Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow

We arrive at the hotel by our own arrangements. The group comes together for a welcome dinner in the evening.

We begin our first full day with an introductory lecture on the Liverpool’s history and industrial legacy, led by a local speaker/guide. Following this, we embark on a half-day walking tour to orientate in the city and to view the most notable buildings.

These include the Liverpool Cathedral, which is a spectacular building, and the world’s largest Anglican Cathedral. Also, we’ll view the iconic Royal Liver Building, an astonishing waterfront structure on the River Mersey built from 1908-1911 to hold the Royal Liver Group. It is part of UNESCO’s World Heritage designated Maritime Mercantile City area of Liverpool.

After the tour, the remainder of your day is free to relax or further explore the city.

Today we enjoy a full day of sightseeing focusing on the city’s maritime history. There are multiple renowned museums with this theme, including the Merseyside Maritime Museum and the Great Port Gallery, both of which we visit today. And we enjoy a sightseeing cruise on the famous Mersey Ferry.

An on-site guide will also take us on a tour of the Old Dock between museum visits.

Today is a day of self-guided visits to some of Liverpool’s most enlightening cultural institutions.

We begin with a visit to the Walker Art Gallery, which houses an extraordinary collection of art, from classical European painting to excellent contemporary works. Then we visit the Tate Liverpool, renowned for its contemporary exhibitions.

As a city with a history of slave-trading, Liverpool is also home to the International Slavery Museum. Here we will see horrifying and incredible stories that cover the more than 2,000 year history of slavery, along with England’s role in the trade.

Tonight, we have a group dinner at a local restaurant.

Today, we head out from Liverpool for a full day guided excursion to nearby Wirral Peninsula and Port Sunlight. The Wirral Transport Museum is a recently renovated local museum housing many original vehicles from the early 20^th century, and we can take a short return journey on the heritage railway.

We’ll also visit the Port Sunlight Museum and Garden Village. This is a quaint and pretty nineteenth century garden village that was created for the Sunlight Soap factory workers! It includes is a walking trail, rotating exhibitions, a tea room, and a gift shop.

Today we enjoy another full day of sightseeing. This includes a guided tour of the Williamson Tunnels. We know that these were built by local philanthropist Joseph Williamson from 1810-1849, but the reason for their existence remains contentious. His claim was that the project’s purpose was simply a project to employ the poor. What we do know is that Joseph Williamson was a notorious eccentric who once released all the bird’s in his wife’s aviary because he could not bear to see them held captive.

We also visit Sudley House, a nearby stately home which was home to a Victorian merchant.

Today is free for you to do as you wish. You might further explore Liverpool, or simply rest and recuperate before we continue on to Newcastle tomorrow. We spend our last evening in Liverpool with a group dinner at a local restaurant.

We begin the morning heading to Liverpool station. From there, we take a 3 hour train journey to Newcastle and once we arrive, transfer to our accommodation.

The group will have their introductory lecture on the city’s history and industrial legacy (led by a local speaker/guide) this afternoon after arrival at the hotel.

In the afternoon we attend an introductory lecture during which we learn about the history of Newcastle and it’s industrial past and formative coal mining heritage.

In the evening, we enjoy a group dinner at a local restaurant.

On our first full day in Newcastle, we spend the morning taking a half-day tour of the city’s main sights. We view Grey’s Monument, an impressive monument to Charles Grey, built in 1838. We also see the Tyne Bridge and Swing Bridge, both architecturally impressive feats of engineering. The afternoon is free at your leisure.

Today we enjoy a full day of sightseeing, spending time at museums and institutes with the them of the region’s industrial history. Our first destination is the Discovery Museum, which has the world’s first steam-turbine-powered steamship, the Turbinia, as well as many exhibits on local history – such as the Destination Tyneside exhibition.

We then tour the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers (NEIMME), more commonly known as The Mining Institute, which possesses one of the largest collections of mining information in the world. We then head to the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne (known as The Lit & Phil), which is a must-visit museum and library for any book lovers, established 225 years ago.

Finally, we visit The Great North Museum: Hancock, which houses an exhibition on Roman settlement in the area and on Hadrian’s Wall.

We spend the first half of today in Newcastle’s Quayside area. First, we visit the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, which is, strikingly, a converted flour mill positioned on the riverside. Very active in its original form, it reopened as a gallery in 2002.

We then take a guided tour of the Victoria Tunnel, which was a subterranean wagonway designed to transport coal from a local colliery down to the boats for exporting. In the afternoon, we can take the Metro to visit the George Stephenson Railway Museum in North Shields.

In the evening, we enjoy dinner together at a local restaurant.

Today we venture beyond Newcastle.

First, we travel to Woodhorn where we visit the Woodhorn Museum. Woodhorn is a village in Northumberland with a history of coal mining and that history is documented by the museum, showcasing original equipment and buildings and telling the stories of how workers survived.

We then head to Cragside to see Cragside Estate, which holds a place in history for being the first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectric power.

Then, to Bamburgh to see Bamburgh Castle, built in the 11th century and looming over the local village. We return to Newcastle in the evening.

Again, today, we spend the day exploring out of Newcastle.

We begin by travelling to Shildon where we’ll visit The National Railway Museum. It’s home to many locomotives from the National Collection, including the original ‘Sans Pareil’ a steam locomotive built by Timothy Hackworth in 1829 and tested out on the Liverpool-Manchester Railway.

Then we head from Shildon to Killhope where we’ll visit The North of England Lead Mining Museum. This museum is on the site of a former working lead mine, set within the scenic North Pennines AONB.

From here, we will head to Once Brewed, a village in Northumberland that is only a few miles from Housesteads Fort. We travel to the Fort, which is a stunning part of Hadrian’s Wall’s remains.

Today we head from Newcastle to Glasgow. In the morning, we board a coach to transfer to Newcastle train station, where we take a train for the 2.5 hour journey to Glasgow. On arrival we transfer to the hotel. Once there, we attend an afternoon lecture during which we’ll learn about the city’s past, and particularly its ship-building heritage.

On our first full day in Glasgow we begin with a half-day introductory city walking tour. We visit George Square and also take a guided tour of the magnificent Glasgow City Chambers.

Then we indulge in afternoon tea at the delightful Cup Tea Lounge, a tea room with a Victorian interior. The remainder of the day is free to do what you will.

This morning, we undertake a half-day guided tour of Merchant City, during which we view the Tolbooth Steeple, Hutchesons’ Hall, and Central Train station. We also learn about Glasgow’s role in the slave trade throughout history, before visiting the Gallery of Modern Art.

The remainder of the day is free, before we come together for dinner at a local restaurant.

Today will begin with a tour of the Cloisters at the University of Glasgow. We then visit the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery where we are given a guided tour. This is Scotland’s oldest public museum, and has a very impressive collection of art and objects of antiquity.

We then take a walking tour, during which we visit a number of museums galleries and libraries, including the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, Dali’s ‘Christ of St John of the Cross’ Museum, and the Mitchell Library.

Today we begin by exploring Holmwood House, the most elaborate villa designed by Scottish architect Alexander Thomson. Completed in 1858, it is a glorious example of the Greek Revival style. We also get to enter the oddly named House for an Art Lover a combination art gallery and exhibition space in a traditional stately home. We then see The Lighthouse, which is Scotland’s Centre for Design and Architecture. This is a wonderful building in Central Glasgow that holds all sorts of exhibitions and events.

Today is a full day focusing on Glasgow’s shipbuilding heritage, with a focus on the area of Clydebank. We take guided tours of both the Tall Ship and the Titan Crane. We will learn all about Glasgow’s maritime history at the Riverbank Museum of Transport and Travel.

Today is our final full day of the tour! We take advantage of our location in Glasgow by travelling to some nearby sites. We take a coach to New Lanark, where we enter the New Lanark Heritage Site. We then travel to Falkirk where we take a wheel boat cruise. And finally travel to Stirling to see the famed Stirling Castle, one of Scotland’s largest castles.

We return to Glasgow and have a farewell dinner in a local restaurant.

This is the final day of the tour, and in the morning, we make our own way to the airport.