DAY 1: DEPART USA. We depart for London, with complimentary meals and beverages served aloft.
DAY 2: ARRIVE LONDON. Upon arrival in London we are metand enjoy a tour of London's famous West End, including Marble Arch, Hyde Park, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, the Changing of the Guard ceremony (if held), Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. We will also visit the impressive Westminster Abbey. The balance of the day is at leisure. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.
DAY 3: LONDON: VISIT OF THE CITY. This morning we drive into the City of London and see The Bank of England and other financial institutions. We visit St. Paul's Cathedral, the masterpiece designed by Sir Christopher Wren, and the infamous Tower of London with its instantly recognizable Beefeaters in their traditional Tudor costumes. The Tower has been amongst other things, a prison and a palace, and Thomas Moore, Anne Boleyn and Sir Walter Raleigh, all spent their last days here before execution on Tower Green. This afternoon we visit John Wesley's Chapel, Wesley's Home, and the Museum of Methodism, which provides an excellent history of the denomination, from Wesley to the present day. John Wesley (1703-1791) has been called the most influential Protestant leader of the English speaking world since the Reformation. He is the founder of the Methodist Church. Later, we visit the Metropolitan Tabernacle where Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) held his great revival meetings. Spurgeon was a Baptist preacher who set his country on fire for God with his powerful sermons. During his lifetime he preached to an estimated ten million people. Dinner at our hotel.
DAY 4: LONDON / STONEHENGE / BRISTOL. Leaving London this morning we drive to the university town of Oxford and its ancient university, equally rich in Christian history. Both John and Charles Wesley were students at Christ Church College at Oxford. The early English reformer, John Wycliffe, was a professor at the university as was the famous Christian writer C.S. Lewis and Bible translator William Tyndale. Discover its elegant streets filled with cafes, museums and enticing shops. Visit the John Wesley Chapel and Christ College where John graduated in 1724. We head west for the mysterious stone circle, Stonehenge, dating back to 3200BC, a site for astrology and pagan worship in pre-Christian Britain. Late in the afternoon we continue on to Bristol for dinner and overnight.
DAY 5: BRISTOL / BATH / GLOUCESTER. This morning we visit Bristol. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Bristol was a center of evangelical Christianity. We will visit John Wesley's Chapel—called "The New Room," which is the oldest Methodist meeting house in Britain. From this pulpit, Wesley railed against the evils of slavery, and those who made their living in the slave trade sent gangs of local thugs to regularly break up the meetings. The chapel is now a fascinating museum that testifies to the social impact of Christianity and the courage of Wesley and his fellow preachers. Continue on to Bath, graced with magnificent Georgian architecture. We enjoy a walking tour to explore this fascinating city. We visit the Roman Baths and Museum for which the city is famous. The Romans transformed Bath into England's first spa resort and it regained fame as a spa town in the 18th century. Later this afternoon we head for Gloucester where the fiery George Whitefield (1714-1770) was born and later began to fulfill his call to preach. We'll have dinner together at the Bell Inn Restaurant—the birthplace of Whitefield. Dinner and overnight.
DAY 6: GLOUCESTER / YORK. After breakfast we continue through central England to the medieval town of York where we visit the Minster with its majestic towers and priceless stained glass windows. This afternoon we enjoy a brief walking tour through the city seeing the ancient streets where the supper storeys lean precariously across the roadways towards each other before visiting the Yorkshire Museum which celebrates 1000 years of the region's heritage and houses one of the finest archaeological collections in Europe. You will also discover the history of St Mary's Abbey, the ruins of which are situated in the grounds of the Museum. Dinner at our hotel, after which this evening we enjoy a ghost walk through the ancient streets of York.
DAY 7: YORK / DURHAM / HADRIANS WALL / EDINBURGH. This morning we continue northwards to the Norman stronghold of Durham, where we see the Old Town and visit the grand Norman Cathedral which was built to enshrine the bones of St. Cuthbert. We also see the Tomb of the Venerable Bede, the father of English history, whose body lies beneath a single marble slab (Bede's shrine, like many others, was destroyed by Henry VIII). On to Hadrian's Wall where we stop to view one of the many forts which were built here - they stretched right across the country from sea to sea and for two centuries marked the northern boundary of the Roman Empire - before continuing to Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh for dinner and overnight.
DAY 8: EDINBURGH: VISIT OF THE CITY. Our morning city sightseeing tour will include a visit to impressive Edinburgh Castle which commands a strategic site on Castlerock overlooking the city and dominates the skyline. We also visit St. Giles Cathedral with its famous Thistle Chapel, John Knox House and the Palace of Holyrood House, which is the Queen's home whilst she is in Edinburgh and is connected to the castle by the Royal Mile. We also see the Scott Monument and the prestigious University, Greyfriars and the Mound. This afternoon is at leisure. Farewell dinner at a local restaurant.
DAY 9: EDINBURGH / USA. Transfer to the Edinburgh Airport for our return flight to the USA.- the end of a memorable journey.