Christmas Lunch in the Cotswolds

Spend Christmas Day in the English countryside! Take this special Christmas tour from London and see the picturesque villages of the Cotswolds, Oxford and Stratford. After your morning pick-up, your Christmas tour will begin with a panoramic tour of London, taking in all the major highlights – Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Tower of London and more.

Next, head off to Oxford for a festive walk through this ancient University town. You’ll pass by ivy covered colleges and picturesque honey-colored buildings, as well as Christ Church where Lewis Caroll wrote his enchanting tales of Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter was filmed. Your guide will explain to you the traditions of college life as you take in such famous buildings as the mighty Romanesque Radcliffe Camera and The Ashmolean, the oldest museum in the UK.

After Oxford, you’ll journey into the limestone hills of the Cotswolds, a region of storybook villages made famous by the wool merchants in the 14th century. These merchants helped build some of the magnificent manor houses and perpendicular Churches prevalent in the area. There will be time to stop for photos outside Blenheim Palace where Sir Winston Churchill was born before heading to a traditional English pub in the picturesque Cotswolds for your Christmas lunch.

Now its time to sit back and enjoy delicious English-style roast turkey with all the trimmings followed by traditional Christmas pudding served in a charming Elizabethan pub. Nearby, the Christmas festivities of the local village begin to take place; if you’ve brought presents, this is a wonderful setting in which to open them. The Inn boasts a superb collection of real ales and fine wines for those in the mood – why not celebrate the holiday with a brandy or two in front of the log fire?

In the afternoon you will journey to Stratford-upon-Avon, passing by Anne Hathaway’s cottage before arriving in this picturesque market town. Stratford-upon-Avon is most famous for William Shakespeare, Britain’s most famous writer who was both born and buried here. You can stop for photos or take a short walk at both his birthplace and the delightful Holy Trinity Church where the great man finally came to rest before returning to London.