Saturday | Welcome to London | Half Day London City Tour

Welcome to our one week English Language and Culture School Program. Today, you will fly from your hometown to one of London's airports where we will meet you. Upon clearing from the custom area you will travel by coach to your host families in Richmond which is one of the most prestigious areas of London. After a light welcoming meal, you will go out to explore your immediate environment. There will be an introduction tour, to learn about bus stops, supermarkets, pharmacies and local points and know your two vicinities. Tonight we will ask you to sleep a bit early as you must be tired from your journey.

You will be staying in our English host family community in Richmond for the utmost and real British culture

Sunday | Petticoat Lane - Covent Garden - London Dungeon

First things first. In the morning we will obtain our weekly travelcards for our entire program. We will use London's massive public transportation system to explore the capital of the world. We will also inform you about the public transportation system in London.

Via Liverpool Street, we are going to take you to London's biggest open-air market for the soul of the city and for some shopping experience in this famous district. An affordable shopping experience awaits you in the heart of the city for you today. Textile materials, bags, souvenirs, toys, t's, useful gadgets, pants, funky and lovely stuff you will find on the stalls along the street.

After the market, you are going to travel to Covent Garden passing by world-famous universities and old building of BBC via Holborn en route. You will be able to visit the Apple Store (if you wish) before watching street performers in Jubilee Market. Speaking of gardens, be sure not to overlook Covent Garden. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a very popular shopping and tourist site. Not really gardens at all, the area is a spectacular array of theatres, shops (many people visit London just for the shopping) and more where the street performers compete with restaurants, bars, clubs and shops for tourists' attention. Covent Garden is also the prime destination of theatregoers and patrons of the Royal Opera House by night. It’s situated right in the heart of London’s Broadway West End. The area wasn’t used to be a fancy part of the city, however, series of developments after 70’s made this district a prime destination for tourists. Indeed, Covent Garden is one of the vibrant places of interest in London. It plays a great role in today’s cultural life with its theatres, restaurants, cafes, street performers, stalls, markets and many attractions. It’s a must-see place in London.

A “Welcome to London” surprise has been arranged for you; Are you ready for adrenaline and frightening 110-minute tour in London Dungeons? If you want to experience the dark period of Middle Ages, it means that you are ready to meet Jack the Ripper, Great London Fire, Blind Barber, London Sewer System and mice, torture and ghost galleries and so on. Delve into the ancient capital’s most horrible history at the London Dungeon experience live actors, thrilling rides and exciting special effects. This 110 minute journey will give you an opportunity to understand the dark past of London by screaming. It’s true fun blended by adrenaline. This amazing attraction will bring 1000 years of authentic London history to life with a unique mix of talented live actors performing in scarily funny shows, stunning special effects, edge of your seat surprises and two exciting thrill rides. You will embark on a journey through a dramatic London landscape going back ten centuries. They will be guided through ghastly plague-ridden streets, witness Guy Fawkes’ dramatic plot to blow up Parliament, travel back to Jack the Ripper’s bleak Whitechapel and walk beneath London’s foreboding medieval gates. What's more? A true history blended with joy. Just join us.

Before returning to your homes, you will see Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and London Eye under night lights and the enchanting night view of the famous Thames River. Your dinner will be at 8:00 p.m. After dinner, you can play football with our local kids on the green lawn of Richmond and playgroup games all together.

Your accommodation will be provided by our English host families in Richmond for tonight. What a lovely experience!

Monday | English Lessons

Your English lessons will start today. Therefore, we are going to travel your language school with our weekly travelcards like other Londoners. Our language school was nominated as the best language school in London in 2015. Our language school opened in London in 1990, and since then we have provided English language courses to students from across the world. Our curriculum uses a communicative approach to learning English which helps our students live, work and study in the modern global environment. After written and verbal English placement tests with international quality and standard in your language school, you will be taken an introductory tour in the school and afterwards, your first English Class will start. After a delicious and hot buffet lunch prepared by Polish cooks, your afternoon exploration in London will begin. Just follow us.

Our exploration will start with Royal's residence Buckingham Palace in England. Buckingham Palace is still the official residence of Britain's monarchy, as it has been since Queen Victoria's designation in 1837. Much of the Buckingham Palace was constructed as early as 1703 for the Duke of Buckingham. Buckingham House (as it was then known) was purchased in 1762 by George III, who used it as a private residence. Over the following 75 years the house was expanded to form three wings around a central courtyard. When Queen Victoria discovered Buckingham Palace lacked several 'necessary' rooms - such as a formal ballroom, a nursery, visitor's bedrooms and others - major additions were undertaken, including adding an entire wing to form a quadrangle. Buckingham Palace is the home of the Changing Guard Ceremony in London. The Changing of the Guard has been a tradition for hundreds of years whereby the Household Regiment, the Queen’s Guards at Buckingham Palace, change shift in a fascinating show of pomp and circumstance.

After Buckingham Palace, we think the group will deserve an ice cream break on the lawns of St. James’ Park. Well, Imagine a park that is surrounded by world-famous landmarks such as Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Whitehall right in the heart of the city. It is arguably the city's best park in every season. St James’s Park is one of London’s eight Royal Parks and covers an area of nearly 57 acres. Summer, fall, winter and spring, St James's Park gives you great joy with the outstanding beauty of its landscape with animals, nature and the vegetation you can admire. The park’s famous flower beds at the front of Buckingham Palace are a familiar backdrop to pageants including Trooping the Colour, as well as state visits and other ceremonial occasions. Can you believe this? Pelicans have lived in St James’s Park for nearly 400 years. They were originally presented as a gift from the Russian Ambassador to King Charles II. If we go back to 1500's, Tudor times we should mention our big King Henry VIII who was also known for his love of hunting; he regularly used Regent's Park as a hunting ground. St James's Park wasn't quite big enough for his needs, so he put it to use as an area for breeding young deer — once they were old enough, they were shipped off to Hyde Park and Regent's Park to face their fate. Listen to other stories from your guide.

When the time shows 4 pm, Horse Guards at Whitehall must be the places that we should be in. We all watch a very traditional English ceremony dated back to 1894 till today. Explore the official entrance to St James and Buckingham Palace, since the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660. Lifeguards have stood guard at Horse Guards and ready to offer you a true British ceremony. Although Changing The Queen's Lifeguard is not as well-known as Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace smaller crowds and no railings between you and the men and horses taking part make it ideal for those with younger children and those looking for some amazing pictures. The ceremony lasts about half an hour, and the mounted sentries change every hour, or half hour in very cold weather during the day until 16:00 when a dismounting ceremony takes place. The Queen's Lifeguard is normally provided by men of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment which consists of a Squadron of The Life Guards, who wear red tunics and white plumed helmets, and a Squadron of The Blues and Royals with blue tunics and red plumed helmets. Your guide will be ready to tell you amazing stories about this ceremony. A simply not to be missed attraction in the heart of the city.

Our next stop is Downing Street. Being one of the most important political buildings in the world United Kingdom's White House Number 10 continuously hosts the British prime ministers since 1735. The main decisions affecting Britain's destiny in the last 275 years have seriously been taken behind its iconic black door. Today it's not possible to enter the street as a tourist but knowing the idea that an actual prime minister lives and works in the street is a heart beating. Have this experience with us.

Time to walk along Whitehall Street from Downing Street to Trafalgar Square. Whitehall has a very interesting deep history. This is where our King Charles I was executed and the monarchy was abolished. During 11 years of the time, we had no kings nor queens. Welcome to Trafalgar Square. Trafalgar Square is a very touristic public square with some of London's most popular attractions, from galleries and historic buildings to monuments and statues, you can be a witness of deep-seated British history. Square also holds a series of events all year round. Listen to the stories of the kings such as Charles I, Charles IV, Admiral Horatio Nelson, General Sir Charles James Napier and Major General Sir Henry Havelock who shaped the history of this nation. Tourope UK's qualified guides will ready to take you an immaculate journey through the timeline of our nation.

You will be staying in our English host family community in Richmond for the utmost and real British culture experience.

Tuesday | English Lessons - British Museum - Harry Potter's 9 3/4 Platform, King's Cross - Leicester Square

After your English lessons in Balham, today’s afternoon tour will begin with the British Museum, the biggest and most important museum of human history and culture. The British Museum was founded in 1753 and today has approximately eight million objects from ancient history to modern technology giving you a glimpse into ancient cultures and civilisations. The museum is considered one of the most famous museums in the world. A typical tour may begin in Lord Foster's Great Hall. Here you will see ancient scripts on the Rosetta Stone from Egypt, architectural relics from temples and mausoleums in Mesopotamia, Assyria, Greece etc., the huge statues of Pharaoh Rameses the Great, many pieces of the friezes showing the pan-Athenic festival of the ruins of the Parthenon at the Acropolis in Greece and a special hall was constructed so they could be on permanent display to all. More than 80.000 historical artefacts and the total of 7 million objects belonging to every period and every civilization from Early Bronze Age to Roman Empire with various dimensions are also displayed in this culture shrine. You will explore antique money from periods of various empires, structures which date back to the Roman and Greek Civilizations. The process of mummification, Egyptian Gallery, Galleries of Gebelein Man, which has survived today without decaying for 4000 years plus, ancient Greece, Rome, Babylon, Mesopotamia, Assyria, Persia, Celtic, ancient Christianity, Etruscan, Aztec, African, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Greek, Islamic civilizations and many more await your exploration. There even may be a workshop where you will learn a lot about World Culture in this lovely museum.

After this culture parade, you will be free to shop in Oxford Street, one of the most famous shopping streets in London, including designer names and also value Primark which is the hidden gem for the price hunters in London.

Those who don't want to shop and prefer to visit The Harry Potter Shop at Platform 9 ¾; the home of Harry Potter's Wizarding World merchandise, souvenirs, and collectables, simply follow us, we will take you to Harry Potter's world in London. Here in this spot, you will even have the chance to be photographed by dashing through the wall in Platform 9 3/4. This activity may take some time as it is very popular and waiting in the line can take up to more than an hour. Kings Cross Station is the shrine for the Potterheads. During our visit, we will also mention the inspiration points of the author J.K. Rowling while creating Harry Potter's story. Follow us for an immaculate Harry Potter experience in Kings Cross.

Tonight, you can enjoy entertaining street performers and step into the M&M World’s chocolate empire in Leicester Square. You can smell the chocolate once you enter the world of chocolate. It is chocolate heaven. Just live & enjoy London's active nightlife with us.

The two-story megastore—complete with a life-sized London Underground train car made up of 637,903 bricks—is the largest of its kind in the world. The new Lego store covers 9,800 square feet and contains a 20-foot replica of Big Ben that took 2,280 hours to build (and has a working clock face, naturally) Want to visit? Go ahead. We are going to come with you.

Tonight, you can also enjoy entertaining street performers and live atmosphere of Leicester Square. Leicester Square is a square in London's West End. It was designed in 1670 and is named after the contemporary Leicester House, named after Robert Sidney, the 2nd Earl of Leicester. Originally, the square was a gentrified residential area, with tenants including Frederick, Prince of Wales and artists William Hogarth and Joshua Reynolds. In the late 18th century, when Leicester House was demolished and retail changes took place, it became a centre for entertainment. Today, Leicester Square is the heart of London with its restaurants, cafes, cinemas, casinos, fast food stores, hotels, international brands with the street performers and tourist crowds. No tour is completed in London without visiting Leicester Square. Leicester Square has been a popular venue for almost 400 years. Well, the vicinity welcomes more than 2.5 million visitors every week! It’s a meeting point of all Londoners and London lovers. The city's top shows and plays and over 52 star-studded red-carpet film premiers each year can widely be enjoyed by all visitors.

Dinner will be served as "packed dinner" as we will be out for our evening activities in the city centre

You will be staying in our English host family community in Richmond for the utmost and real British culture experience.

Wednesday | English Lessons - The London Eye - Houses of Parliament - Pre Theatre Dinner - West End Musical

Good morning. After having our typical English breakfast with our English host families we will reach our English school in Balham. Our native speakers will help you to understand and speak in English because our curriculum uses a communicative approach to learning English which helps our students live, work and study in the modern global environment. After lunch, we will be ready to explore London's highlights again.

Our first-afternoon activity will be the London Eye, en route, we will be passing through Embankment, Scotland Yard, the Metropolitan Police Station and Westminster Bridge consecutively. Before our sky ride, you will have an introductory 4D digital film experience about our famous London Eye. Europe’s biggest Ferris Wheel takes 30 minutes to get to the top and you will be able to take fabulous panoramic photos looking out over the city. What a great air sightseeing activity in the heart of the city. Our Millennium Wheel is the first-built and largest observation wheel in the world (a type of evolution on the Ferris wheel) and has been since its opening at the end of 1999. The London Eye stands 135 metres (443 feet) high on the western end of Jubilee Gardens, on the South Bank of the River Thames in Lambeth, London, England, between Westminster and Hungerford Bridges. It is adjacent to London's County Hall and stands opposite the offices of the Ministry of Defence situated in Westminster which it overlooks to the west. The London Eye was designed by architects David Marks, Julia Barfield, Malcolm Cook, Mark Sparrow hawk, Steven Chilton, and Nic Bailey. The London Eye's wheel carries 32 sealed and air-conditioned passenger capsules attached to its external circumference. Rotating at a rate of 0.26 metres per second so that one revolution takes about 30 minutes to complete, the London Eye wheel does not usually stop to take on passengers (the rotation rate is so slow that passengers can easily walk) except for the wheelchair users. What a lovely panoramic sightseeing attraction in the city. Our guides will gladly tell you the history of the landmarks that you will see from the sky.

After the London Eye, we will take you to Westminster Bridge. Westminster Bridge is not an ordinary bridge to span the River Thames. It has a very tumultuous history in London. The bridge's colour is green and the story of the bridge is colourful. We will tell you about the history of the bridge after Lady Boudicca's role in London's 2000-year-old history. Oh before we leave we will walk along the bridge and take pictures of London Eye, Royal Festival Hall and the River Thames. Just follow us.

The Houses of Parliament, known also as the Palace of Westminster is where the two Houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (the House of Lords and the House of Commons) conduct their sittings. They lie on the north bank of the River Thames in the London borough of the City of Westminster, close by other government buildings in Whitehall. The oldest part of the building is still in existence, Westminster Hall, which dates from 1097. The palace originally served as a royal residence, but no monarch has lived in it since the 16th century. Most of the present Houses of Parliament structure dates from the 19th century when the Palace was rebuilt after it was almost entirely destroyed by a fire in 1834. The architects responsible for rebuilding the Palace was Sir Charles Barry and Augustus Welby Pugin, and the building is an example of the Gothic revival.

Westminster Abbey is a Church, burial ground, coronation site and much more, Westminster Abbey continues to attract visitors over 900 years after its founding. In many respects the architecture is common. There's the traditional cross-shaped floor plan with a nave, north and south transepts and several round side areas. But both its execution and use raise The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster (the official name) to among the highest examples of church construction. Here at Westminster Abbey lie buried kings and poets, scientists and philosophers who have themselves raised humankind to the highest levels. Isaac Newton and James Clerk Maxwell (discoverer of electromagnetic theory, which later lead to radio and TV), Chaucer and Kipling, Dr. Samuel Johnson (creator of the first English dictionary) and many other justly famous names are interred here.

We have a lovely evening activity for you but first, we need to have our traditional dinner in Covent Garden. It's time to try our traditional fish and chips. (If you don't like fish, don't worry. We have plenty of alternatives and options in the world's capital, you won't be hungry). Speaking of gardens, be sure not to overlook Covent Garden. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a very popular shopping and tourist site. Not really gardens at all, the area is a spectacular array of theatres, shops (many people visit London just for the shopping) and more where the street performers compete with restaurants, bars, clubs and shops for tourists' attention. Covent Garden is also the prime destination of theatregoers and patrons of the Royal Opera House by night. It’s situated right in the heart of London’s Broadway West End. The area wasn’t used to be a fancy part of the city, however, series of developments after 70’s made this district a prime destination for tourists. Indeed, Covent Garden is one of the vibrant places of interest in London. It plays a great role in today’s cultural life with its theatres, restaurants, cafes, street performers, stalls, markets and many attractions. It’s a must-see place in London.

Tonight we will invite you to have an immaculate fine art experience in the heart of London. West End is the Broadway of London. Therefore we will take you one of the theatres shows in the West End district of London. Our show will be one of the fanciest shows in London. Your tickets will be ready and we are pretty sure that you will love this experience. Get your seat and enjoy the show in the world's art capital

You will be served a traditional fish & chips (or alternative menu) in one of the restaurants in Covent Garden.

You will be staying in our English host family community in Richmond for the utmost and real British culture

Thursday | English Lessons - Natural History Museum - Evening Football Activity

Good morning. After breakfast with your English host families in Richmond, you will join your English classes in Balham. The quality of English courses in our school meets the needs of all students. We provide English courses which promote communication and understanding between students from all backgrounds and cultures. You will have 3 hours of English course for today. After our hot buffet lunch, we will hit London's science spot.

Our afternoon starts with the Natural History Museum, one of London's most beautiful museums of natural history, even worldwide. In the museum, you examine dinosaur galleries, mammals, all small marine creatures, the hidden world of insects, bird galleries, the world gallery of tectonic activities, human and animal bodies under the lava, earthquake simulation room, human evolution, natural stone gallery, meteors and some other examples. Besides, there will be question and answer sessions where you can have your questions answered. The Natural History Museum tour is a day of science and fun activities also for all family members. Housing a staggering 70 million items, there are five main collections: Botany, Entomology, Mineralogy, Palaeontology and Zoology. The Museum is renowned for its exhibition of dinosaur skeletons in a particularly large gallery of Dinosaurs, including a spectacular Diplodocus and Tyrannosaurus Rex. You can find the answers to such questions as who lived when and where who were predators and prey and what happened to them. You will be guided throughout the museum by our APTG qualified blue badge tourist guides who can answer all your questions. You will begin with the Blue Zone proceeding through the Dinosaur Gallery to the fish, amphibians and reptiles before heading to Human biology with images of nature and mammals. You will be able to take a photograph of the blue whale model and then see specimens of marine invertebrates. After a break in the cafe, you will proceed to Green Zone where Creepy Crawlies, Fossil Marine Reptiles, Fossils from Britain and birds can be seen. Then you will head to Red Zone through the Earth sculpture via an escalator for magnificent Volcanoes and Earthquakes, Restless Surface galleries. One floor up, you will visit Minerals, Treasures, The Vault and the oldest tree in the world, Grand Sequoia. After visiting the Darwin Centre, you can enjoy excellent Wildlife Garden with its tranquil habitat for its visitors here in the Natural History Museum in London today.

It will be a tiring day for everyone and so you will have your dinner at 19:00 with your English host families. Students who still feel energetic can join evening activities and play group games such as football with the local kids on our massive lawn, a famous common area as large as ​​2 football pitches in our Richmond neighbourhood.

You will be staying in our English host family community in Richmond for the utmost and real British culture experience

Friday | English Lessons - Madame Tussauds - Hard Rock Cafe London - A Traditional English Pub

Today is your last in your school. That means you have all earned your certificates. At a pretty ceremony, your English language school manager will present your certificates. We do sincerely hope that we have given our students the skills to continue learning and developing their language and communicative skills outside the classroom too. After the hot buffet lunch, it's time for you to celebrate with famous celebrities like Megan & Harry, Brad Pitt, Madonna, Kim Kardashian, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Take that, Sherlock Holmes and even with the famous Star Wars characters of Anakin Skywalker! Follow us!

Ready to visit the Museum of Wax Madame Tussauds?. The concept of the museum in your mind will be completely changed by this museum. In the world of film, sports, music, politics, science you'll meet the most important people and can take a selfie with them. If you are a deep Sherlock Holmes fan, you can visit his gallery in the basement for an extra surcharge. Now take a black cab that takes you from past to present on a journey through the glorious history of London. The tour is known as the “Spirit of London”. Your next activity is the 4-D cinema on the biggest IMAX screen of Madame Tussauds. Here you see the true dimension reached by the film industry. Take 3D glasses, sit upright and watch Marvels' London adventure. You will love it.

The world-renowned Hard Rock Cafe will follow Madame Tussauds. In 1971 London HRC was the world's first Hard Rock Café in the world. You can also visit the Vault under the Hard Rock Cafe. See the worldly musicians' original articles, lyrics and music-oriented articles, such as John Lennon from the Beatles, Freddie Mercury, Madonna, Elvis Presley, Guns N' Roses, Jimi Hendrix and many more. Well, you will love the shrine of Britain's music culture.

Your families will expect you for dinner by 8 pm this time. After dinner, we will take you to a lovely place that you will admire.

Time to visit The New Inn Pub, one of Richmond's most beautiful traditional English pubs, with your teachers & group leaders, where you will be given some important information about British culture and social life in the pub. You will be supervised by our group leaders and chaperones.

Your accommodation will be provided by our English host families in Richmond for tonight. What a lovely experience!

Saturday | Transferring to The Airport

Today you will be transferred by private vehicle to the airport. This is the end of our service and we hope to see you again in London, as there are lots to see, a lot to do. Have a safe flight home!