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16-day Oxford, Bath & London Experience
Itinerary
DAY 1 DEPART
Departure from the US.
DAY 2 OXFORD
Welcome to the dreaming spires of Oxford, home to one of the country’s most famous and respected universities. You’ll have time to relax in your college accommodation before meeting for a welcome dinner.
DAY 3 OXFORD
In the morning, enjoy a walking tour of the city, including some of its most famous colleges. After lunch, spend an afternoon punting down the river – a typical Oxbridge pursuit. Evening ECI Experience Extra of your choice.
DAY 4 OXFORD
Today’s activities include a tour of the city from the top of a doubledecker bus, allowing you to enjoy many of Oxford’s architectural treasures: Radcliffe Camera and the Sheldonian Theatre among them. After dinner in your college, you will have the option of enjoying an evening of music or theater.
DAY 5 WINDSOR
Today you’ll enjoy a day trip to visit one of the Queen’s many residences: Windsor Castle, where you’ll be able to watch the Changing of the Guard before exploring the old center of town. After lunch you’ll have a tour of Eton College, one of England’s most exclusive public (that is to say, private) schools.
DAY 6 STRATFORD-UPON-AVON
You’re spoilt for choice on your last morning in Oxford: visit the Bodleian Library, the Ashmolean Museum or climb the tower of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin. Then it’s goodbye Oxford – you’re off to Stratford, birthplace of William Shakespeare. You’ll visit Anne Hathaway’s cottage and Shakespeare’s birthplace before enjoying some free time to explore this charming Elizabethan town. In the evening, enjoy a performance of a Shakespeare play at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.
DAY 7 SALISBURY
The mysterious megalithicruins of Stonehenge – standing in a circle in Salisbury Plain since 3,000 BC – exert a powerful spell on visitors. From here you will continue to Salisbury to visit the cathedral. In the evening enjoy a lesson in Real Tennis – described as the “king of games and the game of kings”. Henry VIII was an accomplished player, and Charles I built a court that is still used today.
DAY 8 LONDON
London calling! Britain’s capital city is both steeped in history and a buzzing modern metropolis. In the morning experience some of its past, with a visit to the Golden Hind, the ship in which Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe. Enjoy a backstage tour of the Globe Theatre, a reconstruction of Shakespeare’s famous venue and a very lively working theater. Then stroll over the beautifully minimalist Millennium Bridge to St. Paul’s Cathedral. In the afternoon enjoy the best of contemporary London, with a choice of visiting the Tate Modern or Covent Garden. You’ll have dinner in Covent Garden before returning to Oxford.
DAY 9 OXFORD
This morning you can choose to climb Carfax Tower, the remains of a 13th-century church offering amazing views of Oxford down below, or visit the Pitt Rivers Museum with its eclectic collections, including bizarre objects such as stuffed dodoes and shrunken heads. Visit also Blenheim Palace, an 18th-century stately home, and birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill.
DAY 10 OXFORD
A day of medieval castle-hopping. This morning explore Warwick Castle, one of England’s most popular sights. Climb high on its ramparts or down into the dungeons (not forgetting the haunted tower) to experience life in medieval England. In the afternoon you’ll visit Kenilworth, a romantic, largely ruined castle, dating from the Saxon era, whose stone walls evoke the ghosts of kings and courtiers past. Evening ECI Experience Extra.
DAY 11 LONDON
You’ll be spoilt for choice as you head back to London for a day of art galleries or shopping. In the morning check out the shops in bustling Oxford Street or posh Knightsbridge, or choose instead to visit the Tower of London with its colorful history of traitors and treachery. Meet for lunch in the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square. You can then choose to look at the collections, visit the nearby National Portrait Gallery or Tate Britain, with its fantastic collection of Turners…or shop till you drop! You’ll be back in Oxford in time for dinnerand an evening ECI Experience Extra.
DAY 12 BATH
Step back in time to the spa town of Bath, established by the Romans, and now a preserve of Georgian gentility with its honey-colored sandstone buildings and graceful crescents. In the morning visit the Roman baths. In the afternoon, visit a museum dedicated to Bath’s most famous adopted daughter – Jane Austen – and then take a trip to No. 1 Royal Crescent, a beautifully preserved 18thcentury house, or enjoy free time to explore this enchanting city on your own. Then it’s back to Oxford for a farewell dinner in true
British tradition, at one of Oxford’s finest Indian restaurants.
DAY 13 CANTERBURY
Follow in the footsteps of Chaucer’s pilgrims to the medieval city of Canterbury, where you will visit the awe-inspiring cathedral, one of the country’s finest, and then have the option to visit the Canterbury Tales exhibition, where you can experience life as a 14th-century pilgrim. Alternatively explore the ancient streets on your own. There is plenty to see, including a popular market. You’ll then travel to London where you’ll have the chance to see a musical in London’s world-famous West End.
DAY 14 LONDON
Today’s adventures include a tour of magnificent Westminster Abbey, the country’s most important church and site of every coronation since 1066. Then it’s off to the British Museum, where you’ll have lunch in its wonderful Grand Court before exploring the world-class collections, including the controversial Elgin Marbles. Enjoy dinner in the lively Hard Rock Café before shivering through a gruesome Jack the Ripper tour.
DAY 15 LONDON
You have a room full of celebrities waiting for you…even though they’re made of wax! Madame Tussauds is Britain’s top tourist attraction for good reason. Marvel at the lifelike renditions of your favorite (or most unfavorite!) celebrities, and then spend the rest of the day enjoying free time in this vibrant city. Stroll in its many parks, visit Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard, or do as the locals do and jump on a double-decker bus. After dinner, you’ll see a play in the city’s famous West End, a perfect end to an amazing experience. Cheers, London, and cheerio!
DAY 16 HOME
Depart for the US.