East Anglia, England

Tour not offered in 2008 ~ Available for Custom Tours

ITINERARY

Day 1
We arrive at Heathrow Airport in the early morning and take a shuttle into London to our hotel in a central location. We have a day to relax from our flight and orient ourselves to the sights, sounds, smells and accents of Great Britain. We can enjoy a guided walking tour of some interesting neighborhoods or explore on our own.

Day 2
Refreshed and ready for our East Anglian adventure, we board our coach for a two hour ride to Ipswich. We check into our elegant country hotel, a former 16th century hunting lodge, set in seven acres of parkland just perfect for strolling. We meet our local Ipswich guide and head into the downtown, which looks about as different from Ipswich, Mass. as possible. Our guide leads us on a walking tour of the historic center, following the trail of twelve medieval churches. We rest for a cup of tea (or an English brew) before walking to the Christchurch Estate, Ipswich's most glamorous and impressive historic attraction. This beautiful Tudor mansion is set in more than 65 acres of attractive parkland and houses excellent collections of furniture, ceramics, and the most important collection of works by Constable and Gainsborough outside London. The original mansion was built as a Priory in the 12th century but was seized by Henry VIII and sold in 1545 to a London merchant. Since then the house has undergone many changes and additions, the stories of which will be told by our guide. Back at our hotel we can take a swim, exercise or relax in the garden pub before an elegant dinner in the manor restaurant. After dinner a local historian will entertain us with stories of old Ipswich.

Day 3
Today is an all day excursion to the delightful city of Cambridge, by far the largest and most famous city in East Anglia. An important town since Roman times, Cambridge has been an academic and religious center since the 12th and 13th centuries. Cambridge is dominated by its famous university, founded in 1284, and is today made up of 31 colleges. We visit King's College, the most famous of these, with its spectacular chapel. When King Henry VI founded the chapel in 1441, he decided that it should dominate the city, which it still does today. Its fan vaulted ceiling, magnificent doors, stained glass windows, paintings, woodwork, Gothic gatehouse, and ornate façade are all features which make it one of the most important examples of late medieval English architecture. The King's College Choir has been giving Christmas concerts all over the world since the tradition was begun in the 15th century. We also visit St. John's College with its superb Tudor and Jacobean architecture, the beautiful Bridge of Sighs, Queens' College, Trinity College, and the Fitzwilliam Museum— one of Britain's oldest public museums containing outstanding paintings, ceramics and antiquities.

Day 4
Today is an exciting day for us to drive to nearby Woodbridge to visit the unique and fascinating Anglo-Saxon archeological site Sutton Hoo. This amazing place was recently discovered to contain the entire ship of an Anglo-Saxon warrior king— probably King Raedwald— who was buried here with his ship and his most treasured possessions some 1,300 years ago. Our tour is led by a National Trust guide and tells the story of this important king, how Anglo-Saxon nobles lived in the 7th century and founded a new kingdom in East Anglia.

After lunch in the charming town of Orford, we take an interesting drive up the coast, seeing the villages of Southwold, Dunwich, Westleton, Thorpeness, Aldeburgh, and ending with tea or a home brew in Snape Maltings. Dinner tonight in a grand old English pub for some traditional East Anglian fare.

Day 5
Today we take an historic excursion through Hadleigh and little Kersey to Groton, where we pay homage to John Winthrop and see the church attended by all the Winthrop family. Then on to Little Waldingfield, where the Appleton family lived before moving to Ipswich in Massachusetts. We have lunch in Lavenham, a beautifully preserved medieval town that was once a great center of the wool industry. Lavenham has some 300 beautiful historic buildings, including the superb 16th century timbered Guildhall, which we visit. Our route next takes us to the lovely town of Bury Saint Edmonds, rich in archaeological and historic treasures. St. Edmond came here in the 9th century to become the last king of East Anglia. His Christian faith resulted in his murder by the Danes, and after his burial here the town became a place of pilgrimage. For many years St. Edmund was the patron saint of England. We see the ruins of the great abbey built in his honor. It was here in 1214 the Archbishop of Canterbury met with the Barons of England, who swore that they would force King John to honor the proposals of the Magna Carta. The Abbey Gardens include an Old English rose garden, a water garden and a garden for the blind, where fragrance equals sight. Of the many interesting structures in Bury St. Edmunds (almost 1,000 preserved buildings) are Ickworth House, a very unusual 18th century mansion with a gigantic rotunda; St. Mary's Church, where Mary Tudor is buried; and Moyse's Hall, built around 1180 and today houses a collection of artifacts from the Bronze Age, Roman pottery, and Anglo-Saxon jewelry. At the end of the day we'll be ready for a stop in the Brewery to sample a few local ales made using the centuries old traditional method.

This evening we may attend a performance at Ipswich's fine theater.

Day 6
Today is a special day with our friends Liz and Steve, who show us around their town of Colchester, the oldest recorded town in Britain. Colchester was capital of southeast England when the Romans invaded in 43 A.D. and established the first Roman colony in England. We can still see the Roman walls built as a defense around the town in 60 A.D. and the Roman town gate, the largest in Britain. Colchester also boasts the largest Norman keep still standing in England. Twice the size of the White Tower at the Tower of London, it was built in 1076 on the platform of a Roman temple, with stones and tiles from other Roman buildings. Today the castle is a museum with relics dating from prehistoric times. After lunch a National Trust guide leads us on a walk through "Constable Country", following a picturesque section of the River Stour, frequented by the famous landscape painter John Constable (1776-1837). The walk encompasses beautiful country scenes often painted by Constable, including Flatford Mill, the subject of at least ten of his most important paintings. We'll have time to relax back at our Ipswich manor before dinner.

Day 7
Today's excursion is to Norwich, one of the best preserved cities in Britain and steeped in history. Fortified by the Saxons in the 9th century, it became a prosperous market town when Flemish settlers came here in the 12th century and was the second most important city of England until the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s. Our visit to Norwich includes its magnificent cathedral, dating from the 11th century. At one time a monastery was added and the surviving cloister is the most extensive in England. The cathedral spire is the second tallest in England after Salisbury. After lunch we have time to explore the quaint shops of the medieval streets of Elm Hill and Tombland, the old Saxon market place. Next we head out to the country to visit the splendid estate Blickling Hall. This is where Anne Boleyn spent her childhood. The Great Hall contains reliefs depicting Anne and her daughter Elizabeth I.

On the way back to Ipswich we stop in the small village of Framlingham to admire the views from the top of its wonderful castle. On our last night in Ipswich we enjoy a gourmet dinner at our hotel.

Day 8
Before we know it we are back in London, checked into our hotel. Our tour concludes with a guided visit to the British Museum, where we can see the authentic ship and treasures unearthed at Sutton Hoo. The afternoon is free to explore on our own before our farewell dinner.

Day 9
Our shuttle takes us to Heathrow Airport for the return flight to Boston.