Turn it up: RIT Vacations & Alan Cross join forces for epic U.K. rock history tour

Imagine hearing the story behind David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust album while standing on the very spot where its iconic cover was photographed.

Or crossing Abbey Road with one of Canada's foremost music historians explaining why that stretch of zebra crossing became sacred ground for generations of fans.

That's just a taste of the experience RIT Vacations (also known as Royal Irish Tours) is aiming to deliver with its first-ever celebrity-hosted departure.

The Canadian tour operator with Irish roots has partnered with legendary Canadian radio broadcaster, author, speaker and music journalist Alan Cross for “U.K. Legends of Rock: Music History Tour with Alan Cross,” a 10-day journey through London, Liverpool and Manchester from Sept. 30 to Oct. 9, 2026.

More than a sightseeing trip, it's designed as a fascinating deep dive into the places, personalities and moments that transformed Britain into one of the world's greatest engines of popular music.

“In terms of partnering with a host like Alan, this is a first for us," said Conor Duffy, vice-president of RIT Vacations, speaking to PAX recently via video link.

A full-circle collaboration

For Duffy, the partnership is deeply personal and a full-circle moment that traces back to his youth.

“I remember coming home from hockey practice with my Dad, listening to Alan on the radio,” he said. “It was my first taste of music – beyond just listening to songs.”  

When the opportunity arose to collaborate, the decision came naturally.

"Alan was planning a tour in the U.K., and when his name came up, I got really excited,” said Duffy. “We're specialists in the U.K., and this was the perfect opportunity to combine our expertise with someone who has spent his career telling stories about music."

For Duffy, Britain's musical heritage makes the destination uniquely suited to this kind of experience.

"The U.K. is such a special place for rock music and music in general. Designing a tour there with Alan just checks all the boxes,” he said.

It’s not the first time Alan Cross has done a travel collaboration.

In 2018, he hosted a music-themed tour in London with Flight Centre.

While modest in scale, the experience left a lasting impression on participants.

“We had nine people, but I'll tell you, those nine people had the time of their lives,” said Cross, who joined Duffy on the call. “So much so that all of them still keep in touch and they go to shows together. They're friends now."

Plans for a follow-up tour were derailed by the pandemic, but the idea never disappeared.

A recent conversation with a close collaborator eventually led Cross to RIT Vacations – and the rest is music history.

"RIT has taken a real interest in this – and it’s a much bigger thing,” he said.

A backstage pass to rock history

Rather than simply visiting famous landmarks, RIT’s itinerary has been designed to usher travellers into the environments that shaped generations of musicians.

In London, guests will explore energetic Soho, home to countless stories involving The Beatles, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Elton John and Amy Winehouse.

Stops include Carnaby Street, Tin Pan Alley, Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, the location of the Ziggy Stardust album cover, Hendrix's former flat, Ringo Starr’s former home and Abbey Road.

Where did The Rolling Stones, The Who and Eric Clapton first rise to fame? Guests will see the venues where it all began.

The tour also ventures into Notting Hill's rich counterculture history and Muswell Hill, where travellers will trace the roots of The Kinks while visiting album-cover locations familiar to fans of Blur, Coldplay and Oasis.

There’s even a dinner scheduled at the original Hard Rock Café, complete with a private tour of the Hard Rock Vault’s rare memorabilia collection, hosted by Cross himself.

Liverpool brings guests face-to-face with Beatles history through visits to Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, Eleanor Rigby's grave and the childhood neighbourhoods of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Other stops include Dusty Springfield’s memorial, and the Midlands, the birthplaces of Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Led Zeppelin.

The final Manchester final stretch explores the worlds of Oasis, Joy Division, The Smiths and the Madchester movement through sites like The Hacienda, Factory Records, Salford Lads Club and the Free Trade Hall, where Bob Dylan famously "went electric."

That's just the tip of the guitar pick. The journey, which you can view here, is a full-blown rock odyssey.

And it was a major collaborative effort.

“Everybody had ideas,” said Cross. “Some people put in a bunch that I had never even thought of or knew about. When I saw the final itinerary, I was like, 'Yeah, this is fantastic!'"

For Duffy, every element of the itinerary was chosen with intention.

"Alan had his wish list of places and we used that as inspiration,” he said.

That extends beyond the sightseeing.

Guests will stay at three luxurious hotels with their own musical pedigree, including Liverpool's Beatles-inspired Hard Days Night Hotel, London's historic Cumberland Hotel and Manchester's Kimpton Clocktower Hotel.

“Getting to explore all of these iconic places with a renowned expert as your guide, all tied together by a music theme, makes this the trip of a lifetime,” Duffy said.

Bringing history to life

Few people have spent as much time researching and documenting music as Cross, one of Canada’s most trusted voices in rock journalism.

Over more than four decades, he has interviewed many of the world's biggest artists while building a loyal audience through his show, The Ongoing History of New Music, Canada's longest-running syndicated music documentary radio series.

It’s one thing to listen to the music, but standing in the very places where defining moments unfolded is an entirely different rhythm – one that can be profoundly transformative.

“Because you’re in the spot where it happened," Cross explained. "You're not reading about it. You're not seeing it on TV. It's not in a magazine. You are standing in the vicinity of where music history happened. And that makes things so much more real and tangible.”

“Suddenly, the music begins to have more meaning because you understand the physical environment from which it came.”

“As a music fan, it opens your eyes and helps you understand and appreciate and love the music all that much more.”

He points to one location in particular.

"If you stand on that stoop that you see on the front of David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust album, everything changes for you,” he said. “It’s so much more real when you see where it happened.”

Learning alongside guests

While London is familiar territory, Liverpool and Manchester will be new discoveries for Cross.

"I’ve never been to Liverpool for more than six hours and I have been to Manchester for 14 hours, neither of which allowed for any musical sightseeing,” he said. “So I'm really looking forward to those two cities."

RIT’s on-the-ground guides will lead the group through each city, while Cross provides the soundtrack, sharing his expert insights on everything from The Beatles to punk to Britpop.

That dynamic appealed to Duffy.

"I think it's exciting that this is Alan's first dive into Liverpool and Manchester. Guests will be able to experience that with him. It’ll be a cool experience,” he said.

Stories you won't find in a guidebook

Of course, attendees can also expect the kinds of stories only someone with Cross's career can tell.

He recalled conducting interviews for a documentary he produced, CFNY: The Spirit of Radio, inside Abbey Road Studios, including the rare opportunity to step inside the legendary Studio Two, where artists from The Beatles and Pink Floyd to modern icons like Adele, Radiohead and Oasis have recorded.

“It's like walking into a shrine, a church…a sacred place,” said Cross. “When you go next door to the gift shop, you will drop several hundred pounds.”

While RIT guests won't be able to step inside the working studio itself, Cross believes understanding places like Abbey Road Studios changes the way people hear music.

The fascinating conversations on the tour will happen organically, he said.

There will also be opportunities to unpack real stories behind some of music's most legendary moments.

One example is The Beatles' famous rooftop concert of their Apple Corps headquarters at 3 Savile Row in London.

"We'll be able to take people to that site and show them the building, let them soak in the environment, and then really explain what happened on January 30, 1969,” Cross said.

Guests can also expect hidden gems, like bars “where rock stars, when they're not being rock stars, go and have a pint.”

When asked to name three albums attendees should listen to before the tour, Cross didn't hesitate: Abbey Road by The Beatles, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? by Oasis, and anything by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), another influential Liverpool band that deserves attention beyond The Beatles.

If the tour had a soundtrack, what song would Cross play as guests board the plane?

The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour certainly “pops out,” he said, “but I think I would play David Bowie’s Life on Mars.”

“Because we’re going on a trip that is unlike any other trip you've been on. And Elon Musk is not invited.”

Cross is equally excited about the surprises that happen naturally while travelling through Britain.

"You never know," he said, noting a recent “Magical Mystery” sightseeing tour in Liverpool during which passengers experienced the ultimate Beatles fan moment when their bus pulled up beside Paul McCartney at a traffic light – while he was on FaceTime call with bandmate Ringo Starr.

"One of the things that really resonates with me about the U.K. is that it's small,” he said. “You can stumble on things, very easily, without even realizing it."

In the U.K., music tends to resonate so quickly because “everybody is so close together,” Cross added.

“You get a real sense of that when you're in some of these cities,” he said. “People are always going out. No one loves music more than the English. In England, music is integrated into absolutely everything.”

English crowds are also the best concert goers, he said.

“They are the most knowledgeable. They’re deeply and emotionally invested in music in a different way than we are [in North America]. You add all these social and geographic things together, and you begin to understand why this rainy little island has been the source of so much music over the decades.”

"People want more authenticity" 

While RIT’s U.K. rock tour is aimed primarily at Canadians, interest has also come from farther afield.

"We're a Canadian company so that's generally who it's designed for," Duffy said. "But Alan has a global reach, so we’ve had inquiries from around the globe."

"It's obviously designed for music lovers. But it could also be for someone who's a fan of Alan or wants to explore the U.K.”

Duffy sees the collaboration as part of a broader shift in travel preferences.

"People want more authenticity. We like the idea of working with people who can bring something you can't experience on a regular tour,” he said.

That philosophy is already shaping RIT's future.

The tour operator, which specializes in Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales, is already putting the finishing touches on another hosted departure for 2027 with English archaeologist and presenter Jules Hudson, host of BBC's Escape to the Country.

The company is also preparing a Halloween-themed Ireland departure, and a dedicated St. Patrick's Day tour.

"The reception has been so great,” Duffy said. “These kinds of immersive experiences create memories that stay with people long after they get home. The hope is to do more tours with specialty guests.”

More than a vacation

Duffy hopes travellers on the U.K. rock tour return home with memories that can't be recreated through playlists.

"It's not like Alan is popping in here and there. He'll be sitting on the bus with everybody, chatting, and sharing those experiences,” said Duffy.

As for Cross, the ultimate goal extends well beyond ticking famous landmarks off a list.

"We're bringing together people from all over the place, and they're all bound by one thing: a serious love of music,” he said.

"I want them to be friends. I want them to stick together after the trip is done. And maybe do it again."

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