BRITAIN & IRELAND IN DEPTH - 2010

26 days incl. travel, or 25 days from London to London (GT)

Return to Ireland Vacations

Vacation Overview

This vacation offers our most complete view of the British Isles. In England, enjoy visits to London, Canterbury, the seaside resort of Brighton, mysterious Stonehenge, Salisbury, historic Plymouth, Land’s End, St. Ives, Roman Bath, and Bristol. Stop in the Welsh capital of Cardiff and travel across South Wales, then take a ferry to the “Emerald Isle.” Visits include Waterford, Blarney, Killarney, the Ring of Kerry, Limerick, the Cliffs of Moher, Knock, Belleek, Giant’s Causeway, Belfast, and Dublin. Return across the Irish Sea, through North Wales to the walled city of Chester in England. North through the Lake District to Scotland, with highlights that include Gretna Green, Glasgow, the “Bonnie Banks” of Loch Lomond, the Isle of Skye, Loch Ness, Inverewe Gardens, Inverness, pretty Braemar, St. Andrews, the Scottish capital of Edinburgh, and fairytale Floors Castle. Back in England, explore medieval York, Shakespeare’s Stratford-upon-Avon, and Blenheim Palace on your way back to London.

Special Departures:
Tickets for the world-famous Edinburgh Military Tattoo are included for tours departing July 18th through Aug 8th.

Things to see on your vacation: View Vacation Photo Slideshow

A Vacation Story Gretna Green

"There are many legends of love that surround Gretna Green – the first town encountered across the Scottish border. For centuries, Gretna Green has been synonymous with elopement and blacksmith marriages, although marriage by a blacksmith is more legend than fact. Until the 18th century, church marriages among the lower classes in Europe were almost unheard of. Instead, lower class weddings were usually looked at as “marriage by declaration.” When England passed the Marriage Act of 1754, establishing church weddings as the only legal form of marriage, a sudden industry began over the border in Scotland, where couples could still wed by declaration. Scottish “blacksmith priests” began working in pubs and inns and the eloping couples came in droves."