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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
Foodie extravaganza
A wonderful holiday experiencing all that the garden of Italy has to offer.
*****
Fatchetti
17 Oct 2022
Visiting gardens and villas on Lake Como and Lake Maggiore in Italy.
A week's guided tour staying in two hotels and visiting 10 different gardens. We had the services of an expert lecturer and a tour manager. Travel by plane, coach and boat was included, as were most of the meals. The itinerary was outstanding with a carefully chosen selection of gardens of diff...
*****
Italophile
29 Apr 2018
Essential Rome
5 days in Rome with an excellent lecturer
*****
Dr. E L 23
26 Mar 2023
Oman, Landscapes and Peoples
Whenever we have travelled with Martin Randall we have expected and received an exceptionally high standard and have never been disappointed
*****
Wendy
17 Jan 2018
Music, Art and Gourmet Experiences in Umbria
A wonderful combination of concerts, visits to delightful Umbrian hilltop towns to view medieval and Renaissance art, and some memorable dining experiences (plus sampling the local vintages!). I would recommend Martin Randall Travel to everyone who enjoys these activities.
*****
Susanna
10 Jul 2016
A Once in a Lifetime Experience
Martin Randall Travel occupy a unique position in the cultural tour market and it was a tribute to the reputation of the company that a UK event drew almost as many participants from outside the UK as it did British clients.
*****
culturaltaffy
05 Oct 2015
Walking/wine-tasting in Southern Tuscany during October 2014
Martin Randall - I have travelled with Martin Randall before and each time I am impressed by the attention to detail, so that we holidaymakers are virtually unaware of the practicalities which are dealt with behind the scenes and which make the holiday so relaxing.
*****
mef
29 Oct 2014
Great emotional experience
Very well organised and excellent choice of hotels and meals with very helpful accompanying staff.
*****
EP
11 Sep 2017
Gastronomic Sicily
A wonderful tour of North Western Sicily visiting food producers, eating and drinking and sight seeing. We spent four night in Palermo and three in Marsala. My experience on Italian food and wine was taken to a new level with the help of out lecturer and tour manager. There was a brilliant combinati...
*****
EricaP
28 Nov 2019
Art Historians Potpourri
Extremely committed to delivering a intellectually stimulating and comfortable weekend!
*****
trojanadventurer
20 Feb 2017
Interesting tour of Sicily's main historical sites.
The touristic infrastructure of Sicily is very much a work in progress, but Martin Randall Travel smoothed the path for us as much as they feasibly could. Late 2017 / early 2018 visitors to PalermoÕs Royal Palace should find time to see a spectacular exhibition of watercolours of Sicily by artist Fa...
****
Alfee
01 Nov 2017
Efficiently organised with excellent attention given to the physically less able.
A well planned event with good attention to detail and plenty of staff who were able to make sure that coordination between the three hotels avoided hitches and hold-ups.
****
FA
22 Nov 2018

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