Arrival in London at our centrally located 4-star hotel in Kensington. Travel to London and to the hotel is not included, so please plan your arrival so that you are at the hotel by 12:00, when we gather for the first of three sessions with Ivar Storm Peersen. Ivar introduces the journey with his personal relationship to Pink Floyd and looks at what has given the music such power and longevity – both for himself as a composer and musician, and for generations of listeners.
Rooms are available from 15:00.
Later, we head out into London for dinner and an informal pub crawl, getting to know each other as a group before the story truly begins. Dinner this evening is at your own expense.
Today we travel back to the beginning. Cambridge is the city where Syd Barrett, Roger Waters and David Gilmour grew up, met and took the first steps towards what would become Pink Floyd. Together with Colin and Ivar, we follow the story through the landscape, the streets and the surroundings that shaped them.
We start at Grantchester Meadows, a landscape that earned a lasting place in the music and imagery of the band. We then see places connected to David Gilmour.
Lunch is served at The Anchor, where Syd Barrett used to come to drink and listen to jazz. After lunch we continue to King’s College and Mill Pond, one of the early gathering places in the story.
Colin has an almost bottomless knowledge of Pink Floyd and knows both the big picture and the details that rarely make it into the usual biographies. He shows us not only where the story happened, but tells us who was there, what was at stake and how the places connect to the music. Ivar adds the perspective of the musician and composer. Together, they open up the story from two sides.
The minibuses allow us to get closer to many of the locations than a standard sightseeing tour can, and there is plenty of room for questions along the way.
Back at the hotel, we gather for the second session with Ivar, where he shares stories and reflections from a life in music.
(B, L)
After the roots in Cambridge, we follow Pink Floyd into London and the scene where the band found its voice. Colin guides us through a musical city history that is still visible among studios, former clubs and quite ordinary buildings.
We start in St John’s Wood and the area around Abbey Road Studios. From there we continue to Regent Street Polytechnic, where Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Richard Wright met. We then head into Soho, where we find traces of Syd Barrett’s former home, the Marquee Club and Trident Studios. With great detail and fine storytelling, Colin ties the places together into a living story of the band, the city and the scene they grew out of.
After lunch on your own, there is time for vinyl hunting in Soho. In the small specialist shops you can search for rare releases, alternative pressings and other musical treasures. The evening is free, with a wide choice of pubs, music venues and restaurants right on the doorstep.
(B)
The last full day takes us beyond the early club years and into the wider story of British progressive rock. We start in Notting Hill, where we visit All Saints, Pink Floyd’s early management offices and the area around Island Studios. Here we find traces of a London where artists, producers, record labels and new ideas lived side by side.
We then continue to Camden and the Roundhouse, one of the key venues of the British counterculture and progressive rock history. There is also time to explore Camden Market, the record shops and the pubs in the area.
Later, we gather for the third and final session with Ivar. This time it takes the form of a conversation circle, where we look back on the days together, share impressions and ask the questions we are still pondering.
In the evening, we meet for a farewell dinner.
(B, D)
Breakfast at the hotel. Check-out by 11:00.
Individual departure – with new perspectives on the music and the places that shaped Pink Floyd.
(B)