There has been a lot written recently about the alarming numbers of tourists crowding into some of Europe’s most alluring historic cities, including Barcelona, Florence and Prague. Venice in particular has been singled out because of the scourge of large cruise ships. On a bad day, five or six cruise ships can be in port, ...

Academy Travel tour leader Robert Veel takes you on a virtual tour of one of the world’s great art sites. New Zealand entrepreneur Alan Gibbs has always thought big. After an early career in diplomacy and banking he made his first fortune in the 1980s in the nascent telecommunications sector, before moving on to shipbuilding, ...

Observing the restless, ever-changing nature of post-war Berlin, former French culture minister Jack Lang once famously remarked, “Paris is always Paris and Berlin is never Berlin”. The same could be said of Singapore. Even in the context of breakneck development in many Asian countries, the tiny island nation stands out not just for the way ...

Stretched across inlets and islands of the Baltic, Finland’s capital offers a wealth of interesting sights for the music lover and cultural traveller. Tour leader Robert Veel explores some of Helsinki’s best attractions. Helsinki is not one of Europe’s ancient capitals. There are no Roman ruins, no medieval monasteries and no Renaissance art. And that’s ...

In spite of their proximity to continental Italy and France, of which they are semi-independent regions, the islands of Sardinia and Corsica are not well known to most travellers. After a recent reconnaissance trip to the islands, tour leader Robert Veel explains what each island has to offer the cultural traveller.   Landscape The landscape ...