The Victorian Engineering Marvels self drive tour includes 10 days of seeing some of the finest engineering works in the world, many of which are still in use after 200 years and we include some Edwardian structures and even some medieval engineering works in the tour. We try to let you tour some of the best sights in England, Wales and Scotland along the way to make your visit really memorable. We see steam locomotives, steam engines, tunnels and bridges, steamships and aquaducts and boat lifts all to make a fantastic touring experience. Combining this tour with several days in London will allow you to fully appreciate how British engineers like Brunel, Telford and Stephenson led the world in this period and the tour is easily extendable using the suggestions for extra places to visit.

The Victorian Engineering preview itinerary

Day 1
Your self drive Victorian Engineering tour with British Tour Plans starts by heading west to our first stop which recreates the golden age of steam and the Great Western Railway, dating from an Act of Parliament in 1835 and designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. See the Brunswick Green steam locomotives, steam engines and polished brasswork with chocolate and cream carriages. Then touring onward with stops to see other sites such as Brunels’ Box Tunnel and a steam driven water pumping station to end the day in the Roman city of Bath with its Roman ruins and Georgian architecture.

Day 2
We continue touring today to Bristol and visit some of Brunels’ greatest engineering accomplishments – Temple Meads railway station, SS Great Britain and the Clifton Suspension Bridge. We leave and spend the afternoon at the Severn Valley Steam Railway and spend the night at the village of Much Wenlock.

Day 3
We start the day touring the world’s first Iron Bridge dating from 1779 and the converted workshops that form the Ironbridge Gorge Museums. The tour continues into Wales to visit “the stream in the sky”, Thomas Telford’s famous Pontcysyllte Aquaduct dating from 1805 that is the country’s tallest navigable aquaduct and carrying the Llangollen Canal 126 feet above and across the River Dee. Then it is onward through Wales seeing various structures and some spectacular scenery to the Menai Straights Bridge before spending the night at Caernarfon.

Day 4
Tour the scenic North Wales coastline today to see Conwy. The walled town is one of the best preserved medieval fortified town in Britain. We also see Telford’s 1826 suspension bridge, which he designed to blend with the castle architecture as well as Robert Stephenson’s 1848 tubular railway bridge next to it. Then to the 2000 year old Roman town of Chester for the night.

Day 5
Canals formed a major part of Britains trade and some of the Victorian engineering works are just spectacular – we tour today seeing the mechanism used to hydraulically lift the working canal boats vertically through 50 feet, bridgeing the height difference between the Weaver Navigation and the Trent and Mersey canals without the use of locks and although built in 1875 is still in use today. Try it out with a canal boat trip. We then go on to Wigan and show you much more than Wigan Pier before entering England’s Lake District for the most amazing scenery. We spend the night at the Victorian resort of Windermere and see some of Britain’s most famous National Park.

Day 6
An optional visit to a steamboat museum and then we leave Lakeland on the old coaching road where years ago passengers had to get out of the coach and lend a hand to the horses by pushing the coach up the hill. Nicknamed “the struggle” the road will eventually leads us out of England to the border with Scotland where we break the journey to see the famous Blacksmiths Shop that was for years where runaway couples from England could take advantage of easygoing Scottish laws and get married very quickly. Then onward to see the Forth Bridges. The railway bridge dates from 1890 but the road bridge is from 1964. Both are somewhat impressive. We end the day in the wonderful city of Edinburgh.

Day 7
South today, touring back into England and the first stop is at Berwick upon Tweed – the border town that has changed hands between the English and the Scots over the years - and not often peacefully. The town has 3 interesting structures. Then past Lindisfarne with a stop if the tide is right to drive across the causeway – being careful that the sea does not cut you off on the Holy Island if the tide brings the sea in again, to Alnwick with its fantastic castle and spend the afternoon at the Beamish Open Air Museum where you will be transported back in time to experience living and working in the North East of England in the early 1800’s and 1900’s. We spend the night in the Cathedral City of Durham.

Day 8
We end today’s tour in York, England’s ‘eternal city’, with its history recorded in its streets. It was for hundreds of years, England’s second city and within its medieval walls the Minster forms a centrepiece for the relics of Roman and Viking occupation. We visit the National Railway Museum to see our our most famous collection of steam locomotives and steam trains. We have free time for shopping in ‘The Shambes’ and once again we offer suggestions of what to see and do.

Day 9
Leaving York we head off to see canal boats near Leeds with the option of taking a ride on one, then through the beautiful countryside of Derbyshire to see the National Tramway museum at Crich for a different aspect to Victorian engineering. We spend the night in Nottingham, home of the legendary Robin Hood.

Day 10
Then it is onward to Foxton locks, a complex staircase of 10 individual locks built to lift the canal 75 feet in 300 yards. This is a total contrast to the Anderton Boat lift that you saw a few days ago. Foxton has been an important boating centre for 200 years and is the point where two canals in the north-south water route meet. We continue to the historic city of Cambridge and then continue to end the tour in London…….. but then there is more…..

Day 11 ++
We detail further visits in London to see more Victorian Engineering Marvels, including visits to:

• The Science Museum
• Tower Bridge
• Royal Albert Hall
• Westminster Palace - our Houses of Parliament
• Paddington Railway Station
• St Pancras Railway Station
• Liverpool St Railway Station
• Thames Tunnel
• Westminster Abbey
• Victorian Sewers

The Victorian Engineering tour concludes in London

The self drive tour consists of 174 pages. Approx file size 9.3 mb