TOUR PROGRAM January – December 2018 New worlds await… academytravel.com.au new tours Easter in Malta Burgundy, Gardens Around or Tuscany Provence & Castles the Baltic & the Riviera of Scotland 11 25 28 30 Portugal Opera in Wagner’s Ring New Zealand New York Cycle in Munich 33 40 43 49 Bendigo to the To the Edge of Modern Architecture: Paris: study tour Yarra Valley the Outback Los Angeles to Chicago 53 54 57 67 2 www.academytravel.com.au contents What kind of traveller are you? Italy 8 Dear Academy Traveller, Europe 18 We’re delighted to publish a full catalogue of our tours for 2018, listing Music & Theatre 35 61 tours to five continents. We’ve also previewed many of the tours we will be offering in 2019. Asia Pacific 46 Several years ago, research on ‘special interest travel’ undertaken by the University of Sydney described three types of traveller: swimmers, The Americas 55 snorkellers and divers. Swimmers were interested in expertise and authenticity, but also wanted Africa & the Middle East 59 variety in their travels, visiting several destinations and including a broad range of experiences – art, history, landscape and food. If you’re a swimmer, Study Tours 65 you’ll be interested in our ‘survey’ tours, such as the ever-popular Grand Tour of Spain, Turkey, Morocco, Scandinavia and Iceland, Iran and Prague, Upcoming tour program 68 Budapest and Vienna. Snorkellers are looking for distinctive themes in their travel, longer stays Fitness Requirements 70 and a concentration on one geographical region. Well-established tours such as Sicily and the Aeolian Islands, Puglia to Pompeii, Japan, Taiwan and The Next Steps 71 Gardens of Southern England all fit into this category, as do our new tours to Portugal, New Zealand, and the regional art galleries of Victoria. academytravel.com.au Our website Divers want significant depth and focus. They have often read extensively contains about a destination, or are returning to a specific place for a much closer detailed look. They value the genuine academic expertise of our tour leaders and are itineraries, looking forward to being with fellow-travellers who share their passion. maps and tour Our two-week residential tours to Rome, Venice, Florence and Paris are leader profiles. classic ‘diver’ tours for art and history lovers, but if music is your thing, Our site also features an online there’s Opera in New York, Wagner’s Ring Cycle in Munich and London: booking form. Music and Theatre to tempt you. So whether you’re a swimmer, snorkeller or diver, or just someone sitting More information on the beach waiting to take the plunge, we hope you enjoy reading about Detailed itineraries for our 2018 program! all tours are available by calling us or by downloading from Robert Veel, and the entire Academy Travel team our website. academytravel.com.au Sold out tours Egypt January 2018 (tour leader Lucia Gahlin) Lakes & Villas of Northern Italy April 2018 (tour leader Robert Veel) tailored small Front: Monument of the Discoveries, Lisbon, Portugal group Journeys Inset: Geisha, Kyoto, Japan Brochure production: Damien Flint Ph0ne: +61 2 9235 0023 Design: Pro Bono Publico email: [email protected] Tour Product Managers: Stuart Barrie, Nick Gordon, Web: academytravel.com.au Robina Frosinini, Hannah Kleboe, Mark Lalor, Matthew Laing, Kathleen Olive and Robert Veel. › Expert tour leaders › Maximum 20 in a group › Carefully planned itineraries More details at academytravel.com.au 3 Why choose There are lots of tour operators out there, with academy travel? lots of tempting offerings. So why choose us? Great Like-minded Long itineraries groups stays Academy Travel works hard to create Over the years we’ve been in Feedback from our clients itineraries that provide a balanced operation, we’ve developed a loyal consistently tells us that creating experience – walking tours, museum band of Academy Travellers, some itineraries with three and four-night and gallery visits, live performances, of whom have travelled with us stops, or even longer, is far more city and countryside. We’re proud more than 10 times. They say the appealing that rushing from place to be constantly innovating, from small groups (maximum 20, average to place. Wherever possible, we plan opening up new destinations, creating 17) and distinct themes of our our tours around a limited number tours around festivals and special tours attract like-minded travellers of stops, making your travels more exhibitions, to providing unrivalled and create a relaxed, convivial relaxed and more meaningful. depth in our residential tours. atmosphere. “The mix of history, art and “I valued the mix of art “Loved the myriad of architecture was perfect gallery tours, architecture, different sites every day and the tour moved at a musical performances – a real ‘adventure’. Also, pace that allowed us to have and restaurants.” really enjoyed our eclectic a decent amount of time at Frank Lloyd Wright: Chicago to yet harmonious group – each site, while still fitting New York, 2017 our lunches and dinners – in all sites.” we all shared a passion for Grand Tour of Spain, 2016 Renaissance history/art.” Florence & the Italian Renaissance, 2016 4 Maximum 20 in a group Special Expert tour Years of Events leaders experience A private viewing of the Sistine We work closely with a team of Academy Travel was founded in 2004 Chapel? Tickets to a sold-out concert academically qualified and highly by a team with decades of prior by the Berlin Philharmonic? A world- experienced tour leaders. They don’t experience in small group travel. On famous art fair? Access to private just ‘rattle off the facts’ – they help average, our tour leaders have over homes and gardens? Behind-the- us plan our itineraries and, on tour, 11 years’ experience, some with 25 scenes visits? Many of our tours freely share their deep knowledge or more years. To ensure quality, we feature access to places and events and genuine passion. Most of our have our own office in Rome, Italy that are usually not offered on tour leaders are still teaching at an and a network of trusted suppliers most group tours. advanced level and many are still around the world. undertaking academic research. “I loved the whole two- “You always deliver on what week programme – it was “Estelle Lazer’s knowledge you promise and as always, I diversified to cover all of the places visited and enjoyed the company of like- interests. Highlights for me thoughtfulness in organising minded people, the lectures were the opera at the Met each phase in consultation and commentary and the (great seats, thanks!) and with local guides meant very interesting places.” the private tour of the Neue that we go the most out Scandinavia and Iceland, 2017 Gallery on 5th Avenue.” of each location.” Corsica, Sardinia and Malta, 2017 New York: music, theatre, art & food, 2016 More details at academytravel.com.au 5 Our experts Academy Travel’s team of expert tour leaders offers genuine academic expertise, enthusiasm and the ability lead the way to communicate their knowledge to interested travellers. Ben Churcher Chris Carter Has a wide range of experience as an Has an Honours and Master’s degree in educator, and an archaeologist. Since archaeology and has recently completed 1994 Ben has led tours to Jordan, a PhD. He has led tours to Central and Greece, Syria, Egypt, China & Morocco. South America for over 20 years. Upcoming tours: Pages 52, 60 Upcoming tours: Page 54 Dr Estelle Lazer Dr Jeni Ryde Is an archaeologist who has worked on Has a wide-ranging knowledge of site at Pompeii for seven seasons and Italian history and cultural traditions. has an international reputation for her Jeni has a PhD focusing on tourism, research on the city’s skeletal remains. heritage and Renaissance studies. Upcoming tours: Pages 10, 11, 13, 21 Upcoming tours: Pages 10, 13, 19, 20, 33 Judy Tenzing Dr Kathleen Olive Has a degree in South Asian History. Has a PhD in Italian Studies, speaks She has a lifelong passion for travel fluent Italian and lectures on the art, and over 30 years’ experience as a tour history and culture of Europe. Kathleen leader on the sub-continent and in Asia. has an outstanding knowledge of Italy. Upcoming tours: Pages 47, 50 Upcoming tours: Pages 16, 17, 25, 48, 51 Dr Matthew Dr Matthew Laing Dal Santo Is a historian and political scientist with a Is a historian and freelance writer PhD from the ANU. Matthew leads tours with Honours degrees from both to the United States and Scandinavia and Sydney and Cambridge Universities. lectures for Academy Travel. Upcoming tours: Page 32 Upcoming tours: Pages 30, 37, 56, 58 Michael Turner Dr Nick Gordon Is a classical archaeologist, an antiquarian, Has a University Medal and a PhD in garden historian and lecturer. The former history and lectures on European art. Senior Curator of the Nicholson Museum Nick is also a practising painter and at the University of Sydney. brings this passion to the visual arts. Upcoming tours: Pages 14, 26, 28 Upcoming tours: Pages 11, 12, 15, 23, 27, 29, 53, 66 Stuart Barrie Thomas Abbott Is a director of Academy Travel and Holds a degree in art history, specialising has over 20 years’ experience in travel, in the architecture of Berlin, the art of including leading groups through Western 18th-century Germany and the Bauhaus. Europe, Russia and the United States. He has led many tours in Germany. Upcoming tours: Page 57 Upcoming tours: Page 24 6 Carefully planned itineraries Christopher Christopher MEnz Bradley Is a former Director of the Art Gallery Has an Honours degree from Liverpool of SA. He has published extensively University and specialises in the history on the decorative arts and is a regular and art of North Africa and Arabia.