britishexpeditions

[britishexpeditions]

NOW BOOKING FOR 2024!

Our program combines cultural and history experiences and site visits like no other trip, all at a cost less than any other equivalent trip. Our program is for anyone: families, students, non-students, friends, etc. All sites on the tour are family-friendly and kid-tested, many with activities geared for various ages.  Many teachers love our tour for personal enjoyment during the summer break as well as to gain relevant experience and knowledge.

What will you see when you travel Great Britain with us?  We will visit all three countries on Great Britain: England, Wales, and Scotland. Did you know that Wales is home to more castles than any other European country?  Britain is full of incredible history from the Stone Age to the Industrial Revolution, and is the site of many of the most famous and important sites in western history. Travelers wanting to better understand U.S. history and LDS Church history will learn a lot on our tour. Travelers will visit many of them, from different eras, and learn to appreciate the various styles of architecture and the meanings of each, along with the groups and persons important to each site.  Cathedrals, churches, medieval estates, homes, industrial revolution-era sites, stone-age landmarks, early LDS history, and modern cultural experiences await each participant.  Cardiff, London, Edinburgh, Cornwall, Bath, York, and other fascinating locations across Britain are all a part of the itinerary. Will you join us?

Dates: 3-23 Jul7 2024, 3-16 July for those who can be with us for two weeks only

What: Dozens of sites such as ancient manor homes, cathedrals, abbeys, natural wonders, castles, and other sites in Wales, along with Stonehenge, beautiful seaside Cornwall, White Cliffs towering above the English Channel, Bath, Oxford, a play at Shakespeare’s Globe, other London sites, Edinburgh, and more! Lodging in University dorms (approximately similar to stateside college housing) and in family-friendly hostels, all site admissions for group visits and ground transport during these dates, and at least two group meals.

Cost: approx. $3800 ($3500 for 2 weeks) (all expenses covered except for airfare and transit to Cardiff; personal care such as laundry and most meals on your own) 

Contact: BYU Welsh Prof. Ronald Schoedel, rcs@byu.edu

[britishexpeditions]

Sample Itinerary (there are always some differences year to year due to scheduling constraints, but this gives you a very good idea of the basic sort of itinerary we will have)

Cities

Bath; full of Roman and Celtic historical sites, including a guided historical walk through this beautiful city

Edinburgh; Scotland at its best, known for its culture and history spanning nearly 1,000 years, amazing architecture, galleries, and the birthplace of Harry Potter

London; free time in afternoon (maybe see the British Museum, Big Ben, British Library,

National Gallery, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace...the list is endless), then we’ll attend a play at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre

York; the former Viking stronghold in the north, surrounded by walkable city walls

Lovely seaside of Cornwall on the Celtic Sea!

Plus gorgeous and quaint Cotswolds villages

Industrial Era

Go deep underground through a Welsh coal mine and experience a taste of what thousands of Welsh men and children endured 12 hours a day, six days a week.

Blaenafon Ironworks; industrial open-air museum featuring period worker cottages

Bottalack Tin Mine; clinging to the dramatic Cornwall coast, as seen in the recent BBC TV series "Poldark"

Tudor/Elizabethan

Kenilworth Castle; former semi-royal palace and site of restored Elizabethan gardens, dating to 12th c. through Tudor era

Plas Mawr; authentic Elizabethan townhome in North Wales, with period furnishings

The Cotswolds; this amazing region is known for its quaint villages of stone homes and rose gardens, nestled into an area of outstanding natural beauty

Pendennis Castle; Henry VIII’s major Cornwall fortification built whilst fearing a Spanish invasion

Stourhead Manor and Garden; notable for its impressive formal gardens and follies, and prominently featured in many TV shows and films including "Pride and Prejudice"

Medieval/Middle Ages

Chepstow Castle; the oldest surviving post-Roman stone fortification in Britain

Tintagel Castle; the legendary birthplace of King Arthur, home to Merlin's seaside cave, and site of a Norman fortification

Conwy Castle; built by Edward I, conquered by Owain Glynd��r for a time 

Lacock Abbey and Lacock Village; ancient abbey and manor home, its dramatic gardens, classic homes, and the abbey's beautiful cloisters have been the filming location for dozens of period TV shows and movies, including the abbey as Hogwarts in Harry Potter!

Raglan Castle; a late medieval castle and the site of an English Civil War battle

Tintern Abbey; spectacular ruins of the first Cistercian monastery in Wales

Fountains Abbey; majestic ruins of 12th century abbey, and UNESCO World Heritage-listed water gardens

Whitby Abbey: this ancient cliffside abbey was a source of inspiration and details for Bram Stoker’s Dracula; take a stroll in the church graveyard at midnight if you dare! Run (or walk) up the 199 steps as did Dracula on his arrival in Britain!

York City Walls: medieval defences of York, overlooking the city

Caernarfon Castle; featuring unique hexagonal towers and defending the English from the Welsh at the height of King Edward I's campaign to conquer Wales

Edinburgh Castle; including the Scottish Crown Jewels and the Stone of Destiny

Roman

Roman baths

amphitheatres that hosted many a bloody gladitorial contest

Hadrian’s Wall; Roman fortification between Pictland (roughly modern Scotland) and Roman Britannia, built in 122 A.D.

Prehistoric

Stonehenge; the world’s most famous prehistoric site

Avebury Stone Circle; the largest stone circle in the world, surrounded by numerous other ancient monuments

Gidleigh Stone Circle; ancient monument on the moors of Devonshire, home to free-ranging wild ponies

An underground Iron-Age village in Cornwall!

Natural Beauty

The White Cliffs; towering, white chalky cliffs overlooking the English Channel

The rugged Atlantic coast in Cornwall is among the most beautiful sites you’ll encounter anywhere.

Plus other elegant and extravagant ancient estates, mansions, and gardens, all with unique historical, literary, linguistic, scientific, religious, and/or cultural value and significance.

FAQs:

Lodging: One of the ways we keep your costs down is to not spend unnecessarily on extravagant lodging. We will usually have a full kitchen and dining area for our group, which allows for cooking meals if you prefer, instead of dining out. Coin-op laundry facilities will be available. Like other tour operators, we highly recommend packing quick-drying clothing you can hand-wash in the sink and wear next day. A suggested packing list will be provided.

We generally will be staying in a variety of clean, safe, family-friendly non-profit YHA hostels, which are usually converted ancient manors, farm houses, castles, lighthouse keeper homes, and other interesting sites, which occasionally may involve shared single-gender dorm rooms, which have private locking storage areas for each participant. We try to get each couple a private room, though this is sometimes not possible. Our goal is to give you an incredible experiential trip throughout the United Kingdom at an unbelievable price, rather than an incredible and costly hotel room in which to sleep. For a supplemental fee, we can sometimes arrange individual private rooms in the hostels, depending on availability, if desired.

Food: Most food is on your own. We will provide at least three group meals with cultural relevance (opening and closing dinner, and one more meal).

Sunday: Time and transport to attend Sunday-morning church services is provided. Any activities offered on Sundays are compatible with a day of rest.

Frugality: We love to save money! We love to save you money, which is why this trip is so inexpensive to begin with! We do this out of love for sharing Wales and Britain with our students and others interested! The next closest commercially available trip we know of, similar in quality of itinerary, costs $5,220 for 12 days—9 days less touring.

We are happy to share with our travelers hints on how to make the most of your grocery money whilst on our expedition. As we have a “home base” for part of the trip and stay in hostels that generally have self-catering facilities, there is the opportunity to buy groceries and cook, rather than eat out. Even after COVID-19 supply disruptions, many staple foods are cheap in Britain. If you cook in groups with your friends, you can save even more money. On excursions, we will often stop at supermarkets, not so often at fast food joints, as the value proposition is not as appealing. We suggest that an individual can eat pretty well (mostly groceries, plus a few meals out) on £45 a week (about $63 USD). If you would prefer more fine dining or meals out, you’ll want to adjust accordingly. If your grocery needs involve lots of ice cream and chocolate—Britain does have lots of lovely chocolate! —you may want to budget even more extra. But, we have specifically planned and priced this trip so that you could have the trip of a lifetime and have all your needs met without spending a penny more than £45 a week on food, if you buy frugally and pack your lunches and dinners accordingly. We have had travelers who have paid for all their food and even managed to buy a few souvenirs on this budget.

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Stonehenge, one of the amazing stops included on our three-week trip.  Photo by Ronald Schoedel