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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, drinks with meals, and airport taxes. 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
The perfect holiday
Nothing was too much trouble
*****
Anon
15 Jul 2017
Classical Turkey with Martin Randall Travel
MRT - superbly organised Tour, a really great experience.

Sorry - I don't know how to upload photos.
*****
Hecuba
01 May 2019
Challenging Church Preconceptions
A ten day tour of Churches and Cathedrals in Castile and Leon, staying in historically and architecturally fascinating towns and cities and accompanied by an excellent lecturer who lived in the area and knew it well. His enthusiasm and knowledge challenged my previous experience of ecclesiastical bu...
*****
mamamont
15 Oct 2018
Excellent
Excellent customer service
*****
Ricardo
20 Mar 2017
Review by BF on Mon Jan 01 2018 08:00:00 GMT+0000 (Greenwich Mean Time)
Great trip. Tour Manager was excellent.
*****
BF
01 Jan 2018
Romans and Carolingians
It was a thrilling experience to visit these Roman and Carolingian sites with an expert lecturer, tour manager and fellow participants.
*****
Roamer
14 Apr 2022
Enjoyably Educational
I learned a great deal about Spanish art from Xavier Bray, who wears his genius lightly. It was a well-planned and very enjoyable excursion through Spanish art beginning and ending with the medieval with Velasquez and Goya in the middle. It was my first visit to the Wallace Collection, of which Dr...
*****
Art Lover
06 Mar 2017
Arts and Crafts in the Lakes District
Very knowledgeable and personable
*****
Grand Tourist
04 Oct 2019
Superb Cultural experience
Very responsive to individual queries
*****
Dr. P G 18
08 Nov 2018
Cathedrals of England
Martin Randall Company was excellent in handling my booking. What they told you would happen, did. They made the trip so relaxing for me and I just sat back and enjoyed every minute. The staff never minded any questions and handled requests efficiently. The tour guide made the trip pleasant for us a...
*****
mdh
31 Oct 2014
erudite , cared for
On this trip we firstly received care and our needs were anticipated.
the guides were more than informed , rather immersed in a wide range of areas about St petersburg. art in particular and architecture combined with history. yummy
*****
Mrs R L 17
07 Oct 2017
Dresden, Potsdam, Berlin
Well planned trip, good cultural imput , very intense programme.
*****
The traveller
16 Oct 2022

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