Food Glorious Food - A Dickensian Christmas

February 2012 would have been Charles Dickens 200th birthday. Come and celebrate the great man as well as that great focus of Christmas past & present - food! With morning coffee and a really good carvery lunch included to be enjoyed together as a group this is something a little bit different for your group this Christmas. This trip is only available with the morning coffee and carvery lunch included during weekdays in November so it could be just the ticket for group organisers looking for an early Christmas event before their members diaries fill up with lots of other festive events. 

Dickens created a vast pageant of characters but he also invented an idea of London and Christmas too. The fog, the mud, hearty Christmas feasts by roaring fires with the rich at table and the poor with their noses pressed to the frosted window. We begin in a neighbourhood he knew well, the lawyers district and an iconic London pub opposite the Royal Courts of Justice where morning coffee and biscuits, included in your tour fee, is served on your arrival at 10-30/10-45am. 

During the morning we are going to look at Dickens Christmas London. We’ll show you the meat, fish and game markets, pockets of an old London that Dickens knew well.  From jellied eels and pie and mash to whitebait from the River Thames and the fashions for hot chocolate and hotel teas, this tour is the ideal recipe for an entertaining and unique look at London this Christmas.  

Back to the pub for a slap up carvery lunch included in the tour fee. Your members can sort themselves out on the day for bar drinks, hot drinks and desserts as desired.  

For the afternoon we are going upmarket to see how the other half would have celebrated a Dickensian Christmas with a visit to Mayfair and the 'dilly.' We visit the marvellous and opulent Burlington Arcade built to allow toffs to shop unmolested. You can chat to the Beadles clad in top hat and tails employed to chase off Artful Dodgers! And we will visit the sumptuous and world famous Food Hall at Fortnum & Mason where impeccable young men in red tail coats stack the shelves - there are wonderful pickings for Christmas presents and stocking fillers.

There is time locally to buy refreshments (including the beautifully appointed cafe across Piccadilly at the Royal Academy) before returning to the coach to head home at 4-45pm. 

Adults & Seniors: £18.95

Coach Mileage: 10

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