramatic cliffs, with the towering Cuillin mountains rising ahead. You take in the strange pinnacle of the Old Man of Storr and the pretty harbour town of Portree, with its row of coloured houses. As the day ends, you settle into your Skye accommodation. This evening, enjoy fresh Hebridean seafood. Rest well, for tomorrow your grand tour concludes.

After a final morning on the spectacular Isle of Skye, perhaps the folded cliffs of the Quiraing, the cascading Fairy Pools or a last look at the Cuillin, you journey to the mainland and transfer to the airport, at Inverness or Glasgow, for departure. You leave having experienced the very greatest of Britain across all three nations, London with Windsor and Stonehenge, the Cotswolds and Bath, Cardiff and Wales, the Lake District, Edinburgh, the Highlands with Loch Ness and Culloden, and the Isle of Skye. The images stay vivid long after you land, the stones of Stonehenge, the Royal Crescent, the shining lakes, the castle on the crag, the dark loch and Eilean Donan, and the peaks of the Cuillin. Britain offers history, beauty and warmth in abundance, and you depart dreaming of return.