TOP TEN CHRISTMAS TOURS

THE CHRISTMAS CARVERY CLUB

London is a dandy at night. Few cities can rival our vibrant history, exhilarating stories and anecdotes. This popular tour is a proper jam buster - bringing you into London at a quiet time and sending you home after the rush hour. We actually tour London during the rush hour - which is just right to slow the coach so we can show you such a lot!

The Strand Palace Carvery This Edwardian hotel is on The Strand a few doors along from the Lyceum. Enjoy a two course premier carvery with a choice of desserts on the day and we now include a cup of tea or coffee.

London Lights & Sights Tour You’ll see you all the major Christmas lights and sights in the City and the West End in the company of one of the best Blue Badge guides in the capital. Plus we’ll show you some of London’s secret treasures and newest buildings. This is a lovely evening that’s just right to re-kindle your Christmas flame.

Timings:

Meet for lunch at 2.00pm followed by the tour and a festive stop at an ice rink or Covent Garden at the end of the evening heading home at 6.00pm after the rush hour Or meet at Somerset House at 2.30pm, start the tour as dark falls at 3.30pm, sit down to the two-course carvery meal with hot drink at 5.30pm and head home at 7.15pm.

Available daily 20 November 2017 to 6 January 2018

Adults & Seniors: £29

A new plan for 2017 while major building is underway at The O2. Come to Royal Greenwich for an afternoon of Christmas shopping in the newly refurbished covered market and boutique style shops with free visits to the National Maritime Museum. Meet our top notch Blue Badge guide at Greenwich Pier at 3.45pm for a one hour cruise to Westminster with a fun and informative Cockney skipper’s commentary. We’ll pass the mini-Manhattan of Canary Wharf, sail beneath a floodlit Tower Bridge and through the glistening City & West End.

We’ll hop back on your coach at Westminster Pier for a tour of Christmas London by night. It’s great fun seeing the busy shopping streets from high up in your coach but we’ll also show you some off the beaten track Christmas and London by night sights and bring you up to date with what is new in the capital.

At the end we make a stop at Covent Garden where you can buy refreshments, enjoy the street performers and see the decorations in the old Victorian market buildings. You will be ready to head home after the rush hour at 7.30pm

Adults & Seniors: £19

Available daily from 15 Nov ‘17 to 6 Jan 2018.

Add a three course hotel carvery with coffee for £16pp. Sit down for the meal at 6.30pm and head home at 8.00pm.

CRUISING INTO CHRISTMAS

CHRISTMAS IN FAVERSHAM & CANTERBURY

Faversham is one of our most historic and yet least known market towns. Arrive for lunch at midday in Faversham before an afternoon of shopping and sightseeing in the heart of Canterbury with the option to enjoy Choral Evensong at 5.30pm sitting in the Quire at the very heart of the Cathedral.

Arrive in Faversham at 11.45am ready to enjoy an early lunch at midday. Do your own thing or we can book you in for a roast chicken or vegetarian lunch served with tea or coffee at a mediaeval pub with a massive inglenook fireplace. The Faversham conservation area is a compact area with a remarkable 475 listed buildings. Your Blue Badge Guide will pick out the highlights for you. Tuesdays and Fridays are market days in Faversham.

An entertaining commentary on the way to Canterbury is followed by a gentle walk into the heart of the city. In the best tradition of City & Village Tours we’ll show you the most picturesque and interesting parts and then you can do your own thing. Shoppers will find a good mixture of High Street brands and one-off individual and there are interesting art galleries and museums. As dark falls we get to see ancient Canterbury sparkle and shine. Buy a bite to eat locally before Choral Evensong at Canterbury Cathedral at 5.30pm. You’ll sit in the intimate Quire, the beating heart of this great church, next to the choir and enjoy their exquisite voices. You’ll be ready to head home at 6.30pm.

Mon-Sat from 10 Nov to 6 January

Adults & Seniors: £15

Add roast chicken lunch & coffee on November dates for £11pp

Enjoy sweeping views over the Thames and Medway on the little known and mysterious Hoo Peninsula, a roast lunch together and Christmas shopping and sightseeing in lovely oldfashioned Rochester. Meet at 10.30am in a pub next door to Charles Dickens’ old house at Higham for coffee and biscuits included in the tour fee.

During the morning we will take you on a coach tour through one of the least known landscapes in England; rolling panoramas of sweeping chalk downs and vast vistas of marsh and estuary - all with the unmistakable Kentish imprint of orchard and oast. We’ll stop at the remote church where Pip met the convict in the opening scene of Dickens’s Great Expectations. The tiny cockle shell vestry and unusual graves are unforgettable. Back to the pub for a roast chicken lunch included in the tour fee. Your folk can buy any bar and hot drinks or desserts as desired on the day.

Next on to Rochester where the bunting-hung Victorian High Street is lined with interesting shops. Your members can choose to do their own thing for the afternoon or stay with the guide for a trail that will take us past the castle, the cathedral, the Dorritt family grave and Miss Haversham’s house. Lots of places to buy tea and sticky buns on the High Street that positively twinkles with Victorian charm at dusk. Head home at 4.45pm.

Weekdays Nov & December

Adults & Seniors: £26

A KENTISH CHRISTMAS

Charles Dickens didn’t exactly invent Christmas, but in his stories

he did invent an idea of a London Christmas that has been exported around the world. It’s a tale of foggy streets and hearty feasts with the rich man at his table and the poor man with his nose pressed to the frosted window. This day runs 10.30am to 4.30pm or midday to 6.30pm including a little run through the Christmas Lights.

• A top notch Blue Badge Guide for the whole day

• Morning coffee & biscuits

• Visit Leadenhall Market

• Free time for lunch at Borough Farmers Market

• Visit opulent Burlington Arcade & Fortnum’s Food Hall

Available weekdays throughout November and December

Adults & Seniors: £18

CHRISTMAS FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD

Hampstead, select and opulent is one of London’s last villages. Join

us for a tasty roast lunch at midday followed by a village trail and

some free time for shopping followed by a tour into central London

to enjoy the Christmas Lights & Sights finishing at Covent Garden.

This day runs midday to 6.30pm and includes:

• A top notch Blue Badge guide

• A one course roast lunch with tea/coffee

• Free time for Shopping in Hampstead

• Optional short walking tour with the Guide

• Christmas Lights and Sights coach tour

• Visit to Covent Garden Market heading home after rush hour

Available weekdays in November and December

Adults & Seniors: £26

HAMPSTEAD & THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

Aim to arrive at midday in Bristol for a 2 course Christmas lunch

with coffee in the crypt of a famous Bristol church followed by a

Bristol Coach Panorama including Brunel’s Suspension Bridge and

the Clifton Downs. Then enjoy the Bristol Christmas Markets and

an optional Old Town trail with the Guide & head home 6.30pm.

This day includes:

• 2 Course Christmas Lunch with tea or coffee

• Panoramic Bristol coach tour

• Top notch Blue Badge Guide throughout

• Free time at Bristol Christmas Markets

• Optional Bristol walking tour with the guide

Available weekdays 10 November to 15 December 2017

Adults & Seniors: £28

CHRISTMAS IN BRISTOL

Ring the changes to the same old Christmas lunch for your group.

Meets 10.30am at Bodiam Castle to buy morning coffee, whet the

appetite with a gentle morning tour on the Mad Jack Fuller trail,

arrive for a welcome sherry followed by a slap up Christmas lunch

followed by an afternoon of board games, conversation and

quizzing before tea and mince pies are served. Head home 4.30pm.

This day includes:

• Morning sightseeing tour on the Mad Jack Fuller trail

• Welcome glass of sherry, Christmas lunch with all the

trimmings, mince pies with tea/coffee

• Games and quiz afternoon

Mondays – Wednesdays November, December & January

Adults & Seniors: £34

MAD JACK FULLER CHRISTMAS LUNCH

Explore a little known and beautiful part of Essex that’s anything

but flat! Enjoy a Christmas lunch with all the trimmings and a

sociable afternoon of board games, chin wagging and relaxing by

the fire. How does that sound for a group lunch with a difference?

This day runs 10.30am to 4.30pm and includes:

• Morning visit to Saffron Walden

• Essex Highlands coach tour

• Welcome glass of sherry, Christmas lunch with all the

trimmings, mince pies with tea/coffee

• Games & quiz afternoon (or chat and doze by the fire!)

Available weekdays November, December and January

Adults & Seniors: £34

ESSEX HIGHLANDS CHRISTMAS LUNCH

Watch the magnificent Mighty Wurlitzer rise from the Orchestra

pit and enjoy Chris Barber the Romantic Organist in a programme

of seasonal favourites. The 2017 theme is Christmas on Stage &

Screen so expect a bit of a White Christmas sing-a-long. Following

the concert there is sherry and mince pies before we take you on

an entertaining tour of the London Christmas Lights finishing up

with time for hot drinks at one of London’s Christmas ice rinks or

if you prefer we’ll stop at Covent Garden. Runs 2.30pm to 6.45pm.

• Mighty Wurlitzer Christmas Concert

• Top notch Blue Badge guide throughout the day

• Sherry and mince pies

• Coach tour of Christmas London by Night

November 21, 22, 23, 28, 29 & 30

Adults & Seniors: £28

THE MIGHTY WURLITZER CHRISTMAS CONCERT

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