Harry Potter Tour

IN SEARCH OF 'THAT BOY', MAGIC AND MYTHS!
9 days / 8 nights - Saturday to Saturday

Fourth Year of Operation. The Magic Continues with New Sites and Adventures.

Prices: Adult GBP £1,190.00 pp twin share / Child GBP £890.00
Single Supplement: Adult GBP £200.00.00 / Child GBP £120.00
A child is defined as being 11 years or under.

Please Note: if you have 7 or more persons travelling in a private group then you can base the tour price on the above. For group of 6 or less, please contact us for a cost.

To convert to USD, go to http://www.xe.com/ucc/

TENTATIVE ITINERARY	NIGHTSTOP
Day One - Saturday
The wizardry begins on arrival as you're met at one of London's airports by your Back-Roads Touring Co. Ltd guide. 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 have 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.	London
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 Pauls 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. There's an optional visit to the original Hard Rock Cafe for dinner tonight, or to Chinatown. Just tonight, dinner is not included in your tour price.	London
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!	Somerset
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 a steam train like that featured in the films.	Somerset
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...	Gloucester
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!	Oxfordshire
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.	Oxfordshire
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 Henley. This is the stretch of river that inspired Kenneth Graham's 'The Wind in the Willows' and we'll be going into a very special exhibition to learn all about Ratty, Badger and Mr Toad! 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 locations and family action tour and what a day to remember! Dinner is not included tonight but you will have the opportunity to purchase a bagel sandwich from a traditional East End shop if you wish.	London
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.

Arrival and departure airport transfers are NOT included on our short 3 and 4-day tours unless it is specifically stated as being so on your booking confirmation. Airport transfers are, however, normally provided free of cost when you book onto a combination of three or more tours, and on special departures tours of ten days or more, or on customised (tailor-made) tour programmes.

All tours depart from our centrally located base. You are responsible for being at the departure point by the time designated in the itinerary. If you are not booking into our base hotel, you can book a transfer to this from where ever you are staying or we can collect you from any centrally located hotel where you are staying and deliver you to our base hotel at a cost £15.00. Transfers from accommodations further than 20 minutes drive away cost from £25.00.

Where transfers are included (on tours 10 days and over) they are only available on the day preceding and following the start/finish day of the tour from/to the nearest airport to the departure/arrival city. You are able to have one transfer at the beginning and end of the tour. This transfer is to the tour departure hotel or to a hotel of your choice from your airport of arrival in the city from which your tour begins. You are responsible for notifying us of your arrival information no later than six weeks prior to arrival date or you do not qualify for a free airport transfer. Transfers are not provided from rail stations and you have to make your way independently to the departure hotel. If your initial transfer is not to the tour hotel (but to one that you've booked independently prior to the tour starting) then you are obliged to make your own way to our tour hotel on the morning of departure. However, should you not have had an initial airport transfer, then you can be transferred, free of charge from the hotel you're using prior to the tour to the tour hotel. Similarly, at the completion of the tour, you may take either a return transfer to the airport or a transfer from the tour hotel to another one in which you might be staying for an extended time.

All tours commence from a major city. Accommodation in the departure city, prior and post tour is NOT included and must be reserved separately.

Accommodation is in three-star or equivalent lodgings. All rooms are with private facilities (bathrooms), unless specifically informed at the time of booking your tour.

Accommodations include country inns, manor houses, cosy farmhouses and quaint family owned B+B's whilst on tour (see Booking Conditions for exceptions). Where not available, properties of similar standards are used.

PLEASE NOTE: the vast majority of the accommodations we use do not have traditional-style porterage (neither do they have lifts/elevators). Your guide, however, will normally be able to assist with your baggage. BUT please do note that if you bring along bags that are heavier than the normal standard airline permissable weight and size, European Health and Safety regulations apply. Under these circumstances, guides will be within their rights should they be reluctant to carry that bag.

All transportation aboard our comfortable 6 to 16 seat mini-coaches and the services of a driver/guide throughout.

Cooked breakfast daily* whilst on tour and minimum two-course dinners every night**. See detailed tour itinerary for full meal inclusions. There is inevitably a budget for dinners but it is normally more than sufficient to cover a free choice of the menu. However, should the group dine in places where the costs of the meals are substantailly higher than the budget allows, particpants will have an option of adding to the budget on an ad hoc basis if wanting higher priced menu items.

*In tour arrival cities - London, Paris, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Nice, Rome and Dublin, continental breakfast is sometime served. All tours on the European mainland include continental breakfast.

**On all tours over four nights where individual short tours are combined, the dinner between tours not included (unless specifically stated as such in the tour itinerary) to allow tour participants some independence and flexibility. Dinners are never included in arrival and departure cities unless specifically stated in the tour itinerary.

All sightseeing and entrance fees to sights mentioned as possible visits in the itinerary, or when accompanied by driver/guide, up to a budget specified by the guide. Tour participants may be asked to pay an entrance fee fro attractions and sights they may have specifically requested that be visited and are not normally included on a tour itinerary. All taxes. All tips and gratuities (except to guide/companion) to outside suppliers but you're free to supplement if the service warrants such.

No Cancellation Guarantee - once a deposit has been made, we promise that we will only cancel the tour in extreme circumstances (eg. where local or organisational circumstances make it impossible for us to deliver our tour). Historically we have never cancelled a tour simply because we have low numbers. If you have invested your travel dreams with us, we will do our best to honour them! In the current economic/political climate, however, it must be understood that we have to reserve the legal right to cancel where the number of tour participants may make a tour uneconomic to run and doing so may effect our corporate health. Where we have accepted your booking, and it later becomes apparent that you might be the only person(s) on that tour, Back-Roads Touring Co. Ltd will notify you of such and give you the opportunity of changing to another departure, or for you to cancel your tour without cost.