Winston Churchill used travel firm for his honeymoon tickets

OVER the years, Thomas Cook helped arrange holidays for millions of Brits. But probably none more famous than arguably the greatest Briton of all time.

Sir Winston Churchill paid £33 11s 4d for train tickets from London to Calais so he and new wife Clementine could go on their honeymoon to Italy in 1908.

The couple stayed at the Lido Palace Hotel on Lake Maggiore in Baveno. They had the hotel’s largest suite with stunning views over the lake.

Churchill had such a great time that he sent a letter home to his mum, saying he had ‘loitered and loved’ at the hotel, then known as the Grand.

According to a bill addressed to ‘Thos. Cook Son’ and stamped ‘Chartwell Trust’, Churchill paid the equivalent of £2,600 for four first-class singles.