Who’s Your Doctor 2018 Tour

Today you will arrive in London Town along with your other companions from all around the world. You will be given detailed instructions on how to meet up with your Geek Nation Tours Tour Leader along with the rest of the tour participants at the hotel. Upon arrival, feel free to rest, relax, and recuperate after a long flight and enjoy the day at your leisure. However, once everyone has arrived, your Tour Leader will be making an excursion not only to see an actual TARDIS near Earl’s Court (well…a functioning police box anyway…well…a police box) but also to Camden Market and the sci-fi electro-rave shop Cyber Dog. Be careful with your upgrades or you may be deleted!

In the evening we will gather for a Welcome Dinner in the hotel restaurant. Your Tour Leader will explain all about the upcoming adventure and make sure everyone is ready for the days ahead. This is also a good time to socialize and get to know your fellow Whovians and talk about what you’re looking forward to most.

Overnight Location: London, England

Today you’ll be visiting some Dr. Who filming and story locations around London by Tube and by foot. Because you’re clever, surely you’ve been able to separate real life from movie magic as some of the locations portrayed on screen are not even in the city of London!

You’ll make your way to see Buckingham Palace which The Doctor and Alonso narrowly avoiding crashing the Titantic in Voyage of the Damned. You’ll pass by the Palace of Westminster and Big Ben, featured numerous times throughout the series and partially destroyed by a Slitheen spaceship in Aliens of London.

You’ll eventually arrive at Shakespeare’s Globe on the banks of the Thames. There you’ll be treated to a tour of the theatre which obviously played a large role in The Shakespeare Code. After your tour, you’ll continue on foot along the river to The Shard. Here you’ll enjoy lunch amongst the clouds in the EU’s tallest building (for now, at least). No need for a zero-g Triumph Scrambler like The Doctor used in The Bells of Saint John, we’ll just take the lift.

After lunch, you’ll continue on foot across the Thames to the Tower of London used as UNIT headquarters in episodes such as The Christmas Invasion and The Zygon Invasion/Inversion and used to imprison not one, but three Doctors in The Day of The Doctor. You’ll be given ample time to explore the Tower as long as you don’t stumble upon the Black Archive and have your memory wiped.

After your visit to the Tower, you’ll continue on foot to the Grange St. Paul’s Hotel for dinner where you’ll be treated with the same view The Doctor and Clara had while they hacked The Great Intelligence’s network over coffee in The Bells of Saint John.

Overnight Location: London, England

Since we don’t have an actual TARDIS that allows us to deliver all of time and space, we’ll be visiting several of London’s acclaimed museums instead. We’ll be using The Tube to get around today but don’t worry if it seems cramped, it’s bigger on the inside (than you expect).

Our first stop takes us to Maddame Tussaud’s. Here we’ll have the opportunity to (figuratively) meet not only stars of stage & screen, but also old friends of The Doctor like Vincent Van Gogh, William Shakespeare, and his (debatable) ex-wife, Marilyn Manroe.

From here you’ll travel to Trafalgar Square and after a quick lunch you’ll visit The National Gallery. Although the gallery was home to many 3D Gallifreyan art pieces in The Day of the Doctor, we’re likely not able to visit the super-secret Undergallery. However, the Gallery is home several great works included Van Gogh’s Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers (conspicuously missing his inscription to Amy Pond) so who knows what you might find? Who NOSE?!

After viewing the amazing artwork in The National Gallery, you’ll continue on foot to Churchill’s War Rooms. Although the War Rooms featured in Victory of the Daleks and The Wedding of River Song were filmed in Wales, these War Rooms were the actual underground bunkers used by Winston Churchill during the blitzes of World War Two.

Emerging from the rubble of WWII, you’ll travel to The British Museum. The renowned museum is home to artifacts from around the world and throughout recorded history. Very much like the mixture of Nefertiti, John Riddell, and Rory’s father Brian in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, you’ll find a wide ranging mix of items on display. Except for dinosaurs, there are no dinosaurs…which is a bit rubbish, but where else can you see all of human history in one place without a time machine?

You’ll have a chance to freshen up at the hotel before we depart for dinner together at Fez Mangal restaurant. You’ll be treated to some fantastic Turkish cuisine and although you are not required to wear a fez, it is most certainly encouraged. Fezzes are cool.

Overnight Location: London, England

Today is your day to explore London the way you want to. Whether you’re interested in seeing the sights, visiting more museums, or taking in a West End matinee, your Tour Leader is on hand to help.

However, we’ll be gathering together later in the day for a private capsule experience at the London Eye. You’ll be treated to a breath taking view of London Town as the evening settles in. Just don’t forget to leave yourself enough time to pack since we’ll be leaving bright and early the following morning for our next destination.

Overnight Location: London, England

Make sure to have a hearty breakfast (hopefully a bit more than fish fingers and custard), today will be a long day! In the morning you’ll check out of the hotel and board the motor coach for a road trip to Cardiff with a few Whovian detours along the way.

Our first stop is Lord Leycester Hospital in Warwick. This half-timbered medieval complex dating back to the 12^th century stood in for Elizabethan London in The Shakespeare Code. Luckily we should be able to avoid any scheming witches during the daylight hours.

From here we’ll continue to William Shakespeare’s hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon. You’ll enjoy lunch at Will’s Place restaurant in The Falcon Hotel followed by a stroll along the Avon to the Tudor World museum.

Then it’s back aboard the coach to Wales. We’ll stop at The Vicarage in Rhymney which served as young Amelia Pond’s house where The Doctor crashed his TARDIS, discovered Prisoner Zero, was captured by (almost) police officer Amy Pond, and first witnessed the crack in time and space in The Eleventh Hour.

Finally, you’ll arrive at your hotel in Cardiff and check in for the next few days. After the long day’s journey, you’ll have the opportunity to reverse your polarity before heading out for dinner at Chapel 1877, a restored and converted Methodist chapel which now serves as a luxurious fine dining establishment.

Overnight Location: Cardiff, Wales

A vast majority of New Who has been and still is filmed in and around the Welsh capital of Cardiff. In the morning you’ll be taken around the city by coach with an expert local guide to see some of filming locations and learn about what happens behind the scenes during production of Dr. Who.

Once the tour is finished, you’ll enjoy lunch at Eddie’s Diner on the bay. Not only does the classic American 50’s-themed diner fit our experiences traveling through time and space, but it was also seen in The Impossible Astronaut where The Doctor meets with Amy, Rory, & River in Utah and Hell Bent where Clara says her final ‘goodbye’ to a Doctor that has forgotten her.

After lunch, you’ll head to The National Museum of Wales. Our first glimpse of the museum comes as the TARDIS materializes in Henry Van Statten’s exhibition hall in Dalek. It’s also featured in Planet of the Dead and The Lazarus Experiment. However, keep your polarities reversed and your fingers crossed because we may have even more in store for this day!

Dinner this evening will be at Ba Orient on the waterfront. The Asian fusion bar and restaurant was used to film when Lady Cassandra met herself (as Chip) at the end of New Earth. You may want to bring your moisturizer.

Overnight Location: Cardiff, Wales

Today you will board the coach and set out for the city of Newport, just north of Cardiff, to visit more filming locations with your Tour Leader.

The first stop will be St. Cadocs hospital. This mental health facility doubled as the Leadworth hospital where The Doctor meets nurse Rory Williams, helps capture Prizoner Zero, and confronts the Atraxi in The Eleventh Hour.

You’ll continue on to the Fields House. Now a fully functioning AirBnB property, the house is perhaps better known as the Wester Drumlins house visited by Sally Sparrow in Blink. You’ll also recognize the building as Bill’s new home from Knock Knock. If you aren’t sent back in time and allowed to live to death by the Weeping Angels or absorbed into the wooden walls, you’ll continue on to St. Woollo’s Cemetery where Sally visited the grave of her old friend Kathy Nightingale.

From there you’ll visit Diverse Vinyl music shop in downtown Newport. Replace the vinyl albums in this iconic institution with DVDs and you’ll easily recognize it as Larry’s shop from Blink where Sally first discovers the Easter eggs The Doctor uses to communicate with her from 1969.

You’ll enjoy lunch across the street in The Secret Garden Café before traveling to the Tredegar House. Tredegar House has been used for filming in many New Who episodes starting with Prime Minister Harriet Jones’ (you know who she is) television plea to The Doctor in The Christmas Invasion. However, the house is probably most famously seen as Reinette Poisson’s apartment and Versailles palace in The Girl in the Fireplace.

Afterward you’ll travel back to Cardiff for a tour of Principality Stadium. The stadium has seen its fair share of sporting and entertainment moments throughout the years, but it also gave us a glimpse into Stormcage Prison in The Impossible Astronaut, Day of the Moon, and A Good Man Goes to War.

After the tour, the rest of the afternoon is yours to explore the city of Cardiff. However, you will be given a challenge to complete before meeting again for dinner. The first to complete the task will naturally be award a fantastic prize. Although we can’t go into detail about the challenge here, our best advice is simply don’t blink…don’t even blink.

In the evening, we’ll gather up and allons’y from the hotel for an evening at Le Monde (it’s French for “the world”). The converted warehouse is now a trendy restaurant where you will first attend a cocktail Master Class because life is short and you are hot. The evening continues with dinner and Doctor Who gaming before you return to the hotel.

Overnight Location: Cardiff, Wales

Once again you’ll board the motor coach in the morning as you set out to visit filming locations in the Welsh countryside.

Your first stop is Dyffryn Gardens. Not only were the gardens seen when The Doctor showed up to have a cheeky spy on Madame du Pompadour in The Girl in the Fireplace, but it is also the final resting place of Professor River Song as seen in The Forest of the Dead. We’ll follow up with an early lunch at the Cross Inn in Crossbridge.

Make sure you have enough tissues, kitchen roll, or a really really long scarf on hand after lunch because we’ll be visiting Southern Down Beach. Various sections of the beach along the Bristol Channel have been used in the episodes Army of Ghosts, Journey’s End, The Time of Angels, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, and The Bells of Saint John. You most likely know it by its Norwegian name, “Dårlig Ulv Stranden” (Bad Wolf Bay), where The Doctor burned up a sun to tell Rose ‘goodbye’ at the end of Doomsday.

After drying your eyes, you’ll continue along the coast to Cosmeston Medieval Village as seen in Robot of Sherwood and The Girl Who Died. You’ll tour the village and also have the opportunity to interact with some of the “locals” who can give you more insight into what life was like in medieval times (which will likely not involve The Doctor showing up riding a tank and playing electric guitar).

After returning to Cardiff and recharging your batteries, we’ll head out for dinner at Bellini’s at Mermaid Quay along the waterfront. You’ll recognize the Italian restaurant as the place where The Doctor and Margaret Slitheen have dinner together in Boom Town.

Overnight Location: Cardiff, Wales

Today you’re on the road again, this time traveling back to London with a couple special stops during the journey.

Your first visit is Clearwell Caves. You’ll be taken on a subterranean tour of these ancient iron mines as seen in The Christmas Invasion, The Satan Pit, The Fires of Pompeii, The Time of Angels, and Flesh and Stone. Don’t be alarmed if you encounter any Sycorax on the tour since the blood control they use is just a cheap bit of voodoo.

After the tour you’ll continue east stopping for lunch at The Willy Wicket just outside of Bristol before continuing on to Stonehenge. You’ll be given plenty of time to explore the grounds and learn more about the most famous circle of stones in the world. You may even be able to open the Pandorica if you can find it.

From Stonehenge you’ll travel back to London to check in once again at your previous hotel. Along the way there will be a “pub quiz” to test not only your knowledge of Dr. Who, but also what you’ve experienced along the way. Winners, of course, will be awarded fantastic prizes.

We’ll have a farewell dinner in the hotel restaurant where we all first met at the beginning of the tour. Hopefully you’ll enjoy a relaxing evening and get everything packed since no matter where you’re headed tomorrow, it’s sure to be a long journey.

Overnight Location: London, England

Today is the day to say goodbye and head off on your own continuing adventures. While everything is sad when it’s over, the memories made along the way will surely bring a smile to your face for years to come. Unless, of course, you’ve booked the four night Scotland Extension!

Grab your things and get ready for an extended drive to the north as you transfer by coach from London, England to Glasgow, Scotland!

The first stop along the route is Nottingham where you’ll discover that the real Nottingham Castle looks very different from the one seen in Robot of Sherwood. From there you’ll stroll into Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, England’s oldest existing pub dating back to 1189. Surely The Doctor has been stopped in for a pint or two in all that time?

From there you’ll continue through the English countryside through the Midlands, Yorkshire, and Northumberland to Hadrian’s Wall. The ruins of this stone wall stretch through the north of England (lots of planets have a north) and mark the frontier of the Roman Empire in the British Isles. No word on if Centurion Rory was there when it was built, but perhaps you’ll find the missing 9^th Legion while you’re there.

After dinner at the nearby Samson Inn, you’ll cross the border into Scotland and check in to your Glasgow hotel for some well-deserved rest after such a long journey.

Overnight Location: Glasgow, Scotland

You’ll start the day with a Dr. Who tour in and around Glasgow with your Tour Leader seeing some of the personal locations associated with 10th Doctor David Tennant, 12th Doctor Peter Capaldi, and writer/producer Steven Moffat. The tour will finish at Glasgow University’s TV studio, GUST, where Moffat honed his skills during his studies there.

After lunch together at Hyde restaurant, you’ll visit the eclectic collection of the Riverside Museum as well as The Tall Ship at the Riverside. Have your earplugs ready to resist the siren’s calls from The Curse of the Black Spot.

The rest of the afternoon is yours to experience Glasgow as you wish and your Tour Leader will once again be on hand to help make any arrangements needed. Don’t spend too much time kilt shopping, however, since we’ll be dinning together at The Grill on the Corner before heading to Escape Glasgow after dinner. Can you and your teammates solve the clues to escape the room before it’s too late? More importantly, can you do it before the OTHER team escapes their room?!

Overnight Location: Glasgow, Scotland

Heading out again, you’ll be traveling by coach from Glasgow through The Highlands to Inverness, the hometown of Amy Pond herself, Karen Gillan.

After a brief stop for lunch at The Stronlossit Inn, you’ll continue on to the town of Drumnadrochit on the shores of Loch Ness. Here you’ll take an excursion on the lake by boat to get a closer look of Urquart Castle and, more importantly, use sonar equipment in an attempt to spot the reclusive Loch Ness Monster!

After the cruise, you’ll make your way to Inverness and check in to your hotel before finishing your day with a modern Scottish dinner at Rocpool restaurant.

Overnight Location: Inverness, Scotland

This morning you’ll find yourself climbing aboard a boat at the marina in Inverness. You’ll take a morning cruise into Moray Firth. Instead of searching for a likely fictional reptile, you’ll be on the lookout for very real mammals…dolphins, to be precise. While, the intelligence of these sea creatures is most certainly great, they’re definitely more playful like The Doctor than evil like The Great Intelligence.

Upon returning to the marina, you’ll enjoy lunch at The Mustard Seed for some locally sourced fare. Then we’re off to the 14th century Cawdor Castle. While the Thane of Cawdor is present in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the castle was built 300 years later. However, if we’re fortunate we’ll be able to meet Dowager Countess of Cawdor who has been known to greet guests and occasionally guide the castle tours herself on a whim!

In the evening we’ll gather for a finally final farewell dinner at the hotel restaurant and reflect on the experiences we’ve shared for the past two weeks. If it’s too hard to say goodbye because you don’t want to go, head out with your Tour Leader to Hootananny’s Pub for some traditional Scottish music, a mug of ale or can of Irn Bru, and feeling the Earth spin beneath your feet.

Overnight Location: Inverness, Scotland

Once again it’s time to bid farewell to your traveling companions as you continue on your own individual adventures. With any luck the best souvenirs you take back won’t be weighing down your suitcase, but the memories and friendships you’ve made along the way. Allons-y!