Greetings Northumbria Tour Team,

Our trip to “The Borders” is four months away but we couldn’t be more excited to see everyone in York when the time finally arrives. Below is information that you will find helpful as you prepare for our trip. We will hit the highlights for the sake of brevity and welcome any questions you may have. Some of you have seen parts of this information and have responded accordingly, but we thought we would start here with everyone to get us all on the same page.
To begin, we need a some information from you…

• Please text me (210 885-9351) your name from a cell phone you will have on the tour so we know we are connected. If you are getting a different number, please send it to us when you have it.
• Extra Nights
  • Pre stays—If you need your room in York earlier than July 8th, please let us know as soon as possible as there are limited rooms at The Middletons for the 7th. If you may need a room on the 7th, but are not sure yet, tell us and we will get you one that we can release it later. Standard rooms are 190 GBP per night ($237.50) which we will add to your statement.
  • Post Stays
    • A room at the Doubletree Edinburgh Airport for the 17th is included in your registration. If you would like additional nights at the rate of 199 GBP ($247) let us know.
    • If you are staying somewhere else after the tour and do not need a room at the Doubletree, we will credit your account $247.50. Just let us know so we can release your room.
• Bedding Preferences—Do you prefer one or two beds in the room? Each hotel has a different configuration of rooms and beds so we will do our best to accommodate your preferences. Most hotels offer a choice between a queen bed and two twins. For those with three people in a room, we can usually get a queen and a twin and sometimes three twins. If you have two children along, let us know if you want them in the same room as you if possible, or in a separate connecting (pass through door between the rooms) room if available.
• Dietary Restrictions—so we can plan accordingly at the venues where meals are provided.
• Your Travel Itinerary—with arrival and departure dates, along with airline information when you have secured it.
• Your Passport Number—with full name and expiration as it is printed.

Here is information for you:

• Optional Zoom Orientation call—Monday 3/18, 8PM Eastern Join us on Zoom so we can get introduced to each other and answer questions regarding logistics. Click here to connect to meeting Meeting ID: 830 1091 6905; Passcode: 280252. Dial in only at (305) 224 1968. We will record it, Lord willing, in case you can’t make it (see Zoom meeting audio at top of this page).
• Passports and Visas—You need a passport to enter England or Scotland and you are fine to travel as long as we leave before they expire. Processing times are running slow so get started ASAP . Visas are not required for our trip if you are US citizens.
• Start time—Monday, July 8th 6:30pm registration, 7:30pm dinner at Middletons, our hotel, in York. SKELDERGATE, YORK, YO1 6DU – CALL 01904 611570
• End time—Wednesday, July 17th, 5:00pm. The current plan for the last day is to leave Seahouses at 10am and arrive at St. Giles in Edinburgh around noon. We will turn you loose to eat at one of the many pubs and then meet back at St. Giles for a tour before strolling the ¼ mile to Edinburgh Castle. We will conclude our tour teaching in the Castle and you will be free to explore Edinburgh and get a bite of supper before we board our coach at 7pm to go to the Doubletree Hotel. If you are not staying at the Doubletree, we can get your luggage out before we depart for the airport.
• Hotel Check-in—We will share our arrival list with the hotel and they will do their best to get us settled as quickly as possible. Most likely, your room will not be ready until the afternoon. The hotel will gladly store your luggage and you can relax in the lobby or go out and explore. I heartily recommend exploring!
• Luggage—We are limited to one full-sized suitcase and one small carry-on. The coach has limited cargo space so we have to stay within the guidelines. Most folks pack far too many clothes and spend time and energy lugging around a monster suitcase half full of things they never wear. Traveling light is really a joy! We will get back to you on laundry options along the route.
• What to pack—Here is a packing checklist from Rick Steves, a popular travel writer. We have found it to be a handy guide. A few personal tips from me for consideration: Take a picture of your passport and keep it on your phone AND print it. Keep the copy separate from the original. In case you misplace your original, this can be very helpful. Address book—call me old fashioned, but a postcard in the mail is far more exciting than an email, particularly to little ones.
• Clothing—Comfortable, breathable, easy drying clothing and shoes will be helpful. Rain gear is crucial as Ireland is blessed with frequent precipitation. Jeans or shorts are fine on tour, while slacks and a collared shirt would be appropriate for the Welcome dinner or the Farewell banquet. These are all merely recommendations and you ultimately need to decide on your wardrobe. Our desire is to communicate charity and respect to those around us by dressing modestly in coverage and fit whether we are at a formal dinner or strolling the beach.
• Credit Cards—Visa and MasterCard widely accepted. American Express not as much. Make sure to let your bank and credit card company know you will be in Scotland so they don’t suspect fraud and shut your card down. Many cards have no foreign transaction fees, so be aware of what yours is before you go.
• Cash—I recommend using a debit card at ATMs to draw local currency from, avoiding currency exchange offices and local banks if possible. Generally, the exchange rate at your local bank is going to be very high, so there’s a cost to the comfort a pocketful of pounds may bring. There are ATMs at the airport and within a few blocks of the hotel that I use frequently. Check your bank fees for foreign transactions and any ATM fees so you can make a good decision. Rick Steves on money.
• Phones and Technology—Once again, Rick Steves has a nice explanation of various options on his website here. Particularly helpful article on Electric Adaptors and Converters
• Snacks—Fine to bring snacks; energy bars, jerky, chips, etc as long as they are sealed in their original container. There is a shop a few blocks from the hotel where you can get travel snacks.

General Tour Protocols

• Overall Philosophy—There is always a healthy tension between trying to impart 1600 years’ worth of information in 10 days, and allowing each person the flexibility to explore their own area of interest in this fascinating country. There’s never enough time to do it all. Our goal is to give you a historical framework and a biblical grid to process the information you will be taking in through our guides and the various local docents, plaques, displays, etc. in the most efficient manner we can. In order to maximize your free time “on site” we will be doing much of the teaching in route to our venues on the bus.
• Daily Touring—The general protocol will be to walk and talk as we tour a site, then take a “house tour” if included, and then free time to explore on your own, take pictures and shop.
• Meals
  • Breakfast—Daily, provided by hotels.
  • Lunch—3 provided. Sometimes a box lunch on site, or a sit down at a venue, depending on location.
  • Dinner—4 provided. We have banquet dinners scheduled for Monday night, July 8 and Tuesday night, July 16 to begin and end our tour. The two remaining included dinners will be at nearby restaurants where you can choose the time you dine and the company you dine with in accordance with your personal preference and schedule. You order what you want from the menu. We pay for the food, you pay for any alcohol.

Public Service Announcements

• Kim and Pete Wilcox are looking to see if they might connect with anyone that is going over a day early and traveling out of Chicago or Detroit.
• There are several folks on the waitlist so if your plans change, we have a replacement and a full refund waiting for you.

That’s it for now. We are always available to answer any other questions you may have. We will be scheduling an optional Zoom meeting to answer questions and get to know each other a bit before the trip. More details to follow.

Next update:

• Typical day on tour
• Reading Suggestions

March Historical Benchmarks Related to the Tour

March 17, 1328: The First War of Scottish Independence ends with the Treaty of Edinburgh and Northampton, under which the English Crown recognizes that the Kingdom of Scotland is fully independent.

March 18, 1689: The King’s Own Scottish Borderers are raised in Edinburgh by David Leslie, 3rd Earl of Leven. 800 men are recruited within the first two hours. We will study many of this storied regiment’s actions and traverse much of the ground they lived, trained and fought on!

March 20, 687: The death on Inner Farne Island of St Cuthbert, the a monk, bishop and hermit regarded as the patron saint of northern England. You will see these Farne Islands just offshore when we stay in Seahouses, just south of Berwick on Tweed, and will visit Lindisfarne, also known as the Holy Island, where St Cuthbert and St Aiden traveled from Iona to establish an abbey in 634 AD.

March 24, 1603: Queen Elizabeth I of England dies. Two days later the news reaches 36 year old James VI of Scotland in Edinburgh that he is now also King James I of England. He styles himself “King of Great Britain” and the crowns of Scotland and England are unified under the Stewart dynasty, though increasingly the family name is now spelled “Stuart”.