Journey through Britain: England, Scotland & Wales featuring the Royal Military Tattoo

Susan Wolfson, Professor of English, Princeton University

Susan Wolfson has been Professor of English at Princeton since 1991. Her teaching and research passions extend from Shakespeare and Milton to Yeats and Eliot, with core interests in “Long Romanticism,” an exciting era of British Literature spanning the century 1750- 1850. She has taught (from first-years to alums) and published widely in this field (Mary Wollstonecraft, William Blake, Anna Barbauld, Dorothy and William Wordsworth, Jane Austen, S. T. Coleridge, Lord Byron, Mary Shelley and P. B. Shelley, Charles and Mary Lamb, Felicia Hemans, Thomas De Quincey).

On Keats’s birthday 31 October 2022, she greeted the publication of A Greeting of the Spirit: Selected Poetry from John Keats, a hybrid of anthology, 80 poems and passages, each with a short teacherly essay blending literary interpretation, poetic traditions, and biographical and historical contexts. In March 2023, came a short book on Mary Wollstonecraft’s revolutionary A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, a critical argument in 1792, with issues still challenging us today. Her book in development, Romanticism’s Generative Readings has chapters on Austen, the Shelleys, and Frankenstein, that durably fascinating novel for which she and Ronald Levao produced a gorgeously illustrated, entertainingly framed edition, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: An Annotated edition.

Ronald Levao, Professor of English, Rutgers University

Ron Levao received his PhD at UC Berkeley in 1978, where he discovered his love for Renaissance literature, West Coast landscapes, and his wife, Susan Wolfson. He has taught and researched the works of Shakespeare, Sidney, Milton, and the metaphysical poets while teaching at Princeton University, Queens College CUNY, UCLA, and Rutgers University.

His publications include a study of early-modern literary criticism and philosophy, Renaissance Minds and Their Fictions: Cusanus, Sidney, Shakespeare and annotated editions of Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Parts One and Two; Selected Poems of Thomas Campion, Samuel Daniel, and Sir Walter Ralegh; and, in collaboration with Susan Wolfson, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. He has also published separate essays on Shakespeare’s Sonnets, Francis Bacon, John Milton, William Davenant, S. T. Coleridge, and modern controversies surrounding professional boxing. His current (and long-running) project is a book called Shakespeare’s Twins which will concern the paradoxes of duplicated, symmetrical, and complementary identities among individualized characters. He is especially fond of teaching undergraduate and graduate students as well as adult and senior auditors who are eager to study and talk about Shakespeare.

About the Journey

Discover Great Britain’s lore, natural splendors, and modern life on this wide-ranging journey from city to country and back again. Begin in stately Edinburgh with a performance of the famed Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, a spectacular military, culture, and music festival held on the Edinburgh Castle Esplanade. In England’s beloved Lake District, spend two nights on idyllic Lake Windermere’s shores and stop at William Wordsworth’s Dove Cottage. In Wales, explore Bodnant Garden, Conwy Castle, and dramatic Snowdonia National Park. Visit Shakespeare’s Birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon, then spend two nights in storied Bath. After touring enigmatic Stonehenge and Windsor Castle, end with the celebrated landmarks of cosmopolitan London. For those wishing to extend the journey, enjoy London independently with an optional three-day/two-night post-tour extension.

Accommodation

Apex Waterloo Place Hotel Edinburgh, Scotland
Well-located near the heart of one of Europe’s great walking cities, the Apex Waterloo Place Hotel offers easy access to Princes Street, as well as the lively Royal Mile, the heart of the Old Town’s shopping and dining district. Hotel amenities include a restaurant and bar, gym, indoor pool, sauna, steam room, and spa.

Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa Windermere, England
Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa sits on the shores of expansive Lake Windermere, England’s largest lake. Amenities include three restaurants and a variety of wellness facilities, including a 50-foot indoor pool with vaulted ceiling, outdoor hot tub, gym, sauna, and steam room.

Llandudno Bay Hotel Llandudno, Wales
Housed in a Grade II-listed Victorian building, the Llandudno Bay Hotel sits on the north coast of the town of Llandudno, close to several restaurants and across the street from an expansive beach and promenade. The hotel’s amenities include a restaurant, afternoon tea service, and laundry and dry-cleaning service.

The Arden Hotel Stratford-upon-Avon, England
The Arden Hotel’s location could not be any more ideal: it sits directly opposite the Swan Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company on the banks of the River Avon. All the shops, restaurants, and pubs in this small town are within walking distance of the redbrick Arden, and the hotel offers a restaurant and champagne bar, outdoor terrace, several comfortable common areas, and laundry and dry-cleaning service.

Francis Hotel Bath Bath, England
The Francis Hotel sits in the center of the highly walkable city of Bath and occupies seven original 18th-century townhouses along historic Queen Square. Designed by architect John Wood the Elder in the early 18th century, Georgian Queen Square wraps around its namesake park and makes up the first portion of Bath’s celebrated architectural sequence, which also includes the Circus and Royal Crescent just a short distance away. The sophisticated Francis offers a French restaurant, bar and lounge, afternoon tea service, and laundry and dry-cleaning service.

The Clermont, Charing Cross London, England
Housed in a 150-year-old, Grade II-listed historical building, The Clermont, Charing Cross (formerly Amba Hotel Charing Cross) combines timeless architectural beauty with modern convenience. Less than a mile from such historic landmarks as Trafalgar Square and Big Ben, the hotel boasts a host of amenities, including a restaurant and bar, afternoon tea room, gym, and dry cleaning.

Reservations

This program is waitlist only. We encourage you to join the waitlist as cancellations do happen! No deposit required.

Trip Details

Dates

August 03 - August 16, 2024
Activity Level

Moderate
Cost

$6,895 per person double occupancy (land only) or $7,671 including roundtrip economy airfare from Newark. Air arrangements from other gateway cities and business class upgrades are available for an additional cost.
Deposit

from $1,000 per person
Contact

journeys@princeton.edu
609-258-8686