We Do More Than Asia
Music is universal and creates its own history. Rockin’ & Rollin’ England is an odyssey back to the 60’s. Medieval attractions are intertwined with your music adventure beginning in London with the Beatles and exploring area influences on those iconic bands to follow considered as the “British Beat”. Admire Royal Albert Hall before embarking travelling to Liverpool to see Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields. Visit Manchester and see its equivalent to Madison Square Gardens. Tour the BBC Studios in Birmingham. Enjoy the diverse culture of Wales. Rockin’ & Rollin’ England is your romp through rhythmical time no matter what age you are!
Day 1 – London
Arrive in London where you will be met and driven to your hotel. Visit Piccadilly Circus, Trafalger Square and the National Gallery.
Day 2 – London
After breakfast, tour the Tower of London learning its history as a great fortress and glimpse the Crown Jewels. At Town Pier, take a river cruise downstream to Greenwich Palace and back. It is here that the international Meridian is located and GMT. The Palace used to be the home of Henry the VIII. Also at Greenwich are the Tea Clipper Ship, The Cutty Sark and the Gipsy Moth IV. This afternoon visit the Queen’s residence, Buckingham’s Palace.
Day 3 – London
Today explore the history of the Beatles. See Abbey Road and other famous sites associated with the Fab 4! You end the tour at Totenham Court Road. Continue on to Covent Garden. The Plaza and open street market is a wonderful cultural place with street performers, cafes and shops and is bohemian artsy area. The Opera House and Drury Lane Theatre are near here. Mid afternoon, visit Royal Albert Hall, one of the UK’s most treasured and distinctive buildings . Since its opening in 1871, the world’s leading artists from every kind of performance genre have appeared on its stage. The Beatles played Royal Albert Hall in 1963 live in front of an audience for a BBC radio broadcast.
Day 4 – London/Liverpool
Drive to Liverpool visiting the Salisbury Cathedral/Magna Carta and Stonehenge en route. Check into your hotel. The Salisbury Cathedral is considered to be one of the leading examples of Early England Architecture. The Magna Carta, one of the first documents ever forced upon a British king by his subjects, can also be seen. Stonehenge is a prehistoric monuments and one of the most famous sites in the world. Earthworks surround a circular setting of standing stones. It is at the center of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds.
Day 5 – Liverpool
This morning you expand your Beatles knowledge and see the Cavern, Ringo’s home at Madryn Street and the Dingle, John Lennon’s home at Mendips, Penny Lane, Paul McCartney’s home at Forthlin Road, Strawberry Fields, St. Peter’s Woolton, George Harrison’s home at Arnold Grove, The Art College, Gambier Terrace, Liverpool Institute, and Mathew Street. In the afternoon “Ferry Cross the Mersey” as the song by Gerry and the Pacemakers says. There’s no better way to experience Liverpool & Merseyside than from the deck of the famous Mersey Ferry. Take the ferry across the Mersey and learn about the city region’s fascinating history, see its spectacular sights and discover its unique character written in songs of the sixties.
Day 6 – Liverpool/Manchester/Liverpool
Today you explore Manchester. The city of Manchester was the home to many sixties bands which included the Hollies, Herman’s Hermits and the Bee Gees. Much of Manchester’s history stems from textile manufacture during the Industrial revolution. Manchester was for a time the most productive center of cotton processing, and later the world’s largest marketplace for cotton goods for which it was dubbed “Cottonopolis” during the Victorian era. It was from this laborious town that some of the most influential music of the sixties was born. See Manchester’s main pop music venue, the Manchester Evening News Arena. Seating over 21,000, it is the largest arena of its type in Europe and the busiest indoor arena in the world ahead of Madison square Garden and the O2 Arena London. Manchester is also home to the BBC Philharmonic. Visit the Manchester Art Gallery on Mosley Street which houses a permanent collection of European painting, and has one of Britain’s most significant collections of Pre-Raphaelite paintings.
Day 8 – Liverpool/Birmingham/Cardiff
Drive to Cardiff exploring Birmingham en route. Early 1960s featured early progressive rock and blues bands such as The Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, The Fortunes and The Moody Blues. The electric Light orchestra was also from Birmingham. The city is often cited as the birthplace of heavy metal music in the late 1960s, with Black Sabbath and Judas Priest coming from Birmingham. Robert Plant, later a member of Led Zeppelin and being local to the city, played in bands which were part of the Birmingham music scene, frequently in the city. Tour the BBC Studios and explore the Jewelry Quarter Museum.
Day 9 – Cardiff
After breakfast, tour Cardiff– Cardiff Castle, Civic Centre, Millennium Centre and Millennium Stadium. Although the music scene in Wales was back burner to other parts of England then, an alternative rock band emerged from North Wales called the Alarm with Mike Peters (founder of Love, Hope & Strength–“fighting cancer one concert at a time”) and placed it on the rock & roll music map in the 70’s. The Alarm opened for Bob Dylan and U2.
Day 10 – Cardiff/London
Drive to London and after your hotel check -in, spend remaining time at leisure to shop.
Day 11 – Depart London
Transfer to the airport for your departure flight.
