Day 1 – Journey through Oxford, the Cotswolds and Stratford

You’ll meet your Travel Director in London, then travel through the wooded Chiltern Hills to Oxford, where the city’s spires rise above narrow streets. In your free time, you might explore the Ashmolean, pausing over ancient Egyptian coffins, gleaming gold and painted ceramics, or browse the Covered Market as the scents of coffee, warm bread and fresh flowers mingle beneath its old roof. Continue through the Cotswolds, where pale limestone cottages and dry-stone walls line the route to Stratford-upon-Avon. Inside Shakespeare’s half-timbered birthplace, you’ll see where the bard’s life began. Later, share dinner and drinks with your Travel Director and fellow travellers.

Day 2 – York’s Historic Heart: City Walls and Haunted Tales

Beyond the countryside, you’ll reach York, where ancient walls enclose streets with Roman foundations and a Viking past. York Minster’s Gothic towers stand among detailed carvings and stained-glass marking centuries of craftsmanship. Follow the cobbles into the Shambles, where crooked timber-framed houses lean across the narrow lane, then spend the rest of the day at leisure, tracing York’s twisting ‘snickelways’. After dark, perhaps join a ghost tour and hear the tales behind the city’s famously haunted reputation.

Day 3 – The Scenic Route to Scotland: Lakes, Peaks and Gretna Green

Passing through the Yorkshire Dales and wild Pennines, you’ll watch green valleys open into broad moorland on the way to the Lake District. Here, long stretches of water lie beneath craggy steeps and green fells in the landscape that inspired the Big Six of English Romantic Poetry. Take a pause in Grasmere, visiting Wordsworth’s grave and taking in the mountain-stone cottages scattered across the hillside. You’ll cross the Scottish border into Gretna Green, where the vows exchanged by runaway lovers echo over the blacksmith’s anvil. Continue to Edinburgh, where you might join an Optional Experience at a Scottish cultural dinner, sharing food and drink before the music starts and the ceilidh steps begin.

Day 4 – Discover Edinburgh Old and New

A Local Specialist leads you on a drive along Princes Street, past the Scott Monument’s intricate Gothic stonework and the graceful crescents and classical façades of the New Town. Across the city, the Old Town takes you to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official Scottish residence of His Majesty the King, before you enter Edinburgh Castle to see Mons Meg, the Stone of Destiny and the Honours of Scotland, their gold and jewels gleaming beneath the castle lights. The rest of the day is yours. Perhaps trace your family tartan at the Tartan Centre, or spend time among the paintings of the National Gallery. On select departures, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo fills the evening with the skirl of pipes, the beat of drums and dancers moving beneath the floodlit walls of Edinburgh Castle.

Day 5 – Scotland’s Whisky Country: East Coast from Fife to Aberdeen

Crossing the Firth of Forth, you’ll pass through Fife and continue to St Andrews, where the Old Course meets the North Sea and centuries of golfing history begin. During your free time, you might follow the pale curve of West Sands as waves roll onto the shore, recalling the famous running scene from Chariots of Fire. Or pass through the quadrangles of St Andrews University, where Catherine and Prince William first met as students. At a local whisky distillery, breathe in the warm scent of malt, toasted grain and oak during your MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience. Continue to Aberdeen, where your 19th-century baronial mansion awaits among 30 acres of green grounds, an atmospheric place to end the day.

Day 6 – Discover Scotland’s Northeast from Loch Ness to Wick’s Herring Heritage

Through Scotland’s northeast, you’ll pass rippling barley fields and coastal villages before boarding your cruise on Loch Ness. Beneath your boat, the inky waters plunge to mysterious depths. At its northern end, whitewashed Bona Lighthouse marks the narrow channel towards Loch Dochfour, once guiding vessels into the Caledonian Canal. You may find yourself searching for signs of Nessie as your Travel Director shares the loch’s geology and legendary tales. Farther north, you’ll reach Wick, once known as Europe’s herring capital. On the approach, watch for Ebenezer Place, recognised as the world’s shortest street at just 2.06m (6ft 7in) long.

Day 7 – Orkney’s Ancient Stones and Wartime Past

On the ferry across the Pentland Firth, feel the sea air and northern wind as Orkney’s low green islands appear on the horizon. With your Travel Director, you’ll visit the Italian Chapel, where prisoners of war painted graceful arches and fashioned delicate ironwork inside two simple wartime huts. Continue through the old Norse town of Kirkwall to Skara Brae beside the Bay of Skaill, where stone beds, cupboards and hearths remain within 5,000-year-old homes. At the Ring of Brodgar, you can pause among weathered standing stones, listening to the wind ripple through the grass and wondering at the hands that raised them thousands of years ago.

Day 8 – Ullapool to Skye: Highland Shores and Lochs

Between deep lochs and mountain slopes, you’ll make your way to Ullapool, where whitewashed houses cast a watchful eye and fishing boats pull playfully at their moorings. Your route continues beside Loch Carron and through Glen Carron, with wooded hills, rocky shores and sea air accompanying you towards the Isle of Skye, the largest of the Inner Hebrides. As you cross to the island, hear the story behind ‘Over the Sea to Skye’ and Flora MacDonald’s daring rescue of Bonnie Prince Charlie after Culloden. Headlands and sheltered inlets lead the way to Broadford.

Day 9 – Onto Glasgow through Valleys and Lochs

Back on the mainland, you’ll cross the causeway to Eilean Donan Castle, where three sea lochs meet beneath its weathered walls. When the water lies still, the turrets may shimmer in reflection. At the Commando Memorial, highland winds glide across the open ground as the bronze soldiers look towards Ben Nevis, visible when the cloud lifts. In Glencoe, steep ridges close around the road while your Travel Director recounts the 1692 massacre of Clan MacDonald. Beside Loch Lomond, Sir Walter Scott’s ‘Queen of Scottish Lakes’, islands rest across the broad water before you continue to Glasgow.

Day 10 – Cross to Northern Ireland through Giant’s Steps to Derry

From the ferry, you’ll watch the Isle of Arran soften into the sea haze as the deck hums beneath you on the crossing to Northern Ireland. At the UNESCO-listed Giant’s Causeway, Atlantic water foams between some 40,000 black basalt columns, formed by volcanic activity more than 60 million years ago. Pick your way across these geometric pillars as waves break against their dark edges. Continue to Londonderry, Northern Ireland’s only remaining completely walled city, where original 17th-century ramparts form an unbroken circuit of stone gateways, bastions and cannon.

Day 11 – Discover Derry’s Walls, Donegal’s Stronghold and Coastal Sligo

Inside Derry/Londonderry’s cannon-topped walls, you’ll feel the wind against the ramparts as Ronan, one of the nation’s great storytellers, begins his tales. Follow steep Shipquay Street past elegant Georgian houses to the Gothic Guildhall, listening as centuries of history unfold through his words. Across the border in Donegal, visit O’Donnell’s Castle before spending time where the River Eske flows into Donegal Bay. Once the stronghold of a powerful Gaelic dynasty, the town’s riverside streets recall Ireland’s medieval past. Continue to your country retreat beside Sligo Bay, where a coastal breeze sweeps across the grounds and the water stretches towards the horizon.

Day 12 – Winding Western Roads: Connemara, Galway and Limerick

Through Connemara, you’ll follow winding roads between the clustered lakes, sharp mountains, and open bogland that embody its ‘savage beauty’. In Galway, your Travel Director leads you into the city’s past, from the cool hush and lofty arches of St Nicholas Cathedral to the Spanish Arch, where the River Corrib meets Galway Bay and gulls call above the water. In Eyre Square, dedicated to the late US President John F. Kennedy, the city’s passing voices and music add a lively note to your visit. Later, you reach Limerick, where Georgian fronts line the streets and fine threads of lace meet the playful wit of the city’s rhymes.

Day 13 – Journey from Limerick to County Kerry

In Limerick, you’ll trace the city’s past from the battlements of King John’s Castle to the quiet arches of St. Mary’s Cathedral and the Treaty Stone. Continue through Adare, where whitewashed cottages sit beneath thick thatched roofs, before the road carries you into County Kerry, long celebrated in Irish song and legend. During your MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience, you’ll meet John and Freda, passionate restaurant owners whose farm-to-table approach keeps every ingredient within five miles of their kitchen. Hear how nearby farms supply each dish, then savour a freshly prepared meal as warm aromas rise from the kitchen. At night your Dine-Around Evening offers you authentic and intimate dining as you choose from a hand-picked selection of local restaurants, ranging in style and ambiance.

Day 14 – Kerry’s Wild Beauty: Mountains, Lakes and Villages

Along the Ring of Kerry, you pass soaring cliffs, lake-speckled valleys and remote villages beneath Ireland’s highest mountain range. The three Lakes of Killarney lie between mountain slopes and shores, their still water lending a gentle romance to the rugged landscape. With time to yourself, why not hire a bicycle and follow the trails beside the lakes or through Killarney National Park, breathing in the cool scent of woodland and listening to the birds calling from the trees?

Day 15 – Southern Ireland from Blarney’s Legend to Cork’s Streets

Traversing the low, rolling terrain of the Derrynasaggart Mountains, you’ll make your way to Blarney, known for the Stone of Eloquence, where garden paths lead to the ruined battlements of its 15th-century castle. You’ll continue to Cork, Ireland’s second most populous city, built where the River Lee divides around its centre. You might join a city tour before checking into your hotel, crossing bridges between the river channels as reflections flicker beneath the quays and colourful shopfronts brighten the streets.

Day 16 – Castles to Capital: Kilkenny and Dublin

You’ll travel to medieval Kilkenny, where the stone walls of 12th-century Kilkenny Castle rise above the River Nore. Walk through its restored Victorian rooms, where polished wood, portraits and period furnishings trace centuries of Irish history. Then continue to Dublin for a very different taste of Ireland at the Guinness Storehouse. Follow the brewing process behind the country’s famous stout and hear how the Guinness name became part of Dublin life, before looking out across the capital from the Gravity Bar. This evening is yours, whether you fancy exploring independently or joining a traditional Irish cabaret.

Day 17 – Discover the Georgian Squares and Guinness Story of Dublin

Dublin is yours to get to know more closely today. With your Local Specialist, explore its Georgian squares, O’Connell Street and the neoclassical Custom House, hearing the stories behind the streets and buildings of the Irish capital. The afternoon is free to spend as you please, perhaps browsing Grafton Street or stopping for coffee along the way. Or choose an Optional Experience to Glendalough, where the remains of a monastic settlement founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century sit among the Wicklow Mountains. This evening, you may also choose an Optional Experience for dinner in Dublin.

Day 18 – Cross the Irish Sea to Liverpool via Conwy Castle

Across the Irish Sea, you’ll reach Wales and Conwy Castle, where eight imposing towers and high curtain walls have watched over the medieval town and estuary for more than 700 years. You’ll then head back into England for Liverpool, a city of grand waterfront buildings, red-brick warehouses and a musical legacy known around the world. Once there, you’ll follow streets shaped by music and maritime history, with the River Mersey beside you and the city’s grand waterfront recalling its seafaring past. Perhaps join an Optional Experience tracing the story of The Beatles, from the places that coloured their early lives to the melodies that carried around the world.

Day 19 – Explore the Welsh Capital’s Cultural Heart

As you head back through the Welsh countryside and arrive in Cardiff, the Welsh capital unfolds in broad avenues and grand civic architecture. You’ll pass the University of Wales and the imposing scale of the Principality Stadium before continuing to City Hall and the National Museum, where elegant buildings with carved details speak to the city’s cultural pride. Between these and open public spaces, you can take in a capital that wears its history with a certain quiet grandeur.

Day 20 – England’s West Country: Roman Baths, Gothic Cathedrals and Georgian Terraces

The city of Bath awaits across the Severn Bridge, a UNESCO World Heritage city of graceful Georgian terraces sweeping across the surrounding hills. Follow its elegant streets towards Pulteney Bridge and Bath Abbey, where carved angels climb Jacob’s Ladder across the Gothic facade. You’ll then visit the remarkably preserved Roman Baths to hear mineral-rich water spilling into pools first used nearly two thousand years ago. In Somerset, you’ll step inside Wells Cathedral, where coloured light filters through stained glass onto Gothic arches and intricate medieval carvings. After a day spent among warm Bath stone, ancient water and centuries of craftsmanship, you’ll continue to Plymouth.

Day 21 – Devon by Moorland or Harbour

For your choice experience, you can head into Dartmoor National Park, where open moorland stretches towards granite tors and the wind carries the scent of heather across the landscape. Or take to Plymouth harbour, feeling the gentle rise and fall of the water as you cruise the same waters from which the Mayflower set sail for America 400 years ago. Back in Plymouth, raise a glass of wine over dinner with your fellow travellers, lingering over good food, shared stories and the memories of everything you’ve experienced together.

Day 22 – From Monoliths back to Modernity: Stonehenge to London

Across Salisbury Plain, you’ll approach Stonehenge, its immense, enduring stones standing against the open sky as they have for almost 5,000 years. Walk through this prehistoric landscape and take in the rough grain of the monoliths, the surrounding expanse of grass and the enduring mystery of a monument that still stirs the imagination. From here, return to London as your journey comes to an end, carrying with you the landscapes, stories and moments that make Britain and Ireland unforgettable.