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.

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 in the Netherlands provides us with a delicious taste of its delights. We view the main sights of old Amsterdam, a World Heritage Site, first on foot and then from the comfort of a cruise along its 17th century canals. Our exploration of Dutch gardens includes the Hortus Botanicus, an impressive university garden. Timed to enjoy what is perhaps the highlight of the program – a visit to Keukenhof’s bulb gardens. They contain more than 7 million tulips, daffodils and hyacinths which fill over 32 hectares.

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.

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.

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.

Few people think of Scotland as an island archipelago. These islands all have one thing in common – they all contain living history. The people who dwell on them, for the most part, live their daily lives now as they did centuries ago. These isles are among the world’s great repositories of archaeological treasures including villages preserved almost in their entirety.

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.

This is an upgraded walking program with new paths including the Brecon-Monmouthshire canal walk and tracks on Arran in Scotland. The program is designed for participants who enjoy seeing the countryside on foot and is appropriate for active walkers. We stay at comfortable hotels with two days of walks followed by a day of travel to the next site.

From medieval Knot Gardens to the English landscapes of Capability Brown, to the modern incarnations of Sackville-West and the Duchess of Northumberland, our 22-night tour traces and explores garden styles through the ages. We explore the gardens of Kent, England’s South West, Oxfordshire, Wales, The Borders and Edinburgh, Northumbria and the Peak and Lake Districts.

Experience pleasant sections of the Way of Saint James, crossing some of Spain’s most beautiful landscapes. We follow the pilgrims on easy distances of The Way to the mythical destination, Santiago de Compostella. Not since the middle ages has this adventure for body and mind been more popular. We also get to discover the artistic highlights and rich history of Northern Spain and Portugal, as well as enjoying local wines and exquisite food.

Uncover a Viking past and view of the world’s biggest fjords on this journey through Scandinavia. In low-lying Denmark we tour the Zeeland, the sea land, and our program includes the vibrant capital of Copenhagen. In Norway we travel through endless forests, skirting great fjords to Bergen. Extensions available in Tromsø or join our Norwegian Coastal Voyage.

We explore the country’s astonishing scenery and monuments. Tajikistan is the smallest of the 5 ‘Stans and is also the most mountainous. On our tour we encounter many ranges and mountain chains where we reach well over 3,000 metres above sea level while crossing passes.

Explore 3,000 years of life on the mainland and on three of the islands. Only have time to examine segments of the country’s long and varied past. We will, delve deeply into a number of the events that shaped Scotland.

This program traverses this expanse, from Ulaanbaatar to St Petersburg; from the Mongolian Steppes to Siberian taiga and tundra; over the Ural Mountains that divide Asia and Europe to the waterways of Golden Ring. Our program uses two of the great rail journeys of the world; the Trans Mongolian Express and the Trans Siberian Express.

This programs gives participants a chance more to learn about this fascinating operatic duo, experiencing live performances and hearing from Gilbert and Sullivan experts. The tour also includes visits to several important museums, including the Black Country Living Museum, the Haymarket Theatre, and the Royal Academy of Music. The tour promises to be an unforgettable introduction to the world of Gilbert and Sullivan.

The world’s largest arts festival, and is made up of almost an entire months’ worth of theatre, cabaret, children’s shows, experimental performance art, circus, comedy, and dance. On this program, we experience nine days of the Fringe in all its glory, taking in a wide range of shows and performances. We also explore Edinburgh itself, with city tours and sightseeing scheduled in to our program.

This program examines human occupation in Britain some 500,000 years before the Romans arrived. It begins in Shetland, the northern extremity of Britain and works its way south to Stonehenge, exploring the landscapes that represent some of the most important prehistoric sites in Britain. Most of the focus of this program will be experiencing these megalithic and earthen structures constructed between the Stone Age and Iron Age.