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Are you looking for the next big adventure? Now Odyssey offers you “the trip of a lifetime” with a tour through twelve very different European countries. This is your chance to many of those countries you dreamed about during two long years of lockdown. It is a tour for seniors with stamina and the desire to discover the enormous variety of landscape, culture and history that Europe has to offer. Although it’s a long tour, we take it at a leisurely pace, with multiple day stops and plenty of time to sit back and enjoy a coffee (or a glass of wine) while watching the locals go about their everyday business.
This 75 day small group tour has been specially designed for active senior couples or mature solo travellers wishing to explore and learn about the history and culture of Europe. This is an educational tour for those who are interested in more than a surface view of the countries we pass through. Obviously it will not be possible to explore each region in depth, but we hope to provide a basic understanding of each country’s history and changing significance in Europe over the past five hundred years.The tours are limited to a departure in May or August each year, with 14 likeminded travellers, your tour director and a number of local guides.
This Grand European tour starts in Berlin and heads down through Central Europe towards Eastern Europe. Travellers can expect to enjoy multiple night stays in the old towns of Vienna, Budapest, Prague and Dubrovnik, as well as a number of less well known cities. Our escorted tour explores the historic Dalmatian coast, before crossing, by ferry, from Dubrovnik to Bari in southern Italy. From Naples we head north again visiting cities such as Genoa, Barcelona, Seville and Lisbon. Rather than being the European grand tour of old that took the aristocratic tourist of the 18th century and 19th century to ancient Rome, the Sistine chapel or Venice and the grand canal, this guided tour takes the group away from some of the regular tourist paths, to the places that may be less well known, but are equally inspiring and historically significant.
This grand small group tour of Europe from Odyssey Traveller is not for the faint hearted or easily wearied, you need to be travel fit, as it provides travellers with some 30 destinations to explore, over the course of 75 days in some 12 countries. As part of this educational small group tour package we travel though and explore:
as the tour winds its way by comfortable coach from Central to Eastern Europe and Western Europe.
There is a detailed itinerary but one that allows for flexibility, and multiple nights in most of the cities we visit. We have time for the occasional walking tour, a visit to a theatre, and a leisurely meal as we explore, along with much else, the historic trading routes from ancient Rome that linked Europe to the Middle East. We learn about the disagreements between rulers and popes, attacks and invasions, the rise and fall of empires and about the development of the art and culture that shaped much of what we admire today. This is a travel experience that focuses on learning experiences supported by an experienced programme leader and knowledgeable local guides.
This Grand Tour of Europe, for any traveller, whether with a companion or as a solo traveller, is structured particularly for senior travellers joining from North America, Australia and New Zealand. If you’re not quite ready for a 56 day tour, the Grand Tour can be broken into three segments of approximately one month each. Odyssey also offers some 30 shorter European escorted small group tours with departures most months during the key travel season across Europe.
‘Queen of the Sea’: A History of Lisbon In 1554, the writer Damião de Góis claimed that out of all the European cities, only Lisbon and her rival Seville ‘could rightfully be called Ladies and…
The ‘unfaithful Croats’: A history of medieval Croatia. When you think of Croatia, what comes to mind? For many travellers it’s a series of vivid colours: the blue of the Adriatic, the yellow beaches of…
Ancient Routes, Fresh Eyes: Nine European Pilgrimage Routes for the Modern Traveller The word ‘pilgrimage’ or ‘pilgrim’ comes from the Modern French word pèlerin, which means ‘foreigner, stranger’, highlighting the concept that the faithful is not of…
Barcelona is one of the cultural highlights of Europe. Situated on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula, the Catalan capital is famous for its distinctive architecture and its world-renowned food and wine.
The Bauhaus School and its 100-Year Legacy The Bauhaus School was the brainchild of Walter Gropius of Germany, who reimagined art and utility as a single form that combined architecture, fine arts, and crafts (MET…
Filippo Brunelleschi. We will look at who he was and how he came to win the competition to design the dome for Florence's cathedral.
As a sea connecting continents and stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to Asia in the east, the Mediterranean has for centuries been a centre of trade and exploration.
Article about a personal view on St Malo for mature and senior couple and solo travellers exploring Mont st Michel France and Europe. Interest in history, landscapes and cities as well as places with great art such as Rodin and the impressionists such as Monet.
For centuries Malta, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica held the key to the Mediterranean. We explore ’s the Mediterranean natural beauty, its ancient Roman, and Imperial heritage, its World Heritage Sites, and world famous cities, all with some truly spectacular scenery along the way. This and more is all waiting to be explored on one of Odyssey’s small group tours of the Islands of Mediterranean, designed for the senior traveller, and led by experienced, and enthusiastic like-minded people. This escorted tour of western Mediterranean explores the geography, history, culture and peoples of these 4 islands.
This small group escorted tour explores the magnificent landscapes of Carpathian mountains in Romania, and takes in the vibrant culture and rich heritage of Romanian village life. Travel with like minded people, mature couples or solo travellers.
Taken as a whole, Italian Civilization (which includes, of course, the splendid inheritance of Ancient Rome) is absolutely foundational to Western culture. Music, Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Literature, Philosophy, Law and Politics all derive from Italy or were adapted and transformed through the medium of Italy.
