Our 10-day Britain at War Tour visits the intellectual and historical hotspots, carving out a clear journey through history that will help you understand and connect with this unparalleled moment in time. On this tour, we delve into the "fight for the skies" and discover the experiences of the besieged civilians during the months before the Royal Air Force fought off the German aerial assault. We then explore the origins of Operation Overlord, from the code-breaking at Bletchley Park to the leadership at Southwick House. In the last days of the journey, we visit The Tank Museum in Bovington, to learn about the history of tanks. We finish our tour with a visit to the standing stones at Stonehenge.
After our orientation dinner in London, we will spend the next few days visiting the most important sites of the British war effort and the development of Operation Overlord. This leg focuses on World War II in England. In our exploration of London, Bletchley and Uxbridge, we will have the chance to investigate the war effort, discover its underlying tensions, interact with the innovations it brought about, and pay our respects to the combined efforts of the Allied troops. At Bletchley Park, the main center of the British codebreaking during World War II, you will marvel at the intellectual achievements of the Ultra intelligence agents to decipher the secret communications of the Axis Powers. We visit the medieval Dover castle and its underground tunnel system that functioned as an air-raid shelter, underground hospital and military command center during the war.
We travel to the southern coast of England, where we will experience the D-Day Story museum in Portsmouth before visiting the planning site of the Normandy Landings. You will have the chance to walk on board of the last surviving Landing Craft Tank from D-Day and to see the Overlord Embroidery, the modern-day counterpart of the Bayeux Tapestry telling the story of D-Day. We spend an entire day exploring the vehicular inventions at the Tank Museum in Bovington, that also houses the largest collection of tanks in the world including Tiger 131 the world’s only running Tiger I tank. Our visit to Portsmouth would not be complete without seeing the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard that is home to HMS Victory, Lord Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, plus the HMS Warrior and many more.
During the last leg of our journey back towards London, we stop at one of the most famous landmarks in the United Kingdom, the prehistorical standing stones of Stonehenge, regarded as a British cultural icon. Our last stop will be at Littlecote House that was the regimental headquarters for the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. Easy Company was part of this regiment, and they took off from here during the night of June 5-6, 1944 as part of the Normandy Landings. From Littlecote House, we will travel back to London where the tour ends with a chance for reflection and community over a farewell dinner. The next day, our Passengers are brought to London Heathrow airport for their return flights.
Relax after a long flight and ease your mind knowing that your Tour Director will meet you at the airport on the first day of the tour, avoiding extra navigating and expensive taxi fares. With our all-inclusive tour package, we handle all the details of your tour, so you can focus on experiencing this trip of a lifetime. Sit back and let us wine and dine you as you explore history with our carefully planned itinerary, with all breakfasts, dinners and entrance fees included. You will sleep soundly each night at 4-star accommodations. Breakfasts are delicious and authentic, while the two-three course dinners are mix of buffet and limited menu dining options which offer a chance to taste some of the local wines or beers as well. This tour includes a 24/7 Tour Director and several local guides. Our dynamic, knowledgeable Tour Directors are with you from your arrival at the airport to departure on the final day. They proactively smooth the way for your entire tour experience. Our handpicked, trusted local guides are fluent in English and expert historians, who deliver their impressive wealth of knowledge, anecdotes, and local insights with skill that shows their years of research and experience.
Beaches of Normandy ToursBand of Brothers Tours48 Rue de Thouays, 50480 Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, Normandy, France
Phone: +1 855-473-1999Monday - Friday, 10am - 6pm ETe-mail: info@beachesofnormandy.com
They always address topics onsite so that you get to experience history where it happened as they guide both popular destinations and obscure locations only the locals would know. Do not worry about availability, wait times, or ticket costs as all museum and site admissions are pre-arranged and included in the cost of our all-inclusive tours. On this tour you ride in style in our motorcoaches complete with climate control, video entertainment and extra leg room. Our skilled, professional drivers maximize your tour time by navigating the busiest highways and tightest country lanes, giving you more time at sites and less time subjected to the inflexible scheduling, delays and crowded areas that accompany public transport. For those who want to stay connected, Wi-fi is available at all our hotels and on all of our buses.