Literary Legends of England & Ireland Tour

Exploring London's literary destinations start with your hotel room. The salubrious Rocco Forte's Brown's Hotel was where Agatha Christie and Rudyard Kipling used to stay – fortunately there won't be any Murder at the Vicarage but you're almost surprised not to see Miss Marple in the breakfast room. Step into London itself and a local author takes you through the city's literary haunts, unravelling the imagination of Arthur Conan Doyle. The London of Sherlock Holmes isn't found in souvenir shops; it's discovered on mysterious Victorian lanes, Baker Street townhouses, and pubs where Dr. Watson was penned.

After lunch, you step further back in history, to the early 18th-century reverie of Samuel Johnson. Nestled amongst a labyrinth of courtyards and alleyways, you'll find the author's townhouse, the place where he compiled the world's first comprehensive English dictionary, almost single-handedly. You can picture him sitting in the drawing room, mugs of tea piling up on the oak table, scrawled notes spiraling into the log fire. Completing the tour is afternoon tea at The Langham Hotel, London's great expression of Victorian pomp and excess. This was where Oscar Wilde and Conan Doyle famously had dinner and it remains as opulent as it always has been. A triple-tiered cake stand and a pot of strong English breakfast provides the fitting accompaniment to the surroundings. The rest of the afternoon and evening is at your leisure. All transfers are included during today's tour, although various parts of the day are spent on foot.

Enjoy a day at leisure, exploring the perspectives of the capital you'd most like to see. A driver can be made available to provide convenient transfers between destinations, especially if you'd like to journey into the attractions around Greater London. This city could take months to explore fully. But with one day, you can capture the essence of its appeal, whether that's iconic architecture along the Thames or unusual art exhibitions. As afternoon blurs into evening, the atmosphere begins to build at Shakespeare's Globe. Resonantly reflecting the style of an Elizabethan playhouse, this theater is the capital's premier place to hear the playwright's most famous lines. The exact play will depend on your travel dates, but expect a performance that befits the setting and a crescendo of cheers to greet the final act.

Dickensesque phrases can be heard as you wander through a muddled maze of 19th-century cobblestoned passageways. Evocative remnants and antiquated staircases provide the material for his ghost stories, while hidden hostelries are found behind rustic wooden gates. There's the place where Mr. Pickwich met Sam Weller and Dickens was launched into stardom, as well as the absorbing markets that ignited so many iconic adjectives. Dickens' London feels a million miles from the clean-cut gleaming facade of a modern city – it's found nestled behind timeworn passageways, left in a redolent state of ruin. With an author as your guide, you discover the vestiges of bygone London and the inspiration that inspired so many of the world's future literary talents. Following the tour, you enjoy another dose of afternoon tea, this time at the Ritz Hotel, a fitting tribute to the creations that were coined inside its ornate walls.

Journey into regal England and the quintessential landscapes come pouring through the window: stately homes lost amidst a flurry of gargantuan oaks, sheep standing like sentinels on windswept green hills, the grandeur of the driveway that leads to Blenheim Palace. Just outside Oxford, Blenheim is the country's finest stately home and a chance to discover the flamboyance of royal tastes. Opulent and exaggerated, the corridors take you on a journey through the untamed excesses of yesteryear wealth. You're driven through the countryside in a luxury vehicle, stopping for lunch and a private guided palace visit en route. Pull into Oxford and one attraction can't wait until tomorrow's tour. It's the smells of Bodleian Library that pull you in, hundreds of miles of early 17th-century shelves lining a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. Feast your eyes on the scene, sunlight pouring through the huge windows, and admire the place where so many famous names came to write.

Matthew Arnold was wonderfully accurate when he wrote of the “city of dreaming spires.” Oxford's crooked pinnacles unveil the quaint charms of old grandeur, leading your eyes away from the city's beguiling cobblestoned streets. Home to the world's first ever university, Oxford is unmissable on any historical England tour. It's made additionally redolent by its unrivaled literary history. J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter comes from the dining halls you see on today's tour. Oscar Wilde's comedic plays came from the hallways of Magdalen College while the propensity of narrow British pubs probably inspired “we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars” (Oscar Wilde). Philip Pullman and C. S. Lewis are just another two on a list of many. How about William Boyd, Martin Amis, Graham Greene, John le Carre, V. S. Naipaul, and Lewis Carroll? Today's full-day tour provides a literary spin on the classic Oxford sights, revealing the places that have filled thousands of chapters. Perhaps nowhere on the planet can present such an abundance of famous literary figures and sites.

Now you go back in time, into the early 17th-century courtyards and townhouses of Stratford-upon-Avon. Thatched roofs hang over quaint streets, chapels are lost amongst sprawling apple trees, and nothing seems to have changed since Shakespeare was born here. Visit his birthplace, the fabulous Jacobean home of his daughter, and the cottage of Anna Hathaway. Rest your legs in traditional pubs and rekindle your own Shakespearean lines as the log fires crackle. Stratford-upon-Avon is the timeless portrait of old rural England, a small town frozen in time, stoically retaining the atmosphere of yesteryear. As dusk falls, the town comes alive with the acts of its greatest son. The Royal Shakespeare Theatre performances are elegant and expressive, continuing your immersion in 17th-century rural England while you're simultaneously transported to a Verona balcony. A night at the theater is a must when you're in Stratford-upon-Avon and you have premier seats.

Dublin fascinates, the city providing the quintessence of Irish travel reverie and history. Relatively compact and easy to explore, the capital ensures you quickly get a strong dose of the local experience: think a pint of Guinness, intriguing fried breakfast options, and an atmosphere ladled with humor. It's a 45-minute drive from Stratford-upon-Avon to Birmingham Airport for the short flight over the water to Dublin. The afternoon is at leisure and you'll have a private guide at your disposal. For many visitors, the first impression of Dublin is all about the iconic experiences the capital provides. A guiding helping hand ensures you see the local side of it all, rather than the flashy touristic perspective that dominates parts of the center. Complete the day with dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant with a stunning four-course dinner menu.

You wouldn't be the first to admit you struggled through Ulysses, the seminal work of a genius born in the Irish capital. Joyce's monumental novel isn't the shortest and you'll need the whole day to trace a full path through his side of Dublin. Start at the James Joyce Centre, an 18th-century Georgian townhouse that provides an overarching introduction to his life and times. Then set off walking with your local guide, recreating Leopold Bloom's walk through Dublin and visiting the sites that still stand proudly in the city. Marvel at the Martello Tower, wander into the heritage lanes of Monto and feel the book come to life as you follow the iconic path from June 16th, 1904. Then raise a glass to Joyce at the Davy Byrne's Pub, before an evening at leisure in the fabled capital city. Dependent on your energy levels, you may also visit the Writer's Museum and explore the other literary figures that came from Dublin.

It's time to say farewell, so which quotes linger longest in the memory? Perhaps a Shakespeare: “this royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle, this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.” Or Joyce: “the longest way round is the shortest way home.” You're transferred to the airport for your international departure, left to ponder the impressions and pick up your own literary narrative on the way home.