With the holidays approaching, a trip to England can make a wonderful way to spend the time with family or to have new adventures and make new friends. The holidays also bring off-season pricing for plane tickets, a New York to London ticket on Virgin Atlantic starts at $240 each way, excluding taxes and fees.
Here are two of our favorite unique, exciting opportunities for holiday adventures in London:
Party at Hampton Court Palace
Henry VIII was a legendary king of this historic country and he made his primary home at Hampton Court Palace. Now travelers can experience a royal dinner first-hand, inside the palace itself, prepared in the grand kitchens that continue to serve royalty and once served Henry VIII himself.
After being greeted with a glass of Marquis de la Tour sparkling wine, guests will dine on a three-course dinner with dancing until late. The fairy tale evening comes to an end with a 1 a.m. carriage ride. The black-tie event starts at 7 p.m. and will be held twice, December 8th and December 17th.
Dinner is a Norfolk turkey medallion with stuffing, chipolatas, natural gravy and roasted root vegetable. The menu offers roasted butternut squash and ginger soup with caramelized orange, as a vegetarian option, along with a deep tartlet with asparagus, wild mushroom and tarragon cream sauce, also vegetarian. Dessert is Christmas pudding with brandy sauce, followed by freshly brewed coffee, tea and infusions with chocolate mints. The evening is $139 per person and is presented by Charming Events.
Murder Mystery Steam Train Adventure
An adventure I would really like would be to ride on a historic steam train while I work to solve a murder. The Golden Arrow train is a restored beauty and while solving the crime, guests are treated to fine food and drinks in a luxurious setting of elegant Pullman dining cars. Guests work together as detectives to solve a staged murder, examining clues to discover who did it, how, and why.
Dinner on the train includes cream of asparagus and chive soup, seafood terrine with a cucumber and dill crème fraiche. Main course is a lemon and garlic roasted chicken supreme served on a bed of seared peppers. Or crime-solvers can have a fillet of plaice paupiette with fennel, spinach, lemon & parsley butter. Vegetarian option is a cream leek, butternut squash and sweet potato tartlet, served with cooks choice of fresh seasonal vegetables and potatoes. Dessert is a passion fruit syllabub in a chocolate cup or a chocolate torte with crème anglaise, followed by coffee and mints
The evening ends with a night at the Buxted Park Hotel, a restored 1722 manor estate offering a fine, four-star country house experience in the East Sussex countryside. The package also includes breakfast the next morning, making for a wonderful adventure. The trip is offered by Charming Events on either December 6th, 7th or 8th, with a cost of $342 per person, based on double-occupancy.
Freddy Sherman is a world traveler and editor of the travel blog travel4people.com. You can follow him on twitter, @thefredsherman
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