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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
Louisiana - creole cooking, plantation houses ,swamps and Jazz.
A packed two weeks of exploring the history of this most un conventional American state. Plantation houses,the history and architecture of the area, the economy of the cotton and sugar industry - and slavery - all encompassed by jazz and southern hospitality. The itinerary, the manager and the intel...
*****
O'Shea
17 May 2017
The Heart of Italy tour
It was a wonderful week spent in Umbria visiting many hill towns and following partly in the footsteps of St Francis. We spent the entire time based in the beautiful hill town of Spello, radiating out each day, to a new destination. The history, views, local food and wines all combined to make it a ...
*****
Jocie
27 Oct 2017
Amazing India
The tour titled "Essential India" introduced us to an in depth experience of some of the most interesting places in India. In this regard the curation was excellent and with a quality lecturer made a memorable experience.
Provided the opportunity to connect with a civilisation going back ...
*****
Happy traveller
25 Mar 2016
Grand Tour for Oldies (Christmas in Naples)
Excellent lecturer, excellent hotel, exellent itinerary - as usual with Martin Randall Travel
*****
Wadhamite
28 Dec 2016
Ryedale Festival in Yorkshire
We did country walks in the beautiful Yorkshire farm country, and went to concerts everyday to hear music from different periods, some of it astonishing. The hotel, Black Swan was country luxury without pretension. The food was gourmet.
We saw some historic buildings and gorgeous gardens and great v...
*****
Francy
25 Jul 2016
Outstanding tour of Palladian villas
Provided a very well planned and thought out tour. Cost was very reasonable for what we received!
*****
Tom
27 Oct 2016
Stimulating and fascinating.
The Silk Road cities in Uzbekistan still have a sense of mystery even though now easily accessible. The country is sensitive to tourist needs and service everywhere was efficient and friendly.
*****
Jussi
01 Jun 2019
Well planned and executed tour to those enthusiastic about Frank Lloyd Wright
The tour included many of FLWs seminal buildings in a number of cities, as well as buildings by those he followed and who followed him. An excellent lecturer made the most of the various visits. Good planning, comfortable travel arrangements, made this well worth while.
****
Opera lover
07 Oct 2016
Gastronomic West Country treat
Wonderful tour visiting producers etc and eating wonderful food in Devon and Cornwall. Excellent leader Marc Millon with congenial small tour group
*****
LesleyH
14 Jul 2018
Gardens of the Riviera
We have travelled many times with Martin Randall and they always, almost without exception, provide an excellent experience
*****
Mrs G H 17
03 May 2017
Exceeded expectations
I was particularly impressed with the lecturer on the tour who was both extremely knowledgeable and able to impart her knowledge in an interesting way.
*****
Dagwood's daughter
14 Jul 2018
The very best
Efficient. Professional. Friendly. Reliable.
*****
SM
29 Nov 2019

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