As featured in:

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

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.

Image

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.

Image

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.

Image

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.

Image

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

Since 1988 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
Samarkand & Silk Road Cities
An excellent lecturer interpreting an amazingly significant part of the world.
*****
Nick
15 Sep 2018
Challenging Church Preconceptions
Martin Randall Travel. My experience could not have been improved upon. Booking was easy online, Information regarding travel and itinerary was plentiful and detailed. It was sent both electronically and also hard copy. A detailed reading list was provided (although not compulsory!). I was very impr...
*****
mamamont
15 Oct 2018
Week-long immersion into Renaissance medicine
I went on the History of Medicine tour through Martin Randall Travel, it was a perfect amount of museum/site visits and downtime to explore. We were always given the opportunity to opt out of a visit, and the tour/agency was very accommodating since I booked a few days before they left. I am a stude...
*****
Marissa
21 Sep 2016
Outstanding planning, expertise and interest
We have travelled with Martin Randall Travel on many occasions and find their attention to detail outstanding. The lecturers are always of the highest calibre and also chosen to create a sociable and relaxed atmosphere in the group. Every care is taken for single travellers, but there is also suffic...
*****
RJB
04 Oct 2015
IT DELIVERED A DREAM EXPERIENCE.
Wonderful personality, extremely well-organised and efficient. Keen to help whenever needed. Perfect for the job.
*****
Intrepid traveller
20 Jan 2017
A unique and memorable experience
Martin Randall Travel fully deserves its reputation for creating unique and inventive experiences which last long in the memory.
*****
RJB
30 May 2022
Stimulating Informative
Everything smooth and kind and efficient
*****
Davo
16 Nov 2018
Exciting Ming in London
For a morning in the V & A, and an afternoon in the British Museum my wife and I were treated to couple of fascinating talks on Chinese ceramics by a Martin Randall expert.
As far as we were concerned, the talk could have gone on and on !
*****
Humphrey
26 Feb 2017
Memorable and culturally challenging.
Culturally and culinarily 'perfect' but jet-lag is now taking its toll!
Business class next time!
*****
midgiebee
30 May 2017
Superb Bach Festival
Martin Randall is an outstanding organizer of cultural tours.
*****
LA Mike
12 Sep 2023
Living and learning with friends
We travelled on a thirteen-day tour of Sicily with a group of twenty-four people who began as strangers and parted as friends. Together, we shared a remarkable intellectual and cultural journey that took us back nearly tree thousand years. We saw sites where ancient battles were fought, where ancien...
*****
Lynno
26 Sep 2014
Life enhancing
Always reliable in every way
*****
Hannah
25 May 2018

Joining a Martin Randall Cultural Tour

Between 10–22 participants can usually join our small group tours, though the upper limit can be lower dependent on the tour.

Sign up to our e-newsletter

e-newsletter recipients are the first to hear about our future plans and our tours as they come on sale. By signing up you agree to our Privacy policy.

Please select your preferred Title from the drop-down menu.
Please enter your surname.
Please enter a valid e-mail address.
Please enter your primary country of residence from the drop-down menu.

Or join our mailing list for a printed brochure

My Wishlist

Wishlist

Click the heart icon on any event to save it to your wishlist.

Browse our tours.