Celebrate Christmas Downton Abbey Style with a Formal Ball at Highclere Castle

Highclere Castle, the famed Victorian estate used as the filming location for the PBS show Downton Abbey, will host a formal Christmas ball on December 12, 2015, which you are cordially invited to join. This vacation includes:

• Round-trip airfare from New York
• 4 nights of standard room accommodations at the four-star Radisson Blu Edwardian Vanderbilt Hotel or similar in London
• Round-trip transfers to Victoria Coach Station (starting point of the tour)
• Christmas ball at Highclere Castle, including champagne, canapés, and three-course dinner with wine (dress code is suit and tie and cocktail dress)
• Services of a professional guide
• Luxury air-conditioned motorcoach
• Daily breakfast
• All taxes

The Christmas Ball: An Itinerary

You’ll arrive in London on December 9 or 10. Around 4 p.m. on Saturday, December 12—after you’ve dressed in your finest formalwear— guests will transfer from their hotel to Victoria Coach Station (likely to be a shared transfer). Once at Victoria Coach Station, guests will board a motorcoach to Highclere Castle. It’s set on 1,000 acres in Newbury, just west of London, and is the gorgeous setting of Downton Abbey. During the holidays, the castle entrance avenue is strewn with small Christmas trees, and its front salon has a roaring fire and an impressively decorated tree.

Explore the Castle

Upon entering the castle, you’ll be invited to the saloon for a champagne and canapé reception. Feel free to mill about the drawing room, the music room and the smoking room; Highclere guides will be on hand in the main state rooms to answer questions about the history of the building, artwork, and the filming of Downton Abbey. Soon, the distinguished guests will be called into the library for dinner.

Three-Course Dinner

Prepared using local produce in the kitchens of the castle, the three-course dinner will feature starters, a main course, and dessert. The menu may include slow-roasted beef, baked Goldcross goat cheese, and lemon tarts. Enjoy your meal with a glass of red or white wine and some Christmas crackers. During the meal, you can enter a raffle, which will include prizes such as signed books, tickets to Paris, and champagne. Finish up with a coffee and petit fours; you may even get a visit from the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, who live inside the castle.

A Royal Holiday Send-Off

To finish the evening, you’ll join a group in the main saloon area, take a place near the fire, and listen to the local Newbury choristers perform Christmas carols on the staircase. You’ll return to your hotel at approximately 11:30 p.m.

London

The rest of the trip is yours to explore jolly ol’ London. England’s 2,000-year-old capital city brims with famous landmarks: Westminster Abbey, the site of royal weddings since 1100 AD; the crosswalk where the Beatles traversed Abbey Road; and Kensington Palace, where Prince William, Kate Middleton, and Baby George reside. After a day of sightseeing, check out the theaters of the West End and the dazzling billboards in Piccadilly Circus.

• Bird’s-eye view of Big Ben: Board the London Eye, a giant Ferris wheel, to see the city and the River Thames from inside a glass-walled pod. The view is best at night, when the city is all lit up.
• Eat like a local: London is known for its pubs (there are roughly 7,000 of them), where you can enjoy a couple of British staples: crispy fish and chips and pints of beer.
• Tate Modern: Once a power station, this building now houses an extensive art collection, including works by Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, and Salvador Dalí.

Frequently Asked Questions

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