Literary Tour to Britain – Modern British Literature

Your 24-hour Tour Director will meet you at the airport and remain with your group until your final airport departure. You’ll have a private coach and driver while touring for the next nine days.

Continue on your journey from London to Canterbury. Your base for the next two nights will be in the Canterbury area, where breakfast and dinner will be provided at the hotel.

Polish-born writer Joseph Conrad spent much of life in Kent and is buried in Canterbury cemetery. You’ll visit the churchyard, view his tombstone, and explore the Canterbury Heritage Museum, where you’ll see writer Joseph Conrad's chair, writing table, materials, and books.

Visit Canterbury Cathedral, a place of pilgrimage for over 800 years. Founded in the 6th century by St. Augustine, it remains one of the oldest standing Anglo-Saxon churches in the world as well as one of the oldest Christian churches in England. It became a major pilgrimage destination after the martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket in 1170.

"We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience." - John Dewey On every evening of the program, we’ll set time aside to update your Reflection Journal and share thoughts and impressions that have come up during the day.

Today, your group will travel from Canterbury to Sevenoaks.

Visit Knole House, a 16th-century stately hamlet frequently visited by Virginia Woolf and the inspirational home for her most successful novel, Orlando.

Continue on your journey from Sevenoaks to Maidstone.

Explore the Museum of Kent Life, with reconstructed rooms from Pop Larkin's family, the main characters in many of H.E. Bates' novels, including The Darling Buds of May.

Today, you’ll travel from Canterbury to Brighton. En route, your group will stop in Rye, Burwash, or Lewes. You’ll then continue to the Brighton area, your base for the night. Breakfast and dinner will be included at the hotel.

Take a walking tour around the medieval town of Rye, where we will see Lamb House, the residence of Henry James. James wrote The Turn of the Screw while in Rye.

Visit Bateman's in Burwash; Rudyard Kipling's home for over 30 years and the inspiration for Puck of Pook's Hill and Rewards and Fairies. You can still see Kipling's study, which looks as though he's only just left it.

Visit Charleston House in the Lewes area, once owned by Virginia Woolf's sister. Today it is a colorful, creative museum dedicated to the Bloomsbury Group.

Visit Monk's House, Virginia Woolf and her husband's second home. Outside the home, you can admire The Bust of Virginia, done by Stephen Tomlin.

Enjoy one of England's favorite vacation spots, the Brighton Palace Pier.

Visit Brighton Pavilion, one of the most unique structures in England. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle involved the Pavilion and his character Prinny in the novel Rodney Stone, a story about 'The Fancy,' the prize-fighting world of the regency period.

The charming city of Salisbury was founded in the 13th century after the settlement of Old Sarum was abandoned. The surrounding lush fields and rivers were a marked improvement over the former arid, hill-top location. Today, Salisbury has largely preserved its medieval, Tudor, and Queen Anne architecture, giving the city a delightful elegance.

Visit Salisbury Cathedral, one of the finest medieval cathedrals in Britain. It is well-known for having the tallest spire in the country, which you may climb if you wish. The cathedral was the inspirational building for Edward Rutherford in his novel Sarum and William Golding in his novel The Spire.

Visit Hardy Cottage, a small country home where Thomas Hardy was born and penned the classics, Far from the Madding Crowd and Under the Greenwood Tree.

For the next three nights, your base will be in the Wessex area. Breakfast and dinner will be included at the hotel.

Today, your group will travel from Wessex to Dorchester.

Dorchester is a lovely market town with an Iron Age hill fort and a history pre-dating even Roman times. The town became an important Roman settlement, named Durnovaria after the Romans defeated the local tribes in 70 A.D. Evidence of a Roman presence is still visible today via the Roman walls, foundations of townhouses, and a Neolithic Henge, which was used by the Romans as an amphitheater.

Explore the Dorset County Museum. Housed in a cast-iron building dating from 1880, the museum traces the natural, archaeological, social, and geological history of the Dorset region from pre-history to modern times. A highlight of the visit will be the collection dedicated to Thomas Hardy, including finds from nearby Maiden Castle.

Visit Stinsford Church, once Thomas Hardy's local parish church, where you’ll view Hardy's Grave.

En route, the group will stop at East Coker.

Explore East Coker, a place of pilgrimage for all lovers of T.S. Eliot's poetry—his ancestors lived here before they emigrated England. He returned, fell in love with the place, and his ashes are buried in the church, which you’ll visit. The second of his Four Quartets was inspired by this ancestral home.

Visit the town of Lyme Regis, a fixture for John Fowles. You’ll take a walking tour around the coastal village, where Fowles' character Charles secretly meets The French Lieutenant's Woman—also the name of his most famous novel.

Visit the Lyme Regis Museum, of which John Fowles was once the curator.

Today, your group will travel from Wessex to Swansea. En route, you’ll stop in Laugharne.

Explore the Boat House, the much-beloved seaside home where poet Dylan Thomas spent his final years. It was here that he wrote Under Milk Wood. Your walking tour will also include a visit to St. Martin’s Churchyard to see the poet's grave, marked by a simple white cross.

Visit Cwmdonkin Park in Swansea, Dylan Thomas' childhood home and birthplace—5 Cwmdonkin Drive.

Take a stroll around the Maritime Quarter, where you’ll see the monument to Dylan Thomas.

Today, your group will travel from Wessex to Eastwood. En route, you’ll visit Birmingham. Your base for the night will be in the Eastwood-Nottingham area, where breakfast and dinner will be provided at the hotel.

Birmingham is England’s second-most populated city, with over one million residents. Located at the heart of the West Midlands, it’s the center of England's road, rail, and air networks. Over the last few years, the city center has been transformed into a place of thriving commerce and culture. Birmingham is also a green city with 3,400 hectares of parks and open spaces as well as many miles of canals.

Visit Perrot's Folly in Birmingham, home of J.R.R. Tolkien. It is said the Folly is shown as a dark representation of evil in The Two Towers, the second volume of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Visit Sarehole Mill, best known for its association with the author J.R.R. Tolkien, who spent part of his childhood nearby and used the site and its surroundings as the inspiration for the Shire in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. You’ll also explore the D.H. Lawrence Museum and Birthplace.

Today, your group will travel from Eastwood to Oxford. Your base this evening will be in the Oxford area. Breakfast and dinner will be included at the hotel.

Oxford has long been an important stopping point on central routes from the north of England to London, but it is more well-known as the home of England’s first university. With its spectacular architecture and famous scholars, including some of the world’s most important writers, the university is a uniquely integral part of Oxford and England as a whole.

Take a walking tour to view many of the colleges that make up Oxford as well as the Sheldonian Theater and the Bodleian Library. Each of the buildings you’ll pass has a long history and is associated with notable literary alumni, including Geoffrey Chaucer, Lewis Carroll, Oscar Wilde, C.S. Lewis, and Evelyn Waugh.

Smaller and more intimate than most college chapels, this historic building is also a living place that brings people in the community together. The chapel is open each day for those who wish to worship, pray, reflect, or just seek some quiet in this beautiful and peaceful place. Built in the 1470s, the chapel embodies Magdalen's rich heritage. The Patron Saint Mary Magdalene's life is depicted in the east window, while memorials commemorate missionaries, church leaders, teachers, and those who gave their lives in conflict.

Visit Christ Church College, Oxford’s largest and grandest Renaissance College, which was founded in 1525 by Cardinal Wolsey. The college’s Christ Church Cathedral is the smallest in England.

View the Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford and one of the oldest libraries in Europe. The Bodleian is one of six libraries where a copy of each book copyrighted in the United Kingdom must be deposited.

Today, your group will travel from Oxford to London. En route, you’ll stop in Cambridge. For the next three evenings, you’ll enjoy the convenience of a centrally located London hotel, where daily breakfast will be included.

Cambridge was an important Roman town because of its location at the first navigable point on the River Cam. Today, the river is more popular for punting than for trade, usually by the students at the city’s famed university.

Take a walking tour of Cambridge and view King’s College, Trinity College, and Magdalene College, made famous by E.M. Forster, A.A Milne, and C.S. Lewis, respectively.

Tour Trinity College, most often associated with A.A. Milne, Lord Byron, and Sir Isaac Newton. You’ll have the opportunity to visit the Wren Library, which contains the largest portion of Isaac Newton's library including a selection of his papers and scientific instruments.

London is the largest city in Europe—quite a feat, considering its location on a relatively small island. The location is perfect for an administrative, communications, and trade center, as the Romans realized when they founded their city in AD 43. London is filled with countless historic and cultural treasures that meld seamlessly into one exciting, contemporary city. During your time in London, your group will explore the areas of Westminster and Whitehall, including Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Horseguards Parade, Parliament Square, Downing Street, St. James’s Park, and Buckingham Palace.

Enjoy dinner this evening in Covent Garden, home to some of the city’s liveliest restaurants, pubs, and cafés.

Explore the Sherlock Holmes Museum. Located at 221b Baker Street, this was the home of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson from 1881-1904. The house is arranged as described in the novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Enjoy a walking tour of the Bloomsbury area.

Explore the British Museum, one of the most comprehensive collections of art and artifacts in the world. Highlights of your visit will include the Rosetta Stone, the discovery of which led to the deciphering of hieroglyphs; the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon in Athens; and the Sutton Hoo Treasure.

Explore the British Library, containing 12 million books, manuscripts, and other items. The library’s fascinating collection includes such pieces of historic and literary interest as two of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta, a Gutenberg Bible, Nelson’s last letter to Lady Hamilton, the journals of Captain Cook, a copy of The Canterbury Tales from 1410, and the manuscripts of Beowulf. Almost every major author, including Hardy, Dickens, Austen, Brontë, and Keats, is represented in the section devoted to English literature. You can also view the Diamond Sutra, dating from 868 and said to be the oldest surviving printed book.

This evening, your group will dine in a local restaurant near Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square, two of London’s most vibrant and lively areas.

Visit Westminster Abbey, where English kings and queens have been crowned since 1066. Our Blue-Badge Guided Tour will include the Royal Chapels, containing the tombs of the English monarchs, as well as Poets’ Corner, featuring memorials to many famous British literary figures.

Visit the National Gallery, which contains an unrivaled collection of Western art spanning seven centuries, from the late 13th to the early 20th. The largest portion of the collection is devoted to the Italians, including works by da Vinci, Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto, and Botticelli, but the collection also features works by the Spanish giants El Greco, Goya, and Velázquez. The Flemish-Dutch school is represented by Brueghel, Jan van Eyck, Vermeer, Rubens, and Rembrandt, and there is an immense French impressionist and post-impressionist collection that includes works by Manet, Monet, Degas, Renoir, and Cézanne.

Enjoy some free time to shop and explore Oxford and Regent Streets, the places to find brand-name, world-class department and fashion stores.

Enjoy an evening meal together in a local restaurant.

This evening, you’ll make the final entries in your Reflection Journal and share some of the most significant observations and perspectives that have taken shape throughout your British literary tour. We’ll also discuss how these experiences may be most relevant for us all as we return home.

Your rewarding and enjoyable Modern British Literature tour comes to an end as your Tour Director accompanies your group to the airport on your final day.