History tours

Taking an original and vigorous approach, our History tours focus on significant encounters and events around the world, from Saladin and the Struggle for the Holy Land to the Habsburg Empire and its imprint on the Imperial Rivera on the Adriatic coast.

Getting to grips with competing empires, politics and cultures, longer journeys delve into the complex history of the Western Balkans or cruise Bengal by river to consider the Mughals, East India Company and the Raj. Shorter forays probe Edward I’s incursions into medieval Wales, the Norman Conquest in south-east England and Art and Medicine in Renaissance Italy, among other subjects.

Times of conflict hold particular allure for the historian, bringing tragedy and change, but frequently also innovation – artistic, literary and architectural. Our ground-breaking explorations of The Troubles in Ireland and the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath are led by lecturers with personal knowledge of these events and their impact. They take a holistic approach to what are often presented purely as battlefield tours.

Central to all these tours is the choice of lecturer; top academics and experts with first-hand experience of the places and detailed knowledge of the period in question. They include former diplomats, army officers and foreign correspondents – well placed through their myriad contacts to open doors onto the past. 

Finally, our UK based ​residential symposia programme presents leading scholarship in digestible and entertaining ways. The next, in October 2022, investigates Ancient Greece: people and polis.