Windsor Castle.
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Windsor Castle Royal Apartments
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Upper Thames
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Whately Hall Hotel, Banbury
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Pre-Festival lunch with Fairport at a thatched pub in the Cotswolds.
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Pub time at the Falkland Arms. (Ric Sanders, Nancy Covey & Dave Pegg)
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Richard T. warms up for an 'Aunt Sally' game at the pre Festival lunch as Jerry Donahue, Danny Thompson, Festival Tours & friends look on.
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Cropredy Festival at Dusk
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Durham Cathedral
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Alistair plays the Northumbrian pipes at home in the countryside.
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Hadrian's Wall
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Bamburgh Castle
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Alnwick Castle
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Towie Barclay
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View of Edinburgh Castle from the Grassmarket
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Edinburgh Fringe Festival
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Edinburgh sunset
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- Due to the nature of our tours we are always open to spontaneous additions so this is a tentative schedule of what we will do ... and more!
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- Friday - Saturday, August 4 - Depart USA
- Our tour starts tomorrow! So if you are flying from the USA you need to depart Saturday on an overnight flight that will get you into Windsor in the morning.
If you have reserved an extra night in Windsor (highly recommended) your day and evening are free. Or meet up with fellow tour members invariably in the hotel pub! This is the day of the Olympic Finals for the Rowing competition at Lake Dorney so there is bound to be celebratory festivities in town.
- Sunday, August 5 - Windsor
- From Heathrow airport it is a quick 15 minute taxi ride to Windsor. This can be booked ahead of time through our hotel.
Spend the afternoon enjoying Windsor Castle, which is considered to be the largest inhabited castle in the world, not to mention being the oldest one in continuous occupation (900 years!). No wonder the Queen feels Windsor is her favorite home. Enjoy the quaint shops and restaurants of this riverside town which will likely be even more festive at Olympic time!
We officially begin our tour tonight with a private moonlit dinner cruise down this quiet stretch of the Upper Thames River passing Old Windsor, court of Edward the Confessor; Dachet Meadows where Sir John Falstaff got a ducking in the Merry Wives of Windsor and the playing fields of Eton. We will be serenaded on board by special guest musicians.
- Monday, August 6 - Banbury
- After a relaxed morning in Windsor we travel to the Cotswolds, which is one of the most beautiful counties in all of England. We'll stop for lunch on the way as we meander down cobbled lanes with charming cottages made of famous Cotswold Stone.
Our home this week is the wonderfully English hotel, The Whately Hall, (first recommended by Fairport's Dave Mattacks). It is located right in front of the famous 19th century Banbury Cross.
Tonight we have tickets for Fairport's special pre-festival warmup concert. These intimate warm up gigs are always sold out and often times are some of the best concerts you'll ever hear from the band.
- Tuesday, August 7 - Banbury and environs
- Free day to enjoy the market town of Banbury or take a trip to nearby Oxford, Stratford On Avon or Warwick Castle, all within a half an hour from our hotel, or slightly further afield you can take an hour train ride arriving in the heart of London.
Tonight is the second evening of the Fairport warm up nights and we will have advance tickets available for this sold out show, or you can enjoy a free evening.
- Wednesday, August 8 - Banbury
- We take a short drive to a picturesque Cotswold thatched village pub. We'll spend the afternoon with FAIRPORT band members swapping stories and sipping ale over a pub lunch. A highlight of our afternoon with the band is the traditional Cotswold game of Aunt Sally (which basically consists of throwing a stick at a round wooden doll- great fun!). We hope win back the Festival Tours/Fairport Aunt Sally Cup!
Tonight is free for dinner or music in town, Shakespeare in Stratford, or a relaxed gathering in the hotel pub for our infamous Fairport Trivia contest!
- Thursday - Saturday, August 9 - 11 - Cropredy
- The weekend will be spent at Fairport Convention's incredible Cropredy Festival which is held each year in the green Oxfordshire countryside near the tiny village of Cropredy.
2012 marks the 45th anniversary of Fairport Convention! The anniversary years are extremely special which is why our tour is only offered every 5 years when Cropredy is a full reunion of former and present Fairport members. Next year will feature, among others, Richard Thompson. The 2011 festival just finished so in the coming months Fairport will be confirming all the special guests and performers for this special three day extravaganza.
Fairport's Cropredy Festival has a great atmosphere and has turned into one of the most popular summer festivals in Britain and these reunion years are always sold out.
One of the advantages of our tour is that we have our own private coach that takes you directly onto the festival site as soon as it opens. Then at the end of a music filled day and night you enjoy the luxury of having our warm bus waiting to take you directly back to the Whately Hall Hotel to a cozy bed or nightcap at the bar.
- Sunday, August 12 - England Only tour ends - County Durham
- If you have signed up for the England Only Tour your trip officially ends after breakfast. You can easily get to the airport (Heathrow or Gatwick) from Banbury on National Express coaches.
Those of us on the Full Tour travel north through the rolling English countryside into the heart of Northumberland for a visit to Britains award winning open air museum, The Beamish which is a fantastic introduction to the rich history of life in the Northeast England in the 19th and early 20th centuries. You will have an evening option to visit Durham Cathedral, considered one of the greatest churches ever built (begun in 1081 in the Norman Romanesque style and completed in the Gothic style in the 13th century).
Tonight we stay in a centuries old Norman Castle hotel and enjoy a relaxing candlelit dinner in their elegant Black Knight Restaurant.
- Monday, August 13 - Ellingham, Northumberland
- One of Britain's finest musicians will meet us this morning to be our personal guide to Hadrian's Wall and the heart of Northumberland. Alistair Anderson has the well deserved reputation as the King of the English concertina as well as the Northumbrian pipes. He has been a vital force in keeping the music tradition alive and thriving in this part of the country. Alistair will accompany us as we travel towards the Cheviot Hills, Hadrian's Wall and the Northumbrian landscape that has been the inspiration for so many traditional songs. You will get a chance to walk along Hadrian's Wall and visit the Roman Vindolanda, the most exciting archaeological site on Hadrian's Wall with extensive remains of forts and settlements as well as an incredible museum full of personal belongings left by the Roman inhabitants, including the amazing Vindolanda writing tablets.
Later we are invited to Alistair & Liz Anderson's country home for an afternoon tea of traditional Northumbrian treats before we arrive at our hotel for the next two nights, the privately owned Victorian Gothic mansion, Ellingham Hall. Tonight relax over dinner and maybe share a few Northumbrian tunes.
- Tuesday, August 14 - Ellingham, Bamburgh, Alnwick
- Due to Northumbria's history of hostility against the Scots, there are more strongholds and castles here than in any other part of England! So it's an easy trip to see two castles within a few miles of each other.
This morning visit Bamburgh Castle perched right on the dramatic cliffs overlooking the sea, which was the used by the Northumbrian kings for coronations. Then enjoy a free afternoon in the charming market town of Alnwick with its lovely gardens, shops and restaurants (including one in a treehouse!) as well the splendid Alnwick Castle, described by the Victorians as Windsor of the north (not to mention, Harry Potter was filmed here!).
Back at Ellingham Hall we'll have a casual supper before joining locals in a special evening ceilidh & dance organized by Alistair Anderson featuring some of the best musicians in Northumberland.
- Wednesday & Thursday, August 15-16 - Scottish High and Lowlands / Royal Deeside /
Aberdeenshire
- As we cross over the border into Scotland youll visit one of Scotlands great architectural wonders, the medieval Midlothian Rosslyn Chapel which has inspired myths , legends and yes, the Da Vinci Code.
Traveling on through Perthshire we drive past Balmoral, waving to the Queen, at her Scottish summer residence . Then onto the tranquil town of Banchory, in Kincardineshire which was the inspiration for the well known Scottish tune, Bonnie Banchory. Our hotel is
an 18th century former coaching inn spectacularly situated on the banks of the River Dee.
During our time in Scotland well visit musicians, distilleries and the 16th century Crathes Castle, garden and estate as well as the privately owned Towie Barclay Castle, home of Marc & Karen Ellington, who are good friends with a definite Fairport connection. They live in the heart of Scottish bothy ballad country where a wealth of traditional Scottish songs were written and passed down.
After free time in the day for sightseeing, fishing, and relaxing,well have an informal evening ceilidh with some of the finest Scottish musicians.
- Friday, August 17 - Edinburgh
- The exciting town of Edinburgh! We having timed our trip to be here in time for the world renowned Edinburgh International Festival which is absolutely one of the finest and most diverse and influential festivals in the world -- music, theatre, and comedy take place all over town in every possible corner, venue and street in the city.
Our hotel is in the Grassmarket, an incredibly vibrant and interesting area of Edinburgh. Because of its location, just below Edinburgh Castle, the Grassmarket was a food and cattle market as far back as the 1300s. It is now home to great taverns and shops housed in historic buildings, some of which have been there since the 16th century- including the White Hart Pub, where Robert Burns spent his last night in Edinburgh in 1791.
During the festival the Grassmarket comes alive with music, street performers as well as pubs that stay open late into the night. In the morning youll have a perfect view of the dramatic Edinburgh Castle as you enjoy your oatmeal and Scottish black pudding in the hotel's breakfast room.
- Saturday, August 18 - Edinburgh
- Free day and evening to enjoy the Edinburgh Festival.
In the afternoon meet at Edinburgh's plush Caledonian Hotel for a farewell Traditional Afternoon Scottish Tea.
- Sunday, August 19 - Edinburgh
- Tour officially ends today after breakfast. However we highly recommend you stay and extra day to enjoy the festival.
- London As You Like It: The Olympic Effect
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2012 is Fairport's special anniversary year which happens to coincide with London's Summer Olympics. Some of you may want to join in the festivities while others might wish to stay clear.
Therefore we have 3 London suggestions for you: Before, During and After!
BEFORE: Buy separately a Hotel & Olympics ticket combo available from a big travel agency such as Thomas Cook.
DURING: London is an easy one hour commute by train from both Windsor and Banbury. Take a day to see the sights then return to our calm hotel.
AFTER: Extend your trip. Take a train* or plane down to London after Edinburgh. Spend time in London "post Olympics" (it ends August 12) when hotels and the city have gone back to normal (and so will the prices).
We recommend the scenic train. It goes from the center of Edinburgh to the center of London in less than 5 hours. (Book ahead and save!)
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NEW TOUR PRICES
Full Tour: $3,975
England Only: August 5-12, 2012 - $2,299
Land package / per person / based on double occupancy
Tour Price includes:
* All Hotels
* All Breakfasts
* All Transportation within England and Scotland
* Welcoming Dinner Cruise down the Thames with a special guest musician
* Tickets to all 3 days of Fairport Convention's 45th Anniversary Festival
* Private Pub Lunch with Fairport Convention
* Candelit Dinner at Lumley Castle
* Northumberland's Beamish Museum
* Walk on Hadrian's Wall & visit to the Roman ruins at Vindolanda
* Dinner both nights at Ellingham Hall
* Ceilidh & Dance with Alistair Anderson and Northumbria's finest musicians
* Tour of 15th Century Rosslyn Chapel
* Scottish Ceilidh in Aberdeenshire
* Farewell Afternoon Tea in Edinburgh
... and lots more!
TRAVELING ALONE? No Problem! We can help you find a roommate.
For full details and to sign up for the tour, click here to download the
Booking Information & Conditions and Booking Forms
OR feel free to email us at Festtours@aol.com or merlingr@ix.netcom.com
Want to know more? Call us!
Nancy Covey / Jeff & Joey Thompson
Festival Tours International
15332 Antioch St. #17, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
Fax/Tel (310) 454-4080 / (818) 346-5146
E-mail: Festtours@aol.com
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Nancy researching in Windsor on the bridge to Eton
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