TOP TEN WINTER WARMERS

BARROW BOYS AND BANKERS

Contrasting stories of rags and riches in London districts a stone’s throw from each other but worlds apart. We visit the atmospheric streets of Spitalfields and tell the story of banking in the Square Mile with a coach tour and a visit to the Bank of England Museum.

For centuries the City was a closed shop. Only Livery Company members could ply their trades - foreigners, whether from Deptford or abroad, had to settle outside the walls. Huguenots, fleeing France, brought silk weaving to Spitalfields just outside the City. Their grand Georgian houses, some of the best preserved in the country, would go on to house successive waves of new arrivals from the English countryside as well as the four corners of the Globe. We’ll see a soup kitchen for the Jewish poor, Hawksmoor’s Christ Church and the sites of some of the Ripper murders.

Come at 10.30am for morning coffee at a beautiful pub that was once a private bank, visit the Bank of England Museum and return to the pub for a pie lunch with the Barrow Boys with the walking tour in the afternoon ending at Spitalfields Market to buy tea and head home at 4.15pm. Or do the day in reverse order with morning coffee included, the Barrow Boys walk and free time for lunch at Spitalfields and the museum visit in the afternoon.

Available weekdays all year

Adults & Seniors: £18 including morning coffee or £28 if you include the pie lunch.

From the barber surgeons of the old Square Mile to the body snatchers of St Barts and cholera in the rookeries to the cosmetic surgeons in Harley Street this is a very entertaining day exploring the history of medicine in London from Roman times to the present day.

Meet the Blue Badge guide at 10.30am for morning coffee & biscuits included in the tour fee. Enjoy a whirlwind coach tour of 2000 years of medicine and nursing. It’s an enjoyable romp with creepy tales of body snatchers and barber surgeons, heroic tales of scientific endeavour and inspiring tales of personal sacrifice.

We’ll pause for lunch near Great Ormond Street Hospital - visit the beautiful Byzantine Chapel to say a prayer for the children and choose a spot for lunch in this Georgian neighbourhood.

Sir Henry Wellcome was a fascinating chap, as rich as Croesus and as curious as the proverbial cat. Born in a frontier log cabin Henry went on to invent the medicinal tablet and establish the pharmaceutical giant Burroughs Wellcome. Like a giant cabinet of curiosities the collection includes some of the most mind-boggling objects that he gathered from around the world. There is a really beautiful café to purchase a tea or coffee. We head home at 4.15pm

Available Tues to Sun all year

Adults & Seniors: £18

Add Lunch from £12pp

KILL OR CURE

CAPITAL CURIOS

This off-the-beaten-track day combines a fascinating coach tour of ‘London peculiars’ & a guided tour of the Freemasons’ Grand Lodge. The day includes morning coffee & biscuits and free time for lunch in the Piccadilly area but you can opt to add a group pub lunch.

Meet the Blue Badge guide at 10.30am to start the day with morning refreshments together before a fascinating coach tour exploring curious and quirky details of the capital that you’d otherwise just pass by and miss.

We’ll step down from the coach in Mayfair to enjoy a plethora of curiosities all within a short walk; snuggle up next to Churchill and Roosevelt on a park bench, chat to a Burlington Arcade Beadle resplendent in his Edwardian frock coat and gold braided top hat and look out for Mr Fortnum and Mr Mason striking the hour on the amazing clock above the door of their famous shop front.

Lots of choices locally for lunch.

Our afternoon is dedicated to revealing the lush Art Deco interiors of the Freemasons’ Grand Lodge in Covent Garden. We visit the astonishing Grand Temple with its beautiful mosaic ceilings, stained glass windows and elaborately carved doors. Explore the Library and Museum of Masonry and buy a cuppa before heading home at 4.15pm.

Alternatively start with lunch at midday followed by the coach tour and Freemasons visit and go home at 6.00pm.

Available weekdays all year

Adults & Seniors: £18pp

Add lunch from £12pp

This is a lovely little day out in Kent with morning coffee and lunch included. We explore the little known Hoo Peninsula and in the afternoon we visit the historic city of Rochester.

Meet the Blue Badge guide at 10.30am for morning coffee and biscuits in an attractive pub next to Dickens beloved Kent home before a coach tour mosaic of chalk downs and vast vistas of marsh and estuary with the unmistakably Kentish imprint of orchard and oast house.

We will stop at the pretty little church where Dickens set one of the world’s most famous literary scenes – the meeting between Pip and the convict at the start of Great Expectations. The tiny cockleshell vestry and haunting ’Pip’s Graves’ are unforgettable.

Lunch back at the pub today is chicken with potatoes and seasonal vegetables or a vegetarian option included in your tour fee. Group members can choose and pay for any drinks or desserts they fancy.

Dickens loved cheery little Rochester . We’ll take a little tour on foot to show you the castle and cathedral and the perfect Victorian High Street with its jolly bunting. We’ve also included a donation for the Cathedral to show you inside. There will be time to buy tea before returning to the coach to head home at 4.45pm.

Available Mon to Sat all year

Adults & Seniors: £28

A MEDWAY MOSAIC

The perfect time to visit Windsor is during the winter months:

there are fewer tourists plus there are extra rooms open at the

Castle. Enjoy a Royal Landscape coach tour and pay a visit to

the Windsor Farm Shop where the Queen sells produce from the

Royal farms.

This day runs 10.30am to 4.45pm and includes:

• A top notch Blue Badge Guide throughout

• Coach tour of the Royal Landscape

• A visit to the Windsor Farm shop

• Windsor Castle including the Semi State rooms

• St George’s Chapel where ten monarchs are buried

Available daily September 2017 to March 2018

Adults: & Seniors: £32

WINTER IN WINDSOR

This great day out can be booked for any time of the year but is

ideal to keep you warm and entertained in the colder months.

A coach tour through beautiful Essex country villages is followed

by an afternoon visit to the Chocolate Lady for tea, a talk and a

demonstration of chocolate making. 10.30am to 4.30pm.

This day includes:

• A top notch Blue Badge guide throughout

• A coach tour through beautiful Essex countryside and villages

• Free time for lunch in Saffron Walden

• Afternoon visit to the Chocolate Lady for tea, a talk and

   a very entertaining demonstration of chocolate making

Available Monday to Saturday all year

Adults & Seniors: £27

THE ESSEX WINTER WARMER

Our unique day traces the history of philanthropy and includes a

visit to the elegant Foundling Museum in Bloomsbury. This trip has

attracted wonderful feedback especially from U3A, National Trust

and other groups who really like to get their teeth into a subject.

This day runs 10.30am to 4.30pm or midday to 6.00pm:

• A top notch Blue Badge guide throughout

• Inc morning refreshments at the Salvation Army HQ café

• Coach tour through the City & East

• Free time for lunch in the Bloomsbury area

• An afternoon visit to the Foundling Museum

Available Monday to Saturday all year

Adults & Seniors: £27

FAITH, HOPE & CHARITY

To visit Hampton Court Palace with a City & Village Tours Blue

Badge guide is to take a magical journey back through 500 years of

Royal history. We paint a picture of the former occupants and their

lifestyles. The sheer size of the Palace can be overwhelming so it

pays to be in the company a Guide who knows Hampton Court like

the back of their hand. 10.30am to 4.45pm.

This day includes:

• Guided tour of Hampton Court Palace with a Blue Badge Guide

• Free time for lunch on site at Hampton Court Palace

• Visit to the Great Kitchens and the intimate Georgian rooms

• Very atmospheric in winter with roaring fires

Available daily all year

Adults: £32 Seniors: £29

HAMPTON  COURT PALACE

Some of our Blue Badge guides are fine art specialists - even the

most exacting DFAS group will be thrilled with the eloquence and

erudition of our team of gallery guides. We split your group in two:

each to enjoy a visit to a special temporary exhibition, each to take

a tour of the permanent collection with the Blue Badge guide,

Available at all the major London galleries all year and including:

• David Hockney - Tate Britain 9 Feb to 27 May 2017

• Rachel Whiteread - Tate Britain 12 Sept 17 to 4 Feb 2018

• Giacometti - Tate Modern 9 May to 10 Sept 2017

• Modigliani - Tate Modern 22 Nov 2017 to 2 April 2018

Available daily throughout exhibitions

10.30am to 4.30pm or midday to 6.30pm

Adults & Seniors: £30

GALLERY TOURS: SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS

Looking back at 1000 years of the French presence in London

including the Huguenots, aristocratic survivors of Madame

Guillotine and the super-tax refugees making the French Quarter

one of the most affluent neighbourhoods in the Capital. In the

afternoon a masterclass in French Style at the new V&A Europe

Galleries or a guided tour of the Wallace Collection.

The day runs 10.30am to 4.30pm or midday to 6.30pm & includes:

• Morning coffee & pastry

• A top notch Blue Badge Guide throughout

• Coach tour & free time for lunch in the French Quarter

• Choice of the new V&A Europe Galleries or Wallace Collection

Available daily all year

Adults & Seniors: £20

ALL OUR WATERLOOS

2 miles

10 miles

15 miles

20 miles

5 miles

40 miles

15 miles

0 miles

15 miles

5 miles

2

1

2

2

2

1

2

3

2

1