In Transit: Overnight flight from North America.

Arrive To: London. Transfers to Bath (POPs complete the Participant Information Form on-line).

Lunch: In the hotel if arriving by lunchtime (12:30pm).

Afternoon: Check in and free time. Welcome meeting with Kevin Flude, course director, before dinner.

Dinner: In the hotel.

Evening: At leisure.

Lodging: Hilton Bath City

Meals Included: Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Full English and continental breakfast in the hotel.

Morning: Lecture by Kevin Flude, course director. "England, Landscape and the Novel". Tea/coffee. Lecture: "Regency Jane Austen: Bath, Balls and Bonnets".

Lunch: In the hotel.

Afternoon: Walk to Pulteney Bridge and the Jane Austen Centre. In the early eighteenth century, under the direction of the socialite, Beau Nash, Bath became England’s premier spa town, where the rich and celebrated members of fashionable society gathered to ‘take the waters’ and enjoy the towns theatres and concert rooms. The Royal Crescent is described as the finest example of the Palladian style in Europe. Its hilltop position gives it unrivalled views over Bath. Number 1 was the first house to be built in the crescent and was given to the Bath Preservation Trust in 1968 and has since been lavishly and accurately restored to the style enjoyed by its former illustrious residents, who included the Duke of York in 1796. It is now a museum depicting a grand town-house of the late 18th century with authentic furniture paintings and carpets. Jane Austen lived in Bath from 1801 to 1806, was a frequent visitor for most of her life, set her novels Persuasion and Northanger Abbey in the city. The Center, which is close to one of the houses where Jane Austen lived, exhibits aspects of her life in Bath.

Dinner: In the hotel.

Evening: At leisure.

Lodging: Hilton Bath City

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Full English and continental breakfast in the hotel.

Morning: Walk the Georgian masterpiece that is the compact city of Bath, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Discover the sweeping Georgian terraces and elegant crescents including No 1 Royal Crescent and The Circus. Field trip to the Assembly. The gentry gathered at the Assembly rooms in the 18th century and they appear in Austen's and they appear in both Persuasion and Northanger Abbey.

Lunch: Excluded so that you can enjoy some of Bath's many cafes, restaurants and pubs. One of the most famous is Sally Lunn's Refreshment House and Museum.

Afternoon: Enjoy afternoon tea at The Pump Room, the elegant backdrop for a cream tea and part of the Roman Bath complex. Regarded as the social heart of Bath for more than two centuries, the Pump Room is a striking neo-classical salon where hot Spa water is drawn for drinking. A trio plays during the tea. Free time.

Dinner: Excluded.

Evening: At leisure.

Lodging: Hilton Bath City

Meals Included: Breakfast

Breakfast: Full English and continental breakfast in the hotel.

Morning: Field trip to the National Trust's medieval Lacock,a charming rural village untouched by modern development. Lacock Village, dating back to the 13th-century, remains largely unchanged over the centuries and has many limewashed, half-timbered and stone houses. During the Middle Ages Lacock became a prosperous and thriving town through its wool industry. The village was well placed for communications, sited as it was on the 'cloth road' from London and the River Avon, which gave access to the sea at Avonmouth near Bristol. Set in rural Wiltshire, Lacock village is famous for its picturesque streets, historic buildings and its more recent role as a television and film location. The Abbey, located at the heart of the village within its own woodland grounds, is a quirky country house of various architectural styles, built upon the foundations of a former nunnery. Visitors can experience the atmosphere of the medieval rooms and cloister court, giving a sense of the Abbey's monastic past. The museum celebrates the achievements of former Lacock resident William Henry Fox Talbot, famous for his contributions to the invention of photography. The medieval village has racked up enough TV and film appearances to be the envy of most Hollywood stars. Credits include Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Moll Flanders and most recently Harry Potter.

Lunch: In a traditional inn such as the George in Lacock.

Afternoon: The coach returns to Bath at 2:30pm. Free afternoon.

Dinner: In the hotel.

Evening: At leisure to explore the local area.

Lodging: Hilton Bath City

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Full English and continental breakfast in the hotel.

Morning: Field trip to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, English Heritage's Stonehenge. Located near Salisbury in the beautiful Wiltshire countryside, it is a highlight of the South West. The true meaning of this ancient, awe-inspiring creation has been lost in the mists of time. Was Stonehenge a temple for sun worship, a healing centre, a burial site or perhaps a huge calendar? How did our ancestors manage to carry the mighty stones from so far away and then, using only the most primitive of tools, build this amazing structure? Surrounded by mystery, Stonehenge never fails to impress. Continue on to Salisbury.

Lunch: Excluded.

Afternoon: Field trip to the cathedral city of Salisbury, featuring the tallest spire in England. Explore the tranquil Close surrounding the Cathedral and handsomely furnished 18th century Mompesson House (location in the 1995 film of Sense and Sensibility) where you can sense the life of Close inhabitants in that century. Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure worked at the cathedral (Melchester) and The Market House, now the City Library was where Jude confessed to Sue that he had married Arabella. Continue to Old Sarum to discover the story of the original Salisbury . The mighty Iron Age hill fort was where the first cathedral once stood and the Romans, Normans and Saxons have all left their mark. Today, 5,000 years of history are told through graphic interpretation panels on site.

Dinner: In the hotel.

Evening: At leisure.

Lodging: Hilton Bath City

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Full English and continental breakfast in the hotel.

Morning: Transfer to Torquay via the dark sinister romanticism of Dartmoor, inspiration to Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. The most famous Sherlock Holmes tale: The Hound of the Baskervilles paints a vivid pictur of a brooding landscape. Deadly Great Grimpen Mire was based on Fox Tor and the standing stones described by Watson can be seen all over the moor. The Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie booked into "the large, dreary " Moorland Hotel to finish her first novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Optional walk to Haytor, probably the most visited tor on Dartmoor with its huge granite mass . There are spectacular views from the National Park's visitor Centre.

Lunch: Packed lunch en route.

Afternoon: Arrive in the English Riviera's Torquay in Devon and check-in before a field trip to the Torquay Museum's Agatha Christie exhibition. Take a mystery walk on The Agatha Christie Mile. There are 10 landmarks dotted around the harbour and seafront area. From Beacon Hill and the Imperial Hotel to the bronze bust in Cary Gardens, Princess Gardens, 12th century Torre Abbey opposite the main beach and the Grand Hotel where she spent her honeymoon. Stroll around the harbour and imagine what it must have been like in Christie's childhood and the resort's heyday. Visit All Saints Church where Christie was baptized.

Dinner: In the hotel.

Evening: Enjoy an Agatha Christe reading and film this evening.

Lodging: Grand Hotel Torquay

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Full English and continental breakfast in the hotel.

Morning: Coach to Dartmouth with some free time before the ferry to the National Trust's Greenway at Galmpton. This is an extraordinary glimpse into the private holiday home of the famous and much-loved author Agatha Christie and her family. The relaxed and atmospheric house is set in the 1950s, and contains many of the family's collections, including archaeology, Tunbridgeware, silver, botanical china and books. An talk by staff introduces the house. Outside you can explore the large and romantic woodland garden, with a restored vinery and peach house, wild edges and rare plantings, which drifts down the hillside towards the sparkling Dart estuary. Steep slope to the house.

Lunch: In Greenway Kitchen.

Afternoon: The field trip continues before a ferry journey back to Dartmouth where you will have some free time.

Dinner: In the hotel.

Evening: At leisure.

Lodging: Grand Hotel Torquay

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Full English and continental breakfast in the hotel.

Morning: Transfer by coach to Dorchester via the ancient seaport of Lyme Regis, the historic unspoiled seaside resort and fishing port on the world famous Cobb harbour. Surrounded by beautiful coastlines and countryside, the area has now been awarded World Heritage Site Status; famous for its geology and fossil finds. Jane Austen, with the Reverent and Mrs. Austen, Jane's brother and Casandra, her sister, visited Lyme Regis in 1803 and 1804. They stayed initially at a large house called 'Wings' near the Cobb harbour. Jane and Casandra were extremely hardy, it is reported, they continued daily sea bathing into October. The 1981 film of the novel French Lieutentant's Woman by John Fowles starring Merryl Streep and Jeremy Irons was filmed on the Cobb highlighting the iconic image of Merryl Streep looking out to sea. Fowles was a great fan of Thomas Hardy and in particular likened his own work to that of Tess of the D`Ubervilles.

Lunch: Excluded. So that you can choose to have a meal while overlooking the sea or sat by a gurgling river in a secluded position. All the restaurants and cafes have access to fresh locally caught fish and shell fish straight off the fishing boats, which operate from the harbour. They also use fresh produce from the market gardens in the area. You might choose the Cobb Arms.

Afternoon: Travel along the UNESCO World Heritage Site "The Jurassic Coast", It covers 95 miles of truly stunning coastline from East Devon to Dorset, with rocks recording 185 million years of the Earth's history. Stop at Chesil Beach, a major site on the coast, a pebble beach 18 miles long and stretches north-west from Portland to West Bay. For much of its length it is separated from the mainland by an area of saline water called the Fleet Lagoon. It is the location of Ian McEwan's novel, On Chesil Beach. Field trip to the unique Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset. This is the only place in the world where you are able to walk through the heart of a colony of nesting Mute Swans. Continue on to Dorchester-at the heart of Thomas Hardy's life and work- the Casterbridge of the novel.

Dinner: In the hotel.

Evening: At leisure.

Lodging: Best Western Kings Arms Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Full English and continental breakfast in the hotel.

Morning: Lecture: "Far From the Madding Crowd: Hardy's Wessex." Followed by a walk around Dorchester (Casterbridge)-the Hardy trail.

Lunch: Excluded.

Afternoon: Free afternoon.

Dinner: In the hotel.

Evening: At leisure.

Lodging: Best Western Kings Arms Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Full English and continental breakfast in the hotel.

Morning: Thomas Hardy's land was Dorset or part fictional Wessex and proved to be the inspiration for his writing. Today we take a field trip to around the "Hardy Trail". From Puddletown to Cerne Abbas (home of the famous Cerne Giant) on to Sherbourne for the Market Place in The Woodlanders and then to Sturminster Newton where he wrote The Return of the Native.

Lunch: Taken out in a Dorset pub such as The Crown at Marnhull. The Crown Inn at Marnhull featured in Thomas Hardy’s famous novel ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ as ‘The Pure Drop Inn’ and retains many of its original features and character throughout, with inglenook fireplace, original wooden beams and even a priest hole (where catholic priests hid during the 16th century reformation period). The ‘Pure Drop Inn’ is where Tess’s father invites parson Tringham for a quart of beer: “There’s a pretty brew in tap at The Pure Drop but not so good as at Rollivers.” The latter was a disreputable and illegal drinking house, selling beer brewed at the village brewery.

Afternoon: The field trip continues to Hardy's Birthplace in Higher Bockhampton, now owned by the National Trust. Thomas Hardy was born in 1840 in this small cob and thatch cottage, which was built by his great-grandfather and is little altered since the family left. His early novels Under the Greenwood Tree and Far from the Madding Crowd were written here. On to Stonsford Church where Hardy requested he was buried. On his death his ashes were interred in Westminster Abbey but his heart is buried here in the grave of his wife. Our last Hardy location today is Max Gate, the house he designed and lived in from 1885 to 1928. During the years that he resided at Max Gate, Hardy wrote some of his most well known works, The Mayor of Casterbridge, The Woodlanders, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Jude the Obscure, The Dynasts as well as numerous poems and short stories.

Dinner: In the hotel.

Evening: At leisure.

Lodging: Best Western Kings Arms Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Full English and continental breakfast in the hotel.

Morning: Transfer to London by coach via Winchester. Take a specialist led walk around Jane Austen's Winchester Cathedral and Austen's city streets including College Street where she lived her last days. View the plaque and stained glass windows.

Lunch: In Winchester Cathedral Refrectory.

Afternoon: The field trip continues to Chawton where Jane Austen lived with her mother and sister and wrote her greatest works. Jane Austen's House Museum is located in the 17th century home to Jane Austen for her last eight years. The rooms of the House and Museum, along with its garden, and with its prominent position at the heart of Chawton Village, all help to provide a tangible connection to the environment where the Austen family lived. On the way to London visit 12th century Steventon Church where Jane worshipped. The church stands almost unchanged from those days. Here there are memorial tablets to James Austen, Jane's eldest brother, who took over the parish from her father, his two wives and some of his relations. Their graves are in the churchyard. There is also a bronze plaque dedicated to Jane Austen. Another plaque recognises the generous support from members of the Jane Austen Society of North America who paid for the refurbishment of the church bells in January 1995. -

Dinner: In the London hotel.

Evening: At leisure.

Lodging: Radisson Edwardian Vanderbilt

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Full English and continental breakfast in the hotel.

Morning: A field trip by coach takes you to Dickens' Camden, Bleeding Heart Yard (Little Dorrit), Smithfield (Oliver Twist) and Southwark.

Lunch: Lunch is taken out in the Sherlock Holmes pub

Afternoon: Continue on to Lincoln's Inn Hall -renowned for the High Court of Chancery in Bleak House- and continue on to New Square and Lincoln's Inn Fields. Dickens' friend and biographer John Forster lived at number 58 and Dickens used it as the home of Mr Tulkinghorn in Bleak House. Dickens gave private readings here to Forster, Thomas Carlyle and Daniel Maclise. Walk along to Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. The field trip continues to Dickens House Museum. This is the only one of Dickens' London homes to survive and is central to the celebrations of Dickens 200. He lived in the Georgian house between April 1837 and December 1839. Writing his first three novels he was on the way to becoming the most famous author of the 19th century. Four floors ( no elevators) are filled with the most important collection of Dickens' material anywhere in the world. In 2012 the museum will hold special exhibitions celebrating 200 years since Dickens' birth. Visit the Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221B Baker Street. Farewell meeting before dinner.

Dinner: Farewell dinner in the hotel.

Evening: At leisure.

Lodging: Radisson Edwardian Vanderbilt

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: In the hotel unless transfers depart early.

In Transit: Return flights to North America.

Meals Included: Breakfast