Step outside your hotel for a stroll through the heart of the English-speaking world. In this city of nearly seven million, you'll see everything from 12th-century fortifications to modern skyscrapers, royal parks to street art. Your Tour Director will lead you to some of the most famous sites. Walk along the Thames River. Cross Trafalgar Square. See bustling Piccadilly Circus. Pass trendy shops and cafés in Bohemian Soho on your way to Covent Garden, a 13th-century fruit and vegetable garden transformed into a maze of narrow streets and pedestrian walkways burgeoning with street performers, open-air markets and boutiques

See Trafalgar Square, often used for community gatherings and political demonstrations.

Visit the National Gallery, which contains an unrivaled collection of Western art spanning seven centuries, from the late 13th to the early 20th. The largest portion of the collection is devoted to the Italians, including works by da Vinci, Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto and Botticelli; but the collection also features works by the Spanish giants El Greco, Goya and Velázquez. The Flemish-Dutch school is represented by Brueghel, Jan van Eyck, Vermeer, Rubens and Rembrandt; and there is also an immense French impressionist and post-impressionist collection that includes works by Manet, Monet, Degas, Renoir and Cézanne.

Visit Piccadilly Circus, a shopping and entertainment area brightly lit with video displays and neon signs.

Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and with the Royal Opera House, which itself may be referred to as "Covent Garden". The district is divided by the main thoroughfare of Long Acre, north of which is given over to independent shops centered on Neal's Yard and Seven Dials, while the south contains the central square with its street performers and most of the historical buildings, theatres and entertainment facilities, including the London Transport Museum and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

Leicester Square is perfectly situated in the heart of London's West End, with Trafalgar Square to the south, Piccadilly Circus to the west, Covent Garden to the east, and China Town to the north.

Join a licensed local guide for an in-depth look at London, from the royal haunt of Buckingham Palace (the official London residence of King Charles III) to the slightly more democratic Speakers’ Corner of Hyde Park, where anyone can pull up a soapbox and orate to his heart’s content. You’ll see the changing of the guard (season permitting), the clock tower of Big Ben with its 14-ton bell, and Westminster Abbey, where almost every English king and queen since William the Conqueror has been crowned. After a stop at the Houses of Parliament, continue on to the magnificent St. Paul’s Cathedral, the masterpiece of London architect Christopher Wren.

Enjoy a show in the West End, the British version of Broadway, with London's 40-or-so professional theaters, as well as restaurants, shops and cafés. Please ask your Program Consultant for a list of shows to submit a request.

Nothing's more British than fish and chips-there are eight fish and chips shops ("chippies") for every McDonald's in the county. Head to an authentic pub with your Tour Director for a taste of this national food, generally served with malt vinegar.

Get up close and personal with the Tower of London. Towers, rather. Twenty stone towers, as well as tunnels, winding staircases and narrow passageways comprise this huge fortress covering 18 acres on the banks of the Thames. A royal residence from the 11th - 16th centuries, the Tower also served as a jewel safe and a prison. The headless skeletons of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard (Henry VIII's former wives who were executed here) are believed to be buried here. The Crown Jewels are housed here, including the largest cut diamond in the world (530-carats). Beefeaters (guards) lead tours through the Tower.

Meet great Britons from history. Debate their merits and contributions to decide who is the greatest of them all!

The history of Indian food in Britain is now almost four hundred years old and today the country is home to some of the best Indian food in the world. Today, traditional meals like Fish & Chips are matched in popularity by curry dishes. Sit down to a delicious authentic Indian meal for dinner tonight. Taste different dishes with fragrant spices to understand why Indian food is one of the nation's favorites.

Explore the magic of the Harry Potter films. This unique tour takes you behind-the-scenes and showcases a huge array of beautiful sets, costumes and props. It also reveals some closely guarded secrets, including facts about the special effects and animatronics that made these films so hugely popular all over the world.

Charming York combines medieval mysteries with modern flair. Gothic buildings and cobblestone streets lead to bustling shopping districts; ancient stones make up the now-picturesque city walls. Explore the birthplace of Guy Fawkes with your Tour Director.

Wander through The Shambles, a historic narrow cobbled street lined with overhanging timber-framed buildings dating back to the 14th century. Once home to medieval butcher shops, it is now filled with quirky boutiques, cafés, and charming stores.

York’s city centre is surrounded by the most complete medieval city walls in England. Built mainly in the medieval period, the walls also sit on top of much older Roman foundations, linking the city’s history back nearly 2,000 years.

Visit York Minster, which traces its origins from the early 7th Century, and features stained glass from the Middle Ages.

Chatsworth House is one of England’s most striking country estates, set within 105 acres of beautifully designed gardens. Home to the Devonshire family for nearly 500 years, it blends grand architecture with a long, lived-in history. Today, it remains the residence of Peregrine Cavendish, linking its historic past with the present day.

See William Shakespeare's childhood home, furnished in a style typical to the Elizabethan period. Then tour the thatched cottage where his wife, Anne Hathaway, lived before her marriage. The adjoining Shakespeare Tree Garden is planted with trees and flowers mentioned in Shakespeare's plays.

The cottage provides a rare insight into the life of a family in Shakespearean times, and many of the original furnishings are preserved inside the house.

Explore Shakespeare's Birthplace, a carefully restored 16th Century house where The Bard was born, April 23, 1564. After touring the property and the period-correct gardens, we will visit the Shakespeare-related exhibits in the adjoining Shakespeare Center, built to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth.

Take a trip to the banks of the River Avon and explore the rich history of this 1,100 year old castle. Wander through its grand interior, meet Henry VIII and his wives, and experience the re-creation of the dark and grisly past of the castle’s dungeons.

England's most fashionable spa town in the 18th century, beautiful, Georgian-style Bath was where the society set headed to "take the waters" and attend the theaters. But the spa scene began bubbling long before then. The Romans built baths here between the 1st and 5th centuries to capitalize on the area's natural hot springs. A professional, local tour guide will lead you to the Roman ruins, some of the best in Europe. But keep your clothes on! Your tour continues to the remains of the Medieval abbey church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (built on the site of a nunnery from the 670s). Look up at the fan-vaulted ceiling. Step back outside to see the ornate west front featuring relief sculptures of Jacob's ladder. Continue to Pulteney Bridge, built in the 18th century after the style of Florence's Ponte Vecchio. As in Florence, shops line the span.

Explore the extremely well-preserved Roman Baths, first associated with the Celtic King Bladud, and later established by the Romans in the 1st Century. Step into the Pump Room, a set of elegant chambers built above the old Roman baths. The core of the Pump Room is the Grand Chamber, which looks down onto the old Roman Baths.

Visit prehistoric Stonehenge, built in 3,000 B.C. The mysterious monument of four concentric rings of hefty stones is believed to have been a sacred place of worship or some type of calendar.

Visit Salisbury Cathedral, one of the finest medieval cathedrals in Britain. It is well-known for having the tallest spire in the country, which we may climb if we wish. Our visit will be highlighted by the cathedral’s 13th century octagonal Chapter House, which displays the finest of four surviving original texts of the Magna Carta.