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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.

Featured cultural tours in Italy

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, drinks with meals, and airport taxes. The price published is the price you pay.

What do others say about Martin Randall Travel?

Showing 1096 reviews
A thoroughly stimulating trip around Sicily
Led by the encyclopaedic Christopher Newall, the 12 day trip focused on the various civilisations which have dominated Sicily over many years, as well as the major buildings, towns, events and characters.
*****
Bruce
12 Mar 2025
Unique experience on "Cambodia by River" tour
This tour went beyond our expectations.
We enjoyed an interesting yet relaxing Pandaw cruise on the Mekong review for the first week and then spent another 6 nights in Siem Reap visiting the Khmer archaeological sights and temples.
We had an erudite and enthusiastic lecturer, Freddie Matthews who g...
*****
ShahKim
01 Apr 2024
Wonderful music and a very luxurious holiday.
We spent a week in Thuringia steeped in the music of Bach. We enjoyed nine concerts in a week. They were all top quality, with top class musicians. The accommodation was very classy and comfortable, and we were fed within an inch of our lives!
*****
Finbar
26 Sep 2023
Another wonderful Martin Randall tour
Martin Randall's tour of the Ch�teaux of the Loire was a delight ... well organized , intelligent and great value for money.
*****
George
22 Sep 2023
Classical pleasure
Wonderful sweep through Ancient Greece with a few more modern delights
*****
Lizzie
20 Sep 2023
Ancient Greece tour
Opportunity to visit some lesser known Greek sites with subject matter experts.
*****
Berkeley
20 Sep 2023
Superlative: imaginative planning and programming, meticulous attention to detail
The Bach Journey with Martin Randall gave us the life-enhancing opportunity to hear Bach's music performed by exceptionally gifted musicians in a series of private concerts given in the places where Bach lived and worked. The musicians all gave deeply felt and moving performances, with a sense ...
*****
Imogen Starr
17 Sep 2023
Excellent experience sampling the Frances route to Santiago de Compostela
The 12 day walking tour covered the Frances El Camino route from Roncevalles to Santiago de Compostela. In order to sample the entire route, we walked more than 150 km of the 787 km route and travelled by bus for the remainder.
*****
Martin Randall fan
17 Sep 2023
A well organised and highly enjoyable cultural experience
Martin Randall Festivals' Bach Journey. One (very busy) week starting in Frankfurt and ending in Berlin taking in multiple locations important in the life of J,S. Bach.
*****
HRD
16 Sep 2023
An exhilerating well-planned journey through history and pilgrimage
Walking to Santiago de Compostela over 11 days was an experience that unfolded gently and very satisfyingly. We were led by two experts who were considerate and astute, tuned in to the needs of their clients. There was no sense of being on a cookie cutter experience.
*****
CMD
15 Sep 2023
A week of intellectual stimulus, friendly encounters with all kinds of people from all over the world and above all, sublime music in dream venues.
It was a journey in the footsteps of the composer JS Bach through the places where he lived and worked in little known Thuringia in North Germany. The countryside was beautiful, the transport comfortable, the hotels and meals perfectly hospitable and appetizing but the greatest delight was the conce...
*****
Hermione
15 Sep 2023
Superb tour of the Châteaux of the Loire
We visited a variety of beautiful chateaux of the Loire valley whilst based in a splendid former chateau - now hotel - in Charge. The visits included time for the gardens, time to recover and time to enjoy delicious evening meals and wine.
*****
Voyager
15 Sep 2023

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