Europe Tours

Our tour features the best of the Italian countryside as well as the great cities and icons of Italy. We will see the Renaissance cities of Florence, Pisa, and Lucca as well as the Umbrian medieval cities of Perugia.

The small group tour will see the opera performed in the city of Richard Wagner’s birth, Leipzig. We will not only experience his music in these 4 operas, but also be shown the influences of culture and family on the extraordinary composer’s life.

Paris’ insistence that its rural villages and towns resist the dual siege of the automobile and the property developer has long protected France from the incursions that laid waste to so many provincial centres in many other European nations. The result is that France’s villages and towns remain untouched by the depredations of the last century and within their walls the villagers conduct their daily lives much as they have done since Napoleonic times.

Our program, as well as featuring the rugged countryside of Southern Italy, also encompasses learning about the many civilisations that have shaped the nature and persona of this land. As we explore the diversity of Southern Italy we learn about the influence of the early Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Saracens, Normans, Angevins and Aragonese while we search for evidence of their colonisation.

Our tour features the best of the Italian countryside as well as the great cities and icons of Italy. We will see the Renaissance cities of Florence, Pisa, and Lucca as well as the Umbrian medieval cities of Perugia.

Rome, the world’s first superpower, lasted for almost a thousand years, leaving in its wake its amphitheatres, temples, viaducts, aqueducts, roads and forums. In this journey we thread our way through the Rome of the Kings, the Consuls, and the Emperors, then through the Italy of the Renaissance, Michelangelo, the Medici, and the Borgia. In the south, we visit the cosmopolitan city of Naples as well as Pompeii and the island retreat of Capri.

Our program explores the lands of Spain and Portugal, two countries bound by many centuries of history reflected in their modern cultures. Divided by history and language, contiguous neighbours Spain and Portugal were once host to gigantic empires that still bear their languages and lifestyles.

10 nights in Spain. Starting in Barcelona and finishing in Madrid.

Berlin is a city rich in history,  a past plagued by conflict, and stories of powerful resistance. The Berlin Wall stood in place from 1961 to 1989. This 12 day walking tour explores the  beauty and culture in the present day.

This program offers the most spectacular, varied and historically important sites in Turkey, from Istanbul one of the world’s oldest cities to the ancient and now legendary city of Troy. Visit the theatres in Pergamum; enjoy visiting Ephesus and discover the cultural centres of Ankara, capital city of Turkey. Languish in Antalya, the major city of the Anatolian Mediterranean and in Konya learn about the mystic Whirling Dervishes.

This program is centred on the North West corner of France: Normandy, where the peaceful landscape belies a turbulent past; Brittany, where a strongly separate Celtic culture is still evident; Poitou, famous for its rich farmlands and historic ports; and the Loire Valley, replete with royal châteaux.

Continental invaders brought with them many components that added to the mix of what makes Britain today, including their genetic characteristics, the roots of the English language, various spiritual and religious beliefs, models of land ownership, place names and technologies that began with the Stone Age Celts. We explore the places and events that created this mélange.

On this small group tour of Italy and Malta we trace the life of Caravaggio, exploring the artistic works he left behind and the tumultuous life he led. We follow him from his birthplace in Milan to Rome, Malta, Sicily and Naples. In Rome Caravaggio established his name as a brilliant though controversial painter until, accused of murder, he was forced to flee south. In each place he lived Caravaggio left behind a rich legacy of art for us to admire.

The Baltic States, flexing their economic muscles, continue to become a focus of interest everywhere. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent integration of Germany bound the region into the engine of the European economy. Our program studies the diverse histories of and influences on, the Baltic States and studies how each of them is coping with its different form of independence.

The mountainous regions of France, the French Alps and the Pyrenees, are as much part of France as they are of the countries with which they are most associated, Spain and Switzerland. Perhaps because of this the France of the Alps and of the Pyrenees is often by-passed by travellers as they hasten on their way to these other nations to experience them. Our program will take our group deep into the villages, valleys, shrines and ski resorts of these high regions which for other tourists will always remain unvisited, hidden in plain sight.

Our 21 night program explores the north-west corner of France before hopping across the English Channel to the tiny autonomous islands of Jersey, Guernsey and Sark as well as the historic Isle of Wight. The tour combines the dramatic scenery of Normandy and Brittany with the quirky history and natural beauty of the Channel Islands together with the natural and historic splendour of the Isle of Wight in the English Channel.

Our journey to the land of the Midnight Sun gives an insight into the history of this Icelandic nation. In geological terms, Iceland is very young and the landscape is alive with nature’s forces. Our program explores glaciers, national parks and majestic waterfalls as we learn about Iceland’s natural heritage and its Viking past. Iceland is also teeming with birdlife, with the 14 kilometre longest precipitous cliff in Europe, host to millions of seabirds.

Reserve your tickets to Odyssey’s 9 day Discover Shakespeare tour. Be entertained by the Royal Shakespeare Company, viewing performances in Stratford-upon-Avon.

This program examines some of the classic gardens of Italy and France that reflect changing fashions and garden designs throughout the ages. We will examine, discuss, compare and contrast the cultural and temporal similarities and diversities between the gardens of Italy and France and the historical influences on their design.

The villages of Alsace provide an introduction to the diversity which is France. In Burgundy we explore the local villages. Then onto the Jura Mountains, a region rarely visited by tourists. Finally, Provence and the Côte d’Azur, regions of inspiration for artists such as Van Gogh, Cézanne and Picasso. This program explores the remote mountain plateaux, perched villages and dramatic gorges as well as the Mediterranean coastline.

Bulgaria and Romania have been at the crossroads of civilisations for centuries. Thracian and Roman ruins compete with Ottoman mosques and architecture. Austro-Hungarian churches, monasteries, castles and villages stand next to communist-era mansions and museums. All embraced by spectacular, varied and unspoilt natural beauty.