ACADEMY TRAVELler The newsletter of Academy Travel February 2016
GOING, GOING...
Looking ahead to 2016 and 2017 Dear Traveller, In our first newsletter for the year we are pleased to update you on aspects of our program for 2016, and announce many of our tours for 2017.
Puglia to Pompeii: Classical Southern Italy 1 PLACE LEFT March 10-26, 2016 With Dr Jeni Ryde and Dr Estelle Lazer
The Baltic States & Russia April 1-20, 2016 With Marina Campbell
4 PLACES LEFT
Grand Tour of Italy April 5-22, 2016 With Dr Kathleen Olive
2 PLACES LEFT
Frank Lloyd Wright: Los Angeles to New York May 10-25, 2016 With Stuart Barrie
5 PLACES LEFT
With January behind us, our first tours for the year have already concluded. Groups on ‘residential’ style tours in London, Rome, Palermo and Naples enjoyed a mild European winter free of the tourist crush of the warmer months. Also just returned are groups to Southern India and Cuba – currently experiencing an unprecedented boom in visitors. April, May and June are our busiest months, with more than 20 tours departing, and we know that many of you are currently finalising arrangements for your travel. There have been a few changes to our 2016 program. Opera lovers will be interested in our Glyndebourne Festival Opera Week tour in late July, featuring three productions at this famous venue. We’ve also re-launched our Paris to Berlin art trails tour as Lyon to Paris, in order to include the wonderful provincial art cities of Lyon, Dijon and Basel. In this newsletter we also draw your attention to our modern art and architecture tour to the USA, which
we are offering in conjunction with ADFAS (the Association of Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Societies). Finally, our 2017 program is announced in this newsletter, with 49 tours to both familiar and new Academy Travel destinations. You can email us to register your interest for 2017 tours right away, and we’ll send you an itinerary as soon as it’s available (info@academytravel.com.au). In spite of uncertain global political and economic news, Australians continue to travel, and we are delighted that so many of our tours in January to July 2016 are already full or close to full. More than 50% of Academy Travellers this year have previously travelled with us, and we are deeply appreciative of the trust you place in us. With best wishes from the tour leaders and staff at Academy Travel. • Carefully-planned itineraries • Expert tour leaders • Maximum 20 in a group
A woman admires the Door of Ganesh in the City Palace, Jaipur, India
tailored small group Journeys
Level 1 341 George St Sydney NSW 2000 Phone: + 61 2 9235 0023 or 1800 639 699 (outside Sydney) Fax: + 61 2 9235 0123 Email: info@academytravel.com.au Web: www.academytravel.com.au
Summer escapes We caught up with some of our groups travelling in the DecemberJanuary period, a great time to escape the heat and humidity of the Australian summer and experience the delights of off-season travel.
Palermo and Naples, january 2016 Southern Italy has so much to offer on our Palermo and Naples residential tour! Some of the best preserved remnants of Greek civilization can be seen in Paestum. Photo by tour leader Dr Kathleen Olive.
The city of rome, January 2016 Our two-week residential tour to Rome covered 2,500 years of history and culture, and did not neglect modern art and architecture. We were fortunate enough to gain entry to the private apartment of Giorgio de Chirico – one of Italy’s most significant 20th-century artists. Apart from its magnificent position right on the Piazza di Spagna, the apartment contains around 50 of the master’s paintings of the highest quality. Quite a treat. Photo by tour leader Robert Veel.
Burma, December 2015 We were delighted to receive the following feedback from tour participant Pamela Foulkes: “I just wanted to say what a marvellous trip it was. Judy Tenzing was an excellent tour leader and the tour was very well paced. The accommodation choices were all excellent - much better than I was expecting. The cruise down the Irrawaddy was a particular highlight for us all, providing a comfortable, relaxing break.” Photo by tour participant Van Le.
January 2017 escapes – start planning today!
Berlin to Vienna: A Musical Christmas December 22, 2016 – January 4, 2017 With Robert Gay
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Florence and Rome January 4-18, 2017 With Dr Kathleen Olive
New York: Opera, orchestras & theatre January 7-17, 2017
ESSENTIAL Sicily January 7-21, 2017 With Dr Jeni Ryde
Sri Lanka January 23 – February 8, 2017 With Judy Tenzing
Sydney: 2016 Nicholson Lecture Series Academy Travel continues our sponsorship of the 2016 Nicholson lecture series titled Classicism Ancient and Modern: how Rome transformed our world, held on the first Saturday of each month from 2-3pm in the Main Quadrangle of the University of Sydney. Details of upcoming lectures until September this year are listed below. All lectures are free. Bookings are essential for Nicholson lectures and should be made directly at nicholson.museum@sydney.edu.au or on 02 9351 2812. Further information can also be found on our website under Weekends & Lectures.
Saturday 5 March
2.00pm - 3.00pm: Michael Turner The rise and fall of the Classical English landscape: celebrating 300 years of Capabilty Brown 3:15pm - 4.00pm: Dr Nick Gordon Travel talk – After Michelangelo leaves: Florentine art in the High Renaissance
Saturday 2 April
2.00pm - 3.00pm: Dr Matthew Laing Roman History and the American Revolution 3:15pm - 4.00pm: Chris Carter Travel talk – Captain Duniam’s mummies
Saturday 7 May
2.00pm - 3.00pm: Dr Paul Roche Modern Ovids: twentieth-century transformations 3:15pm - 4.00pm: Robert Veel Travel talk – Modern art in Rome, Milan and Venice
Saturday 4 June
2.00pm - 3.00pm: Michael Adcock Neo-classicism, the Enlightenment and the French Revolution 3:15pm - 4.00pm: Dr Estelle Lazer Travel talk – Southern Italy
Saturday 2 July
2.00pm - 3.00pm: Dr Kathleen Olive The Europeans in America: Old World classicism in New World art collections 3:15pm - 4.00pm: Ben Churcher Travel talk – Western China
Saturday 6 August
2.00pm - 3.00pm: Michael Turner A Classical Landscape: the Romans in the South of France 3:15pm - 4.00pm: Judy Tenzing Travel talk – The Raj and Rajaptus of Rajasthan
Saturday 3 September
2.00pm - 3.00pm: Dr Nick Gordon Italy old and new through the eyes of Jeffrey Smart and James Gleeson 3:15pm - 4.00pm: Stuart Barrie Travel talk – Beyond Fallingwater: Frank Lloyd Wright’s other houses
Glyndebourne Festival Opera week
For the last three years, Academy Travel has been a corporate sponsor of the Glyndebourne Festival, one of Europe’s most prestigious summer opera festivals. Our sponsorship gives us access to the best tickets to sold-out performances, and this year we have decided to offer an intensive oneweek Glyndebourne experience for opera lovers. With its small auditorium and superb acoustics, Glyndebourne is especially famous for its refreshing and meticulously prepared productions of Mozart and the bel canto repertoire. Academy Travellers will get to enjoy three performances, spread out over seven nights. First up is a new production of Rossini’s Barber of Seville, with the stylish Australian-American soprano Danielle de Niese as Rosina. The second Beaumarchais play in the ‘Figaro Trilogy’ is next up, with the return of Michael Grandage’s 2012 production of Marriage of Figaro. The revival features Glyndebourne debuts by South African soprano Golda Schultz as Countess Almaviva and Italian baritone Davide Luciano as Figaro. Finally, the Czech conductor Jakub Hr u ˚ ša leads the London Philharmonic Orchestra in a colourful revival of Janácek’s The Cunning Little Vixen. The tour program includes a night in London, six nights in the Sussex Downs, pre-performance talks by music educator Robert Gay, many meals, and excursions to Sissinghurst Castle and other attractions.
Glyndebourne Opera Festival Week July 16-23, 2016 Tour leader: Robert Gay $5,850 pp, twin share (land only) $1,189 single supplement
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British Gardens in Time
BY Michael Turner Suddenly the history of British gardens is hot news. The recent four-part BBC series British Gardens in Time was seen in Australia on SBS late last year at the same time as the ever-charming Monty Don’s new series, The Secret History of the British Garden, went to air in England on the BBC (both are now available on DVD). As if this isn’t enough, exhibitions are being planned the length and breadth of England during 2016 to celebrate the 300th birthday of possibly the most famous gardener of all, Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown’. Stowe, Great Dixter, Nymans, which Two new Academy Travel tours for is also included in the Gardens tour, 2016 that I have created and shall be leading could not then be more timely. and Biddulph Grange. (Biddulph will feature in another new tour, The The first, The Gardens of Southern Gardens of London and the North of England: Gardens of a Passionate England in June 2017). Monty Don Mind, sets off on 2 June to visit takes a different approach. Each of twenty-two of the most famous and beautiful gardens in England. From the the four episodes concentrates on a century, beginning in the 17th and magnificent 18th-century Arcadian ending in the 20th. Several gardens landscape at Stourhead, to the more are featured in each episode, some recent and justly famous gardens at Sissinghurst Castle and Great Dixter, to in great detail, including one of my personal favourites, Rousham House 21st-century masterpieces at Arundel in Oxfordshire. The house and gardens Castle and The Laskett, creation of were redesigned in the 18th century the charming Sir Roy Strong. The by William Kent, described by Horace second tour, Classical Art & Antiquities Walpole (1717-1797) in his delightfully in the Museums and Stately Homes titled The History of the Modern Taste of England begins on 2 October and The Gardens of in Gardening, as the man who ‘leaped includes (apart from museums) the fence, and saw that all Nature visits to seven stately homes and Southern England: was a garden’. What makes Rousham their landscaped grounds: Capability the gardens of a so special for me (and hopefully for Brown’s masterpiece at Blenheim passionate mind you too) is that it is still owned by the Palace for example, William Kent’s June 2-17, 2016 descendants of General James Dormer, at Rousham House, and that most Tour Leader: Michael Turner the man who commissioned Kent, marvellous of grounds where they $10,450 pp, twin share (land only) and so remains virtually unchanged. both worked, Stowe. $2,950 single supplement Walpole adds: ‘It was fortunate for Both DVDs are an excellent ‘Gardens of a Passionate Mind’ is about the country and Mr Kent, that he was introduction to the two tours, and the passionate men and women who, succeeded by a very able master, Mr I would heartily recommend them. over the past three hundred years, Brown.’ Happy Birthday Mr Brown. We British Gardens in Time, co-presented have created some of the best-known shall be there in person to salute you! by Alan Power, head gardener at and best-loved gardens in the South Stourhead, looks in detail at the of England. history of one garden per episode: Limited places remain
Columbus, Indiana An unexpected architectural Mecca
Coast to Coast, Academy Travel’s latest tour to the United States, takes you to hotspots of modern design and architecture from Los Angeles to New York. As well as the major cities, the carefullyplanned itinerary includes provincial centres such as Palm Springs, the Californian desert town with more than 2,000 examples of ‘mid-century modern’ architecture, much of it built for the Hollywood elite of the 1950s and 60s. Perhaps the most unexpected part of itinerary, however, is the visit to Columbus, Indiana, a few hours south of Chicago. This Midwestern town of 50,000 inhabitants is perhaps the USA’s most surprising architectural destination. Thanks to half a century of patronage by the Cummins engineering company, most public buildings in the town have been designed by internationally famous architects, selected and paid for by Cummins. The town features buildings by Eero Saarinen, I.M. Pei, Robert Venturi, Cesar Pelli and Richard Meier. Six of the town’s buildings are designated National Historic Landmarks and a further 60 have been featured in publications on modern architecture – more than enough to fit into a day’s touring.
City Hall, Columbus, Indiana
Coast to Coast Modern architecture & design in the USA October 10-26, 2016 Tour leader: Dr Matthew Laing $10,740 pp, twin share (land only). $2,860 for sole use of double room Tour offered in conjunction with the Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies (ADFAS).
Where now for the Repulbicans? When he’s not leading tours to the USA for Academy Travel, Dr Matthew Laing is researching politics and leadership. His PhD looked at US presidential history, and he has met former presidents Clinton and Carter. We couldn’t resist asking him about Donald Trump. Is he a serious contender? “There is no better example that demonstrates the divergence between American and Commonwealth culture than Donald Trump, embodying as he does values and a personal style that is not uncommon in American folk heroes but anathema to the average Australian. Yet the Trumps of American history have rarely drawn political support to the extent that we are seeing now, and it has turned American politics on its head. Trump has proven that he is a contender. Many Americans, though not blind to Trump’s faults or his brash hubris, are so fed up with what is perceived to be a dysfunctional political system beholden to monied interests, and the apparent stagnation of the American economy and global influence, that they are willing to take a gamble on a politician who radically departs from tradition.”
Saints or sinners? By Dr Matthew Dal Santo One of the fascinating things about travelling in Russia today is watching how the country and its people grapple with their tumultuous history. The cult of the last Romanovs is part of that attempt to make sense of what happened to Russia in the twentieth century. For almost 75 years, Russia’s Communist rulers condemned Nicholas as a bloody tyrant and the German-born Empress Alexandra as a spy in thrall to Rasputin. Today, in Moscow and St Petersburg as in churches across the country, soberly dressed men and women cross themselves before Nicholas and Alexandria’s icons as they pray for a miracle of their own. Who are the Russians? Come and find out.
St Petersburg & Moscow September 23 – October 9, 2016. Tour leader: Dr Matthew Dal Santo $9,990 pp, twin share (land only). $1,890 single supplement
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Sea Cloud II the voyage continues In 2016 and 2017 Academy Travel’s association with the luxury sailing ship Sea Cloud II continues. In September this year Dr Kathleen Olive leads a journey from Malta to Rome, surveying the painting of Caravaggio and featuring a cruise from Malta to Sicily and Naples aboard Sea Cloud II. In October 2017 Robert Veel leads a tour to Malta and Sicily, featuring an eight-day circumnavigation of Sicily and the Aeolian Islands. Both tours feature a substantial land-based program before and after the cruise.
On the Caravaggio trail September 30 – October 17, 2016 Tour leader: Dr Kathleen Olive $12,815 pp, twin share (land content only) $3,400 single supplement (one cabin remaining)
Lyon to Berlin Art and design in Europe’s ‘second cities’
When we launched it six months ago, the second of our ‘art trails’ tours was programmed to travel from Paris to Berlin, investigating the old and new art of Europe. Feedback from clients on our first art trails tour (Amsterdam to Paris), as well as the unwanted tension created by the recent Paris terrorist attacks, has led us to revise our plans and re-launch the tour as ‘Lyon to Berlin.’ It’s funny how a forced re-think can improve the outcome. Our revised tour begins with three less visited, but extremely worthwhile, provincial cities: Lyon and Dijon in France and Basel in Switzerland. With a heritage stretching back to ancient Rome and renown as a culinary centre, Lyon has much to offer. Dijon, in the heart of the Burgundy region, offers both cultural and viticultural pleasures, whereas Basel, on the banks of the Rhine, is arguably Europe’s most important art city, home to dealers and the most prestigious annual art fair.
Art trails: Lyon to Berlin October 20 – November 5, 2016. Tour leader: Dr Nick Gordon $8,630 pp, twin share (land content only). $2,100 single supplement
Rajasthan
The Raj and the Rajputs Celebrate Diwali, the ancient Hindu festival of lights, on the grounds of Samode palace, a 475-year-old mountain retreat in Rajastan, built in the opulent Mughal style! Along with Delhi, the Taj Mahal, and Udaipur, this is just one of the many delights on our newly-launched exploration of Rajasthan, led by our India expert, Judy Tenzing. Judy’s itinerary combines the magnificence of India’s past with a journey through the deserts of western Rajasthan.
Rajasthan: land of the Rajput Kings October 22 – November 8, 2016 Tour leader: Judy Tenzing $10,475 pp, twin share (land content only) $2,800 single supplement
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Vitra Design Museum, Basel
Tour diary 2016 March PUGLIA TO POMPEII: CLASSICAL SOUTHERN ITALY
August 1 PLACE LEFT
March 10-26, 2016 Tour leaders: Dr Jeni Ryde & Dr Estelle Lazer From $7,970 pp, twin share
April THE BALTIC STATES & RUSSIA
4 PLACES LEFT
April 1-20, 2016 Tour leader: Marina Campbell From $9,985 pp, twin share
GRAND TOUR OF ITALY
2 PLACES LEFT
April 5-22, 2016 Tour leader: Dr Kathleen Olive From $8,250 pp, twin share
LAKES AND VILLAS OF NORTHERN ITALY
5 PLACES LEFT
EUROPEAN SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVALS
ART TRAILS: N-EAST USA SELLING FAST
August 21 – September 1, 2016 Tour leader: Robert Gay From $9,550 pp, twin share
SELLING FAST
BOSTON, WASHINGTON & NEW YORK April 22 – May 8, 2016 Tour leader: Dr Matthew Laing From $10,600 pp, twin share
FLORENCE & THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
GRAND TOUR OF SPAIN
September 17-30, 2016 Tour leader: Dr Nick Gordon From $7,330 pp, twin share
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ALEXANDER: TURKEY & IRAN
Tours already sold out:
May 10-25, 2016 Tour leader: Stuart Barrie From $9,430 pp, twin share 5 PLACES LEFT
TURKEY: CLASSICAL, BYZANTINE & OTTOMAN
MOROCCO
July NEW TOUR
NEW TOUR
New York: Music, Theatre, Art & Food (April), Madrid to Milan: a musical adventure (April), Grand Tour of Spain (April), Northern Spain and Portugal (May), Iran in depth (May), Sicily and the Aeolian Islands (May), Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan (May), Art Trails: Amsterdam to Paris (May), Bonn to Vienna: In the Footsteps of Beethoven (May), Music in Scandinavia (May), Scandinavia and Iceland (June).
Meet our client services team Our consultants are here to look after all matters relating to your travel. If you are interested in a tour or would like to book your place, get in touch with one of our consultants below on 02 9235 0023 or 1800 639 699 outside of Sydney. Stuart Barrie
1 PLACE LEFT
October 8-26, 2016 Tour leader: Ben Churcher From $7,370 pp, twin share
stuart@academytravel.com.au
Hannah Kleboe hannah@academytravel.com.au
SICILY & THE AEOLIAN ISLANDS
July 16-23, 2016 Tour leader: Robert Gay From $5,850 pp, twin share July 13-27, 2016 Tour leader: Robert Veel From $10,750 pp, twin share
September 30 – October 17, 2016 Tour leader: Dr Kathleen Olive From $12,815 pp, twin share
October 5-22, 2016 Tour leader: Judy Roberts From $8,470 pp, twin share
June 2-17, 2016 Tour leader: Michael Turner From $10,450 pp, twin share
FINLAND & ICELAND
5 PLACES LEFT ON THE CARAVAGGIO TRAIL ABOARD THE SEA CLOUD II
October
June
GLYNDEBOURNE OPERA FESTIVAL WEEK
ST PETERSBURG & MOSCOW September 23 – October 9, 2016 Tour leader: Dr Matthew Dal Santo From $9,990 pp, twin share
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT: LOS ANGELES, CHICAGO, NEW YORK
THE GARDENS OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND
SELLING FAST
September 23 – October 7, 2016 Tour leader: Dr Matthew Laing From $9,810 pp, twin share
5 PLACES LEFT
BERLIN TO VIENNA: A MUSICAL CHRISTMAS December 21 – January 4, 2016 Tour leader: Robert Gay From $9,550 pp, twin share
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT: CHICAGO TO NEW YORK
May 4-21, 2016 Tour leader: Judy Roberts From $8,470 pp, twin share
December
September 17 – October 2, 2016 Tour leader: Michael Turner From $9,960 pp, twin share
VILLAS & GARDENS OF CENTRAL ITALY
4 PLACES LEFT
4 PLACES LEFT
October 27 – November 13, 2016 Tour leader: Dr Angela Smith From $8,330 pp, twin share
May
TURKEY: CLASSICAL, BYZANTINE & OTTOMAN
VENICE: CITY, REPUBLIC & EMPIRE October 24 – November 7, 2016 Tour leader: Robert Veel From $6,750 pp, twin share
September 17 – October 7, 2016 Tour leader: Dr John Tidmarsh From $9,690 pp, twin share
May 4-20, 2016 Tour leader: Dr Kathleen Olive From $8,350 pp, twin share
October 22 – November 8, 2016 Tour leader: Judy Tenzing From $10,475 pp, twin share
September 3-19, 2016 Tour leader: Dr Estelle Lazer From $8,450 pp, twin share
NEW TOUR CLASSICAL ART & ANTIQUITIES IN THE MUSEUMS & STATELY HOMES OF ENGLAND
April 21 – May 7, 2016 Tour leader: Dr Nick Gordon From $8,970 pp, twin share
NEW TOUR
RAJASTHAN: LAND OF THE RAJPUT KINGS
September ISLANDS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN: CORSICA, SARDINIA & MALTA
NEW TOUR
October 21 – November 6, 2016 Tour leader: Dr Kathleen Olive From $10,360 pp, twin share
5 PLACES LEFT
October 14-30, 2016 Tour leader: Dr Estelle Lazer From $8,420 pp, twin share
Erin Laffin
ART TRAILS: LYON TO BERLIN
Hayley Monson
October 20 – November 5, 2016 Tour leader: Dr Nick Gordon From $8,630 pp, twin share
hayley@academytravel.com.au
erin@academytravel.com.au
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ANNOUNCING OUR 2017 TOUR PROGRAM In 2017 we are offering 49 tours to both familiar and new Academy Travel destinations. You can email us to register your interest for 2017 tours right away, and we’ll send you an itinerary as soon as it’s available (info@academytravel.com.au).
January SRI LANKA Tour leader: Judy Tenzing
FLORENCE & ROME Tour leader: Dr Kathleen Olive
ESSENTIAL SICILY
CORSICA, SARDINIA & MALTA Tour leader: Dr Estelle Lazer
CATHEDRALS, CHATEAUX & BATTLEFIELDS OF FRANCE Tour leader: Dr Michael Adcock
GRAND TOUR OF SPAIN
Tour leader: Dr Jeni Ryde
Tour leader: Dr Jeni Ryde
NEW YORK: OPERA, ORCHESTRAS & THEATRE
CATALONIA IN DEPTH Tour leader: Michael Neuman
Tour leader: TBC
May
February
SICILY & THE AEOLIAN ISLANDS
BURMA Tour leader: Judy Tenzing
TASMANIA Tour leader: Robert Veel
Tour leader: TBC
SOUTHERN ENGLAND: MUSIC & JANE AUSTEN
March
Tour leader: Robert Gay & Professor Penny Gay
PUGLIA TO POMPEII: CLASSICAL SOUTHERN ITALY
NORTH EAST ITALY: ART, FOOD & LANDSCAPES
Tour leader: Dr Jeni Ryde & Dr Estelle Lazer
BHUTAN
Tour leader: Dr Nick Gordon
ART TRAILS: AMSTERDAM TO PARIS
Tour leader: Judy Tenzing
Tour leader: Dr Kathleen Olive
GRAND TOUR OF ITALY
WARSAW TO BERLIN
Tour leader: Michael Turner
Tour leader: Thomas Abbot
April
BERLIN TO BAVARIA: A MUSICAL JOURNEY
NEW YORK: MUSIC, THEATRE, ART & FOOD Tour leader: Robert Veel
CLASSICAL, BYZANTINE & OTTOMAN TURKEY Tour leader: Judy Roberts
IRAN IN DEPTH Tour leader: Ben Churcher
ART TRAILS: EMILIA ROMAGNA
Tour leader: TBC
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT: CHICAGO TO NEW YORK Tour leader: Dr Matthew Laing
MUSIC IN SCANDINAVIA Tour leader: Lindy Montgomery
June
October
GARDENS OF LONDON & THE NORTH OF ENGLAND
MALTA, SICILY & CAPRI ABOARD THE SEA CLOUD II
Tour leader: Michael Turner
SCANDINAVIA & ICELAND Tour leader: Dr Matthew Laing
VENICE BIENNALE Tour leader: Dr Nick Gordon
July ENGLISH SUMMER OPERA FESTIVALS Tour leader: Robert Gay
SCANDINAVIA & ICELAND Tour leader: Dr Nick Gordon
September UZBEKISTAN & TURKMENISTAN Tour leader: Chris Bradley
ROME TO TURIN: ITALY’S WESTERN SHORES Tour leader: Dr Kathleen Olive
ART TRAILS: BASEL TO ANTWERP Tour leader: Dr Nick Gordon
ST PETERSBURG & MOSCOW Tour leader: Marina Campbell
NORTHERN SPAIN & PORTUGAL Tour leader: Dr Jeni Ryde
CHILE, ARGENTINA & PERU Tour leader: Chris Carter
MONTREAL TO NEW YORK: FINE MUSIC & FALL COLOURS Tour leader: Lindy Montgomery
Tour leader: Robert Veel
VENICE WITH ISTANBUL EXTENSION Tour leader: Dr Kathleen Olive
IRAN: ANCIENT PERSIA & THE SILK ROAD Tour leader: Chris Bradley
SICILY & THE AEOLIAN ISLANDS Tour leader: Dr Estelle Lazer
ROMAN FRANCE Tour leader: Michael Turner
CLASSICAL, BYZANTINE & OTTOMAN TURKEY Tour leader: Judy Roberts
GRAND TOUR OF SPAIN Tour leader: Dr Angela Smith
WESTERN CHINA: ON THE SILK ROAD Tour leader: Ben Churcher
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT: CHICAGO TO NEW YORK Tour leader: Stuart Barrie
AMSTERDAM TO HAMBURG: A MUSICAL JOURNEY Tour leader: Robert Gay
November CUBA: THEN & NOW Tour leader: Dr Stephen Wilkinson
December BURMA Tour leader: Judy Tenzing
Tour leader: Dr Kathleen Olive
Art Trails
tours for the art lover Art Trails bring you to world-class galleries, museums and private collections while enjoying the best of city touring, regional cuisine and the ease and comfort of superior, centrally located hotels. Some trails follow the art of a region, such as Amsterdam to Paris: Van Eyck to Van Gogh, which traces the art and history of the Low Countries from the Middle Ages to modernity, or Dr Kathleen Olive’s Emilia Romagna which moves from medieval architecture to Giorgio Morandi through a region that produces Italy’s finest food. Other trails lead you through centuries of art, architecture and design such as Dr Nick Gordon’s Lyon to Berlin, which takes you from GalloRoman antiquities and Burgundian Gothic to modern art and design, or Dr Kathleen Olive’s North East USA, which explores the great collections of America’s industrial magnates. If you have a taste for contemporary flair, discover the temporary galleries along Venice’s secluded laneways on our Venice Biennale tour.