12 Days
Specific Tour
30 people
English
Day 1 – Monday, May 4, 2026, Departure
Depart for your overnight flight to the United Kingdom. Meals will be served onboard.
Day 2 – Tuesday, May 5, 2026 Arrival
Fly into London, and your guide will meet you at the airport and we will drive the short distance into the city centre. Enjoy some fresh air, with a stroll along the river Thames. We will have some free time in the Covent Garden piazza, formerly a market hall selling fruit and vegetables, which has now been converted into a great mix of shops and restaurants. There is plenty of choice for finding some lunch and a great atmosphere with the musicians playing. After our lunch break, we will carry on to our accommodation to check in and freshen up. Dinner and overnight in London
Day 3 – Wednesday, May 6, 2026 Full day in London
Our guide will take us on a sightseeing tour today. From our coach, we will see Big Ben, the River Thames with all its bridges, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, and Trafalgar Square, among other notable landmarks. We will drive past the Tabernacle church, where Charles Haddon Spurgeon was pastor in the 19th century. This morning, a visit to Wesley’s chapel is included. John Wesley built it in 1778 as his London base. Wesley’s house has been refurbished to show day-to-day life in Wesley’s time. Many of John Wesley’s belongings are on display and give insights into his travels and his interests, such as the developments in medicine that he used in his ministry. He is behind in the garden, and Susannah is buried in the graveyard opposite. After lunch, we will finish off our busy day in London with a visit to medieval Westminster Abbey – a must. This is a Royal Peculiar, answering directly to the monarch. It has been the coronation church since 1066, right up to last year when King Charles III was crowned here. See the tombs of Kings and Queens, scientists, poets, and musicians, and many more. You may want to attend Evensong. Dinner and overnight in London
Day 4 – Thursday, May 7, 2026, London
Today, we have more to see in London. We will start with a visit to the British Library, home to an extraordinary collection, including the Codex Sinaiticus – an ancient handwritten copy of the Greek Bible (4th century) discovered in St. Catherine’s Monastery near Mt. Sinai. Among other exhibits are a 16th-century Tyndale New Testament and a Wycliffe Psalter, as well as an original copy of the Magna Carta of 1215. We will also include a visit to the Museum of the Book today. The Museum of the Book is home to a world-class collection of original ancient manuscripts and printed Bibles. It is the only museum in London exclusively dedicated to the Word of God. Manuscripts date from 4000 BC to AD 1600 and are written in more than 20 languages, including Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and English. It is a wonderful eclectic collection and a definite “must-see”. The balance of the day is at leisure for you to spend as you wish. Dinner and overnight in London
Day 5 – Friday, May 8, 2026, Drive from London to York
We will leave bright and early today to start our journey north. Our first stop will be Epworth, the childhood home of the Wesley’s. We can visit the Old Rectory, now dedicated as a museum to the family, and the parish church of St Andrew’s, where Samuel Wesley was Rector from 1695 until he died in 1735. Inside, you can see an oak chair given to the church by Susanna Wesley, as well as the font where a number of the Wesley children were baptized. In the grounds, you can see Samuel Wesley’s grave, where John preached to the locals. We will continue to the medieval walled city of York. Check into our hotel on arrival. Dinner and overnight in York
Day 6 – Saturday, May 9, 2026, York
We will have a walking tour of this beautiful city to start our day today, walking its narrow, cobbled streets and even a short stretch on the medieval wall itself. You will have time to visit the stunning Gothic Minster, a truly important cathedral in the North of England. Maybe you could attend Evensong here too. The balance of the day is at leisure for you to enjoy this stunning medieval City. Dinner and overnight in York
Day 7 – Sunday, May 10, 2026, York to Whitby
Today we will be crossing the Yorkshire Moors, made famous by the Bronte sisters and their novels. Then we reach Yorkshire’s wild and rugged coast in the town of Whitby. The Gothic ruins of the 7th-century Whitby Abbey tower on a cliff over what was once a little fishing village. The Synod of Whitby took place here in 664 AD. This was a meeting held by the Christian Church to decide whether to follow Celtic or Roman usages. It marked a vital turning point in the development of the church in England. After being abandoned after the Danish raids in the 9th century, it was re-established as a Benedictine monastery in the 11th century, only to be suppressed again by the troops of Henry VIII in the Reformation. We will explore the Gothic ruins, and you can see why Bram Stoker set his Dracula novels here! You can walk past the churchyard and down the 199 steps made famous by him, to explore the town with its narrow, cobbled streets, quaint shops, and harbour, still bustling with boats. Fish and Chips would be the order of the day for lunch, sitting by the harbour to eat them. Maybe pick up some jet, a beautiful black gemstone which can only be found in the UK at Whitby. We carry on north to Durham to our hotel. Dinner and overnight in Durham
Day 8 – Monday, May 11, 2026, Holy Island – Lindisfarne
A really special treat is in store today. We will drive to the island of Lindisfarne. The island of Lindisfarne is known as “the most holy place in England,” and we will visit the ruined priory and hear about the Lindisfarne Gospels. If we are lucky, we will see the colony of seals that lives here. St Aidan was the founder and first bishop of the Lindisfarne Island monastery in the 7th century. He is credited with bringing Christianity back to the north of England. St Cuthbert also lived here in the 7th century as a missionary, and for many years as a hermit. In 875 with the threat of Viking raids, the monks left the island taking with them their most precious possessions – Cuthbert’s relics and the Lindisfarne Gospels. We have to cross to Lindisfarne via a causeway which is covered by the sea at high tide. So don’t be late back to the bus or we will be cut off! Dinner and overnight in Durham
Day 9 -Tuesday, May 12, 2026 Durham to Lutterworth
We will have time to visit the spectacular cathedral at Durham this morning. The majestic city of Durham is situated on a hill in the centre of a large loop in the River Wear, with the town dominated by the cathedral. The cathedral is the jewel in the crown of the city of Durham. It has stood for over a thousand years, and when you enter, you will see the giant stone pillars with their unusual decorations holding up the vaulted ceiling. Durham Cathedral was built to house the relics of St. Cuthbert and the Venerable Bede, and we will ensure that we see their tombs. We will then start heading back south this afternoon. Our destination is Lutterworth. Not an obvious stop on the usual tourist trail, St. Mary’s Church in Lutterworth. is renowned for its former Rector, John Wycliffe (rector from 1374-1384). This historic Church building has dominated the landscape in South Leicestershire for over 800 years. At Lutterworth, Wycliffe developed views on three basics areas of doctrine: the Church, the Eucharist, and the Scriptures. Wycliffe was the first to translate the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into the vernacular English in the 14th century. Wycliffe declared it was the right of every Christian to know the Bible. And was accused of heresy for doing so. We will visit this unassuming church and hear more about Wycliffe and his life’s work. Dinner and overnight somewhere near Lutterworth
Day 10 – Wednesday, May 13, 2026 Oxford
We set off this morning for a drive which takes us through the wonderful Cotswolds, with a break in Burford. This area of central England was where so many battles of the English Civil War took place, when Oliver Cromwell led the parliamentary troops against King Charles I in the 17th century. Burford was in the thick of the fighting, and we will hear what happened to the Levellers at the church there. And finally, on to the beautiful city of Oxford.
There is so much to do in Oxford, a world-renowned center of learning known for its many “dreaming spires”. We will start with a walking tour to get a feel for this university city.
We are following in the footsteps of greats such as John Wycliff and William Tyndale as they attended Oxford University, not to mention 26 Prime Ministers of Great Britain. And in the turbulent years of the Reformation, this became the site where the three Protestant martyrs, Bishops Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley, were burnt at the stake for their Protestant faith.
But traces of John Wesley are to be found all over Oxford: it is where he studied and formed the Holy Club; Christ Church College is the college where he was a student and Christ Church Cathedral, where he was ordained deacon; Exeter College, where his father was a student; Lincoln College, where he was a Fellow; Wesley Memorial Methodist Church and the Church of St Mary the Virgin, where his sermon on ‘scriptural Christianity’ lead to him severing all links with the University. We have a lot to see! Dinner and overnight in Oxford
Day 11 – Thursday, May 14, 2026, Oxford
Our focus this morning is going to be on CS Lewis, who spent most of his life in Oxford. We will start with a visit to Magdalen College, where he had his rooms. CS Lewis was one of the “Inklings”. The group known as the Inklings would meet regularly at the Eagle and Child pub to discuss their books. We will arrange a visit to see the Kilns, the home he finally settled in (subject to availability). Holy Trinity Church is situated a short distance from The Kilns in the area known as Headington Quarry. This is where C.S. Lewis worshipped for over 30 years, and he is buried in the churchyard. Features inside the church include the Narnia Window and the pew where the Lewis brothers used to sit.
After a break for lunch, we will have a tour of the famous university library, with its collection dating from medieval times to the present day. Some of the ancient books still have their chains to prevent them from being stolen. You will have some free time to continue exploring on your own for the remainder of the day. This evening, we will come together one last time for our Farewell Dinner and overnight in Oxford.
Day 12 – Friday, May 15, 2026, Departure Day
From Oxford we will drive directly to Heathrow airport for the flight home.
