Step outside your hotel for a stroll through the heart of the English-speaking world. In this city of nearly seven million, you'll see everything from 12th-century fortifications to modern skyscrapers, royal parks to street art. Your Tour Director will lead you to some of the most famous sites. Walk along the Thames River. Cross Trafalgar Square. See bustling Piccadilly Circus. Pass trendy shops and cafés in Bohemian Soho on your way to Covent Garden, a 13th-century fruit and vegetable garden transformed into a maze of narrow streets and pedestrian walkways burgeoning with street performers, open-air markets and boutiques

See Trafalgar Square, often used for community gatherings and political demonstrations.

Visit the National Gallery, which contains an unrivaled collection of Western art spanning seven centuries, from the late 13th to the early 20th. The largest portion of the collection is devoted to the Italians, including works by da Vinci, Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto and Botticelli; but the collection also features works by the Spanish giants El Greco, Goya and Velázquez. The Flemish-Dutch school is represented by Brueghel, Jan van Eyck, Vermeer, Rubens and Rembrandt; and there is also an immense French impressionist and post-impressionist collection that includes works by Manet, Monet, Degas, Renoir and Cézanne.

Visit Piccadilly Circus, a shopping and entertainment area brightly lit with video displays and neon signs.

Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and with the Royal Opera House, which itself may be referred to as "Covent Garden". The district is divided by the main thoroughfare of Long Acre, north of which is given over to independent shops centered on Neal's Yard and Seven Dials, while the south contains the central square with its street performers and most of the historical buildings, theatres and entertainment facilities, including the London Transport Museum and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

Leicester Square is perfectly situated in the heart of London's West End, with Trafalgar Square to the south, Piccadilly Circus to the west, Covent Garden to the east, and China Town to the north.

Today we will visit the Warner Brothers Studio Tour London to explore the magic of the Harry Potter films. This unique tour takes you behind-the-scenes and showcases a huge array of beautiful sets, costumes and props. It also reveals some closely guarded secrets, including facts about the special effects and animatronics that made these films so hugely popular all over the world.

Put your drama skills to the test. Meet the actors of a theater in London’s West End, learn about, and explore, the core themes of a play before acting out a scene on your own. Afterwards, it’s on with the show as you join the audience for an enjoyable performance. Please note this activity is not run by actors taking part in the performance you will attend.

Enjoy dinner this evening in Covent Garden, home to some of the city's liveliest restaurants, pubs and cafés.

Explore the British Museum, one of the most comprehensive collections of art and artifacts in the world. Highlights of our visit will include the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon Marbles, and the Sutton Hoo Treasure.

Theatre groups often enjoy performing at theatres, museums and cultural centers, significant historic sights, festivals occurring while they tour or exchange performances with local schools, universities, or community groups. Outdoor venues in plazas or city squares are also wonderful options. For all performances we work closely with each group to ensure the perfect venue to meet their vision. Speak with your Worldstrides representative about what options would be best for your group.

Visit and take a tour of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and Museum, housed in a reconstruction of the original theater that closed in 1642 and dedicated to the experience and international understanding of Shakespeare in performance. The museum explores the costumes, special effects, music and printing and publishing process during the Shakespearean era.

Vendors hocking sandwiches. Spectators sitting in the open air, exposed to the hot sun or cold rain. People cheering and heckling the players. Sounds more like a typical day at the ballpark than a performance of a Shakespearean play. In Elizabethan England the Globe Theatre was a lively place, and this 1990s reconstruction strives to be as authentic as possible. Learn how modern-day actors deal with the rowdy groundlings (working in simulated daylight means actors can see—and react to—each and every audience member), how the costumers hand-sew antique fabrics to create the clothing, how designers cope with the very minimalist Elizabethan standards for scenery and props, and how directors take advantage of the unique conditions to break down the idea that “Shakespeare equals stuffy.” Please note that the workshop is restricted to students and a limited number of accompanying adults. Adults who are not able to participate will be offered a guided tour of The Shakespeare Globe as a substitute activity.

End with a night at the theater. You'll see a play in the West End, the British version of Broadway, with London's 40-or-so professional theaters, as well as restaurants, shops and cafés. Please note that theater performances may be moved to alternate days due to availability.

Your guide will take you to William Shakespeare's childhood home, furnished in a style typical to the Elizabethan period. Afterwards, you’ll tour the thatched cottage where his wife, Anne Hathaway, lived before their marriage. The adjoining Shakespeare Tree Garden is planted with trees and flowers mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays.

The cottage provides a rare insight into the life of a family in Shakespearean times, and many of the original furnishings are preserved inside the house.

Explore Shakespeare's Birthplace, a carefully restored 16th Century house where The Bard was born, April 23, 1564. After touring the property and the period-correct gardens, we will visit the Shakespeare-related exhibits in the adjoining Shakespeare Center, built to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth.

See the renowned RSC perform in Shakespeare's hometown. Formed in 1905, the RSC has employed such great actors as John Gielgud, Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, Judi Dench, and Sir Ian McKellen. (If the theater is unavailable, a play in London will be substituted)

Get up close and personal with the Tower of London. Towers, rather. Twenty stone towers, as well as tunnels, winding staircases and narrow passageways comprise this huge fortress covering 18 acres on the banks of the Thames. A royal residence from the 11th - 16th centuries, the Tower also served as a jewel safe and a prison. The headless skeletons of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard (Henry VIII's former wives who were executed here) are believed to be buried here. The Crown Jewels are housed here, including the largest cut diamond in the world (530-carats). Beefeaters (guards) lead tours through the Tower.

Situated on the South Bank, the theater was at the heart of a 200 year national debate before finally opening its doors in 1976. Everything from classical plays to modern scripts can be seen in each of its three theaters: the Olivier, the Lyttleton and the Cottesloe.