Small group tours of Britain and Ireland

Now, here is an itinerary to please both the first time visitor and the returning Anglophile. We'll be getting behind the tourist faade in those better known areas and introducing you to the sights the average visitor misses. The Cotswolds and Lakes are, of course, justly famed. Each will intrigue. Our tour will visit those sites with a reputation and also find those stops far from the madding crowd. There will also be sites not normally discovered by the passing tourist nor, we hope, by those who've been here before. The 17th century home of George Fox, founding father of Quakerism, for example, and the stunning Cotswold garden of Rosemary Verey. Not forgetting the little know stately homes of Stanmore and Dacre, or the semi-precious stone mines of the peaks. But there will also be gems aplenty in some of our less-known regions. The scenic Wirral Peninsular and Cheshire countryside, an amazing canal barge museum, a silk mill, the Lancashire fells, the revived and exciting Manchester, the famed Wigan Pier and more.

Tour Code	Arrive Glasgow	Depart London
IoM	Saturday	Saturday
IoM 01	24-May	07-Jun
IoM 02	05-Jul	19-Jul
IoM 03	27-Sep	11-Oct

You will land at Glasgow Airport where you will be met and transferred to our local base. The afternoon and evening are free for you to explore this interesting city with its famed art galleries and parks.

Today is a full day in which the great poet Robbie Burns will play a major part. This morning we'll follow the 'Burns trail' south. This will take us to his birthplace museum and if we have time, we'll also visit Souter Johnnie's cottage. The nearby Culzean Castle and Gardens are also included today. Here we'll find the Eisenhower room, which traces the General's career and his close association with Culzean. Further south again, we'll discover one of Britain's most important early Christian sites at Whithorn or perhaps alternatively call in at Kirkcudbright, on the Dee estuary. There'll be time to wander around the old town before we continue, this time to the birthplace of John Paul Johns, father of the American Navy. Then to Gretna Green (home of the famed blacksmith's shop where traditionally, young elopers took their marriage vow). From here, it is a short drive to our farmhouse base on the Cumbria border.

The ruin of the 12th century Augusta Priory of Lanecost is where we make our first stop of the day. A short distance away is part of the remains of Hadrian's wall, begun in AD122 by Emperor Hadrian to keep the barbarians from the North at bay. We'll also visit one of the many Roman museums and display centres to see what life was like for the 2nd century soldier stationed here. This is James Herriot country (although Yorkshire also has some claim to the title). We'll explore the country lanes and villages as we take the long route to the market town of Hexham with its unique abbey.

Our first port of call today is at Alston, England's highest market town. We'll enjoy the fabulous view across the Pennines and the South Tyne Valley before journeying through Richard III's Penrith to the fabulous Lake District. This area has been an inspiration for poets, writers and artists throughout the generations. The more famous names associated with the area are Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter. We'll visit Wordsworth's birthplace at Cockermouth, see prehistoric stone circles and some unbelievable scenery.

Today we've a full day to explore the lakes. If you're a walker this will be an ideal opportunity for you to enjoy some 'organised independence' and take one of the many recommended local walks. The lakes offer us many alternative sites to absorb our touring day. In addition to the most fantastic scenery (and our little bus will take us across some very narrow passes!), we're spoilt for choice. There's a steamboat ferry on the lake, Beatrix Potters' home (and 2003 is the 100th anniversary of her 'Peter Rabbit' creation), Wordworth's Grassmere and the quaint lakeside town of Bowness on Windermere to simply enjoy at leisure.

This morning we'll turn east for a while and explore the pretty Lancashire fells and the Trough of Bowland. We'll also find a few interesting historical sites, like Viking graves, in the hill-side villages of this region. Before we board our afternoon ferry from Morecambe Bay to the Isle of man, we'll see the historic capital of the region, Lancaster.

Once the Viking Kingdom of Man, the Isle-of-Man is a unique corner of the British Isles. It is a place of charm, of history and of unexpected variety. There is the best preserved medieval castle in Europe, the world's largest water wheel, a truly superb folk museum of local life and the unique heritage of working steam, electric and mountain railways.

Naples accommodationThe traditional way of life is still to be seen in the Celtic jewellery, and in the spinning and weaving crafts. This will undoubtedly be a place for those souvenirs!

And this all in addition to some fabulous mountain and coastal scenery in an Island barely 10 miles wide by 30 miles long!! We'll be spending two complete days in gentle discovery of the island's discreet charms.

Now, it's your turn to choose (with your guide's help of course!). Tonight we'll be staying in Chester but we've several alternative routes to choose from for our afternoon's programme. We'll first recommend a visit to Blackpool. Donkeys on the beach, a funfair, the famed Tower (similar to Paris's Eiffel though smaller), the amusement arcades with their one-armed bandits (gaming machines), the hot-dog and candy-floss culture. They all make this brash, lively, colourful town what it is - Britain's most popular domestic resort, and it has been since Victorian times. An alternative would be to visit Liverpool, with its recently restored docks and Beatle sites, or perhaps the famed Lancashire cotton mill town of Wigan. In the latter there'd be an opportunity of visiting a working cotton mill and see the amazing steam-driven wheel.

Chester is the region's major centre. This seductive, select city, and countryseat of the Duke of Westminster, was founded by the Romans and there are impressive remains of an amphitheatre and temple to view. It was a major commercial centre in the middle ages and it still retains a complete city wall to surround it. Another of its major claims-to-fame is its shopping 'rows', medieval arcades, its cathedral and the river on which it sits. You'll enjoy some 'organised independence' here with your guide having given you a full briefing on the evening before.

Leaving Chester, we make our way through the pretty Cheshire countryside to Manchester. This is contemporary England. Manchester, once at the very heart of the Industrial Revolution (both free trade and communism can be said to have had their roots here), has enjoyed an amazing resurgence over the past ten years and was the much-praised centre for the 2002 Commonwealth Games. We'll enjoy a panoramic tour (maybe taking one of the their unique, new city-centre trams) seeng Chinatown, the restored canals, the imposing architecture from a time when the Empire recognised this as it's second city, and complete our visit the Lowry Art Gallery to see this wonderful painter's northern cityscapes. We leave Manchester and take the road south to Derbyshire. This is a lovely scenic drive taking us through the peak towns of Buxton and Matlock.

Today we have a full but gentle day to explore the Peaks. Here, where the dry-stone walls make criss-cross patterns of the sheep covered hills, we find ancient folk customs such as 'well-dressing', stately homes and treasure houses such as Haddon Hall and the Duke of Devonshire's Chatsworth House. There are also the semi-precious 'bluejohn' stone mines of Castleton and Walter Scott's romantic ruined castle 'The Peveril of the Peak'. This is really a super day!

Our first stop this morning, following a short scenic drive through Staffordshire, will be at the Potteries. This is a region well known to all of you who collect fine pottery, porcelain and china. Wedgewood, Royal Dalton, Royal Albert. For nearly 300 years the kilns here have been turning out pottery for the world. Here we'll visit both modern factory outlets and the Gladstone Museum. Turning south, we use the freeway for one of the few times on this tour to carry us quickly to the Western Cotswolds where we'll being our explorations of the honey-coloured villages of this picturesque region.

Our final day's touring provides a fitting climax to this wonderful and varied tour. Although not strictly counted as the North Country, it shares with the northern regions a reputation for stunning and timeless scenery. Highlights of our day will include small villages such as the Slaughters and Burford. We'll find time for a stately house and garden, a typical country pub for lunch, and naturally, some final souvenir shopping! London

Alas, time to leave for home. You'll be leaving with happy memories of your time in Britain's western North Country.

THE NORTH COUNTRY

Scotland's Western Borders - From Glasgow to London