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IN SEARCH OF HARRY POTTER: MAGIC
AND MYTHS!
9 days inc arrival/departure
What a fantastic opportunity to visit England with the 'kids' or
'grandkids', introduce them to British culture, history and literature,
while at the same time discovering the world of J K Rowling and Harry
Potter through visits to film locations and sites and attractions
associated with the boy-wizard and friends.
Our memorable, fun-filled and magical tour has it all! Yes, there's
Hogwarts School and a taste of riding a 'Hogwarts Express'. There are
Harry's feathered friends, witches and fairies. There are giants (you!),
ghosts, and a flight across London's rooftops...All this and visits to
the historic cities of Gloucester and Oxford. You'll see fabulous
castles, timeless villages and prehistoric temples. You'll explore
beneath the depths of the earth in deep caves and caverns and discover,
too, the works of other marvellous, magical writers and their creations
from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland to the Hobbits of J R R Tolkien.
This tour can also be taken by family groups from 3 to 12 in size wishing
to have their own private tour. With your own tour, you can choose your
own travel dates, start on any day of the week, and either extend the
tour or contract it according to your own time and budget constraints. We
can also offer a one-day Harry Potter tour, departing central London,
that features film locations in Oxford, a steam train ride, and a visit
to the miniature village. Contact us for futher details and to discuss
your family's 2003 vacation.
DEPARTURE DATES & PRICES FOR YEAR 2003
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Tour Code |
Arrive London |
Depart London |
|
HPOT |
Saturday |
Sunday |
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HPOT1 |
19-Jul |
26-Jul |
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HPOT2 |
26-Jul |
3-Aug |
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HPOT3 |
02-Aug |
10-Aug |
Prices: Adult US$1845/Child US$1299 / Single
Supplement: Adult US$225/Child
Day One - Saturday
The wizardry begins on arrival as you're met upon arrival. After
taking you first to your hotel, we'll then whisk you away into the
world's most exciting city and the first of many adventures. We've no
magic-carpet but a ride on the famed Millennium Wheel is a good
substitute as the fantastic Ferris wheel that takes you, like Mary
Poppins, above London's rooftops. We'll complete our magical first day
with some traditional fish 'n' chips.
Day Two - Sunday
This is Harry's city and we'll take today to explore it. Our day will
begin with an introductory tour, seeing all of the city's icons:
Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the Tower, St
Paul's and Westminster Cathedral. Then to London Zoo, home of more than
600 species of rare animals. We'll concentrate on the reptile house where
young Harry first learns of his ability to speak to snakes. Imagine the
surprise if one of your family suddenly finds they have this skill! Our
final visit of the day is to King's Cross Station where we'll discover
Platform 9 3/4. You can have your photo taken where, in the film, Harry
and other first year wizards boarded the Hogwarts Express for Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There'll be some jealous looks back at
your own school when they see the photos.
Day Three - Monday
ALL ABOARD! The Hogwarts Express leaves town! Will you be on it? We
leave London and drive towards Salisbury. You'll see one of England's
most mysterious sites, the prehistoric Stonehenge, before we arrive at
the medieval village of Lacock. It's going to be fun exploring the 13th
century Abbey and spotting which bits were used for various interior
scenes at Hogwarts School. The kids can get themselves 'in the picture'!
We're staying tonight near the mystic heart of ancient Britain,
Glastonbury, where the leylines meet and there's always magic in the air
and the promise of the unexpected!
Day Four - Tuesday
Today is a day of Celtic myths and magic. Glastonbury is, according to
legend, the burial place of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. But there's
more legend here than simply the 'Knights of the Round Table'. This is a
city associated with fairies and where Gwyn ap Nudd, King of the Fairies,
set up court in the magical hollow of Glastonbury Tor. And yes, you'll
visit the Tor itself. This is also the day we board the 'Hogwarts
Express' for a ride on the steam train that featured in the film.
Day Five - Wednesday
We'll seek out the world of witches and descend deep into a world
reminiscent of Tolkien's 'Middle Earth', the caves and caverns of Wookey
Hole, home of the Wookey Witch. But we're on a particular wizard's trail
today. It's Merlin the Magician we seek (and yes, he really did exist) as
we cross the Severn River to Wales, land of the Red Dragon! This was an
area well-known to J K Rowling, creator of our boy-wizard, and places
like the 12th century Chepstow castle and the Forest of Dean must have
been a source of great inspiration when she attended school in this area.
We'll explore the battlements of this fairytale fortress (where you can
imagine defending the castle against the forces of darkness alongside
Merlin). Later, we'll look for forest spirits and have some fun in the
maze of 'puzzle wood'. Our final highlight of the day is to visit some of
Harry's favourite friends - the owls and birds of prey at the National
Bird of Prey Centre in Gloucester. The question is, will they tell us
what they see...
Day Six - Thursday
Stand by Potter fans! It's another opportunity to place yourself in
Hogwarts! This lovely, historic city of Gloucester has many wonderful
literary connections, in addition to visiting Gloucester Cathedral and
the King's School, both of which were used as locations for Hogwarts in
Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone. We'll introduce you to another
Potter - Beatrix Potter - and her creation Peter Rabbit. And you'll learn
why Humpty Dumpty can claim his origins here. We'll tour through the
magnificent Cotswolds, hearing exciting and mysterious tales of the area
and stopping off to find fairy rings and villages where you'd not be
surprised to find Hobbits. We'll be checking the locals to see if they've
hairy feet
Day Seven - Friday
Are you ready to practise a bit of magic of your own? Today you will
be taking part in some authentic divining in the centre of a prehistoric
stone circle! When the divining rods twitch what will lie beneath our
feet...? Then to the majestic Oxford, 'city of the dreaming spires'. Many
of the scenes in the film were shot in various locations around
Christchurch College. You'll be able to have your own picture taken in
Hogwarts Hall, or on the great staircase where Professor McGonnigal
greeted the new students. Or perhaps the child in all if us will prefer
to be pictured in the cloisters of Christchurch, the setting for Hogwarts
Trophy Room and where Harry is shown the trophy his father won as a
seeker in Quidditch. Oxford was also the setting for a magical book of
another age but still managing to thrill today's generations. You'll see
where Alice wondered through the small door into Wonderland, find a dodo,
and discover where Lewis Carroll took his inspiration for the white
rabbit, elongated necks and Mad Hatter tea parties on our 'Alice in
Wonderland' walk. You'll also see where J R R Tolkien (Lord of the
Rings), C S Lewis (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) and T S Elliot
(The Wasteland) all met to discuss their fabulous tales. What a super
opportunity of introducing new generations to a wider but always magical
world of English literature.
Day Eight - Saturday
We've more great highlights than you can shake a broomstick at for our
final day. First, to a miniature village where instead of seeing giants
we'll all be one as we stride over houses and tiny people!
Our second event of the day will be to visit the caves where the
Hell-Fire Club met. Why that shiver? Surely you're not scared of the
spooks! On to the quaint Thames riverside town of Marlow (where Mary
Shelly's ghastly 'Frankenstein' was partially written) and perhaps a boat
ride on the river, if we haven't managed one already. Finally, our
climax, tonight we'll enjoy a ghost tour of London, descending into
haunted prison cells below the city's streets, graveyards where owls
hoot, and to where the pirates met their 'orrible deaths! What a finish
to our Harry Potter tour and what a day to remember!
Day Nine - Sunday
Alas, it's time to return home and you're transferred to your airport
of departure. It has been a truly special journey through some of the
most beautiful countryside of England and Wales. Everyone in the family,
young and old, will have photographs and memories to remind them of their
time together in the magical world of Harry Potter.
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