Update: July 2024

Update July 2024

About us

Leaders in the field. Martin Randall Travel is committed to providing the best planned, the best led and altogether the most fulfilling and enjoyable cultural tours available. Operating in around 40 countries, our mission is to deepen your understanding and enhance your appreciation of the achievements of civilisations around the world.

First-rate speakers. Expert speakers are a key ingredient in our tours and events. They are selected not only for their knowledge, but also for their ability to communicate clearly and engagingly to a lay audience.

Original itineraries, meticulously planned. Rooted in the knowledge of the destination and of the subject matter of the tour, the outcome of assiduous research and reconnaissance, and underpinned by many years of reflection and experience, our itineraries are second to none.

Special arrangements are a feature of our tours – for admission to places not generally open to travellers, for access outside public hours, for private concerts and extraordinary events.

Travelling in comfort. We select our hotels with great care. Not only have nearly all been inspected by members of our staff, but we have stayed in most of them. Hundreds more have been seen and rejected. We invest similar efforts in the selection of restaurants, menus and wines, aided by staff with a specialist knowledge of these areas.

Small groups, congenial company. Most of our tours run with between 10 and 20 participants. Not the least attractive aspect of travelling with MRT is that you are highly likely to find yourself in congenial company, self-selected by common interests and endorsement of the company’s ethos.

Travelling solo. We welcome people travelling on their own, for whom our tours are ideal, as many of our clients testify. Half the group is usually made up of solo travellers.

Care for our clients. We aim for faultless administration from your first encounter with us to the end of the holiday, and beyond. Personal service is a feature.

To see our full range of cultural tours and events, please visit www.martinrandall.com.

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

Front cover: Manchester Town Hall, etching by 1895 Thomas Riley. Left: taken at Ely Cathedral during our ‘Cathedrals of England’ tour in April 2024. Photograph ©Ben Ealovega.

Shostakovich in Leipzig

A musical celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of his death

14–20 May 2025 (ml 687)

7 days • £3,890

Lecturer: Elizabeth Wilson

Eight performances of works by Shostakovich, plus daily talks by the musicologist and biographer of the composer, Elizabeth Wilson.

Ensembles include the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, with Andris Nelsons and soloists, including Daniil Trifonov and Baiba Skride.

Centrally-located hotel within walking distance of the venue and restaurants.

There are many links between Dimitri Shostakovich, one of the 20th century’s most inventive and creative composers, and the city of Leipzig. In 1950, on the bicentenary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach, Shostakovich was one of a 27-strong Soviet delegation sent to attend the celebrations. Now the city of Leipzig honours this great Soviet era composer marking his own anniversary in turn, in one of the most comprehensive festival programmes to examine his works.

Beyond the concerts, guided walks and visits investigate Leipzig’s heritage and the musical history of the city, which encompasses not only the Bach family but also Telemann, Robert and Clara Schumann, Mendelssohn, Wagner, Mahler and Kurt Masur. There is time to enjoy the excellent museums – the Fine Arts Museum, the radically refurbished Museum of Musical Instruments and the rejuvenated Bach Museum.

Itinerary

Day 1. Flight from London Heathrow to Berlin (BA) with onward travel to Leipzig (c. 3 hours). dinner in the hotel restaurant.

Day 2. The morning talk is followed by a walk around Leipzig’s historic centre. Visit the Grassi Museum of Musical Instruments. Evening

concert at the Gewandhaus with Andris Nelsons (conductor), Daniil Trifonov (piano) and the Gewandhaus Orchestra: Festive Overture; Piano Concerto No.2; Symphony No.4.

Day 3. After the daily talk, a guided tour of the excellent museum at the Bach Archive. Early-afternoon concert at the Gewandhaus with Albrecht Winter (violin) and the Salon Orchestra Cappuccino: Stage and light music by Shostakovich. Evening concert with Andris Nelsons (conductor), Baiba Skride (violin) and the Boston Symphony Orchestra: Violin Concerto No.1; Symphony No.11 ‘The Year 1905’.

Day 4. The morning is free. Early-afternoon concert at the Gewandhaus with Marc Danel and Gilles Millet (violin), Vlad Bogdanas (viola), Yovan Markovitch (cello): String Quartet No.2 in A, Op.68; Unfinished string quartet; String Quartet No.9 in E flat, Op.117. Dinner is followed by an evening concert with Andris Nelsons (conductor), Gautier Capuçon (cello) and the Boston Symphony Orchestra: Cello Concerto No.1; Symphony No.8.

Day 5. Morning concert with Andris Nelsons (conductor) and the Boston Symphony Orchestra: Symphony No.6 in B minor, Op.54; Symphony No.15 in A, Op.141. Free afternoon. Evening recital with Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider (violin) and Daniil Trifonov (piano): Piano Sonata No.1 in D, Op.12; Piano Sonata No.2 in B minor, Op.61; Unfinished violin sonata; Violin Sonata Op.134.

Day 6. A morning walk concentrates on Leipzig’s musical heritage. The afternoon is free. Dinner at a famous restaurant is followed by the final concert at the Gewandhaus with Anna Rakitina (conductor), Gautier Capuçon (cello) and the Festival Orchestra: Cello Concerto No.2; Symphony No.5.

Day 7. Drive from Leipzig to Berlin Airport and fly to London Heathrow, arriving c. 4.00pm.

Illustration: Leipzig, Altes Rathaus, wood engraving c. 1880.

Footpaths of Umbria

Walks, art and wine between Arezzo and Assisi

27 May–3 June 2025 (ml 701)

8 days • £3,330

Lecturer: Nigel McGilchrist

20–27 October 2025 (ml 831)

8 days • £3,330

Lecturer: Dr Thomas-Leo True

Six walks of between 5 and 7.5 km between Arezzo and Assisi through Umbrian countryside. See great works of art by Piero della Francesca, Luca Signorelli and Giotto, and visit isolated hermitages, churches and cathedrals associated with St Francis.

Watch our video, filmed last year: martinrandall.com/footpaths-of-umbria

Umbria brings together art and architecture of the highest importance, unspoilt countryside, and pockets of rare tranquillity. The region is criss-crossed by ancient paths, used for millennia by travellers, traders, pilgrims and preachers. Two figures in particular are encountered time and again on this tour: St Francis of Assisi and Piero della Francesca.

In the early 13th century, the son of a rich cloth merchant in Assisi, one Francis, came to prominence; he shunned the material excess and increasing secularisation around him and embraced humility, simplicity and harmony with nature as an alternative Christian approach. Preaching with fervour, he touched the hearts of thousands and attracted devoted disciples. Out of this movement the Franciscan Order grew.

The early Renaissance painter Piero della Francesca was born c. 1412 in Sansepolcro, which lies just over the border in Tuscany. In many ways, he stands like a lone star, one who did not leave an obvious trail in terms of followers, but one so bright as still to shine today. Our Piero trail also includes The Resurrection, dubbed by Aldous Huxley ‘the best picture’, and the quiet power and subtle beauty of The Legend of the True Cross in Arezzo’s Basilica di San Francesco.

Itinerary

Day 1. Fly at from London to Bologna. Travel to Città di Castello, where four nights are spent.

Day 2: Montecasale, Sansepolcro. St Francis passed through the Convent of Montecasale in 1213 on his way to the Adriatic and Jerusalem. Walk to La Montagna: a walk on exposed ground and through woodland. In Sansepolcro, view two works by Piero della Francesca in the museum.

Day 3: Le Celle, Cortona. Walk from Eremo Le Celle, which Francis visited in 1226, to Cortona. Trek gently downhill on woodland tracks before joining a cobbled Roman path leading up to the town centre. Visit Cortona’s art gallery, notable for paintings by Fra Angelico and Signorelli.

Day 4: Arezzo, Monterchi. Drive to Arezzo to see Piero della Francesca’s great fresco cycle, The Legend of the True Cross. After lunch, walk from Monteautello to Monterchi: a gently undulating walk on farm tracks and country roads. See Piero della Francesca’s beautiful Madonna del Parto.

Day 5: Montefalco, Bevagna, Trevi. Montefalco’s medieval church houses 15th-century frescoes. Walk on country trails from Montefalco to Fabbri. Drive to Bevagna, the Roman Mevania, home to one of Italy’s most harmonious squares. First of three nights in Spoleto.

Day 6: Assisi. Walk from Pieve San Nicolò to Assisi; at the Basilica, see one of the greatest assemblages of medieval fresco painting including the Life of St Francis. Time to walk the medieval streets and visit the church of Sta. Chiara.

Day 7: Collepino, Spello. Drive to Collepino, a restored medieval borgo with views of Monte Subasio and the Monti Sibillini. Walk from Collepino to Spello, an easy route and mostly downhill through olive groves. Time to enjoy Spello’s harmonious architecture and Renaissance frescoes in the church of Sta. Maria Maggiore.

Day 8: Spoleto. Free morning in Spoleto. Fly from Rome to London Heathrow, arriving c. 8.15pm.

di San Francesco d’Assisi, photograph ©Josh

Basilica

Pompeii & Herculaneum

Antiquities of the Bay of Naples

27 January–1 February 2025 (ml 621)

6 days • £2,720

Lecturer: Dr Mark Grahame

28 April–3 May 2025 (ml 673)

6 days • £2,720

Lecturer: Dr Mark Grahame

29 September–4 October 2025 (ml 801)

6 days • £2,720

Lecturer: Dr Nigel Spivey

One of the most exciting tours possible dealing with Roman archaeology. A unique insight into everyday life in the Roman Empire.

Two principal sites, both buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in ad 79 and preserved with unparalleled completeness.

Important early Greek settlements, including Paestum, Cumae and Pozzuoli.

Campania’s favourable climate, fertile soils and natural harbours were attractive to the Greeks looking to trade and for places to settle. They founded their earliest colony at Cumae and others soon followed with Naples and Paestum (Posidonia) among them. The prosperity enjoyed by the Greek colonies is best seen at Paestum where three of the most complete Doric temples anywhere still stand.

After falling under Roman dominion, Campania continued to prosper. Towns like Pompeii and Herculaneum thrived and wealthy Romans built villas along its coast. Campania became an imperial playground with the emperor among the most famous and notorious of all villa owners on the Bay of Naples.

However, life on the Bay of Naples was struck by tragedy when Mount Vesuvius erupted in ad 79 and buried Pompeii and Herculaneum with volcanic ash. Paradoxically, this sudden obliteration preserved the towns with a level of unparalleled completeness.

Itinerary

Day 1. Fly at c. 10.30am from London Heathrow to Naples (BA). Drive to the hotel in the hamlet of Seiano, above the town of Vico Equense, where all five nights are spent. In January 2025: Fly at c. 2.00pm from London Heathrow to Naples (BA). All five nights are spent in Naples.

Day 2: Paestum. Paestum was a major Greek settlement and is one of the most interesting archaeological sites in Italy. The excellent museum contains a very rare ancient Greek painted tomb and fascinating sculptured panels (metopes) of the sixth-century bc, among the earliest anywhere.

Day 3: Cumae, Baia, Pozzuoli. Cumae was the first Greek settlement on mainland Italy, material from here and other sites can be seen in the museum of the Phlegraean fields at Baia. The port of Pozzuoli has a well-preserved amphitheatre.

Day 4: Pompeii. The fascination of the site lies not only in the major public buildings, such as the theatre, temples and the forum but also in the numerous domestic dwellings, from cramped apartments to luxurious houses with their mosaic pavements and gaudily frescoed walls.

Day 5: Herculaneum, Oplontis. Less than a quarter of this town has been excavated, and in the part preserved the emphasis is on private dwellings and their decoration. Visit the lavish villa at Torre Annunziata (ancient Oplontis), which may have been the home of Poppaea, wife of Nero. It is one of the loveliest of ancient sites, with rich wall paintings, a replanted garden and a swimming pool.

Day 6: Naples. The Archaeological Museum in Naples is principal repository for both small finds and the best-preserved mosaics and frescoes discovered at Pompeii and Herculaneum. Fly, Naples to London Heathrow, arriving c. 9.00pm. In January 2025: fly Naples to London Heathrow (Lufthansa), via Frankfurt arriving c. 6.00pm.

Illustration: Pompeii, street of the Forum, engraving c. 1880.

Peru: the Andean Heartland

Pre-Columbian to present day

1–17 September 2025 (ml 766)

17 days • £8,430

Lecturer: Dr

David Beresford-Jones

A thorough exploration of pre-Columbian civilisations in Peru: Moche, Chimú, Inca.

Sites almost devoid of tourists around Trujillo.

Spectacular scenery and world famous cuisine.

Of all the world’s vanished civilisations, few evoke as much mystique as the Incas of Peru. Stumbled upon and shattered by a handful of Spanish adventurers in 1538, the Inca Empire was the last great pristine civilisation on earth – a current aside from the mainstream of human history. This tour seeks to understand and re-imagine the Inca Empire on a journey through its Andean heartland of Cuzco, following the sacred Vilcanota river. We take in classic Inca sites where their cyclopean stonework melds into the grandeurs of the Andean landscape to attain a Zen-like architectural aesthetic. The culmination is the most spectacular site of all, Machu Picchu, perched on the very fringes of Amazonia.

Itinerary

Day 1: Lima. Travel independently to Lima. Check in from 3.00pm. First of two nights here.

Day 2: Lima. See pre-Inca ceramics at the Larco Herrera Museum, and pre-Columbian textiles at the Museo Amano. Dinner overlooking the Huaca Pucllana, a vast adobe centre of the Lima culture.

Day 3: Lima. Visit the cathedral, and San Francisco Monastery with Mudéjar church and Spanish and Colonial art.

Day 4: Lima, Trujillo. Free morning in Lima then fly to Trujillo. First of three nights here.

Day 5: Trujillo. Visit the Huaca de la Luna and Huaca del Sol, core of the ancient capital of the Moche empire, and Chan Chan – the world’s largest adobe city with rich marine iconography.

Day 6: Trujillo. Drive to El Brujo, a ceremonial centre of the Moche culture. Return to Trujillo to visit the Casa Urquiaga, a colonial mansion in which Simón Bolívar stayed in 1824.

Day 7: the Sacred Valley. Fly to Cuzco, via Lima and on to the Sacred Valley. Here the Urubamba river twists through stunning mountain scenery. Urubamba sits at 2,870m above sea level; the afternoon is free. First of three nights here.

Day 8: Huaypo Lagoon, Maras, Moray. Morning visit to a local community of farmers, shepherds and weavers to observe their ancestral traditions. Drive to the Maras salt mines, and on to the concentric circular agricultural terraces of Moray.

Day 9: Pisac, Ollantaytambo. Drive to the Inca citadel of Ollantaytambo, site of elaborate water gardens amidst extraordinary cyclopean Inca stonework. Lunch at a hacienda, and visit to an Inca royal estate at Pisac.

Day 10: Machu Picchu. By train to Machu Picchu. Enter as crowds disperse. Uniquely well-preserved amidst spectacular mountain landscapes, it is the most extraordinary archaeological site in South America. Overnight Machu Picchu.

Day 11: Machu Picchu, Cuzco. Free morning. Travel to Cuzco for the first of three nights.

Day 12: Cuzco. Visits to: the Korikancha, a sacred precinct and centre of the Inca Empire; the Inca fortress of Sacsayhuaman; the ceremonial site of Qenko; the Inca Museum; Cuzco Cathedral.

Day 13: Cuzco. Free day.

Day 14: Cuzco, Puno. By train from Cuzco to Puno, at 3,830m above sea level. First of two nights here, on the shores of Lake Titicaca.

Day 15: Lake Titicaca. See the lakeside homes of the Uros people, built from reeds, and Taquile, whose inhabitants still wear traditional costume.

Day 16: Silustani, Lima. See spectacular chullpas, at Lake Umayo. Fly from Juliaca to Lima.

Day 17. Travel home or onwards independently.

photograph ©Janaya Dasiuk/Unsplash.

Machu Picchu,

The Road to Santiago

The pilgrimage route through northern Spain

6–18 June 2025 (ml 712)

13 days • £4,580

Lecturer: Dr Richard Plant

One of the great historic journeys of the world. Includes all the major sites and deviates to many lesser-known ones.

An pilgrimage by road (not on foot) for lovers of Romanesque and Gothic architecture.

‘By land it is the greatest journey an Englishman may go.’ So wrote Andrew Boorde, physician and former bishop of Chichester in his 1542 First Book of the Introduction of Knowledge. The road to Santiago has rarely been without plaudits, from Godescalc, bishop of Le Puy in 950, to Paula Gerson, scholar and sceptic in 1993.

This is an architectural tour – travelling by coach – rather than a walking tour, though it still offers the chance to participate in a 1,000-year-old flow of humankind which constitutes one of the most powerfully felt shared experiences in the spiritual and aesthetic history of Europe.

Itinerary

Day 1. Fly at c. 3.30pm from London Gatwick to Bilbao. Drive 80km to Argómaniz; overnight here.

Day 2: Pamplona, Roncesvalles. Pamplona cathedral’s cloister constitutes perhaps the finest achievement of High Gothic in Spain. Roncesvalles Pass was scene of the famed rearguard action of Charlemagne’s paladin Roland. Drive through the spectacular Urrobi gorge to Sos del Rey Católico; first of two nights.

Day 3: Sos del Rey Católico, Sangüesa, Leyre, Jaca. Visit the church of San Esteban, and Sta María la Real in Sangüesa. The monastery of San Salvador de Leyre maintains Gregorian offices; see Jaca’s Romanesque cathedral.

Day 4: Eunate, Puente la Reina, Estella. At Eunate, a round chapel rises from the midst of a cornfield. Puente la Reina is the point where

pilgrim roads from France converged. At Estella, view an important collection of churches. Overnight Santo Domingo de la Calzada.

Day 5: Nájera, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, Burgos. See the Royal tombs at Santa María la Real in Nájera, Santo Domingo cathedral, and Burgos’ magnificent cathedral. First of two nights in Burgos.

Day 6: Burgos, Quintanilla de las Viñas, Santo Domingo de Silos. See the Visigothic chapel at Quintanilla de las Viñas, and Santo Domingo de Silos – the finest Romanesque monastery in Spain.

Day 7: Burgos, San Miguel de Escalada. Visit the Carthusian monastery and royal mausoleum of Miraflores, and the Early Gothic convent of Las Huelgas Reales. Stop at San Miguel de Escalada en route to León; first of two nights here.

Day 8: León. The royal pantheon of San Isidoro is one of the first Romanesque buildings in Spain. See the superb cathedral. The monastery of San Marcos has a splendid Plateresque façade.

Day 9: Lena, Orbigo, Villafranca del Bierzo. Drive to Santa Cristina de Lena, an exquisite 9th-century church, and Puente de Orbigo –13th-century bridge over the River Orbigo. Stay overnight at Villafranca del Bierzo.

Day 10: Villafranca to Santiago. See three churches: O Cebreiro, site of a great Eucharistic miracle; Portomarín, a Templar foundation; Vilar de Donas, evocative knights’ church. Finally: Santiago de Compostela; three nights here.

Day 11: Santiago de Compostela. A morning dedicated to the shrine of St James. Explore the university quarter and Sta María del Sar, where walls support a charming Romanesque church.

Day 12: Santiago de Compostela. Free day.

Day 13: Noia. The coastal town of Noia’s medieval quarter is dominated by the 15th-century church of San Martiño. Drive to Santiago de Compostela and fly to London Gatwick, arriving at c. 7.30pm.

Burgos Cathedral, lithograph c. 1850.

Eastern Turkey

Archaeology, architecture, history and landscapes

9–24 June 2025 (ml 713)

16 days • £5,930

Lecturer: Ian Colvin

Journey through Turkey’s historic East, from Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent to the Caucasus and the Black Sea.

Spectacular landscapes: mountains, valleys, plains and coast.

Byzantine and Georgian churches, Seljuk mosques and Armenian monasteries.

Showcases cultural interactions between the Mediterranean, Iranian and Islamic worlds.

Day 1. Fly at c. 1.30pm (Turkish Airlines) from London Heathrow to Gaziantep via Istanbul, arriving Gaziantep c. 10.45pm; overnight here.

Day 2: Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa. The Gaziantep Museum holds mosaics, relocated from nearby Zeugma before it was flooded by the Birecik Dam. The excavations at Göbekli Tepe, Şanlıurfa, date to c. 10,000 bc. First of two nights in Şanlıurfa.

Day 3: Şanlıurfa. From Şanlıurfa to Karahan Tepe Neolithic site. Visit the 12th-century mosque complex said to mark Abraham’s birthplace.

Day 4: Şanlıurfa to Karadut. Drive north via the Ataturk Dam. Atop one of the highest peaks in the Eastern Taurus range stands the temple-tomb of Antiochus I (86–31 bc). Overnight in Karadut.

Day 5: Diyarbakır, Mardin. Diyarbakir in the upper Tigris basin has been influenced by nearly every ruling dynasty in Anatolia and Mesopotamia. The Great Mosque dates back to 639. Visit St Giragos Church (1376). Continue to Mardin; where we stay for two nights.

Day 6: Mardin. Deyrul Zafaran was once the seat of the Syrian Orthodox patriarch. The Kasimiye Madrasah was completed in 1445. Mor Behnam Church was built in 569. The day concludes with a visit to the Grand Mosque.

Day 7: Mardin, Batman, Van. The 260-mile journey from Mardin to Van offers a fascinating change of scenery. First of three nights in Van.

Day 8: Akdamar Island, Van. Take a boat to the Church of the Holy Cross, seat of Armenian king Gagik Artzruni, crowned here in 908. Enjoy a lakeside lunch before returning to Van.

Day 9: Van, Çavuştepe. Visit Van Museum then the massive, steep-sided Van Castle. At Çavuştepe see the fortress-palace of Sarduri-Hinili. Continue to Hosap Castle, built by Kurds.

Day 10: Mount Ararat, Kars. Through the Artüs Mountains to İshak Paşa Palace below Mount Ararat. Head north. First of two nights in Kars.

Day 11: Ani, Kars. Once the capital of medieval Armenia, Ani stands deserted above the Arpaçay river. Its walls, towers and minarets retain many inscriptions. In Kars visit the Church of the Holy Apostles and the Seljuk castle.

Day 12: Kars to Erzurum. Follow the Aras river west through the Aladağlar mountains. In Erzurum visit the Seljuk Ulu Camii and the Çifte Minare Medrese. Two nights in Erzurum.

Day 13: Ösk Vank, Khakhuli, Erzurum. All day excursion to the 10th-century Georgian monasteries of Ösk Vank and Khakhuli north of Erzurum. Overnight Erzurum.

Day 14: From Erzurum to Trabzon. Travel north through the Pontic Alps, in the steps of Xenophon’s Ten Thousand. Sümela Monastery clings to the rock face above the Altindere Valley. Descend to Trabzon, the historic port town on the Black Sea. First of two nights in Trabzon.

Day 15: Trabzon. Visit the Pavilion where Atatürk stayed in 1924. The church of Aya Sophia has 13th-century frescoes. See the Kızlar Monastery, a historic female monastery overlooking Trabzon. Concludes with a city tour of Trabzon.

Day 16. Fly from Trabzon to London Heathrow, via Istanbul, arriving at c. 4.50pm.

Mount Ararat, photograph ©snapsaga/Unsplash.

Medieval Oxfordshire

And the Southern Cotswolds

30 June–4 July 2025 (ml 730)

5 days • £1,770

Lecturer: John McNeill

Varied survey of the major and minor medieval monuments of Oxfordshire and south Gloucestershire.

Beautiful drives through verdant landscapes.

One hotel throughout, a country inn in the historic market town of Burford.

Geologically varied and drained by the river Thames and its tributaries, Oxfordshire retains a remarkable group of medieval buildings. A bishopric was founded at Dorchester by St Birinus in 635, to be followed by the christianisation of the middle Thames valley over the next few decades. Monasteries were established at Oxford, Cirencester and Malmesbury, while significant religious sanctuaries were set up on the river islands. The preeminent centre is, of course, Oxford – famed not so much for its AngloSaxon past as for its university and colleges. The university never had more than a handful of buildings of its own over the Middle Ages, having adopted the parish church on the High Street for its assemblies, though the construction of the Divinity School and outstanding gift of books by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, began a process which resulted in a spectacular series of buildings at the heart of the university area.

Outside the city, particularly to the south and west, Oxfordshire and the southern Cotswolds became hotbeds of architectural innovation, wonderfully embodied at great church level in the new choir and presbytery at Dorchester Abbey, and on a small scale at Ewelme and North Leigh. The area around Witney boasts a cluster of parish churches of national importance, while to the west lie the arrestingly well-preserved towns of Burford, Northleach and Cirencester.

Itinerary

Day 1: Iffley, North Leigh, Burford. Depart Oxford railway station at 2.00pm, by coach to St Mary at Iffley, the most impressive of Oxfordshire’s Romanesque parish churches. Continue to North Leigh to examine an engagingly piecemeal church, extended to the north by the exquisite 15th-century Wilcote chantry. First of four nights in Burford.

Day 2: Northleach, Cirencester, Malmesbury, Inglesham. Venture into Gloucestershire, to the magnificent wool church at Northleach. Onwards to Cirencester, with its huge market church and important Roman collections in the nearby Corinium Museum. Visit the Benedictine abbey of Malmesbury, and the wonderfully unrestored church of John the Baptist at Inglesham.

Day 3: Oxford. A day in Oxford. A visit to Christ Church Cathedral, a former Augustinian church built at the end of the 12th century, is followed by the late medieval University church of St Mary, and the Divinity School. See also Merton College, the first to be endowed and built on the scale of a Parisian academic college, and New College, beautifully constructed within a surviving part of the city’s medieval walls.

Day 4: Stanton Harcourt, Cogges, Ducklington, Witney, Bampton, Kelmscott. A parish church day in the villages and small towns of south and west Oxfordshire. The 13th-century church of St Michael at Stanton Harcourt is followed by two richly carved Decorated churches at Cogges and Ducklington, majestic Witney, the cruciform church of Bampton, and tiny rustic Kelmscott.

Day 5: Ewelme, Dorchester. A marvellous conjunction of school, almshouse and church makes Ewelme one of the most rewarding early 15th-century sites in southern England. Continue to Dorchester, whose Romanesque church received the most imaginative and influential 14th-century choir of the middle Thames valley. Return to Oxford railway station by 3.30pm.

Oxford, New College Chapel, lithograph c. 1850 by William Gauci after William Delamotte.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Engineering modern Britain

31 August–5 September 2025 (ml 765)

6 days • £2,510

Lecturer: Anthony Lambert

Examines the life and work of one of the greatest engineers and inventors of all time.

Visits most of Brunel’s major surviving structures in London and the Southwest.

Special arrangements include a private tour of the Brunel Institute.

Stays in two former Great Western Railway hotels.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel is the most famous and arguably the greatest engineer of Victorian Britain. None of his contemporaries was as versatile, and none was entrusted with projects on such a scale at so young an age – he was just 27 when he was made engineer of the Great Western Railway (GWR). His creations have largely survived the test of time. His bridges carry trains at a speed – and of a weight – that even he had not envisaged. His stations are revered as architectural triumphs.

The tour encompasses every aspect of Brunel’s life and work, beginning with his time in London working on the Thames Tunnel, during which he nearly lost his life. It concludes with his last great work, the Royal Albert Bridge over the Tamar, across which Brunel travelled as an invalid on a special train shortly before its formal opening and his early death aged just 53.

Itinerary

Day 1: London. Begin with an early afternoon lecture at the hotel before travelling by train to Wharncliffe Viaduct, the first major structure designed by Brunel and the first contract to be let for the GWR. First of two nights in the station hotel at Brunel’s Paddington.

Day 2: London. Start with a walk around Paddington Station, little altered from its opening in 1854. The Brunel Museum at Rotherhithe tells

the story of two of Brunel’s London projects, the Thames Tunnel and the SS Great Eastern. The access shaft to the former, has been made accessible to visitors. We visit the launch site of the Great Eastern by taking a train through the Tunnel before returning to central London by river, passing three Brunel bridges and stopping to see his statue in Embankment Gardens.

Day 3: Maidenhead, Swindon, Bristol. The journey to Bristol is by coach, enabling us to stop at key sites along the route. See Maidenhead Bridge, numerous GWR and broad gauge artefacts at STEAM – Museum of the Great Western Railway, and the original Temple Meads Station, now disused. First of two nights in Bristol.

Day 4: Bristol. The majestically sited Clifton Suspension Bridge was not completed exactly to Brunel’s design as it was adapted to reuse the chains from his Hungerford Bridge in London. Visit the SS Great Britain, which launched in 1843 for transatlantic journeys but ended its days as a hulk in the Falkland Islands. Next, Being Brunel, an award-winning museum, and a private tour of the Brunel Institute, by special arrangement.

Day 5: Buckfastleigh, Totnes. The South Devon Railway’s museum contains the only surviving broad-gauge locomotive; Tiny was built for the company in 1868. A journey over the railway to Totnes allows us to see one of the surviving engine houses of the failed ‘atmospheric caper’. Cruise on the paddle steamer Kingswear Castle, (boat to be confirmed) the last remaining coalfired paddle steamer in operation in the UK, with engines dating from 1904, though she was built in 1924 in Dartmouth. Overnight Bovey Castle.

Day 6: Saltash, Plymouth. Brunel’s great bowstring girder bridge across the Tamar was opened by and given the name of Prince Albert in 1859 and will be appreciated from various vantage points before taking the train back to London over Brunel’s railway. The tour ends at Paddington station in the late afternoon.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel standing before the launching chains of the Great Eastern, photograph by Robert Howlett. Now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

CELEBRATING MUSIC AND PLACE

Martin Randall Festivals bring together world-class musicians for a sequence of private concerts in Europe’s most glorious buildings, many of which are not normally accessible. We take care of all logistics, from flights and hotels to pre-concert talks.

Contact us for more information or visit martinrandall.com

MOZART ALONG THE DANUBE

28 July–4 August 2024

THE DIVINE OFFICE: CHORAL MUSIC IN OXFORD

30 September–4 October 2024

MUSIC ALONG THE RHINE

8–15 May 2025

COTSWOLDS CHORAL FESTIVAL

16–20 June 2025

MUSIC ALONG THE SEINE

16–23 July 2025

HANDEL IN VALLETTA

November 2025 – register your interest

Photograph: The Tallis Scholars, taken on Music in the Cotswolds 2018 (©Bill Knight).

Calendar | 2024

July 2024

8–14 Western Ireland Archaeology (mk 355)

8–14

Prof. Muiris O’Sullivan

Gastronomic West Country (mk 360)

Marc Millon

10–19 Scottish Houses & Castles (mk 361)

Alastair Learmont

13–21 Danish Art & Design (mk 358)

Dr Shona Kallestrup

18 London Organs Day (lk 365)

19–26

Franconia (mk 369) Dr Ulrike Ziegler

21–27 Opera in Munich & Bregenz (mk 368)

22–29

Patrick Bade

The Ring in the Alps (mk 370)

Barry Millington

25 The City (lk 371) Martin Randall

28– 3 Walking the Danube (mk 372)

Richard Wigmore

28– 4 MOZART ALONG

THE DANUBE (mk 373)

August 2024

4– 9 King Ludwig II (mk 376) Tom Abbott

6 London Squares Walk (lk 377)

Martin Randall

11–24 Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania (mk 380)

Aliide Naylor

27– 2 Maritime England (mk 390) James Davey

28– 1 The Sibelius Festival (mk 393)

Dr Stephen Darlington

29– 5 The Hanseatic League (mk 395)

Andreas Puth

September 2024

2– 8

2– 9

Connoisseur’s Prague (mk 411)

Dr Zoe Opačić

Gastronomic Basque Country (mk 398)

Gijs van Hensbergen

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

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

Prof. Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

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

7–16 Classical Greece (mk 405)

Dr Dan Jolowicz

9–14 The Etruscans (mk 409) Dr Nigel Spivey

9–21 Civilisations of Sicily (mk 410)

Dr Luca Leoncini

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

13–23 West Coast Architecture (mk 420)

Prof. Neil Jackson

14–20 Gastronomic Emilia-Romagna (mk 422)

Marc Millon & Dr Thomas-Leo True

15–22 Dark Age Brilliance (mk 424) John McNeill

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 Footpaths of Umbria (mk 431)

Nigel McGilchrist

17–20 Historic Musical Instruments (mk 429)

Prof. Robert Adelson

18–25 English Georgian Towns (mk 433)

Andrew Foyle

23–28 Pompeii & Herculaneum (mk 435)

Dr Nigel Spivey

23–29 Raphael (mk 437) Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

23–30 Granada & Córdoba (mk 434)

Gijs van Hensbergen

24–28 Arts & Crafts in the Cotswolds (mk 436)

Janet Sinclair

25 The London Backstreet Walk (lk 439)

Sophie Campbell

25–29 Belgian Modern Masters (mk 440)

Desmond Shawe-Taylor

25– 3 The Cathedrals of England (mk 428)

Dr Hugh Doherty

26– 5 Extremadura (mk 441) Chris Moss

28– 7 Bulgaria (mk 474) Dr Nikola Theodossiev

30– 4 THE DIVINE OFFICE (mk 464)

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

October 2024

4–11 Courts of Northern Italy (mk 481)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

4–12 Basilicata & Calabria (mk 482)

John McNeill

7–13 World Heritage Malta (mk 485)

Juliet Rix

8–15 The Douro (mk 489) Martin Symington

10–16 Gastronomic Puglia (mk 545)

Christine Smallwood

10–16 Gardens & Villas of the Italian Lakes (mk 491) Amanda Patton

10–18 Berlin, Potsdam, Dresden (mk 505)

Dr Jarl Kremeier

11–14 Connoisseur’s Pompeii (mk 507)

Dr Sophie Hay

12–17 Palermo Revealed (mk 508)

Dr Luca Leoncini

12–20 Le Corbusier (mk 509) Dr Richard Plant

14–20 Italian Design in Turin & Milan (mk 412)

Dr Philippa Joseph

14–21 Walking in Southern Tuscany (mk 510)

Dr Thomas-Leo True

14–23 Castle & León (mk 511) Gijs van Hensbergen

16–22 Art in the Netherlands (mk 520)

Desmond Shawe-Taylor

18–24 OPERA IN SICILY (mk 525)

18–24 Roman & Medieval Provence (mk 524)

Dr Alexandra Gajewski

22–28 Modern Art on the Côte d’Azur (mk 530)

Mary Lynn Riley

24–31 Istanbul Revealed (mk 540) Jeremy Seal

24– 5 Samarkand & Silk Road Cities (mk 543)

Dr Peter Webb

25– 3 Sicily: from the Greeks to the Baroque (mk 526) John McNeill

26– 3 Essential Jordan (mk 480) Graham Philip

28– 4 Gastronomic Catalonia (mk 544)

30– 3

Gijs van Hensbergen

Florentine Palaces (mk 551)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

30– 3 Opera at Wexford (mk 549) Dr John Allison

30– 3 Art in Madrid (mk 550) Dr Xavier Bray

31– 5 Music of the Czech Lands (mk 552)

Prof. Jan Smaczny

November 2024

1– 9

Minoan Crete (mk 554)

Dr Christina Hatzimichael-Whitley

2– 9 Ancient & Islamic Tunisia (mk 555)

Dr Zena Kamash

5– 9 Venetian Palaces (mk 558)

6– 8

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

Symposium: Roman Britain (mk 556)

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

15–18 Chamber Music Break: Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective with Matthew Rose (mk 573) Dr Katy Hamilton

19–23 Ravenna & Urbino (mk 575)

Dr Luca Leoncini

25 Advent Choral Day (lk 580)

Please contact us to register your interest

December 2024

Christmas & New Year

20–27 Vienna at Christmas (mk 598) Tom Abbott

20–27 Bruges at Christmas (mk 600)

Dr Sophie Oosterwijk

20–27 Paris at Christmas (mk 599) Patrick Bade

20–27 Dresden at Christmas (mk 601)

Dr Jarl Kremeier

20–27 Venice at Christmas (mk 595)

Dr Susan Steer

20–27 Christmas in Emilia Romagna (mk 596)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

20–27 Naples at Christmas (mk 597)

Dr Luca Leoncini

27– 2 Modern Art on the Côte d’Azur at New Year (mk 606) Monica Bohm-Duchen

Illustration opposite: The Cathedral at Cefalu (Sicily), a watercolour by Alberto Pisa published in 1911.

Calendar | 2025

Tours listed with a code (e.g. ml 300) are available to book – for full details, visit martinrandall.com. To register your interest in any other title, please contact us. Dates for tours and events that have not yet been launched are subject to change.

January 2025

13–20 Caravaggio: Lombardy to Naples (ml 613)

Dr Xavier Bray

Valletta Baroque Festival

21–26 Palermo Revealed (ml 617)

Christopher Newall

24– 3 Oman, Landscapes & Peoples (ml 620)

Dr Peter Webb

27– 1 Pompeii & Herculaneum (ml 621)

Dr Mark Grahame

28– 3 Mozart in Salzburg

February 2025

5–10 Opera in Paris (ml 623) Dr Michael Downes

11–18 Renaissance Rivals (ml 624)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

17–24 Granada & Córdoba (ml 625)

Gijs van Hensbergen

24– 2 Palaces & Villas of Rome (ml 628)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

25– 3 Essential Rome (ml 630)

Dr Thomas-Leo True

28– 4 Hamburg: Opera & ‘Elphi’ (ml 631)

Dr John Allison

March 2025

3–10 Florence & Venice (ml 633)

6– 9

Desmond Shawe-Taylor

L’Ancien Régime

8–13 Gardens of Madeira

10–14 Ravenna & Urbino (ml 640) Dr Luca Leoncini

11–15 Venetian Palaces (ml 641)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

18–24 Modern Art on the Cote d’Azur

18–29 Indian Summer (ml 642) Raaja Bhasin

23–30 Gastronomic Andalucía

24–31 Walking in Sicily (ml 646)

Dr R.T. Cobianchi

24–31 Florence Revisited (ml 647)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

26– 4

Albania: Crossroads of Antiquity (ml 648)

Carolyn Perry

28– 5 Minoan Crete (ml 649)

Dr Christina Hatzimichael-Whitley

31–12 Civilisations of Sicily (ml 650)

Dr Luca Leoncini

April 2025

1– 9

Normans in the South (ml 652)

John McNeill

2– 6 Art in Madrid (ml 654)

Dr Zahira Véliz Bomford

2– 9 Romans & Carolingians (ml 656)

Dr Hugh Doherty

2–11 Tuscany Revealed

2–13 Morocco

3– 7 Opera & Ballet in Copenhagen (ml 658)

Simon Rees

3– 9 Gastronomic Lombardy

3–15 Samarkand & Silk Road Cities (ml 657)

Dr Peter Webb

5–14 Cities of Catalonia (ml 660)

10–16

Gijs van Hensbergen

Val D’Orcia and the Sienese Hills (ml 662)

Dr Fabrizio Nevola

11–13 Welsh National Opera

11–13 Chamber Music Break: The Marmen Quartet (ml 664) Richard Wigmore

21–28 The Heart of Italy

22–28 Gardens & Villas of the Veneto

22–30 Cornish Houses & Gardens (ml 668)

Anthony Lambert

23– 1 The Cathedrals of England (ml 671)

Dr Hugh Doherty

24–30 Gardens & Villas of the Italian Lakes

25– 4 Classical Turkey (ml 669)

Prof. Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

28– 3 Pompeii & Herculaneum (ml 673)

Dr Mark Grahame

28– 4 World Heritage Malta

28– 7 Medieval Saxony (ml 674) Dr Ulrike Ziegler

28–10 Civilisations of Sicily (ml 672)

Dr Philippa Joseph Opera in Vienna

Music in Berlin

May 2025

2– 8 Art in the Netherlands

2– 9 Courts of Northern Italy (ml 677)

3– 9

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

The Ligurian Coast (ml 678)

Dr Luca Leoncini

4–11 Istanbul Revealed (ml 676) Jeremy Seal

6–11 Palladian Villas (ml 680) Dr Sarah Pearson

7–15 Aragón: Hidden Spain

8–15 MUSIC ALONG THE RHINE (ml 693)

9–15 Walking the Rhine Valley (ml 681)

Richard Wigmore

9–16 Ancient & Islamic Tunisia

9–19 Mahler in Amsterdam (ml 682)

Dr Paul Max Edlin

10–17 Medieval Normandy

10–19 Classical Greece (ml 679)

Dr Nigel Spivey

11–15 Welsh Castles

12–18 Walking Hadrian’s Wall (ml 684)

Dr Matthew Symonds

12–18 Gastronomic Friuli-Venezia Giulia (ml 686) Marc Millon

12–25 The Western Balkans (ml 685)

Prof. Cathie Carmichael

13–18 Tuscan Gardens (ml 688)

Dr Katie Campbell

14–20 Shostakovich Festival Leipzig (ml 687)

Elizabeth Wilson

15–27 Samarkand & Silk Road Cities (ml 689)

Dr Peter Webb

16–23 Art in Scotland (ml 690)

Desmond Shawe-Taylor

19–23 Arts & Crafts in the Lake District (ml 691)

Janet Sinclair

19–28 The Venetian Land Empire (ml 695)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

19–30 Art in Japan

22– 1 Moldavia & Transylvania (ml 696)

Dr Shona Kallestrup

26– 1 Abbeys & Organs

27– 2 Dresden Music Festival (ml 700)

Barry Millington

27– 3 Footpaths of Umbria (ml 701)

Nigel McGilchrist

30– 7 Medieval Burgundy

Johann Strauss Festival Vienna

Prague Spring

Ribera del Duero

New English Gardens & RHS Chelsea

June 2025

2– 6

Great Private Houses in Norfolk (ml 707)

Dr Andrew Moore

2–10 Cyprus: stepping stone of history

3–10 The Ring in Basel

5–12 Gastronomic Provence

6–18 The Road to Santiago (ml 712)

Dr Richard Plant

9–15 Traversing the Tyrol

9–24 Eastern Turkey (ml 713) Ian Colvin

10–16 Moving on: Architecture & Memory (ml 715) Tom Abbott

11–16 Leipzig Bach Festival

13–21 Great Irish Houses

16–20 The Welsh Marches (ml 719) John McNeill

16–20 COTSWOLDS CHORAL FESTIVAL (ml 720)

18–30 Galleries of the American Midwest

19–25 Asturias & Cantabria

23–27 Lincolnshire Churches (ml 722)

John McNeill

23–29 Connoisseur’s Vienna

30– 4

Medieval Oxfordshire (ml 730)

John McNeill

30– 6 Great Swedish Houses Gardens of Sintra

Treasures of Moravia

Glyndebourne & Garsington/ Grange

July 2025

1– 7 Orkney: 5,000 Years of Culture

2– 6 Flemish Painting

7–13

Lusatia: Germany’s Eastern borderlands (ml 736) Dr Jarl Kremeier

16–23 MUSIC ALONG THE SEINE

22–28 French Gothic

24–28 Opera in Munich

24–31 The Hanseatic League (ml 745)

Andreas Puth

Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania

Savonlinna Opera

Gstaad Menuhin Festival

Shakespeare & his World

In Churchill’s Footsteps

Lofoten Festival

August 2025

4–11 Gdańsk & Eastern Pomerania

6–14 Baroque & Rococo (ml 753) Tom Abbott

13–20 Iceland’s Story (ml 760) Chris Callow

24– 1 Mitteldeutschland (ml 762)

Dr Jarl Kremeier

26– 1 Walking in Southern Bohemia

31– 5 Isambard Kingdom Brunel (ml 765)

Anthony Lambert

The Schubertiade

Salzburg Summer

From Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan

Drottningholm & Confidencen

The Lucerne Festival

Scottish Houses & Castles

Maritime England

Santa Fe Opera

September 2025

1– 5 The Age of Bede (ml 767) Imogen Corrigan

1–17 Peru: the Andean Heartland (ml 766)

2– 9

Dr David Beresford-Jones

Gastronomic Galicia

3–10 Cave Art of France (ml 768) Dr Paul Bahn

4–16 Samarkand & Silk Road Cities (ml 771)

Prof. Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

5–12 Courts of Northern Italy (ml 770)

Prof. Fabrizio Nevola

5–15 Frank Lloyd Wright (ml 773)

Prof. Harry Charrington

6–14 Sacred Armenia

6–15 Classical Greece (ml 775) Dr Dan Jolowicz

7–11 Châteaux of the Loire

8–14 The Imperial Riviera

9–12

Normans Conquest & Plantagenet Power

9–16 Trecento Frescoes

10–17 Parma & Bologna (ml 777)

Dr R.T. Cobianchi

12–20 Great Houses of the North (ml 779)

Christopher Garibaldi

15–20 Gardens & Villas of Campagna Romana  (ml 784) Amanda Patton

15–25 Georgia Uncovered

16–23 Medieval Champagne

17–25 The Cathedrals of England (ml 788)

Dr Hugh Doherty

17–26 Albania: Crossroads of Antiquity (ml 787)

Carolyn Perry

17–28 Walking to Santiago

19–26 Gastronomic Asturias & Cantabria

19–29 West Coast Architecture (ml 790)

Prof. Neil Jackson

22–28 In Search of Alexander

29– 4 Pompeii & Herculaneum (ml 801)

Dr Nigel Spivey

29– 9 Essential Andalucía (ml 803)

Dr Philippa Joseph Rhineland Palaces & Castles

Feudal Francia

Gardens of the Bay of Naples

Art in Le Marche  Gastronomic Campania

Early Railways: The North Great Gardens of the South

Thameside houses & Palaces

Turner & the Sea

October 2025

2– 8 Gardens & Villas of the Italian Lakes

2– 8 Piero della Francesca

4–13 Bulgaria (ml 808) Dr Nikola Theodossiev

6–13 Habsburg Austria

7–12 Bauhaus

7–13 Modern Art on the Côte d’Azur

7–14 Fiesole to Lucca: Tuscany on Foot

10–18 Basilicata & Calabria

13–17 Siena & San Gimignano

13–17 Ravenna & Urbino (ml 815)

Dr Luca Leoncini

13–22 Castile & León

16–25 Extremadura

17–23 Roman & Medieval Provence

18–24 Gastronomic Piedmont

18–26 Essential Jordan

20–27 Footpaths of Umbria (ml 831)

Dr Thomas-Leo True

20– 1 Civilisations of Sicily (ml 832) John McNeill

20– 1 Traditions of Japan

23–30 Istanbul Revealed (ml 835) Jeremy Seal

27– 2 World Heritage Malta

28– 2 Palladian Villas (ml 847)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

The Western Balkans Opera at Wexford

Great Palaces of Italy

Tudor England

November 2025

1– 8 Ancient & Islamic Tunisia

4–16 Painted Palaces of Rajasthan (ml 843)

Dr Giles Tillotson

5– 9 Art in Madrid (ml 845) Dr Xavier Bray

6–17 Japanese Gardens

10–16 Art History of Venice (ml 849)

Dr Susan Steer

11–15 Venetian Palaces (ml 848)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

13–16 Les Années Folles

17–23 The Art of Florence (ml 852)

Dr Flavio Boggi

24– 1 The Printing Revolution (ml 853)

Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

26–28 Chamber Music Break: Stile Antico (ml 854)

Venice Remade HANDEL IN VALLETTA

Oman, Landscapes & Peoples

December 2025

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

Click ‘Book this tour’ on any tour page. Fill in your details, consent to the booking conditions, and pay the deposit (10% of the total booking price) or full balance if booking within 10 weeks of departure.

Or: by telephone or e-mail

Call or e-mail us to make a provisional booking, which we hold for up to 72 hours. 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, we will send a formal confirmation. Your deposit is then nonrefundable 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

Fitness

Ensure also that you have read ‘How strenuous’ in the ‘Practicalities’ section of the tour description –and that you have taken our fitness tests, available at martinrandall.com/about-us under ‘Fitness’.

Online talks by expert speakers

Conduct, Compose, Perform: a musician’s life – three talks in partnership with the Royal Philharmonic Society

£45 | View until 1 August 2024

Crafting the Nation: national styles in art and architecture c. 1900 – five talks with Dr Shona Kallestrup

£65 | View until 6 August 2024

Venice and the Birth of the Modern World: visual culture in the era of print –five talks with Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

£65 | View until 5 September 2024

Impact and Legacy: the Architectural Styles of the British in India – five talks with Anthony Peers

£65 | Tuesdays, 2–30 July 2024 View until 24 September 2024

A Tale of Two Cities: Kyoto and Tokyo – four talks with Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

£55 | Thursdays, 6–27 August 2024 View until 22 October 2024

Le Nozze di Figaro

Four talks with Ian Page

£55 | Thursdays, 5–26 September 2024 View until 21 November 2024

The Reformation and Art in Germany

Five talks with Dr Ulrike Ziegler

£65 | Thursdays, 24 October–21 November 2024 View until 16 January 2025

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

www.martinrandall.com/online-talks

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

www.martinrandall.com