Travel to Edinburgh and the Lake District this September

By Katy Yocom, Associate Director, Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing

In September, a group from the Naslund-Mann School travels to Edinburgh and the Lake District, sites of iconic natural beauty and birthplace of some of the most important works in English literature.

This is not a residency. We'll spend most of our time out exploring the culture. We’ll also journal, discuss a book in common, and have the option to read from our own work. Our expected itinerary is as follows:

Saturday, Sept. 19: Arrive in Edinburgh, settle into your room at our centrally located hotel, and spend the day resting or exploring on your own. Major Edinburgh sights are in easy walking distance of our lodgings.

Sunday, Sept. 20: Our group activities begin with a cultural tour of the city, focusing on literary highlights. Tonight we’ll dine together at our Welcome dinner.

Monday, Sept. 21: A free day to explore Edinburgh on your own. You might book a day tour to the Scottish Highlands or other sights that interest you most.

Tuesday, Sept. 22: After free time during the day, tonight we gather for a theater performance (to be announced).

Wednesday, Sept. 23: Say goodbye to Edinburgh as we travel by motorcoach to Keswick, where we’ll enjoy a boat cruise on Derwentwater and see what Keswick has to offer. (Writers take note: there’s a pencil museum!) Afterward, we continue onward to Bowness-on-Windermere. Our lakeside hotel serves as our base for exploring the Lake District over the next three days.

Thursday, Sept. 24: Today’s tour explores the world of William Wordsworth, one of the founders of English Romanticism, with  stops at Dove Cottage, where Wordsworth wrote many of his greatest poems and his sister, Dorothy, kept her Grasmere journal, as well as Rydal Mount, Wordsworth’s last home. We’ll view handwritten manuscripts, journals, and personal items and travel through the landscape that inspired his work.

Photo: Raymond Knapman, Wikimedia Commons

Friday, Sept. 25: We travel south through the scenic Lake District landscape to visit the Brontë Parsonage, the 16th-century home where the Brontë sisters wrote novels that became classics of English literature. The parsonage, now a museum, is located in Haworth, West Yorkshire, an industrial town set amid the windswept moors.

Saturday, Sept. 26: Our final day together is devoted to the classic children’s author and illustrator Beatrix Potter, who fell in love with the Lake District as a teen and later made it her home. We’ll visit Hill Top, Potter’s farmhouse retreat in Cumbria, which served as direct inspiration for The Tale of Peter Rabbit and her many other classic tales. Walking through the cottage garden of flowers and vegetables, we’ll see familiar scenes from her books. After today’s tour, we’ll return to Windermere to enjoy our Farewell dinner.

Sunday, Sept. 27: Transfer to Manchester Airport to fly home, or continue your travels onward wherever they may take you.

The ground package price of $5,190 per person includes the following items:

• Shared hotel room in Edinburgh and Bowness-on-Windermere

• Airport transfers on arrival and departure dates

• Guided literary tour of Edinburgh

• Theater performance

• Guided Wordsworth tour

• Guided Brontë tour

• Guided Potter tour

• Ample free time in Edinburgh, with the option to explore on your own, take private tours in the city, or venture into the rugged Scottish countryside

• Welcome and farewell dinners

• All breakfasts throughout trip

• Entrance fees to certain cultural sites

• Customary gratuities for local guides, drivers, assistants and waitstaff at included meals

• Medical insurance: $500,000 including emergency care, medical evacuation, repatriation, and 24/7 telehealth consultation with mental health professionals

• Accompaniment throughout the tour by a WorldStrides representative

The following items are not included in the package price:

• International airfare

• Meals, activities, and transportation you arrange on your own

• UK Electronic Travel Authorization form, £16 per person

• Single rooms. However, you may purchase a single-occupancy upgrade for $1,404, subject to availability

• Travel insurance is not included but is recommended. Travelers may opt for the WorldStrides travel protection plan, with Cancel for Any Reason coverage, or use an outside insurance company

• Tuition for Spalding courses

Registration with WorldStrides, our educational travel provider, is open now through April 17. Slots are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis. The trip is capped at 34 travelers.

If you have questions, don't hesitate to contact me at kyocom@spalding.edu. I'd love to talk Scotland and the Lake District with you!