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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
North west India in Spring.
Martin Randall Travel has very good tour leaders who know their patch. The tour guide was one of the best in the field relevant to our tour. MRT's administration staff were very attentive and prompt in responding to my queries.
*****
Koala
04 May 2018
Extraordinary Journey Through Jordan
Our Martin Randall tour through Jordan was superb. Our two Martin Randall guides, Sue and Jane, were incredibly knowledgeable, and were able to communicate with our tour group very effectively. Our tour was also accompanied by a very helpful and humorous Jordanian guide who was a delight to travel w...
*****
Robert
04 Dec 2013
Two contrasting Strauss operas
Very enjoyable
*****
M
12 Jun 2017
Very informative tour
Uzbekistan cultural tour
*****
Allan
16 Oct 2019
Wonderful tour of great houses.
A brilliant tour of Great Houses in the North of England, visiting several well-known places, but also some less well-known ones.
*****
Pearl191
04 Jul 2023
A wonderful music Festival in Toledo
I could not be better erved
*****
D.F.W.
28 May 2017
A comprehensive and well-managed architecture tour
We visited a wide range of public buildings and private homes in New England at the perfect time of the year. to combine with leaf-peeping. The lecturer was extremely knowledgeable and the tour manager outstanding in her day-to-day organisation, and both were great company. Hotels and meals were exc...
*****
KristinaM
28 Oct 2015
Monteverdi in Venice - an exploration of Monteverdi and his works
We have travelled with Martin Randall Travel 50 times and have always been extremely satisfied. On this occasion our flight from LHR was cancelled due to fog. Members of the Martin Randall staff had stayed up until 3am organising alternative flights from Stansted in order to get us to Venice for the...
*****
Dumkin
15 Nov 2015
Stimulating and challenging
Opera in Southern Sicily- wonderful music.
Brilliant young opera singers.
Beautiful theatres.
*****
Davo
12 Nov 2019
Review by Mr A R 17 on Mon Mar 06 2017 08:00:00 GMT+0000 (Greenwich Mean Time)
We have always enjoyed our Martin Randall Tours
*****
Mr A R 17
06 Mar 2017
Fascinating
Great trip we'll organised
*****
Nick Brown
09 Nov 2022
A great trip
Martin Randall Travel are brilliant. I have travelled with them nearly every year since 1996!
*****
JoolsN
13 Apr 2022

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