England’s Canterbury Cathedral has been the site of murders, mysteries and celebrations in its 1400 year old history. It is truly one of the most beautiful and awe inspiring buildings in the land. Our guided tours include the complete interior, but for many a look behind the scenes is the most fascinating part of their visit. There are some 220 people who work on preparing Services, creating beautiful music, restoring the stained glass or conserving unique and rare books and documents, much as the monks did many centuries ago. We can now arrange for our groups visiting the Cathedral to now experience these fascinating aspects of Cathedral life. Click here for further information on our faith based group tours.
Canterbury Cathedral – Behind The Scenes
December 20th, 2011Dickens 200th Anniversary
December 13th, 2011
Britain celebrates the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens in 2012. The Museum of London is hosting Britain’s first major exhibition dedicated to Dickens to the author in 40 years.
Recreating the atmosphere of Victorian London through sound and projections, you’ll be taken on a haunting journey to discover the city that inspired his writings. Paintings, photographs, costume and objects will illustrate themes that Dickens wove into his works, while rarely seen manuscripts including Bleak House and David Copperfield – written in the author’s own hand – will offer clues to his creative genius.
During your visit you’ll discover how Dickens’ childhood experiences of London, working in a blacking factory while his father was locked away in a debtor’s prison, were introduced into the stories he wrote. The great social questions of the 19th century, including wealth and poverty, prostitution, childhood mortality and philanthropy, will also be examined, all of which set the scene for Dickens’ greatest works.
Highlights of the exhibition will include an innovative audio-visual experience bringing to life the desk and chair where Dickens worked on his novels, and a specially commissioned film by one of the UK’s leading documentary filmmakers, William Raban, which will explore the similarities between London after dark today and the night time city described by Dickens over 150 years ago.
As always, we have a multitude of ideas for you for group itineraries built around this and other literary themes. So be thinking about those English school teachers or local libraries who might make good prospects for forming a group trip. Our itinerary library is but a click away.
Britain’s National Football Museum
December 4th, 2011
Britain’s National Football (soccer) Museum, due to open in Manchester next year, plans to show visitors the ‘greatest collection of football memorabilia ever assembled’. They will be able to see more than 140,000 objects, works of art and photographs. These include a shirt from the world’s first international match, played in 1872, the ball used in the 1966 World Cup Final and the shirt worn by Maradona during the 1986 ‘Hand of God’ quarter-final match between England and Argentina. There will also be a changing temporary exhibition programme to show the part played in English football by fashion, art and photography. The museum will provide a permanent home for football’s Hall of Fame. There will be an awards ceremony every year for the new ‘legends’ added to the Hall of Fame. Select Travel provides a wide variety of European football and soccer tours to Britain and Europe. Take a look at one of our sample itineraries . Further information on the museum is available at www.nationalfootballmuseum.com
World Of Shakespeare Exhibition
December 1st, 2011
The British Museum will stage a major exhibition in collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company. It will revisit William Shakespeare’s stories and tell them anew to London in 2012.
400 years ago, the playhouse dominated society, from the lowliest groundlings to kings and queens. Spanning the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, Shakespeare used the playhouse – an exciting new way to present drama – to showcase his own particular take on history and contemporary cultures from across the world. His influence was huge in his own time and his tales echo down through the ages. The exhibition will provide a unique insight into the emerging role of London as a world city, seen through the lens of Shakespeare’s plays.
Maps, prints, drawings, paintings and tapestries will sit alongside arms and armour, books, coins, medals and much more. These objects will show the world that Shakespeare knew, highlight his importance at the time, and reveal how one man’s work has such a universal appeal. As well as the fantastic range of objects drawn from the British Museum’s collection and across Europe, contemporary performance will also bring Shakespeare’s world to life. Its all part of the World Shakespeare Festival which is part of London 2012 Festival
Floriade 2012
November 10th, 2011
Just like the Oberammergau Passion Play, Floriade, comes but once every 10 years, and 2012 is THE year.
Hosted from April to October 2012 in The Netherlands, Floriade offers an extraordinarily expansive exhibition of all things floral and horticultural.
It’s a truly “must see” for gardeners of all types. So from the casual weekend green thumb to the aspiring Master Gardener, Floriade should be on the agenda for next year. In our opinion 1 or 2 days at Floriade is sufficient and the fact it runs from Spring through Autumn allows you to combine it with many other events and activities – tulip time in Amsterdam or the summer flower markets of The Hague and Rotterdam.
Others may prefer to make the quick hop across the North Sea to London and combine their agenda with the Chelsea Flower Show, Hampton Court Flower Show or some of the wonderful public and private gardens of England.
Its NOT too late to make it happen – we are delighted to be welcoming numerous groups to Floriade. Our wealth of knowledge on the event means we can get your trip up and to market within days.
As always, an example of what is possible can be found online.
German Christmas Markets
November 8th, 2011
The end of November heralds the opening of the German Christmas Markets season. It runs through the Advent period which is essentially the first 3 weeks of December each year.
Its a wonderful romantic time to spend in the Bavarian towns of Munich, Coburg, Augsburg, Bamberg and Nuremberg as well as a host of smaller villages which dot the Romantik Road.
While its too late to plan for 2011, may we suggest that now presents just the perfect time to pique the interest of your group leaders to plan a 2012 Christmas Markets adventure.
As always we will custom design your itinerary – perhaps a long weekender to a more extensive 7-8 nights, perhaps continuing to Salzburg or Vienna or northward to Berlin. In need of inspiration? Take a peak at our sample program.
We invite you to review our sample itinerary online here.
As always, we’ll custom design every aspect of the itinerary, Request a group proposal
Garden Tours Beckon for ’12 and ’13
November 3rd, 2011When the London 2012 Olympic flame has been extinguished we expect a lot of interest in London and Great Britain in general.
While Spring and early Summer are the more traditional times to visit Britain’s gardens, the Autumn Fall colours and dramatically smaller crowds provide a stunning time to visit. 
Internationally renouned gardens such as The National Trust’s Stourhead in Wiltshire and the nearby National Arboretum at Westonbirt are “must sees”, but also lesser known smaller gems such as The Four Seasons Garden in The Heart of England. Twice nominated as Garden of the Year, we feel it is at its best in September and October. Select Travel Service are experts in general and specific garden tours of Britain, Ireland and Continental Europe. View our sample garden tour itineraries here. They include tours that visit The Flower Shows at Chelsea and Courson and of course for 2012 Floriade in the Netherlands for which we still have a few tours available for small and larger group sizes.
Military History Museum, Dresden
October 27th, 2011
Located in the German city of Dresden, the Military History Museum has reopened with a totally new look and forward thinking way of presenting its collections. Deliberately provocative, a new exhibition hall is designe by controversial architect Daniel Libeskind. The presentations move away from the traditional means of looking at military equipment and campaigns, preferring to draw the visitor into the social roots, effects and nuances of war. This includes a multiple senses depiction of the smells and sounds of the WWI trenches. Another recreats the fear that war brings to both soldiers and civilians with the simulation of bombing campaigns from around the globe including the Hiroshima mushroom cloud. There is way too much good stuff to detail here. Sufficient to say, a visit to the museum is a “must see” for an student of military history, young or not so young. Select Travel has a long list of sample military history itineraries and as always design each one to suit the needs of every group.
The World’s Best Whisky Named
October 25th, 2011
A single malt whisky from the Old Pulteney Distillery in Wick in Northern Scotland has just been named the world’s best whisky. Tours of the distillery are possible and can be combined with The Highland Park Distillery on nearby Orkney and the classic distilleries of Speyside are not far. We operate private specialised itineraries for whisky lovers with itineraries available on request only (Scotland, Ireland and yes Wales and England) or indeed combined with our more standard Classic Drinks of Britain or the Scenic Scotland All programs are of course custom designed to suit every group’s specific requirements.
Chicago comes to London
October 21st, 2011
London’s West End will welcome Ugly Betty star America Ferrera in the of Roxie Hart in Chicago, The Musical which will re-open on 7 November 2011 at the Garrick Theatre. America Ferrera, who is best known across the world as Ugly Betty from the hit TV series of the same name, joins the musical for eight weeks only. Chicago is based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins, has a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. This production has choreography by Ann Reinking in the style of Bob Fosse and is directed by Walter Bobbie. As always Select Travel offers the finest London theatre tours and we welcome your enquiries for groups not just for theatre in London, but also Britain’s regional theatres as well as Dublin. A fine selection of sample theatre and other performing arts related itineraries is available here.