Every time I walk into the Great Hall at Hampton Court Palace I gasp. The hall is impressive, it was built for a King.  The vast wood hammer-beam ceiling and its sheer size is a place meant to make you humble.  It is not just the hall though, its the ghosts of its history that envelope you.  This is where King Henry VIII and the drama of the Tudor Court and his six wives  unfolded. This moment of awe always takes me by surprise, but it reassures me that I am in the right place at the right time. 

I have this favorite spot in London, you enter through a gateway with heavy doors and you are immediately out of the noise and traffic of the Strand/Fleet Streets and into the quite back lanes of Temple.  You make your way through some narrow passage ways and find yourself in a courtyard with the 12th century Temple Church.  On the other side of this courtyard is Middle Temple Hall, the place where Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night was first performed.  

These places, so filled with history and beauty are why I travel.  I always have to seek out the grand and famous, but I also like finding the quiet places.  I like to find the places that are a little rough around the edges but still tell a story of a place.

Roam Around Tours is my way of introducing people to the great places and spaces that give a place its identity.  I have found that if I roam an hour away from home or fly 8 hours from home, I learn something about a place and bring a part of it back in my soul.

Roam Around Tours is a small group (12 or less) tour operator that will plan tours to places of architectural, historical and cultural interest.  As a small group, we are able to get more places than the larger groups and allows us to schedule days with a balance of guided tours and free time to "roam" and explore a new place on your own.  These trips are not passive, the point is to get you out and explore.  The accommodations are comfortable and you will always come back to a warm and pleasant room.   

The only question is: Where do you want to roam?