Hi yankee,

as I suspect you are already aware, most of us using this site are keen independent travellers, though some do occasionally "confess" to having taken the odd tour. Therefore i'm not sure how much help we're going to be able to give you.

that's not to dismiss touring, and as you say, for people with health concerns and for other reasons, a tour may be just what they want or indeed need.

as a start, why not post the results of your initial researches, along with some other information such as budget, the length of the trip, what parts of the UK you'd like to see, bits you have already seen, etc. [BTW, did you ever get to Scotland as you were considering in your other thread last year?]

hi again,

i found this through a bit of googling:

http://www.toursthroughtime.co.uk/

and this:

http://www.backroadstouring.co.uk/england

and this:

http://www.trafalgar.com/tours/destinations/europe/england

As you suspect most bus tours are designed for the average traveler - not the history buff - and focus on a few major sights and lots of shopping opportunities with ver long days on a bus inbetween.

If you are serious about historical sights you might be better off organizing your own travel and then taking specialized daytrips that visit the sights you really want to see.

I must admit that we have found most tour-based sightseeing - whether the dreaded half-day city tour or even basic day tours - to be way too simplistic - and wasteful of time that could be better spent. We no longer do them at all - although every once in a while we tag onto a good one we encouter while touring a sight ourselves. I think you have to search for ones that are for groups intersted in more in-depth learning - and often led by a local profesor familiar with the subject/venue.

Unfortunately these tours tend to attract (and allow) fewer participants and so are typically more expensive. If you are serious that's the type of day tour I would look for.