USA to Edinburgh, Scotland

Today you’ll depart the USA to Edinburgh. Welcome to Scotland! Our tour to discover the United Kingdom and the various LDS British Church History sights awaits you. Today is at your leisure. Please make your way to the hotel upon arrival and enjoy some free time as you choose. For those arriving early enough, there will be an optional walking tour of Edinburgh.  Please contact us for the associated costs.

Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh, the ‘Athens of the North’, is the second most visited destination in Britain after London. Today we will start our day traveling north to explore the sights on our way to Stirling. This will include a stop to view the Kelpies sculptures and continue to the Bannockburn experience where we will learn about this crucial battle and its impact on Scottish history. This afternoon we will visit the National Wallace Monument, which stands above the fields where William Wallace led his troops to victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. A highlight will be visiting the history-rich Stirling Castel before returning to Edinburgh for the night.

Edinburgh - Ulverston, England

Today we depart Edinburgh traveling south through the great countryside in the Scottish Borders, Northumberland National Park, and along Hadrian’s Wall. We visit one of the forts on the remains of Hadrian’s Wall – the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire. We marvel at their administrative skills and imagine the living conditions of roman soldiers and talk of the rollercoaster ride of Christians and Romans. We continue to be the highest market town in England, which made a huge contribution to the beginning of the first LDS mission to Britain. A few families listened to some promptings and set significant wheels in motion long before the first seven missionaries arrived in 1837. This is the beginning of the Toronto miracle with Parley P. Pratt. This was also one of the first places our 1837 missionaries visited after Preston.  We end our day by the Lake District area, which is famous for its beautiful lakes and mountains, but we discover it also helped save the Doctrine and Covenants and created some great forerunners: Quakers, Romneys, William Wordsworth, and John Ruskin. We’ll check into our hotel and enjoy dinner together at the hotel.

Ulverston - Chipping, England

Our first stop of the day is to Grasmere, where Britain’s best-loved Victorian poet William Wordsworth began his married life, where three of his children were born, and where some of his best poetry was written. He is the last of the Romantic poets, but he and his colleagues provided an interesting insight into a nation on the cusp of something new. We then will visit the John Taylor sites where he was born, of liberty. Tonight, for those who’d like to join, we will visit the Preston Temple for an evening session. Dinner tonight will be provided at the hotel where we are staying for two nights.

Preston, Area

We wander the streets of the City of Preston – the birthplace of British “Mormonism” – to follow in the footsteps of the first LDS missionaries to Britain and discover Joseph Smith’s dentist, the cursed stone, the 1842 riot, the powerful Reverend Wilson, Heber C. Kimball’s amazing prophecy, LDS shorthand, and the Deseret Alphabet. We visit all the well-known sites, including their lodgings (where a host of evil spirits attacked them), the River Ribble (where the first British baptisms took place), the Vauxhall Chapel site (where they first preached), and the cockpit site (where the first British Conference was held in 1837). We explore some of the delights of the Ribble Valley – which still looks much the same as when Heber C. Kimball and Joseph Fielding saw it in 1837. We drive through the beautiful English countryside and find the delightful villages of Ribchester, Chatburn, and Downham and relive some of the most touching encounters of their missionary labors. These quaint stone villages and rolling green hills inspired J.R.R. Tolkien when he was writing The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle lived here as a young boy and his creation of Sherlock Holmes was influenced by these valleys and has an unusual LDS twist. We will have so much fun as we dine at a local pub and have a special visit from a local storyteller to entertain us for the evening.

Liverpool - Stoke on Trent

This morning we will enjoy sacrament meeting before departing to Liverpool, the gateway to the New World. Liverpool served as the arrival point for hundreds of missionaries and the departure point for thousands of emigrants as they gathered to Zion throughout the nineteenth century. We take a tour around this famous city which, besides its LDS history, has had a long association with America (including slaves, cotton, and the claim that the first and final acts of the American Civil War took place here!) We visit the beautifully restored Albert Docks, where we learn more about the life of an emigrant, see the Sea Trek monument, and discover a host of famous LDS names. And, of course, we pay tribute to the Beatles with a visit to the famous Cavern. We finish our day in the Staffordshire area in Stoke-on-Trent for the evening to relax and enjoy the town.

Stratford on Avon

Today, we step back into the world of the potters, to a time when bottle ovens and smoky skies dominated the landscape, as we visit Middleport. We tour through a working factory and stand in awe of a forgotten skill set of these potters.  We then get to spend the afternoon enjoying the influence of the great bard himself.  We visit William Shakespeare’s birthplace and Anne Hathaway’s cottage in Stratford on Avon. We learn how our hymn “Oh say what is truth” was inspired by a missionary visit here.  We continue to Broadway, a large village to walk along the high street and take delight in its carefully manicured gardens and Cotswolds homes.  We end our day in Cheltenham, where we check into the hotel that we’ll enjoy for three nights and to enjoy your free night. 

Cotswold - Oxford - Blenheim

We start this exciting day with a visit to Blenheim Palace – the absolute pinnacle of stately English homes – and an exhibition on Winston Churchill, who was born here, before transferring to the hallowed and splendid streets of Oxford and stripping back centuries of history. Our tour winds its way through stately colleges and grassy meadows, to discover some of the Noble and Great Ones. We track the history back to the beginnings of Oxford, to the time of the miraculous Frieswide, and then build layer upon layer of famous names after famous names. We learn the history behind the iconic images of the Radcliffe Camera, the Divinity School, Bodleian Library, and the Ashmolean Museum, and discover the influential John Wycliffe, the Oxford Martyrs, and Wesley’s Holy Club. Throw in some Hobbits and Orcs, Lions and Wardrobes, Green Eggs and Ham, and tonnes of Pilchard; mix in a plethora of Prime Ministers, a remarkable balloon flight, a penicillin breakthrough, a four-minute mile, the King James Bible, Halley’s Comet, and My Fair Lady and you have the beginnings of a splendid stroll through the city! From Oxford, we visit the charming Village of Bampton, which was used for the fictional town of Downton in the famous show Downton Abbey, before heading to Bourton-on-the-water, where we end our day meandering through the Cotswold’s area, famous for its rural nature and warm limestone buildings.

United Brethren Country

Today we discover sites made famous by Wilford Woodruff and the United Brethren. We visit Benbow’s Farm and Castel Frome and learn of the faith and sacrifice of John and Jane Benbow. This is a talk of miracle after miracle. We visit the medieval market town of Ledbury, where we meet William Carter – Utah’s first ploughman – and a welcoming Baptist Church. We follow in the footsteps of Wilford Woodruff, Willard Richards, and Brigham Young to the top of the Herefordshire Beacon for a very important meeting. Plus we get a sense of the influence of these early converts after they emigrated to join the saints of Nauvoo. We meet up with the likes of Thomas Kingston, the head of the United Brethren; William Pitt, the musical convert; James Palmer, a remarkable missionary, and many others. The stories on this tour demonstrate the faith of these early converts as they witness miracles and persecutions unfold in their tiny villages. Included is a special visit to the restored Gadfield Elm chapel – Britain’s first LDS-owned meeting place and an iconic symbol of the United Brethren’s story.

Big Pit Wales -  Castle Combe - Lacock - Avebury

This morning after checkout, we travel to a completely different area and spend the morning descending into the bowels of the earth to taste the world of coal miners and pit ponies. We then move to the village of Castle Combe, which is quite remarkable (with 107 listed buildings; the last ‘new’ house was built here in 1600). The castle from which it takes its name is long gone, but the ambiance of the village permeates it’s pretty streets. Which have provided the film set for several movies. We continue to Lacock, another gem of a village, and you are bound to have already seen it before. These charming streets have served as a backdrop to numerous movies including Pride and Prejudice and the Harry Potter films. The whole village is now owned by the National Trust, who do a great job protecting the ”old world” feel.  We now visit Avebury, which is slightly older than Stonehenge but is a far more intimate experience. The henge here is larger (the largest in the world), some of the stones are 40 tons, and the connection to surrounding monuments is fascinating. We walk among the stones, touch them, and gain an appreciation of why this is a World Heritage Site. We end our day in Bracknell where we check into the hotel that we’ll enjoy for two nights and have dinner together at the hotel.

Hampton Court - Runymede

Today we visit Hampton Court Palace, a wonderful place. Grand brick buildings, an impressive hammer-beam roof, vast Tudor kitchens, and delightful gardens make a great backdrop to the beginnings of the Mayflower story. Between 1527, when Henry VIII wanted his first divorce, and 1604, when James I authorized a new Bible translation, England went on a religious rollercoaster. During those 77 years, this palace witnessed many of those dramatic faith-changing events but for some, the changes were not enough. In hearts and homes around the nation, many felt a spiritual void. We continue to the middle of a field where, alongside the River Thames, King John is forced to sign a document that fails to achieve its aims, yet still changes the world. Enter the world of the Magna Carta. We will return to our hotel to relax for the evening and enjoy dinner together again.

London, England

After we enjoy our full English breakfast in the country, we head to the capital city of London. Our touring today will include historic Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Return Flights to the USA

Today, breakfast is included as you make your way to the airport for return flights home.