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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 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
Gastronomic tour of Veneto
Food, wine, culture of Veneto in Italy for a week. All outstanding
*****
pauls
21 May 2016
Wagner Ring in Berlin
Ten days in Berlin (and region) combining the Ring by Richard Wagner, superb cast, directed by Daniel Barenboim! with excursions within Berlin, Charlottenburg, Potsdam and Woerlitz.
*****
Pido
22 Jun 2016
Martin Randall Toledo Music Festival
The music and musicians were uniformly excellent, the hotel was very good and perfect for most of the venues.
*****
JE
27 May 2017
Florence was magnificent
Martin Randall is the best.
*****
Carl
24 Mar 2018
3 day week-end chamber music holiday. The quartet were excellent and all organisation (hotel., meals etc) very good.
Martin Randall, specialists in music and art holidays
*****
Stevo
04 Apr 2022
Walking to Derbyshire Houses
A guided walking tour to historically important country houses in Derbyshire
*****
PP
16 Jul 2022
Opera in Stockholm
very well managed, very well researched beforehand, plenty of free time, high quality engagement, excellent hotels, excellent leaders and guides, well managed time table.
*****
Puppet
10 Mar 2018
Gastronomic Sweden
A well established, high end tour operator, with a focus on excellence.
*****
Sooty
21 Jun 2019
Stimulus to Discover More
7 world class speakers bringing their knowledge and enthusiasm for a wide range of arts and artists, are bound to make for an exciting weekend. By the end of the 15 talks we had, I am sure, learned a great deal about the subjects, but also went away with one's interest stimulated to wish to dis...
*****
Art Lover
20 Feb 2017
A tour of French Gothic Cathedrals
A tour of French Gothic cathedrals in broadly chronological order of their being built, with an expert guide to explain the development of the Gothic style of architecture.
*****
JohnB
16 Jul 2022
We travelled to Paris and eastern Normandy (Rouen, Giverny, Auvers, Honfleur, Le Havre), concentrating on the Impressionist painters, and had a superb time.
Everything was perfectly organised, from our online booking to our return to St Pancras on Eurostar. The tour guide and the tour manager worked wonderfully together, and made sure that all went smoothly. The day trips were most interesting, the bus travel was very good, and the meals were delicious....
*****
Alfred
07 May 2016
Anglesey and Snowdonia
Trip to estate homes, churches/monasteries, Welsh Castles and a Roman Army camp. Very attentive on site tour manager who oversaw the details well and was particularly attentive to the needs of individuals on the tour. The archealogist who was the "expert" was superlative: knowledgeable acr...
*****
Jack
13 Jul 2015

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