Press Reviews

Daily Mail, 28 March 2011
Leading specialist in high-brow cultural holidays, Martin Randall Travel has been named Travel Company of the Year three times in the last four years and is renowned for its lecturers. Highlights this year are a Caravaggio tour of Milan and Rome and a new American tour for fans of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

The Sunday Times, France 2011, 6 February 2011
Opera in Provence
'Martin Randall has an unmissable double act in the south - a week long tour taking in two of France's finest music festivals.  At Aix-en-Provence, see the London Symphony Orchestra performing Mozart's La clemenza di Tito and Verdi's La Traviata with Natalie Dessay, then move to Orange where the original stage wall of the wonderfully preserved Roman Theatre Antique provides the backdrop for a spectacular Aida.'

Daily Telegraph, 15 January 2011
'Martin Randall Travel stands out for small-group, expert led tours...A major selling point for all tours is the high quality of accommodation and meals.'

The Sunday Times, 2 January 2011
50 weekend breaks
'Martin Randall Travel is well known for its cultural tours to far-flung places, but here it brings one of the finest string quartets in the world to Britain...the Wihan quartet will perform four intimate concerts, featuring Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahams and their Czech countryman Dvorak at the 19th century Jesmond Dene House hotel, near Newcastle.'

Daily Telegraph, 16 January 2010
'If only the best will do, sign up with Martin Randall Travel. Clients on its carefully planned small-group tours are treated to top lecturers, high-quality accommodation and food. New in June is a History of Impressionism tour, coinciding with a major Impressionist exhibition in Normandy.'

Daily Telegraph, 6 January 2010
'The leader in the field of expert-led cultural tours.'

Financial Times, 30 May 2009
'The four lecturers were extremely affable and good company... The conversation in this international floating social world was one of the most enjoyable aspects of the trip: one night I dined with an Australian judge, another with a philanthropist publisher.'

Ian Irvine sailed on The Romans in Africa in 2008 and his article on the cruise can be found on the Financial Times website. 

Daily Telegraph, 9 May 2009
'The grand Hall of Ceremonies at Vienna's Hofburg Palace rarely opens to the public at all. However, clients who book onto Martin Randall's music festival in late August (Haydn in Vienna) can enjoy it as a superb venue for Haydn concerts.'

Frommer Online, 25 February 2009 
'The 'dumbing down' of travel may be significantly slowed through this effort by a British tour operator... the world's brainiest tour operator.'

Read Arthur Frommer's piece on why it is so cheap for American clients to travel with us. 

Daily Telegraph, 17 January 2009
'... expert-led tours in high-brow company with emphasis on art, architecture, gardens and gastronomy.'

The Lady, 13–19 January 2009
'An adventure, an education and a pleasure, a Festival of Music in Venice turned out to be an amazing experience.'

The Sunday Times, 11 January 2009
'What is the meaning of life? We still have trouble with that one, but no doubt you'll be able to tell us when you come back from an end of summer philosophy cruise with Martin Randall Travel.'

Condé Nast Traveler, January 2009
'By our last night, I realised that I had succumbed... After 8 days in the company of my fellow travellers and our two intrepid leaders, I could see no good reason to leave. If I had been told that there had been a change in plans and we would be moving on to Syria and from there to Istanbul, I would have signed on in a New York minute.' Gully Wells' on attending the Essential Jordan tour. 

The Mail on Sunday, Sunday 23 November 2008
'Martin Randall's unashamedly highbrow floating university delivered superbly... The Mediterranean linked our cruise and his story - the people, the classical past, architecture, volcanoes as unstable as Caravaggio, ancient voyagers and modern tourists.'

Sarah Lucas's account of the 2008 In Pursuit of Caravaggio cruise can be found online on The Mail on Sunday website.

Ultratravel, Daily Telegraph, August 2008
'Martin Randall probably offers the biggest and best selection of art, music and architecture tours.'

Classical Music magazine, 7 June 2008
'One of the heavyweights of the field, its extensive music selection only one of a range of specialisms offered.'

Arthur Frommer's syndicated US travel column, 16 March 2008
'A highly esteemed, long-established British tour company that operates the world's most serious tours of history, archaeology, art and music. It makes no concessions to popular tastes, and calls for real involvement and commitment by its passengers.'

The Mail on Sunday, 13 January 2008
‘Meticulously researched tours and no hidden extras – tips and wine with meals are included, for example. The itineraries appeal to those keen for more than a quick whip round the intellectual, natural and visual treasures of Europe.'