Martin Randall Travel is committed to providing the best planned, the best led and altogether the most fulfilling and enjoyable cultural tours available.
Pioneering and innovative, we have led the way with ideas and itineraries and by setting the benchmarks for customer service and administration.
For 36 years we have been the most influential organisation in the field of cultural travel, offering an unequalled range of tours and events. Pioneering and innovative, we have led the way with ideas and itineraries and by setting the benchmarks for customer service and administration.
Privileged access
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. In innumerable ways, we lift our clients’ experience far above standards which are regarded as normal for tourists.
First-rate speakers
Expert speakers are a key ingredient in our tours. Academics, curators, writers, broadcasters and researchers, they are selected not only for their knowledge but also for their ability to communicate clearly and engagingly to a lay audience. Their brief is to enlighten and stimulate, not merely to inform.
Holiday protection
We provide full financial protection for our package holidays which include international flights, by way of our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence (ATOL); and for those that do not include a flight, by way of a bond held by ABTOT – The Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited.
Personal service
We aim for faultless administration from your first encounter with us to the end of the holiday, and beyond. We want you to come back again and again – as most of our clients do. We can provide options without international travel if you prefer to make your own arrangements.
Award-winning
Five consecutive years as Best Special Interest Holiday Company at the British Travel Awards (2015–19) reflects our commitment to excellence. With a remarkable 99% satisfaction rating from more than 1,100 independent reviews, our attention to detail and client care is unmatched.
Most of our tours run with between 10 and 20 participants. Our travellers are self-selected by common interests and an endorsement of our ethos. You are highly likely to find yourself among like-minded companions, whether travelling solo (as 50% of our clients do) or with a travel partner.
Value for money
The price includes nearly everything, not only the major ingredients such as hotel, transport and the costs of the lecturer and manager but also tips and drinks with meals. The price published is the price you pay. You can secure your booking today with a 15% deposit.
Martin Randall provides a superb experience in Sicily. The hotels were ideally located with good food and comfortable, pleasant rooms. Our guides are very knowledgeable and articulate. The special visits to the Palatine Chapel after hours without crowds of people and the tours of private palazzos ad...
Mary
12 Oct 2015
Fascinating sweep through the history of a little-travelled corner of the world
Not an obvious tourist destination, Albania has a history extending from ancient Greek and Roman times through the Byzantine and Ottoman periods to modern times. The tour took us to a number of sites associated with each of these periods: the remains of hill-top Greco-Roman towns, Byzantine basilica...
J.B.
23 May 2017
Gardens of the Riviera
Superb itinerary and lecturer. Menton was a lovely base for the trip.
Rameh
20 Apr 2016
Florentine palaces
It was a short specialised visit to palaces and galleries in Florence. Studying the art and architecture of the 14 15 and 16 centuries
sarah
04 Apr 2023
London Back Street Walk
Martin Randall - I have travelled with this company several times before. Their London Tours and lectures are particularly most enjoyable. Every tour proves to be an unforgettable experience. Everything is planned and timed to a T without one realising it! From signing up to ending the tour, the who...
L.C.
22 May 2018
Walking in Southern Tuscany
Walking in beautiful and varied countryside, visiting historic mediaeval towns, churches and museums,wine tasting, staying in very good hotels, being with an interesting and varied group of sociable people.
Chris
21 Oct 2017
high standard opera in beautiful locations
sicily in november with sun sea good food and wine along with pleasant companions superb music and singing in pleasant surroundings
culturevulture
14 Nov 2019
Efficiently organised with excellent attention given to the physically less able.
Decent central hotel. well organised transport between venues when necessary, courteous staff and an excellent programme of speakers. Good attention to hearing levels in the lecture theatre and a first class projection system.
FA
22 Nov 2018
Feast of Frank lloyd Wright buildings
I thoroughly enjoyed my Martin Randall Tour: ME 940 Frank Lloyd Wright. The comprehensive itinerary, great lecturer and tour manager, small group size and first class accommodation and meals all contributed to a memorable and rewarding trip.
MBT
02 Aug 2018
"Infotainment" at its best, in most congenial company.
An exploration, for the interested layperson, of the opulent architectural and decorative legacy of Timur and the Timurids; set in the context of its antecedents and place in the more recent history and current nation-building of Uzbekistan; and inter-woven with the related themes of the Silk Road t...
Mrs A W 14
29 Sep 2014
Well Organised and covered everything we wanted to see.
A tour of Western Andalusia which covered the main cities.
KB
16 Apr 2018
London Wren walking tour
Excellent tour giving access to all sorts of churches, with a highly knowledgeable guide, well worth it.
Lecturer in medieval history at the University of East Anglia. He was taught at the Universities of London, Cambridge, and Oxford, and was a research fellow at Jesus College, Oxford. He specialises in the period, 700–1200, and publishes on western kings, secular élites and their records. He is a keen believer in the value of exploring and understanding the architectural fabric, material culture and landscapes of the past.
Art historian specialising in Renaissance and Baroque architecture in Rome and the Papal States, and Assistant Director of the British School at Rome from September 2015. He received his doctorate from Cambridge University, and also studied at the British School at Rome, where he was Rome Scholar (2009–10) and Giles Worsley Fellow (2013). He has lived in Le Marche region of Italy and is currently writing his first book on the Marchigian Cardinals of Pope Sixtus V.
Lecturer in Arabic at Leiden University and a specialist in the cultural history of the Muslim world. Peter has travelled extensively across the Middle East and Central Asia and has studied at the Universities of Damascus and Isfahan. He held a fellowship at the Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin, where he researched Muslim architecture and Arabic calligraphy, studying monuments of medieval Egypt and Uzbekistan. In Oman, he studied pre-Islamic sites and local shrines dedicated to ancient Arabian prophets in as part of his current research focus on the legends and history of Arabia. His publications include Imagining the Arabs (Edinburgh University Press, 2016), a comprehensive exploration of the Arab people in early Islam, and The Arab Thieves (Brill, 2019), a critical study of Arabian outlaw tales.
Wine, food and travel writer. Born in Mexico, he was raised in the USA before studying English Literature at the University of Exeter. Together with his wife, he has pioneered a series of illustrated wine-food-travel books including The Wine and Food of Europe, The Wine Roads of France, The Wine Roads of Italy, The Food Lover’s Companion to France and The Food Lover’s Companion to Italy. He is also the author of The Taste of Britain and lives in Devon, where he is closely involved with the food scene of the West Country. Marc is a certified Vinitaly International Italian Wine Ambassador. His next book, Italy in a Wineglass, will be published in Spring 2024 and tells the story of Italy through its wines. Twitter: @Marc_Millon
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