PBS Utah - The Yorkshire Edition
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Daily Itinerary

We arrive in London and head to the beautiful Rockwell hotel to settle in. We will not surrender to jetlag so no napping for us. We will meet at 4pm in the hotel lobby and embark on a leisurely walk through the royal borough of Kensington. We will end our stroll at San Pietro for a delicious welcome dinner and then make our way back to the Rockwell for an early night. Busy day tomorrow!

Hotel: The Rockwell Hotel, London
Meals: D

We will breakfast at the hotel and then we’re off to say hello to our old friend London town. We will make our way to Westminster Pier to board a river cruise that will take us down the river to Greenwich. During the 60 min journey we will pass all of the iconic London landmarks including the Palace of Westminster, the London Eye, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, St Paul’s Cathedral, and the Tower of London.

We will disembark in historic Greenwich where we spend the rest of the morning exploring places like the National Maritime Museum, Queens House, Old Royal Naval College, or Cutty Sark. We will lunch at Greenwich Market and afterwards take the tube back to London where the rest of the day is yours to explore the city, the world is your oyster!

We’ll reconvene in the evening to take in a show in the West End.

Hotel: The Rockwell Hotel, London
Meals: B, L

No PBS trip to England would be complete without a day at Downton Abbey! After we breakfast at the hotel we’ll spend a full day exploring filming locations of the TV series. We’ll visit Cogges Farm which served as Yew Tree Farm and the village of Bampton: the real-life village which stood in for the fictional Downton. There we’ll see the exteriors of Matthew Crawley’s former home, the 12th Century church, Downton hospital, Isabel Crawley’s home, Churchgate house, and more.

We’ll spend the afternoon at Highclere Castle, the real-life Downton Abbey. Home of the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, the castle dates back to the 17th century and has between 250 and 300 rooms! We’ll tour the library, great hall, salon, and dining room. Head upstairs for a look at Lady Grantham’s, Sybil’s, Edith’s and Lady Mary’s bedrooms, the cellars, and old staff quarters. We’ll also have time to explore the magnificent gardens.

Lunch will be on your own with your choice of one of the castles many tea rooms or refreshment stands. At the end of the day the coach will return us to London for an early night. We are away to Yorkshire in the morning.

Hotel: The Rockwell Hotel
Meals: B

We will breakfast early and head to King’s Cross station to catch a high-speed train to Harrogate. This beautiful Victorian spa town features in the series Last Tango in Halifax and was the bolt-hole for Agatha Christie when she mysteriously disappeared for 11 days in 1926. Once we arrive in Harrogate we will walk the short distance to our hotel, the Yorkshire, to check in.

After a short rest, it’s time for tea! First opened in 1919, Bettys is a Harrogate tradition. You’ll be serenaded by a pianist as you enjoy a lavish selection of dainty sandwiches, specially selected teas, and irresistible miniature cakes and scones.

Then the rest of the day is yours to explore the town or rest up for tomorrow adventures.

Hotel: The Yorkshire
Meals: B, T

We will breakfast early at the hotel and then board our own private coach for a full day tour of the Yorkshire Dales and the filming locations of the newest PBS hit All Creatures Great and Small.

In 1939, James Alfred Wright became a veterinarian in Yorkshire where he practiced for almost 50 years in the town of Thirsk. In the 1960’s he began writing about his experiences as a vet under the pseudonym James Herriot and the rest, as they say, is history.

Our tour will take across the Yorkshire Dales visiting iconic filming sites along the way. We’ll stop at Broughton Hall which serves as Mrs. Pumphrey’s house, travel to the main filming location: the village of Grassington, visit the stand in for Helen’s farm: Yockenthwaite Farm, and we’ll walk down to Bardon Bridge: a location where a number of stand offs took place over who had he right of way over the narrow bridge! We will travel up hill and down dale taking in the beautiful scenery not only from this much-loved series but the landscape that inspired the Brontës in their writing as they grew up in the Yorkshire Dales. We’ll even throw in the Castle Bolton where Mary Queen of Scotts was imprisoned.

We will even get a chance to grab a favorite lunch of Wallace and Gromit.

This is a delightfully full day which covers some of the most picturesque routes through the Dales including picture postcard villages, rolling fields with miles of dry-stone walls and locations from the All Creatures Great and Small TV series.

Once we return to Harrogate, we will enjoy a delicious 3 course dinner at The Pickled Sprout

Hotel: The Yorkshire
Meals: B,D

Today we will breakfast at the hotel and then have the morning to explore Harrogate. We will board the public bus around 11:00 AM to make our way to Harewood House.

Harewood House is a popular filming location in Yorkshire. It played itself in the 2019 Downton Abbey movie and has also appeared as Buckingham Palace in the popular PBS series Victoria as well as Pemberley in Death Comes to Pemberley.

We will enjoy a private tour of the grand home and then spend the afternoon exploring the house and 120 acres of impressive gardens and grounds. You can grab a snack or lunch on the grounds as you enjoy the glorious vistas and take in all you’ve learned on the trip thus far.

Afterward we will return to Harrogate and the rest of the day is yours to explore the town or rest up for tomorrow adventures

Hotel: The Yorkshire
Meals: B

Even though the filming locations for Downton Abbey are located in the southern part of England, the Grantham family are from Yorkshire. The fictional Downton Abbey is located in Yorkshire and York is the nearest “big town” to that great estate.

York is the birthplace of the Kit Kat and it is also the unofficial capital of Yorkshire and has a beautifully preserved medieval city. So, really, there is something for everyone here.

Today we will breakfast at the hotel and then board the train for York. We’ll start with a two-hour walking tour of the old city. After which the rest of the day is yours to explore.

After returning to Harrogate we will meet up at a local restaurant for our final dinner in Yorkshire.

Hotel: The Yorkshire
Meals: B, D

We will breakfast early at the hotel and then depart for London.

After checking back in to The Rockwell we will make our way to Kensington Palace and Gardens and spend the day exploring the place Queen Victoria was born and spent her childhood (she learned she had become queen when visitors arrived to the palace in the early morning on 20 June, 1837).

Afterwards the rest of the day is yours to do whatever is left on your bucket list to do. Perhaps you want to explore the V & A or the Natural History Museum, maybe you want to get some shopping done. Perhaps an afternoon on the South Bank is more your style or maybe heading to Camden or East London. Maybe, it’s all of the above! You are free, go nuts!

We will meet in the evening at Wahaca in Covent Garden for our farewell dinner

Hotel: The Rockwell Hotel
Meals: B, D

We will breakfast at the hotel and then your trip leaders will send you off on your next adventure. You will leave us with a new love of the Yorkshire countryside and the rich history of the north country and its relationship to some of your favorite PBS shows.

Meals: B