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Expert-led small-group tours

This video was filmed on our Footpaths of Umbria tour in June 2023 and gives a flavour of what to expect on one of our holidays.

Exploring Italy on a cultural tour

We also offer fresh perspectives on old friends, using art historians, not musicologists, on our opera tours of Verona and seeing Florence, Padua and Bologna through the prism of science and medicine as well as art. We bring you Puccini at the maestro’s lakeside villa, the mosaics of Ravenna and the frozen worlds of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

We dine finely in Piedmont, throw light on the Dark Ages in the northern Adriatic and stand at the crossroads of European civilisations in Sicily. We gaze up at Michelangelo’s David and down at Etruscan tombs. We give you Italy, packaged in a gilt-edged portfolio.

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Cultural tours in Sicily

Whether it’s on a private tour of Palermo’s Palatine Chapel or a guided walk on Etna with an expert vulcanologist, you will be fully immersed in dazzling cultural inheritance.

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Cultural tours in Venice

With special, out-of-hours access to the Basilica di San Marco - as well as on-the-spot insights by our expert lecturers - we give you an unrivalled view of La Serenissima.

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Cultural tours in Florence

Special access is a feature of our Florence tours: visit the vast baroque Palazzo Corsini al Parione, dine at the Palazzo Corsini al Prato, and gaze across the city and Appenines beyond from Palazzo Gondi.

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Cultural tours in Rome

From the underground chambers of the Colosseum to Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel frescoes viewed in tranquil solitude, we uncover both Rome's cultural triumphs and lesser-known masterpieces.

Browse Italy tours by theme

Why travel with us?

Leading expertise

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.

What do others say about Martin Randall Travel?

Showing 2184 reviews
Travel to St Petersburg palaces, gardens and museums
I had a brilliant holiday touring the Hermitage, Russian and Faberge museums as well as visiting several churches, formal gardens and travel outside the City to visit palaces and formal gardens
*****
sydney
10 Oct 2018
A trip rich in treasures of art and architecture, thrillingly unfamiliar
Meticulous organisers who take excellent care of you, find very good hotels and restaurants, and plan the trip with great care so you can see as much as possible of the most interesting and not always the most predictable sights. Very well paced, with first-rate lecturers. I have nothing but praise ...
*****
Cybele
06 Oct 2018
Ancient Greece tour
Opportunity to visit some lesser known Greek sites with subject matter experts.
*****
Berkeley
20 Sep 2023
Courts of Northern Italy
This was our first tour with Martin Randell Tours and we were very impressed with the efficiency of the organisation both before the tour and after departure. We we given plenty of suggested preparatory reading months before departure and full details of the itinerary well in advance. The tour manag...
*****
tex-jen
19 Oct 2014
Truly the holiday of a lifetime
A fantastic tour of Peru, including Lima, Trujillo, Urubamba, Machu Picchu, Cuzco and Puno.. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment and have memories (and photographs that I will treasure always.
*****
TE
20 Sep 2019
Superb
Beautiful hotel, quiet and beautiful town, Excellent musicians. Good food
*****
Cleopatra
13 Jun 2019
Israel and Palestine, October 2015
The tour travelled through Israel and the Palestinian Territories for 10 days looking at the archaeology and architecture of the holy land, both ancient and modern.
*****
Retirementislife
24 Oct 2015
Archaeology made accessible and fascinating to amateurs
We had experts in their fields as our guides and lecturers + a very organised and efficient tour manager
*****
MsMatching Colours
30 Jul 2022
"Magic"
Opera in Drottningholm & Confidencen, Sweden; namely, Orpheus & Eurydice by Gluck. The singing and especially the production lifted us into a fairytale world for about 90 minutes. With seats almost in the small orchestra, we felt part of the action: quite wonderful.
*****
Fairytale
15 Aug 2017
Great emotional experience
Very well organised and excellent choice of hotels and meals with very helpful accompanying staff.
*****
EP
11 Sep 2017
Gastronomic Sicily
Martin Randall Travel ruins you for any other tour operator.
*****
EricaP
28 Nov 2019
Gardens of the Riviera
Martin Randall is an excellent tour operator. Everything is very well organised and efficient.
*****
Rameh
20 Apr 2016

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