Update: July 2023

Update July 2023

Dear traveller,

Here within is our latest list of tours and events for 2023 and 2024. For those of you keen to travel this Autumn, we have spaces available on a wide range of tours, among them Gastronomic Piedmont, Les Années Folles, Albania, Walking a Royal River, Rossini & Puccini, Medieval Champagne, as well as those highlighted in this Update.

Next in the Martin Randall Festivals line-up is The Bach Journey, ‘magnificent on every level’ to quote a participant who joined it in 2019. This year’s festival runs 4–10 September and promises even greater magnificence. Three more of our music events follow: the recently launched London Organs Day on 12 September, with private recitals in churches of Marylebone and Mayfair, The Thomas Tallis Trail, 20–22 October, a choral pilgrimage with the mighty Tallis Scholars, and a return to the Castle Hotel in Taunton with the prize-winning Consone Quartet, 3–5 November.

Our six tours over Christmas and New Year are all available to book, though some are filling up fast and I recommend you call us for the latest availability. This leads us into 2024 and I steer you to the calendar list at the back of this Update. We have launched many tours already and will continue to do so through the coming months. Those with a tour code, such as mk123, are available to book; those without are still being finalised. We have also recently launched our Salzburg String Quartet Festival, a dazzling addition to Martin Randall Festivals, with twelve concerts performed to our audience alone by eight world-class ensembles, 7–12 May 2024.

Please call or e-mail us to request the details of anything you are interested in. We can post or e-mail these to you, and of course everything can be found at www.martinrandall.com I leave you to enjoy your summer, or indeed winter.

With best wishes,

Fiona Charrington | Chief Executive

Martin Randall Travel Ltd

10 Barley Mow Passage, London W4 4PH

Tel +44 (0)20 8742 3355

info@martinrandall.co.uk

From North America: Tel 1 800 988 6168 (toll-free)

usa@martinrandall.com

ATOL 3622 | ABTOT 5468 | AITO 5085

Cover: Rabat (Morocco), gate of Chella, early-20th-century watercolour.

Left: Arles (France), cloister of St Trophime, after a drawing from ‘Agenda PLM’, publ. 1926.

Prague at Christmas

Music, history, art and architecture

21–27 December 2023 (mj 150)

7 days • £3,380

Lecturer: Martina Hinks-Edwards

Inaccessible and hidden glories as well as the main sights of this endlessly fascinating city, the most beautiful in Central Europe. Special arrangements, private visits, tours with curators, top-category tickets to two operas. An excursion to Kutná Hora, a provincial town of great charm, and to the country house at Kačina.

Centrally located, five-star hotel.

Prague enjoys an unequalled density of great architecture of all ages, but it is the fabric of the city as a whole as much as the individual masterpieces that makes it special. It is splendidly sited on a crescent of hills rising from one side of a majestic bend in the River Vltava and across the gently inclined terrain on the other bank – a carapace of red roofs, green domes and gilded spires rise above marvellously unspoilt streets and alleys and magically picturesque squares.

The 14th century was a high point in Prague’s history, when kings of Bohemia were also Holy Roman Emperors – the cathedral rising from within the precincts of the hilltop castle complex is one of many monuments of that golden age.

The spirit of national revival and (in 1918) the achievement of independence inspired a ferment of creativity. A variety of styles drew on earlier Bohemian traditions, Art Nouveau was pushed in new directions and the dawn of modernism is manifest in some unique and beautiful buildings.

It’s not all architecture: the Convent of St Agnes displays one of the world’s best collections of medieval panel paintings, there is Mucha stained glass in the cathedral, European Old Masters in the Schwarzenberg Palace and the incomparable Art Nouveau decoration in the Municipal House. In the city of Smetana and Dvořák, there is a range of historic opera houses and concert halls.

Itinerary

Day 1. Fly at c. 10.15am from London Heathrow to Prague and settle into the hotel.

Day 2. Explore the ancient core of the city on the right bank of the Vltava. Visit the Týn Church and the Church of St James, and see the medieval painting brilliantly installed in the 13th-century Convent of St Agnes. Performance at the Prague State Opera: La Bohème (Puccini).

Day 3. Visit Prague Castle, residence of dukes and kings of Bohemia from the tenth century. The Old Royal Palace rises from Romanesque through Gothic to Renaissance; the Cathedral of St Vitus is a pioneering monument of High Gothic. View the private collection at the Lobkowicz Palace, and European Old Masters the National Gallery.

Day 4. The history of the Jewish community is an indelibly fascinating aspect of Prague’s story. In the former ghetto, the Josefov, remain six synagogues, a town hall and cemetery. Visit (special arrangement) the assembly rooms in the Obecní dům (‘Municipal House’). Continue to the ‘New Town’ with outstanding turn-of-the-century architecture and early modernist masterpieces.

Day 5, Christmas Day. Walk across 14th-century Charles Bridge and, in the ‘Lesser Town’, visit the Baroque church of St Nicholas. Alternatively opt for a free morning and attend a church service. Christmas lunch. Opera at the Estates Theatre: The Magic Flute (Mozart).

Day 6: Kutná Hora, Kačina. In the Middle Ages, Kutná Hora acquired great wealth from nearby silver mines. It possesses a stunning late-Gothic cathedral, designed by Bohemia’s two finest medieval architects. Visit also the Neo-Classical country house at Kačina, set in a landscaped park.

Day 7. Visit Strahov Monastery (special arrangement), then walk down the hill, passing the formidable Černín Palace and Loreto Church. Fly to London Heathrow arriving c. 3.30pm.

Prague, Church of St Nicholas, early 20th-century etching by E. Wänke.

Georgia Uncovered

Treasures of the Southern Caucasus

16–26 September 2023 (mj 875)

11 days • £4,590

Lecturer: Ian Colvin

15–25 September 2024 (mk 425)

11 days • £4,690

Lecturer: Ian Colvin

Early Christian churches and monasteries, Spectacular mountain landscapes.

Exquisite jewellery and metalwork from the Bronze Age and Antiquity.

A delicious and varied regional cuisine.

Set on the borders of Europe and Asia, a Christian country surrounded by Muslim neighbours, Georgia is an heir to the civilisations of both continents, and at the same time preserves its own language and a rich cultural heritage that is peculiar to the South Caucasus.

Georgia appears in the stories of the earliest peoples of the Fertile Crescent and Anatolia. It is linked closely with the Iranian empires to the southeast. They fought the Greeks, Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans to the west for hegemony in this borderland. The Georgian kings called in aid from the nomads to the north, or laboured to bar the mountain passes to them: Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans, Huns, Khazars, Turks, Mongols and Timurids – and finally their geographical heirs, the Russians.

Georgia adopted Christianity early in the fourth century ad; Over the next centuries Georgian and Armenian architects evolved a distinctive religious architecture, even as their churches fell out over Christological differences.

Itinerary

Day 1: London to Tbilisi. Fly at c. 6.30am from London Heathrow to Tbilisi via Paris (Air France). Arrive at c. 5.00pm. First of four nights in Tbilisi.

Day 2: Tbilisi. The Asiatic Old Town set beneath the Narikala fortress remains a twisting maze of streets, caravanserais and ancient churches.

Day 3: Kakheti. Drive over the scenic Gomburi mountains to Tsinandali in fertile Kakheti. Visit the country estate of the princely Chavchavadze family, a glimpse into 19th-century noble life.

Day 4: Tbilisi. Tbilisi’s open air Ethnographic House Museum overlooks the city. The National History Museum holds treasures that demonstrate the remarkable skill of goldsmiths from the Bronze Age through to Antiquity.

Day 5: Mtskheta, Kazbegi. The old capital, Mtskheta is still the religious heart of the country. Sixth-century Jvari Church is perched high above the town; see also the 11th-century Cathedral of Svetitskhoveli. First of two nights in Kazbegi.

Day 6: Kazbegi. The 14th-century Gergeti Sameba Church on the slopes of volcanic Mount Kazbek is in perhaps the most dramatic setting in Georgia.

Day 7: Gori, Kutaisi. At his birthplace in Gori the Stalin Museum continues to operate. First of two nights in Kutaisi.

Day 8: Kutaisi, Vani. A morning walk through Kutaisi takes in the world heritage sites of the 12th-century academy and monastery of Gelati. The museum at the Vani archaeological site displays finds from the 8th to 1st century bc

Day 9: Nokalakevi, Batumi. The imposing ruins at Nokalakevi are the remains of the ancient capital of the kingdoms of Colchis and EgrisiLazika. First of two nights at Batumi.

Day 10: Batumi. The Bathus Limen, or deep water port, of Greek settlers of the 6th to 5th centuries bc was a sleepy provincial backwater under the Ottomans, until the Russians annexed it in 1878.

Day 11: Batumi to London. Fly at c. 10.30am from Batumi Airport to London, via Istanbul, arriving at Gatwick at c. 4.00pm (Turkish Airlines).

Kazbegi, photo ©Iman Gozal.

Berlin, Potsdam, Dresden

Art and architecture in Brandenburg and Saxony

5–13 October 2023 (mj 925)

9 days • £3,770

Lecturer: Dr Jarl Kremeier

10–18 October 2024

Please contact us to register your interest

Chief cities of Brandenburg-Prussia and Saxony, rich in fine and decorative arts. Internationally important historic and contemporary architecture. Rebuilding and restoration continues to transform the cities.

Berlin is an upstart among European cities. Until the 17th century it was a small town of little importance, but by dint of ruthless and energetic rule, backed by the military prowess for which it became a byword, the hitherto unimportant state of Brandenburg-Prussia became one of the most powerful in Germany. By the middle of the 18th century, with Frederick the Great at the helm, it was successfully challenging the great powers of Europe.

Ambitious campaigns were instituted to endow the capital with grandeur appropriate to its new status. Palaces, public buildings and new districts were planned and constructed. At nearby Potsdam, Frederick’s second capital, he created the park of Sanssouci, among the finest ensembles of gardens, palaces and pavilions to be found anywhere. Early in the 19th century Berlin became of international importance architecturally when Karl Friedrich Schinkel, the greatest of Neo-Classical architects, designed several buildings there.

Berlin has museums of art and antiquities of the highest importance, and the reunited city is now one of the most exciting in Europe. Dresden’s rebuilding and restoration, after the terrible destruction of the War, allows the visitor to appreciate once again something of its former beauty. Moreover, the collections of fine and applied arts are magnificent.

Itinerary

Day 1: Dresden. Fly from London Heathrow to Berlin. Drive to Dresden; first of three nights here.

Day 2: Dresden. Visit the Zwinger: a unique Baroque confection; see the porcelain collection. The Green Vault of the Residenzschloss displays one of the world’s finest princely treasuries.

Day 3: Dresden, Pillnitz. Visit the great domed Frauenkirche then drive to Pillnitz, a summer palace in Chinese Rococo style. Boat trip back along the Elbe to Dresden for an optional visit of the New Masters Gallery in the Albertinum.

Day 4: Dresden, Potsdam. Drive to Potsdam: Sanssouci was created as a retreat from the affairs of state by Frederick the Great – visit also his palace atop terraces of fruit trees and the exquisite Chinese teahouse. Overnight in Potsdam.

Day 5: Potsdam, Berlin. In the morning, see the Nikolaikirche. Explore the Museum Barberini and historical Dutch Quarter. In Berlin, visit the Italianate gardens at the villa of Klein-Glienicke. First of four nights in Berlin.

Day 6: Berlin. Walk to take in both the historic and new architecture of Berlin. Spend the afternoon on ‘Museum Island’ at the Bode Museum and the Alte Nationalgalerie.

Day 7: Berlin. Walk via Unter den Linden, the Holocaust Memorial and Brandenburg Gate. End at the Reichstag, and have lunch in the rooftop restaurant. Visit the Kunstgewerbemuseum, the Museum of Decorative Arts and Gemäldegalerie.

Day 8: Berlin. Drive to Schloss Charlottenburg, a summer palace built with Baroque core and Rococo wings, fine interiors and paintings, extensive gardens, pavilions and a mausoleum.

Day 9: Berlin. Drive to Kreuzberg, passing Cold War landmarks such as the Oberbaumbrücke and Karl-Marx Allee. Pass the Jewish Museum and the Prussian National Monument for the Liberation Wars. Fly to London Heathrow in the afternoon.

Dresden, the Zwinger Palace, lithograph c. 1850 after Samuel Prout.

Palladian Villas

The greatest house builder in history

17–22 October 2023 (mj 955)

6 days • £2,480

Lecturer: Dr Sarah Pearson

14–19 May 2024 (mk 281)

6 days • £2,530

Lecturer: Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

A survey of various surviving villas and palaces designed by Andrea Palladio (1508–80), the world’s most influential architect.

Stay throughout in Vicenza, Palladio’s home town and site of many of his buildings.

With many special appointments, this itinerary would be impossible for independent travellers.

Utility is the key to understanding Palladio’s villas. In 16th-century Italy a villa was a farm, and in the Veneto agriculture had become a serious business for the city-based mercantile aristocracy. As the Venetian maritime empire gradually crumbled before the advancing Ottoman Turks, Venetians compensated by investing in the terra ferma of their hinterland.

But beauty of a special kind was equally the determinant of form. Palladio was designing buildings for a clientele who, whether princes of commerce, soldier-aristocrats or gentlemen of leisure, shared an intense admiration for ancient Rome. They were children of the High Renaissance and steeped in humanist learning. Palladio was the first architect regularly to apply the colonnaded temple fronts to secular buildings.

But the beauty of his villas was not solely a matter of applied ornament. As can be seen particularly in his low-budget, pared-down villas and auxiliary buildings, there is a geometric order which arises from sophisticated systems of proportion and an unerring intuitive sense of design. It is little wonder that Andrea Palladio became the most influential architect the western world has ever known.

Many of his finest surviving buildings are included, as are some of the less accessible ones.

Itinerary

Day 1. Fly at c. 1.30pm from London Heathrow to Venice and drive to the hotel in Vicenza.

Day 2: Vicenza. See several palaces by Palladio including the Palazzo Barbaran da Porto, which houses the Palladio Museum, and the colonnaded Palazzo Chiericati. His chief civic works here are the Basilica, and the Teatro Olimpico – the earliest theatre of modern times.

Day 3: Bagnolo di Lonigo, Poiana Maggiore, Fratta Polesine. Villa Pisani at Bagnolo di Lonigo is small but majestic, considered by many scholars to be Palladio’s first masterpiece. Villa Poiana has restrained but noble proportions. Villa Badoer at Fratta Polesine, from his middle period, is a perfect example of Palladian hierarchy.

Day 4: Vicenza, Lugo di Vicenza. The hilltop ‘La Rotonda’, a 10-minute drive from Vicenza, is the most famous of Palladio’s buildings, domed and with four porticoes. In the foothills of the Dolomites, Villa Godi Malinverni is an austere cuboid design with lavish frescoes inside. Some free time in Vicenza.

Day 5: Bassano del Grappa, Maser, Fanzolo. The lovely town of Bassano has a wooden bridge designed by Palladio. Villa Barbaro at Maser has superb frescoes by Veronese, while the Villa Emo at Fanzolo typically and beautifully combines the utilitarian with the monumental.

Day 6: Piombino Dese, Malcontenta. Drive along a stretch of the canal between Padua and the Venetian Lagoon, lined with the summer retreats of Venetian patricians. Villa Foscari, ‘La Malcontenta’ is one of Palladio’s best known. Explore Villa Cornaro at Piombino Dese. Fly from Venice to London Heathrow, arriving c. 6.30pm.

Many of the villas on this itinerary are privately owned. The selection may vary a little from above.

Illustration: Vicenza, Teatro Olimpico, 18th-century engraving.

Dutch Modern

20th-century and contemporary architecture

6–11 September 2023 (mj 853)

6 days • £2,830

Lecturer: Professor Harry Charrington

An immersion in the last one hundred years of Dutch urban design.

Highlights include Hilversum Town Hall and the Van Nelle Tobacco Factory in Rotterdam. City centres are balanced by the Hoge Veluwe National Park, the Voorlinden estate and the docklands of Amsterdam.

Travel by Eurostar and stay throughout in beautiful Utrecht.

Why do the Dutch excel at architecture and urban design? It is hard to resist the temptation to make connections between the hard-won, man-made origin of much of the country’s surface area and the scrupulous consideration of the uses to which it is put, and between the high density of population and the highly developed sense of social responsibility which prevails in the Netherlands.

Another ingredient may be the independence of spirit and love of liberty that characterises much of Dutch life and society, born perhaps of the seafaring and trading history of the nation – in turn impelled by a poorly endowed and vulnerable habitat adjacent to the sea. Some of the most exciting architectural developments of the last hundred years have been sited in the Netherlands. Dutch architecture is not just a matter of major showpiece buildings, though there are plenty. They arise in the context of an outstandingly high level of planning, building and urban design at every level.

This trip includes a clutch of icons of modern architecture – the Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht (currently under renovation and possibly under scaffolding at the time of the tour), the Van Nelle factory in Rotterdam, Dudok’s Town hall in Hilversum. And alongside these, cutting-edge developments are being completed all the time.

Itinerary

Day 1: London to Utrecht. Travel by Eurostar at c. 11.00am from London St Pancras to Rotterdam (direct train), and from here by coach to Utrecht. An early evening walk introduces the beautiful, historic centre. All five nights are spent here.

Day 2: Utrecht, Hilversum. Built in 1924, Gerrit Rietveld’s Schröder House is one of the icons of 20th-century architecture (even under restoration, as at present). Utrecht University includes a sleek library by Weil Arets and Koolhaas’ Educatorium. Hilversum’s Town Hall (Dudok 1930), ‘the brick building of the century’, balances functionalism and fantasy.

Day 3: Residential Amsterdam. Never in history has social housing been so whimsically alluring as de Klerk’s ‘Eigen Haard’ (1913–20). Continue to the Eastern Docklands, a redevelopment of the ‘90s and ‘00s with unflagging variety of design. End at the Open Air School by Duiker and Bijvoet (1930) (this visit is subject to confirmation).

Day 4: Hoge Veluwe National Park. Visits here include the Hubertus Hunting Lodge by Berlage (1919), porters’ lodges (MVRDV 1995), and the Kröller-Müller Museum, a superb art collection especially notable for Van Gogh, in buildings by Van der Velde, Rietveld and Wim Quist.

Day 5: Rotterdam. The Van Nelle Tobacco Factory (1931) is one of the monuments of modern architecture. In the afternoon, visit the Museumspark, home to the Netherlands Architectural Institute and the Sonneveld House, built by Brinkman and van der Vlugt in 1933.

Day 6: Wassenaar. Independent morning before an early afternoon departure for Wassenaar. In a beautiful estate of woodland, meadows and dunes, Voorlinden is an excellent private collection of modern and contemporary art in a light and lofty building by Kraaijvanger Architects (2016), with gardens by Piet Oudolf. Continue to Rotterdam for the Eurostar to St Pancras arriving c. 10.00pm.

Rotterdam, Van Nelle Tobacco Factory, photo ©Harry Charrington.

Oman, Landscapes & Peoples

Desert, coast and mountains

21–31 October 2023 (mj 981)

11 days/10 nights • £ 6,810

Lecturer: Dr Peter Webb

25 January–4 February 2024 (mk 165)

11 days/10 nights • £6,810

Lecturer: Dr Peter Webb

Remarkable landscape, hill forts, traditional souqs, archaeological sites.

The toehold of Arabia, with a diverse population reflecting its mercantile past.

A night in a desert camp and two nights in a luxury hotel in the Jabal Akhdar mountains.

Wilfred Thesiger was motivated to cross the Empty Quarter by the hope that he would find peace and solitude in the remote desert landscapes. He also yearned to gain the friendship of the Bedu who journeyed with him and whom he encountered during his traverse. The opportunities for travelling to little-visited locations, relaxing in inspiring surroundings and encountering new peoples is no less possible in Oman today than it was in 1946.

The country provides a diverse range of extraordinary natural beauty: deserts, mountains, wadis, beaches. Visitors also experience the kindness and friendliness of the Omanis. Oman is still not over-developed, unlike some of its neighbouring Gulf states.

Our comprehensive itinerary includes the highlights of this vast country: from the inland forts of Nizwa and Jabrin to the little-visited archaeological sites of Al-Balid and Khor Rori, from the mountain scenery in the Western Hajar to the remoteness of the Wahiba Sands, from the bustling capital Muscat to the contrasting landscapes of the southern region of Dhofar.

Other features of this tour are the opportunity to bathe in the Indian Ocean, stay high in the mountains of the Jabal Akhdar and shop in souqs suffused with the scent of frankincense.

Itinerary

Day 1. Fly at c. 8.00pm from London Heathrow (Oman Air) for the overnight flight to Muscat.

Day 2: Muscat. Land at c. 7.15am. Hotel rooms are at your disposal for the morning. Afternoon visit to the Omani National Museum, the Sultanate’s flagship institution. First of two nights in Muscat.

Day 3: Barka, Nakhl. By 4-wheel-drive to the traditionally furnished 17th-century fortified house Bait Na’aman. Rustaq Fort was built in the 17th century to defend the former capital.

Day 4: Muscat, Jabrin. Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque is impressively ornate. The most impressive fort in Oman is at Jabrin. The first of three nights in the Jabal Akhdar.

Day 5: Nizwa area. Visit Nizwa Fort, palace, seat of government and prison. Time to explore the souqs and markets. Al Ayn is a collection of Bronze Age beehive tombs atop a rugged ridge.

Day 6: Nizwa area. Spend the morning in Al Hamra, a traditional Omani town. Free afternoon to enjoy the mountain scenery from the hotel.

Day 7: Nizwa, Wahiba. The once opulent market town of Ibra stood on the trade route linking the interior to the coast. At Wahiba Sands, watch the sunset and camp overnight in the desert.

Day 8: Wahiba, Salalah. 4-wheel-drive to Muscat to catch an afternoon flight to Salalah. First of three nights in Salalah.

Day 9: Al Balid. Ancient Zafar was visited by Marco Polo. The museum exhibits finds from the ruins of Al Balid and artefacts from the area.

Day 10: Khor Rori. Spend the morning at Mirbat. The site at Khor Rori preserves an important frankincense trading port dating back 2000 years.

Day 11. Fly Mid-morning to Muscat then early afternoon to London Heathrow; arrive c. 6.30pm.

Illustration: engraving c. 1875.

Gardens of Madeira

The garden of the Atlantic

2–7 March 2024 (mk 188)

6 days • £2,690

Lecturer: Dr Gerald Luckhurst

A focus on both Madeira’s formal gardens and its natural flora and wildlife.

An island of magnificent landscapes: coastal, woodland and mountainous.

Stay in Madeira’s most famous hotel.

Sitting in the sub-tropical Atlantic, closer to Morocco than to Portugal, Madeira is a startling island, rising high and steep from the ocean. Consisting overwhelmingly of basalt rock, which at the formation of the Atlantic Ocean started spewing from the earth’s core around 130 million years ago, the land of Madeira itself is probably five million years old. Its volcanic nature produces not only steep gorges radiating from the rugged central mountains but also spectacular coastal scenery. This tour explores both settings.

A hugely varied number of plants and flowers enjoy this dynamic combination of fertile soil and warm temperatures. Bananas and vines, flourish on the coastal plains and lower slopes, while lush evergreen vegetation covers the higher mountain slopes. As is standard on remote islands, there has been considerable speciation, and more than 131 plant species are endemic or unique to Madeira. Of particular interest are the laurisilva woodlands, the large house leeks, woody sowthistles and marguerites, the beautiful shrubby Echium species and the curious Dragon tree. By exploring the terrain on foot we examine these species in greater and more rewarding detail.

There is also the chance to study the history of the island’s greatest export, Madeira wine. Although established as a Portuguese colony since the early 15th century, it was following the marriage of Charles II to Catherine of Braganza that commerce with the British was encouraged in 1663. This marked the beginning of the wine trade, which has been significant ever since.

Itinerary

Day 1. Fly at c. 1.00pm from London Gatwick to Funchal (BA). Introductory lecture and dinner in the hotel. First of five nights in Funchal.

Day 2. A morning visit to the Boa Vista orchid gardens which house the rarest and most unusual collection of orchids on the island. The Jardim Botânico located in the Quinta of Bom Sucesso is home to over 100 species of indigenous plants, tropical and sub-tropical fruit trees and coffee trees, sugar cane and popular medicinal plants.

Day 3. Monte Palace has a large garden spread over several levels, with an exotic collection of plants from all over the world and one of Portugal’s most significant tile collections. Lunch is at the UNESCO biosphere site at Ribeiro Frio, where a botanical garden and trout hatchery sit among quiet glades. There is an easy afternoon walk to Balcões and back along the levada of Serra do Faial with spectacular views of the mountains and valley: c. 3 km, c. 1 hour.

Day 4. A morning guided tour of Funchal’s centre focuses on its city gardens and historic monuments. The Mercado dos Lavadores (farmers’ market) is a vibrant showcase of the island’s produce. Visit the Gothic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, with its whitewashed walls and Mudéjar-inspired ceiling. The afternoon is free.

Day 5. Visit the Blandy family estate at Palheiro for lunch and a guided tour. The extensive subtropical gardens, first acquired by John Blandy in 1885, have been continually developed by the family, and include camellias and a rose garden. A Dragon Tree sanctuary in the outskirts of Funchal is preserving this rare species, at risk of extinction in the wild. Private evening visit to the Blandy Wine Lodge with a Madeira wine tasting.

Day 6. Drive to Funchal airport for the flight to London Gatwick, arriving at c. 4.00pm.

Funchal, Jardim Botânico, photo ©.Max Kukurudziak.

Walking to Santiago

On foot for selected sections of the pilgrims’ way

2–13 September 2023 (mj 852)

12 days • £3,790 – flights not included Lecturer: Dr Rose Walker

The last great pilgrimage route in Christendom which still attracts walkers; scenically wonderful with much fine architecture.

Selected sections from the Pyrenees through northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela.

Walking in comfort: good hotels; luggage transferred separately.

Still one of the most splendid walking routes in Europe, the Camino de Santiago runs almost 500 miles across northern Spain to the supposed tomb of St James, Sant Iago. Normally, the journey takes a month on foot. We are setting out to walk the highlights in 12 days, taking in the most historically charged and beautiful sections. We are like pilgrims, rather than tourists, visiting monuments along the route and what time and tiredness allow at the end of the day. There will be commentary by the lecturer and an introduction to the major buildings. But the experience of walking the camino is what is essentially on offer, along a route which has for centuries compelled the imagination.

Itinerary

Day 1: Biarritz to Roncesvalles. Depart Biarritz Airport following the 4.15pm recommended flight from London Gatwick. Drive to Roncesvalles.

Day 2: Roncesvalles to Lintzoaín/Erro: 14.7km, c. 4 hours. Start at the summit of the pass and drop down to Roncesvalles, with its fine collegiate church. Continue through gentle sub-Pyrenean landscape and stately stone-built villages.

Day 3: Nájera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada: 21km, c. 5 hours. Drive to Nájera and climb up and out into rolling country. Continue to Santo Domingo de la Calzada where there is time to visit the cathedral. Overnight here.

Day 4: Villafranca Montes de Oca to Agés: 16km, c. 4 hours. Up into mildly mountainous country, passing a monument to victims of Civil War assassination. Cross a plateau to the monastery of San Juan de Ortega and the village of Agés. Drive to Burgos; two nights here.

Day 5: Burgos, rest day. Rest in this Castilian city rich in memories of El Cid and medieval pilgrimage, Wellington and Franco. Time to see the magnificent cathedral and other sites.

Day 6: Rabé de las Calzadas to Hontanas: 19km, c. 4 hours. A strenuous walk through hills with three manageable climbs. Drive to León for the night. The royal pantheon of San Isidoro is one of the first Romanesque buildings in Spain.

Day 7: Hospital de Orbigo to Astorga: 13km, c. 3 hours. Climb through countryside and fields, finishing outside Astorga. Drive into Astorga, whose bishop’s palace was designed by Gaudí. Overnight here.

Day 8: Foncebadón to Acebo: 11km, c. 4 hours. Climb to the highest point of the camino. Lunch in a pilgrim’s restaurant in Acebo. Drive from here to Villafranca del Bierzo for the night.

Day 9: Triacastela to Sarriá: c. 18.5km, c. 5 hours. Drive to Triacastela via O Cebreiro, with Celtic buildings and ancient church. Climb through Galician-green valley and into country of tiny hamlets. After lunch, a slow descent to Sarriá. Drive to Monforte de Lemos. Overnight here.

Day 10. Sarriá to Ferreiros: c. 13km, c. 4 hours. Monte del Gozo to Santiago de Compostela: c. 4km, c. 2 hours. Drive to Sarriá and walk to Ferreiros. After lunch, drive to Monte del Gozo and walk 4 km into the ancient city centre of Santiago de Compostela. First of two nights here.

Day 11: Santiago. Visit the cathedral, a Romanesque masterpiece with time to attend Pilgrim’s mass. The rest of the day is free.

Day 12. Drive to Santiago Airport for the recommended 9.40am flight to London Gatwick.

SEASON

Four fine instruments in the City, Marylebone and Mayfair.

TUESDAY 12 SEPTEMBER 2023

A journey through London’s extraordinary organ heritage, featuring exceptional instruments played by top-rank organists.

London is home to an unparalleled wealth of historic and modern instruments – during the day, hear music from medieval to contemporary.

Meet the resident organists, who will reveal the unique qualities of each instrument and provide context for the music to be performed.

The venues are of architectural and historical significance: St Margaret Lothbury, St Lawrence Jewry, All Saints Margaret Street, and St George’s Hanover Square.

Contact

Photo ©Ben Ealovega.

A journey exploring the life and music of Johann Sebastian Bach through central Germany.

4–10 SEPTEMBER 2023

RACHEL PODGER (pictured) violin

Solo Suites & Partitas

Mühlhausen, Town Hall

MAHAN ESFAHANI harpsichord

Goldberg Variations

Ohrdruf, Schloss Ehrenstein

VOX LUMINIS

The Bach Dynasty

Eisenach, Church of St George

SOLOMON’S KNOT

St John Passion

Arnstadt, Bachkirche

AKADEMIE FÜR ALTE MUSIK BERLIN

Concerti for Oboe & Violin

Weimar, Schiesshaus

VOX LUMINIS

Bach’s Magnificat

Weimar, Church of St Peter & Paul

MARTINA POHL organ

Organ Recital

Sangerhausen, Church of St James

FREIBURG BAROQUE ORCHESTRA

Concertos & Orchestral Suites

Leipzig, Altes Rathaus

VOX LUMINIS

Mass in B Minor

Leipzig, Nikolaikirche

Talks on the music by Sir Nicholas Kenyon

Photo ©Monika Jakubowska.

Join The Tallis Scholars in their 50th anniversary year on a choral pilgrimage to all four of the surviving buildings where Thomas Tallis lived and worked: Hampton Court, Dover College, Canterbury Cathedral and Waltham Abbey.

20–22 OCTOBER 2023

Four concerts with The Tallis Scholars, the world’s leading performers of Renaissance choral music.

Performances in the buildings where Thomas Tallis (1505–85) is known to have worked.

Polyphony mainly by Tallis and his 16th-century peers with some modern works.

Talk by Dr David Skinner of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.

Prices include two nights in Canterbury, most meals and coach transport.

Contact us for full details or visit martinrandall.com

Photo ©Hugo Glendinning.

Exploring the string quartet in all its diversity and richness in one of the loveliest little cities on the Continent.

7–12 MAY 2024

Twelve concerts in little over four days – an intense musical experience, enlightening and thrilling.

Players include rising stars to established greats: CHIAROSCURO, CUARTETO CASALS, QUARTETTO DI CREMONA, MARMEN, NAVARRA, SCHUMANN, SIMPLY, WIHAN .

The venues are mostly hidden gems, from historic to modern, all within easy walking distance of each other and of the hotels and restaurants.

Talks on the music by Dr Katy Hamilton.

Contact us for full details or visit martinrandall.com

28 JULY–4 AUGUST 2024

This year, our Danube festival is devoted to a single composer: Mozart. Stay aboard a first-class river cruiser, be transported to concerts in beautiful historic buildings with world-class artists, and enjoy a daily diet of rural landscapes and picturesque towns.

30 SEPTEMBER–4 OCTOBER 2024

A unique choral event of exceptional musical intensity and spiritual potency. The eight services of the monastic day, performed at their intended times. The finest of college choirs and acclaimed professional choirs in Oxford’s magnificent medieval college chapels.

18–24 OCTOBER 2024

Among the least known of south-east Sicily’s many delights are a number of gorgeous 18th and 19thcentury theatres located in breath-takingly beautiful Baroque towns. In a selection of these theatres, we present five operas and an oratorio. Stay throughout on the picturesque island of Ortygia, Syracuse.

Please contact us to register your interest

Calendar | 2023

Our programme for 2023 is available to book, including Christmas and new year, and a large part of 2024 is also now available to view on our website: www.martinrandall.com.

If you find that a tour you are interested in is not yet showing on our website, please contact us to register your interest.

August 2023

2– 6 Verona Opera (mj 818)

Dr R.T. Cobianchi

7–16 Medieval Saxony (mj 838)

Dr Ulrike Ziegler

11–14 Drottningholm & Confidencen (mj 825)

Dr David Vickers

14–20 Rossini & Puccini (mj 827)

Rupert Christiansen

20–25 The Lucerne Festival (mj 832)

Dr Michael Downes

25–31 The Schubertiade (mj 835)

Richard Wigmore

27– 4 Mitteldeutschland (mj 840)

Dr Jarl Kremeier

31 London Neighbourhoods (lj 841)

Martin Randall

September 2023

1–12 Samarkand & Silk Road Cities (mj 842)

Dr Peter Webb

2– 9 The Heart of Italy (mj 848)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

2–13 Walking to Santiago (mj 852)

Dr Rose Walker

3– 8 Isambard Kingdom Brunel (mj 846)

Anthony Lambert

4– 8 The Age of Bede (mj 860) Imogen Corrigan

4–10 THE BACH JOURNEY (mj 850)

4–11 Gastronomic Basque Country (mj 849)

Gijs van Hensbergen

6–11 Dutch Modern (mj 853)

Professor Harry Charrington

7–11 Ravenna & Urbino (mj 858)

Dr Luca Leoncini

8–15 Courts of Northern Italy (mj 859)

Professor Fabrizio Nevola

9–13 Chateaux of the Loire (mj 855)

Dr Sarah Pearson

9–18 Classical Greece (mj 856)

Dr Dan Jolowicz

11–18 Walking in Slovenia (mj 861)

Professor Cathie Carmichael

11–23 Civilisations of Sicily (mj 862)

Christopher Newall

12 London Organs Day (lj 684)

16–26 Georgia Uncovered (mj 875)

Ian Colvin

18–24 Walking a Royal River (mj 879)

Sophie Campbell

20–27 English Georgian Towns (mj 895)

Andrew Foyle

20–29 Albania: Crossroads of Antiquity (mj 898)

Carolyn Perry

22– 3 Frank Lloyd Wright (mj 900) Tom Abbott

24– 1 Fiesole to Lucca: Tuscany on Foot (mj 904)

Dr Thomas-Leo True

25–30 Pompeii & Herculaneum (mj 903)

Dr Nigel Spivey

25– 5 Essential Andalucía (mj 905)

Dr Philippa Joseph

26 London Neighbourhoods (lj 909)

Martin Randall

26–30 Sir Christopher Wren (mj 910)

Simon Bradley

26–30 Arts & Crafts in the Cotswolds (mj 865)

26– 3

Janet Sinclair

Medieval Champagne (mj 906)

John McNeill

27– 5 The Cathedrals of England (mj 907)

Dr Hugh Doherty

27– 5 Two Spains: The Spanish Civil War & its aftermath (mj 908) Giles Tremlett

30– 4 Siena & San Gimignano (mj 920)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

October 2023

2– 7 Gardens & Villas of Campagna

Romana (mj 923) Amanda Patton

4–10 Art in the Netherlands (mj 922)

Desmond Shawe-Taylor

5–13 Berlin, Potsdam, Dresden (mj 925)

Dr Jarl Kremeier

9–15 Malta: prehistoric to present (mj 930)

Juliet Rix

12–16 Ravenna & Urbino (mj 940)

Dr Luca Leoncini

14–20 Gastronomic Piedmont (mj 943)

Cynthia Chapman

16–22 In Search of Alexander (mj 934)

Professor Antony Spawforth

16–23 Footpaths of Umbria (mj 946)

Dr Thomas-Leo True

16–25 Castile & León (mj 935)

Gijs van Hensbergen

16–28 Civilisations of Sicily (mj 932)

John McNeill

17–22 Palladian Villas (mj 955)

Dr Sarah Pearson

18–24 Renaissance Rivals (mj 961)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

20–22 THE THOMAS TALLIS TRAIL (mj 975)

21–27 The Ligurian Coast (mj 978)

Dr Luca Leoncini

21–29 Essential Jordan (mj 980)

Felicity Cobbing

21–31 Oman, Landscapes & Peoples (mj 981)

Dr Peter Webb

22–28 Modern Art on the Côte d’Azur (mj 928)

Mary Lynn Riley

23–29 Malta: prehistoric to present (mj 982)

Juliet Rix

23–29 Italian Design (mj 983) Dr Philippa Joseph

30– 4 Wexford Opera Festival (mj 995)

Dr John Allison

31– 5 Palermo Revealed (mj 996)

Dr Luca Leoncini

November 2023

2– 5 Les Années Folles (mj 100)

Patrick Bade

3– 5 The Consone Quartet at The Castle

Taunton (mj 101) Dr Katie Campbell

7–11 Venetian Palaces (mj 105)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

9–20 Japanese Gardens (mj 108)

Yoko Kawaguchi

13–19 Art History of Venice (mj 110)

Dr Susan Steer

13–20 Gastronomic Sicily (mj 111)

Marc Millon

15–19 Art in Madrid (mj 112)

Dr Xavier Bray

20–26 The Art of Florence (mj 120)

Dr Flavio Boggi

20–27 The Printing Revolution (mj 116)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott & Stephen Parkin

21–29 Celebrating Picasso (mj 125)

Gijs van Hensbergen

30–13 Essential South India (mj 132)

Asoka Pugal

Advent Choral Day

December 2023

20–27 Florence at Christmas (mj 141)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

20–27 Turin at Christmas (mj 145)

Dr Luca Leoncini

21–27 Prague at Christmas (mj 150)

Martina Hinks Edwards

21–28 Verona at Christmas (mj 142)

Dr Susan Steer

21–28 Munich at Christmas (mj 154)

Tom Abbott

21–27 Paris at Christmas (mj 148)

Patrick Bade

28– 3 Music in Berlin at New Year (mj 155)

Tom Abbott

Calendar | 2024

January 2024

10–15 Valletta Baroque Festival (mk 160)

Professor John Bryan

25– 4 Oman, Landscapes & Peoples (mk 165)

Dr Peter Webb

29– 3 String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam (mk 168) Leo Samama

30– 5 Mozart in Salzburg (mk 167)

Richard Wigmore

February 2024

18–22 Hamburg: Opera, ‘Elphi’ & Exhibition (mk 175) Dr John Allison

25– 8 Vietnam: History, People, Food (mk 181)

Dr Dana Healy

26– 2 Connoisseur’s Rome (mk 182)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

26– 3 Titian, Tintoretto & Veronese (mk 179)

Antonio Mazzotta

27– 4 Essential Rome (mk 183)

Dr Thomas-Leo True

Music, Opera, or Ballet in Paris

March 2024

2– 7 Gardens of Madeira (mk 188)

Dr Gerald Luckhurst

4–14 Essential Andalucía (mk 189)

Dr Philippa Joseph

6–16 Art in Texas (mk 190) Gijs van Hensbergen

8–10 Welsh National Opera (mk 192)

Simon Rees

8–10 The Mandelring Quartet at The Castle

Taunton (mk 191) Richard Wigmore

9–22 Cambodia by River (mk 194)

Freddie Matthews

10–15 The Story of Venice (mk 196)

Dr Susan Steer

11–15 Ravenna & Urbino (mk 200)

Dr Luca Leoncini

18–24 The Art of Florence (mk 202)

Dr Flavio Boggi

19–27 Normans in the South (mk 204)

John McNeill

25– 3 Minoan Crete

26–30 Venetian Palaces (mk 214)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

April 2024

2– 7 Opera in Vienna

2–14 Civilisations of Sicily (mk 221)

Dr Philippa Joseph

5–11 Gardens of the Riviera (mk 225)

Steven Desmond

10–15 Music in Berlin (mk 227) Barry Millington

10–17 Romans & Carolingians (mk 229)

Dr Hugh Doherty

11–20 Extremadura (mk 230) Chris Moss

11–22 Morocco (mk 232)

Professor Amira Bennison

12–19 Courts of Northern Italy (mk 231)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

13–21 Essential Jordan (mk 220)

Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

15–20 Pompeii & Herculaneum (mk 234)

Dr Mark Grahame

17–26 Albania: Crossroads of Antiquity (mk 240) Carolyn Perry

18–24 Gardens & Villas of the Italian Lakes

18–30 Samarkand & Silk Road Cities (mk 243)

Dr Peter Webb

19–21 William Howard & the Carducci String

Quartet at The Castle Taunton (mk 242)

20–26 Genoa & Turin (mk 245) Dr Luca Leoncini

22–28 Malta: prehistoric to present (mk 252)

Juliet Rix

22–29 Western Andalucía (mk 235)

Gijs van Hensbergen

23– 1 Cornish Houses & Gardens (mk 250)

Anthony Lambert

24– 2 The Cathedrals of England (mk 251)

Dr Hugh Doherty

25–29 Tom Abbott’s Berlin (mk 255) Tom Abbott

29– 6 The Heart of Italy (mk 257)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

29– 6 Habsburg Austria (mk 258)

Dr Jarl Kremeier

29– 8 Classical Turkey (mk 256)

Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

May 2024

3–11 Great Irish Houses

5–12 Gardens of the Bay of Naples

6–18 Civilisations of Sicily (mk 264)

Dr Mark Grahame

7–12 SALZBURG STRING

QUARTET FESTIVAL (mk 262)

10–17 Madrid & Toledo (mk 271)

Gijs van Hensbergen

10–17 Art in Scotland

11–20 Classical Greece (mk 270)

Professor Antony Spawforth

13–20 Gastronomic Le Marche

13–26 The Western Balkans (mk 278)

Professor Cathie Carmichael

14–19 Palladian Villas (mk 281)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

16–33 Yorkshire Houses (mk 279)

Christopher Garibaldi

16–28 Samarkand & Silk Road Cities (mk 283)

Dr Peter Webb

19–26 Medieval Heart of Portugal (mk 284)

John McNeill

20–25 Friuli-Venezia Giulia (mk 290)

Dr Carlo Corsato

20–26 Great Swedish Houses (mk 285)

Ulrica Häller

24–27 Versailles: Seat of the Sun King

Professor Antony Spawforth

25– 5 The Road to Santiago (mk 300)

Dr Richard Plant

28– 2 Stockholm Modern

Professor Harry Charrington

28– 4 Great Houses of the South West (mk 302)

Anthony Lambert

29– 3 Prague Spring: Smetana 200

31– 7 Krakow & Silesia Dr Agata Gomółka

The Dresden Music Festival

Decorative Arts of Iberia with HALI

June 2024

3– 9 Lucca & Vicinity (mk 310) Dr Flavio Boggi

3–11 Cyprus: stepping stone of history (mk 311) Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

8–15 Medieval Burgundy (mk 316) John McNeill

11–17 Leipzig Bach Festival (mk 320)

Professor John Butt OBE

12–19 Gastronomic Veneto

16–21 A Festival of Impressionism

19–23 Flemish Painting

24–28 Medieval West Midlands (mk 330)

John McNeill

24–30 Vienna’s Masterpieces (mk 334)

Tom Abbott

24– 2 Gardens in the Highlands (mk 332)

Colin Crosbie

27– 3 Normans & Plantagenets in Northern France

27– 5 Finland: Aalto & Others (mk 342)

Professor Harry Charrington

West Cork Chamber Music Festival

Gastronomy on the Emerald Coast

Gijs van Hensbergen

Glyndebourne & Garsington

Modern Art in Yorkshire

The Ring at Longborough

July 2024

1– 5 The Welsh Marches (mk 343) John McNeill

1– 6 Walking to Derbyshire Houses (mk 344)

Anthony Lambert

1– 6 In Churchill’s Footsteps

1– 7 French Gothic

8–14 Western Ireland Archaeology (mk 355)

Professor Muiris O’Sullivan

8–14 Gastronomic West Country

10–19 Country Houses in the Scottish Borders

13–21 Danish Art & Design (mk 358)

Dr Shona Kallestrup

19–26 Franconia (mk 369) Dr Ulrike Ziegler

28– 3 Walking the Danube

28– 4 MOZART ALONG THE DANUBE

Hindsgavl: Chamber Music in Denmark

Opera in Munich & Bregenz

Savonlinna Opera

Verona Opera

Orkney: 500 years of culture

August 2024

4– 9 King Ludwig II Tom Abbott

11–24 Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania

13–17 Royal Residences

29– 5 The Hanseatic League (mk 395)

Andreas Puth

The Schubertiade

Maritime England

September 2024

2– 9 Gastronomic Basque Country

Gijs van Hensbergen

3– 7 Champagne: vines, cellars and cuvées

3–10 The Douro

3– 9 Cave Art in Spain (mk 399) Dr Paul Bahn

5–17 Samarkand & Silk Road Cities (mk 403)

Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

6–12 Sardinia (mk 404) Dr R.T. Cobianchi

6–14 Sacred Armenia Ian Colvin

7–16 Classical Greece (mk 405) Dr Dan Jolowicz

9–15 The Etruscans Dr Nigel Spivey

9–21 Civilisations of Sicily (mk 410)

Dr Luca Leoncini

10–16 Connoisseur’s Prague Dr Zoe Opačić

11–20 Albania: Crossroads of Antiquity (mk 426) Carolyn Perry

13–23 West Coast Architecture (mk 420)

Professor Neil Jackson

14–20 Gastronomic Emilia-Romagna

15–22 Dark Age Brilliance (mk 424)

Dr Meg Boulton

15–25 Georgia Uncovered (mk 425) Ian Colvin

16–21 Ancient Rome (mk 427) Dr Mark Grahame

16–22 Walking a Royal River(mk 430)

Sophie Campbell

16–23 Gastronomic Catalonia

Gijs van Hensbergen

16–23 Footpaths of Umbria Nigel McGilchrist

17–20 Historic Musical Instruments (mk 429)

Professor Robert Adelson

18–25 English Georgian Towns

23–28 Pompeii & Herculaneum (mk 435)

Dr Nigel Spivey

23–30 Granada & Córdoba (mk 434)

Gijs van Hensbergen

25–29 Modern Flemish Masterpieces

25– 3 The Cathedrals of England (mk 428)

Dr Hugh Doherty

28– 7 Bulgaria (mk 474) Dr Nikola Theodossiev

30– 4 THE DIVINE OFFICE

30–10 Frank Lloyd Wright (mk 477) Tom Abbott

Bayreuth Barockfest

Beethoven in Bonn

Neanderthals in France

Arts & Crafts in the Cotswolds

October 2024

2–10 Two Spains: The Spanish Civil War & its Aftermath

4–11 Courts of Northern Italy (mk 481)

Dr Fabrizio Nevola

4–12 Basilicata & Calabria John McNeill

7–13 Malta: prehistoric to present (mk 485)

Juliet Rix

8–14 Modern Art on the Côte d’Azur

Mary Lynn Riley

10–16 Gardens & Villas of the Italian Lakes

10–18 Berlin, Potsdam, Dresden

Dr Jarl Kremeier

11–14 Connoisseur’s Pompeii (mk 507)

Dr Sophie Hay

12–17 Palermo Revealed (mk 508)

Dr Luca Leoncini

12–18 Piero della Francesca

12–20 Le Corbusier

14–21 Walking in Southern Tuscany (mk 510)

Dr Thomas-Leo True

14–23 Castle & León Gijs van Hensbergen

16–22 Art in the Netherlands

18–24 Roman & Medieval Provence

Dr Alexandra Gajewski

18–24 OPERA IN SICILY

26– 3 Essential Jordan (mk 480)

Felicity Cobbing

26– 4 Sicily: from the Greeks to the Baroque

John McNeill

28– 4 Gastronomic Puglia

30– 3 Florentine Palaces

Wexford Festival Opera

Istanbul Revealed

Italian Design in Turin & Milan

November 2024

2– 9 Ancient & Islamic Tunisia (mk 555)

Dr Zena Kamash

5– 9 Venetian Palaces (mk 558)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

6– 8 History Symposium: York

8–19 The Making of Argentina (mk 560)

Chris Moss

9–22 Essential India (mk 572)

Dr Giles Tillotson

11–16 Venice Revisited (mk 565)

Dr Susan Steer

13–17 Art in Madrid

19–23 Ravenna & Urbino (mk 575)

Dr Luca Leoncini

Art in Japan

Art in Paris

December 2024

We usually offer around seven tours over Christmas and New Year. Please contact us to register your interest – either call us, or send an e-mail to alerts@martinrandall.co.uk

Making a booking

Either: on our website

To provisionally hold a space online, click ‘Book this tour’ on any tour page. Fill in your details and consent to the booking conditions. All you then need to do is pay the deposit (10% of your total booking price) or full balance if booking within 10 weeks of departure – we will contact you automatically with details of how to pay.

Or: by telephone or e-mail

Alternatively, call or e-mail us to make a provisional booking, which we hold for up to seven days. Within that time, we require you to complete a booking form (we can provide this electronically or by post) and pay the deposit or full balance if booking within 10 weeks of departure.

Confirming your booking

Once you have completed the above steps, we will send you a formal confirmation. Your deposit is then non-refundable except under the special circumstances mentioned in our booking conditions.

Booking conditions

It is important that you read these before committing to a booking. We will direct you to these when you book, but you can also find them online: www.martinrandall.com/terms

If undelivered, return to: Martin Randall Travel Ltd 10 Barley Mow Passage

London W4 4PH

United Kingdom

Online talks

Reinventing the North: a virtual journey | Chris Moss

Tuesdays, 4th July–1st August

Five talks | Subscribe for £65

European Cinema and the Short Story: From Maupassant to Munro

Pasquale Iannone

Thursdays, 27th July–24th August

Five talks | £65

The Himalayas: how geography has shaped the history of the Indian Sub-continent | Raaja Bhasin

Tuesdays, 8th August–5th September

Five talks | £65

Sir Christopher Wren, Polymath and Starchitect | Simon Thurley

Mondays | 2nd–16th October

Three talks | £45

Talks are broadcast live on Zoom at 4.30pm (London time). Recordings are then available exclusively for subscribers to view for up to eight weeks after the end of a series.

Available to view until 24th August

Iconic Italian Design: five perfect partnerships | Dr Philippa Joseph

Five talks | £65

Available to view until 26th July

Medieval Germany: Treasures of the Holy Roman Empire | Dr Ulrike Ziegler

Six talks | £75

www.martinrandall.com/online-talks

Photo ©Philippa Joseph.