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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

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
Opera, opera houses in good company
I was attracted by the selection of operas and the long time since I'd been to Paris. Lectures before each helped to understand and follow, a tour of the Opera Garnier put our visit there into context.
*****
D
29 Nov 2018
Wonderful week of choral music
5 days in Oxford, with concerts and talks.
*****
Hedgehog
04 Oct 2021
gourmet tour was very interesting and fun
he was very helpful and knowledgeable
*****
ms D F 19
01 Aug 2019
Gardens of Sintra
I have travelled with this tour operator on several occasions and only once had a lecturer that was not excellent. (Unfortunately that lecturer does a large number of garden tours.) Otherwise I have always found the lecturers engaging well with the subject of the tour.
Hotels are always good and th...
*****
Teacher
11 Jun 2022
Opera, opera houses in good company
I very much enjoy the academic/cultural approach of these holidays by Martin Randall Travel. I learn so much from expert lecturers in a context facilitated by the tour manager who is always a step ahead so all flows smoothly.. High quality hotels and food add to it.
*****
D
29 Nov 2018
Opera in Vienna. Good operas, fine hotel.
Martin Randall Travel. Usually one of the best. This time, perhaps not quite as good as I would have expected.
****
Wagnerite
26 Apr 2023
London Choral Day
MRT
*****
Sir D I 22
30 Jun 2022
Elegance in Ireland
Booking was straightforward, the tour manager saw to every detail including unforeseen difficulties such as a covid case during the trip; and the lecturer was outstanding, giving us exactly the right amount of information, always absorbing and interesting, on the houses at exactly the right time. He...
*****
Helen
23 May 2022
A foretaste of Paradise
The JS Bach Journey delivers even more than it promises. To see the venues and learn about the history is helpful in understanding and appreciating the music. To enjoy world-class performances of major works is sublime. To hear talks by a highly articulate and learned lecturer is an additional privi...
*****
Robert
13 Sep 2017
Florence: Cradle of the Renaissance
Our holiday began on the day we arrived with a visit to the Capella Gozzoli in Palazzo Medici-Ricardi for the Magi frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli. We then had 6 full days of visits to selected places in Florence which included the familiar like the Uffizi Gallery to the less familiar San Miniato al Mon...
*****
Pauline B
15 Mar 2018
Excellent lecturer, tour manager and coffee, lunch and tea breaks
Excellent day out looking at London architecture.
*****
Robin
14 Sep 2020
Excellent
An extremely well-organised tour with a superb itinerary. The lecturer was first class, and food and accommodation of a very high standard.
*****
Lakelover
12 Oct 2014

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.

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