NORTH EAST USA

The tour starts at 6.00pm on Sunday 18 May, at the Omni Parker House, Boston.

The tour ends at Midday on Saturday 31 May, at the WestHouse Hotel, New York.

Flights from Australia arrive in Boston in the late afternoon. Our tour group will meet for welcome drinks and introductions in the hotel bar in the early evening. Overnight Boston

After an introductory talk in our hotel this morning, we head out for a day exploring Boston’s famous Freedom Trail. This four-kilometre walking route connects the many museums, churches, meeting houses, burial grounds, parks and historic markers that tell the story of the coming of the American Revolution. Our walking tour takes in the Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum before we make our way up to the breathtaking Bunker Hill Monument, offering views from one of the most commanding hills in the city. We gather this evening for our welcome dinner in the historic North End neighbourhood. Overnight Boston (B, D)

Joining our coach this morning we make the short trip to Lexington Green, the site of the first battle of the American Revolution – the famous ‘shot heard round the world.’ Here commentary from our tour leader is complemented by a guided onsite tour, which sets the outbreak of war in a broader context. After lunch in the beautiful nearby town of Concord, our afternoon is spent at the Museum of Fine Arts, an exceptional collection which includes masterpieces from the Dutch-Golden Age, works from some of the great 18th and 19th century American artists, and a world-renowned collection of Japanese art. This evening (schedule permitting) we enjoy a performance at the Boston Center for the Arts, a centre for contemporary visual and performing arts in the city. Overnight Boston (B, L)

Performance I
Venue: Boston Center for the Arts Program: To be advised

Departing Boston this morning, we head to the airport for our short flight to Washington, where we land within sight of both the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. After a transfer to our hotel and time to freshen up, we then head out for an afternoon orientation walking tour of the National Mall, beginning at the White House and then moving eastwards toward the Capitol, the Library of Congress, and the Supreme Court. Dinner this evening is in a cosy Capitol Hill restaurant, popular with both lawmakers and Washington’s infamous lobbyists. Overnight Washington D.C. (B, D)

A talk in our hotel this morning takes a deep dive into an unfamiliar and controversial topic – the role of slavery in the fight for American independence. We then board a river cruiser which whisks us from the heart of D.C. down the Potomac River to George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate 10 miles to the south. Here we tour the beautifully restored grounds and mansion in which George and Martha lived, while examining the lived experiences of those enslaved at Mount Vernon and the extraordinary steps they took to claim freedom for themselves during the chaos of the war. We end our day with a quiet dinner at a private club in the stylish and sophisticated Georgetown neighbourhood. Overnight Washington D.C. (B, D)

This morning is spent exploring the newest of the Smithsonian Institution’s many extraordinary museums, the National Museum of African American History and Culture – a visually striking, thought-provoking and interpretively rich survey of Black Americans’ place in US history. We then take the elevator to the top of the nearby Washington Monument, enjoying spectacular views across the federal city. After a break for lunch, the afternoon is spent at the National Museum of American History where our experience is guided by curator Dr Kenneth Cohen. An early dinner at a restaurant helmed by award-winning chef José Andres in the lively Penn Quarter is followed by a performance (schedule permitting) at Woolly Mammoth, DC’s most exciting theatre. Overnight Washington D.C. (B, D)

Performance II
Venue: Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Program: To be advised

Our final day in the American capital is spent exploring more of its world-famous museums. We begin at the National Gallery of Art where our tour of this collection, which traces the development of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present, is guided by an art historian. After a break for lunch, there is free time to further explore the collection at your leisure. Later in the afternoon we come face to face with some of the Founding Fathers at the nearby National Portrait Gallery and experience the only complete collection of presidential portraits outside of the White House. Overnight Washington D.C. (B)

Departing Washington this morning, we join our coach and head north, making our way to the Valley Forge National Historical Park, just west of Philadelphia. Valley Forge was home to George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, the Marquis de Lafayette and about 10,000 patriot soldiers and their families during the bitter winter of 1778, and was the site where their army dramatically evolved into a professional fighting force. Here we enjoy a picnic lunch before our guided tour of the site. Rejoining our coach in the early afternoon, we continue to Philadelphia. After checking into our hotel there is time to freshen up before an orientation stroll takes us past Benjamin Franklin’s gravesite and then onto dinner in the fashionable Northern Liberties neighbourhood. Overnight Philadelphia (B, L, D)

This morning a talk in our hotel offers an up-close exploration of the history, purpose, and impact of Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence. We then make our way to Independence Hall, the seat of the patriot government during the war and the site at which American independence was first declared. After our visit, we enjoy a group lunch at the majestic Museum of the American Revolution in the company of its chief historian Dr Phil Mead, before touring this extraordinary new museum which explores the dramatic story of the Revolution and its legacy. Overnight Philadelphia (B, L)

Born in Boston, Benjamin Franklin ran away to Philadelphia when he was 17, finding success there as a printer, philanthropist, scientist, and statesmen. This morning, we retrace his life in Old City in the company of Dr George Boudreau, a Franklin expert and a raconteur in the vein of Benjamin himself. After a break for lunch, we reconvene at the National Constitution Center, an impressive interpretation centre focused on the Revolution’s greatest legacy – the 1787 Federal Constitution. In the late afternoon we have a private after-hours tour of the Library Company of Philadelphia, the globally renowned archive of early American printed treasures founded by Franklin in 1739. This evening we enjoy dinner in Center City, home to Philadelphia’s most historic neighbourhoods as well as a lively restaurant scene. Overnight Philadelphia (B, D)

Before departing to New York, we have time for a morning visit to the jewel of Philadelphia’s cultural crown, the Barnes Foundation – one of the world’s greatest collections of impressionist and post-impressionist art. We then transfer to the station where we board our Amtrak service, America’s intercity railroad, for the short 100-minute ride to Manhattan. Arriving in New York in the mid-afternoon, we check-in to our hotel before taking a relaxed orientation walking tour of Midtown and Central Park, ending our first evening in the city with dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight New York (B, D)

The revolutionary-era exhibits at the New-York Historical Society, the Upper West Side grand dame of the city’s museum scene, are our first destination this morning. We then travel to the southern tip of the island in search of colonial New York, before stopping for lunch at the historic Fraunces Tavern, site of Washington’s farewell to his army. In the afternoon we stroll through the old city in the company of historian Dr Benjamin Carp, with stops including the Trinity Churchyard – the burial site of Elizabeth Schuyler (the widow of Alexander Hamilton). Tonight we make our way to Broadway for a performance selected from the best of the 2024/2025 season. Overnight New York (B, L)

Performance III
Venue: A Broadway Theatre
Program: To be advised

As Hamilton, the worldwide smash-hit musical, reminds us, Alexander Hamilton spent most of his adult life and all of his political career in New York, first during the Revolutionary War, and then as Secretary of the Treasury when the city became the second capital of the United States. We spend the morning exploring Hamilton’s home The Grange, a dignified outpost in a pretty park in Harlem, situating the musical’s narratives against the historical record. We then travel across the Hudson River to New Jersey to visit the Weehawken Dueling Grounds, the site of the fateful Hamilton Burr duel in 1804. This afternoon is free to continue sightseeing or to do some shopping before we meet again for a farewell dinner. Overnight New York (B, D)

A brisk start this morning offers special early access, with a private tour of MoMA, New York’s famous Museum of Modern Art. Before the doors open to the public, a museum lecturer guides us through the museum’s greatest works, with the likes of Picasso, Gauguin and van Gogh set to delight. Our tour concludes at midday on return to our hotel. (B)

Hotels have been selected principally for their central location.

• Boston, Omni Parker House (3 nights)

• Washington D.C., Kimpton Hotel Monaco (4 nights)

• Philadelphia, Kimpton Hotel Palomar (3 nights)

• New York, WestHouse Hotel (3 nights)