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Academic travel articles, written by our expert tour leaders.

 
Passion in an Irish Garden
Houses & Gardens Mike Turner Houses & Gardens Mike Turner

Passion in an Irish Garden

Most gardeners would happily admit that their garden was born of passion, of an intense desire to create something beautiful that excited interest, brought peace, and calmed the soul. And yet the very word passion is a multi-faceted concept. From the Greek word for suffering, it implies a strong or even a barely controlled emotion – a disorientation of the mind, of the soul.

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Scotland: From Edinburgh to the Isles
History Dr Lauren Mackay History Dr Lauren Mackay

Scotland: From Edinburgh to the Isles

“Scotland is a land of mountains, glens, and islands, a land of myth and legend”. So wrote Sir Walter Scott and indeed, with its untamed natural beauty, from the deep lochs of the highlands to the vast green meadows of the lowlands, and the rugged Hebridean Isles, Scotland has an almost ethereal quality. Just as the unique terrain captures the imagination, so too do the cairns and ancient stone henges

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The Utopian Dream of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian Homes

The Utopian Dream of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian Homes

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the renowned 20th century American architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed only for the wealthy elite. After all, household-name architects (or “star-chitects”) like Wright don’t typically get famous by creating homes for the average family. Like his architectural peers, Wright did, of course, design a number of

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Brescia & its Astonishing Museum of Santa Giulia
History, Art Architecture & Design, Archaeology Dr Eireann Marshall History, Art Architecture & Design, Archaeology Dr Eireann Marshall

Brescia & its Astonishing Museum of Santa Giulia

Few people would put Brescia, the 2nd largest city in Lombardy, near the top of their list of places to visit in Italy – perhaps because it is such an industrial city and associated with steel and arms manufacturing. Walking along the historical streets of the city, sipping the famous bubbly Franciacorta made in the province and, above all, visiting its historical heart

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What is the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair?
Travel Practicalities, Art Architecture & Design Distinguished Professor Peter McNeil Travel Practicalities, Art Architecture & Design Distinguished Professor Peter McNeil

What is the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair?

Darwin hosts two very important cultural events in the same week: the largest and most important annual event for Indigenous Australian art, the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair (DAAF); and Couture to Country, the leading space to highlight the rise of Indigenous fashion and textile design. It is a unique opportunity for over 1,500 artists from more than 70 Indigenous owned Art Centres to showcase

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Insider’s Venice
Academy Travel Academy Travel

Insider’s Venice

The crowds in Venice are almost as famous as the gondolas. At the cruise port, in the height on the summer season, as many as five large ships can arrive in a day, bringing with them up to 20,000 fun-seeking day-trippers. An equal number can arrive by coach, arriving at the island car-park of Tronchetto and winding their way up the Grand Canal to St Mark’s. The itinerary of these day-trippers is

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Tales of Trailblazing High-Country Women
History Dr Bernadette Drabsch History Dr Bernadette Drabsch

Tales of Trailblazing High-Country Women

Towards the end of last year, a book caught my eye called ‘Sheilas – Badass Women of Australian History’ by Eliza Reilly. Opening the front cover, I read the introductory paragraph, where Eliza starts by saying: Let’s be blunt. There aren’t enough women in our history books. There aren’t even enough we can name off the tops of our heads, compared to the blokes. The problem is, in our enthusiasm to

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Ikara Flinders Ranges
History Dr Chris Carter History Dr Chris Carter

Ikara Flinders Ranges

The Flinders Ranges, as they are today, are the mere stubs of once majestic mountains, which hundreds of millions of years ago would have rivalled the Andes or the Himalayas. The original sediments were laid down over half a billion years ago before uplift, folding and faulting formed a massive mountainous range, followed by the weathering that has left us with the current landform

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Abruzzo
History, Travel Practicalities Neil Moore History, Travel Practicalities Neil Moore

Abruzzo

In an era of mass tourism with Italy amongst the world’s most popular destinations, it can come as a surprise to find that there are still entire regions in the country which are virtually unknown to the international traveller. But such is the case with the region of Abruzzo, nestling in the centre of the peninsular to the east of Rome. I first came to Italy in 1980 with the usual expectations of a place

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Unveiling the Enigma
History, Archaeology Neil Moore History, Archaeology Neil Moore

Unveiling the Enigma

Nestled in the heart of Italy, the Etruscans created Italy’s most fascinating and enigmatic culture prior to the emergence of Rome. Flourishing from the 9th down to the 3rd century BCE, they played a pivotal role in mediating the arrival of Greek and Eastern Mediterranean influence in the Italian peninsular and it was, above all, to them that the Romans looked in the early stages of their emergence as a

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