Jul 11, 2007
Here's a final British source of ultra-brainy tours at a reasonable price
Our English cousins charge weighty prices ($300 and $400 per person per day) for their scholarly tours led by eminent authors and professors; but those prices are often half the level charged by alumni associations and museums in the United States. I've earlier described the greatest of them all (Martin Randall Tours, found at www.martinrandall.com) and a close runner-up (The Traveller, found at www.the-traveller.co.uk). And you can now add a third British source: Andante Travels (tel. 011-44-1722-713800; www.andantetravels.co.uk), whose focus since 1985 has been archaeology and the ancient world. In practical terms, that means their subject matter also includes classic literature and history. Typical tours: "Ravenna and Acquileia" seeking out decorative arts from the Roman period that are still found around the Po Valley of Italy: "Great Abbeys of Central Italy" tracing the early days of Christianity by way of the country's gorgeous old monasteries. Another trip spends a week exploring the famous cave art of the Pyrenees in France, led by a specialist in prehistoric art. Guides usually consist of professors at English universities, where study of the classics is still held in esteem.
Prices, while not dead cheap because of the exchange rate, are still reasonable considering the status of the expert guides and the small size (averaging 19) of the group -- and the fact that nowadays you're unlikely to find many brainy tours for much less. Travel with Andante usually costs around £200 a day, including all meals (with wine), hotels and transportation from London, which works out to about $400 in American currency.
There's also a budget alternative, for which Andante deserves special praise. Ten of its tours are classified as "'Bare Bones" trips, which don't include lunch or dinner, and use only moderate-value hotels. These, such as the exploration of the Croatian seaport of Split led by a woman who wrote her doctoral thesis on Croatia, cost around £1,000 for eight days, which brings the cost down to around $250 a day, before flights. Other "Bare Bones" destination's include Jordan's Petra (supervised by an archaeologist specializing in the Bronze Age), Pompeii (led by a professor in classics and a field archaeologist), and a two-day exploration of Stonehenge outside London.
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Labels: smart tours, tour companies
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