Our tour leaders Dr Kathleen Olive and Dr Nick Gordon will be speaking at Hazelhurst Arts Gallery, as part of the Friends of Hazelhurst’s lecture program.
Join Academy Travel at the Nicholson Museum's 2017 free lecture series, Postcards from the Past, held on the first Saturday of each month.
We are pleased to announce a series of free short courses at Mosman Art Gallery. Our tour leaders will be sharing their wealth of knowledge on a range of topics.
Study the fascinating history and admire the natural beauty of the Italian coastline from Lazio, along the Tyrrhenian coast, through to Turin.
Dr Kathleen Olive has a PhD in Italian Studies, and lectures on European art and history. Her tours focus mainly on the post-classical Mediterranean world, especially Italy.
Take an in-depth look at the diverse and fascinating city of Berlin, with days in Leipzig and Dresden, on this 14-day residential style tour.
Thomas Abbott lives in Berlin and specialises in the history, art and architecture of Germany. He holds a degree in art history and leads tours to northern and central Europe.
Follow Frank Lloyd Wright, America’s greatest architect, from his Prairie Style in Chicago, through to Pennsylvania to explore Fallingwater and on to New York.
Stuart Barrie leads tours to Europe and the USA focused on 20th century history, architecture and design. He is a director of Academy Travel with decades of industry experience.
Join us on an in depth look at Spain’s two largest cities: Madrid with its Imperial wealth and Barcelona with its colourful Modernist and medieval architecture.
Dr Jeni Ryde is a historian with an excellent knowledge of medieval and modern Italy, Spain and Portugal. Her PhD spanned Renaissance studies, heritage and the impact of tourism.
Uncover Japan’s history, art and culture in new world Tokyo, Kanazawa’s gardens, Hiroshima’s peace memorial and 7 nights immersed in Kyoto’s cultural delights.
Dr Kathleen Olive has a Ph.D from the University of Sydney and lectures on art and history. She is a very popular and experienced tour leader.
Spend Thanksgiving in New York over 12 nights. Enjoy eight diverse performances, dine in Michellin-starred restaurants and visit some of the world’s top museums.
Dr Matthew Laing is a historian and political scientist with a PhD from the ANU. Matthew leads tours to the United States, Scandinavia and the Baltic.
This tour explores Adelaide and South Australia's art, culture and wildlife, with visits to historic homes, art galleries and stunning landscapes.
Christopher Menz is a former director of the Art Gallery of South Australia and before that held curatorial positions at the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of South Australia, and Natio
Our new 12-day study tour explores Rome’s history, art and culture from antiquity to the present, with an extended series of lectures and guided site visits.
Dr Nick Gordon has a University Medal and a PhD in history. He is also a practising painter. He leads art and history-themed tours in Europe and Australia.
Explore Italy’s southern capitals, Palermo and Naples, experiencing their blend of ancient and modern cultures that is both sophisticated and exhilarating.
Robert Veel has a BA and M.Ed from the University of Sydney, where he taught for many years. A director of Academy Travel, he leads tours mainly to Italy, the USA and Scandinavia.
Enjoy 11 top-flight performances of opera, orchestral music and stage drama. Meet performing artists and local music experts. Very comfortable Bloomsbury hotel.
Dr Tom Ford holds a PhD in music history and has written extensively on classical music. Tom is currently PR and media manager (classics and jazz) for Universal Music Australia.
Over 3000 years of Egyptian history awaits travelling the Nile Valley from Cairo to Aswan. From the great monuments and museums in Cairo and Luxor to Abu Simbel.
Lucia Gahlin is a UK-based Egyptologist with a wealth of experience as an educator, researcher, archaeologist and museum curator. She has led tours to Egypt since 1994.
Discover Tasmania’s colonial history and landscape. Visit galleries including MONA, experience Port Arthur, cruise Wineglass Bay and explore the Huon Valley.
Kathleen Olive has a Ph.D from the University of Sydney and teaches history and art. She has led several tours to Tasmania.
This 17-day tour will appeal to those looking to take ‘the road less travelled’ through the regions of Puglia and Basilicata, and on to the Bay of Naples.
Dr Estelle Lazer is an archaeologist with an international reputation for her research on Pompeii. Dr Jeni Ryde is a historian with an excellent knowledge of medieval and modern Italy.
Spend two weeks in the world’s most dynamic cultural city. Enjoy eight top performances, with visits to some of the world’s best museums and restaurants.
A cultural tour of the North Island, with visits to private sculpture parks, Art Deco architecture, Maori heritage, superb gardens and dramatic landscapes.
Robert Veel has a BA and M.Ed from the University of Sydney. A director of Academy Travel, he designed and planned this New Zealand tour.
A comprehensive tour covering Morocco’s diverse delights from Volubilis’ Roman ruins, ancient medinas in Fes and Marrakesh to the Sahara and the Atlantic Coast.
Ben Churcher is an archaeologist who has worked extensively in the Middle East. Since 1994 he has lectured on and led tours to Jordan, Greece, Syria, Egypt, China and Morocco.
Join the Easter celebrations and explore great history, culture, faith and art throughout Malta. Take private boat trips and stay in the heart of Valletta.
Dr Estelle Lazer is an archaeologist with an international reputation for her research on Pompeii, featured in several BBC documentaries and the subject of several books.
Escape the Easter crowds to the tranquility of the Umbrian and Tuscan countryside to see great art, explore ancient towns and enjoying unmatched wine and food.
Explore the history and culture of Italy’s premier art cities Florence and Venice. See world-class galleries and museums, and visit difficult-to-access sites.
See Greek temples, Roman villas, Byzantine mosaics, Norman cathedrals and exuberant baroque architecture, in a setting of sea and mountains.
Take a comprehensive tour of Spain, designed to give the first-time visitor an overview of the country’s diverse and fascinating history, art and traditions.
Professor Michael Neuman taught at the University of New South Wales, where his work in urban history, specialising in Spain, has won international awards.
Enjoy nine operas, a symphonic concert and musical touring from Basel up to Frankfurt and through Bavaria to Munich. Includes well-known and less familiar works.
Robert Gay is one of Australia’s leading music tour leaders and music educators. He has led more than 80 orchestral music and opera-themed to Europe and the US.
This tour of Taiwan uncovers Chinese traditions and culture with a wealth of art, architecture and beautiful landscapes in Tainan, Taroko Gorge and Taipei.
Judy Tenzing has decades of experience teaching about and leading tours to East Asia and the sub-continent. She has a degree in South Asian History.
Delve into Iran’s archaeology and experience some of the most remarkable monuments in the ancient and Islamic worlds including Isfahan, Shiraz and Persepolis.
Dr John Tidmarsh is a classical archaeologist a former lecturer at the University of Sydney. He leads tours throughout the Middle East and Central Asia.
As well as attending a series of fine performances, this musical pilgrimage takes you to the places where some of the great composers lived and worked.
Lindy Montgomery taught musicology at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music for 13 years. A fine soprano, she is a regular soloist with the Sydney Chamber Choir and Pinchgut Opera.
The stars come out! Enjoy six outstanding performances at the Met, with the leading singers of our day - Netrebko, DiDonato, Yende, Yoncheva and Domingo.
Music lover Christopher Menz is a former Director of the Art Gallery of SA. He has published extensively on the decorative arts and led several music and art themed tours.
Enjoy some of Italy’s finest villas on Lake Como, the Renaissance country houses of Palladio, and the splendour of the Borromean Islands on this 15-day tour.
Michael Turner is an archaeologist, an antiquarian, garden historian and lecturer. For many years he was Senior Curator of the Nicholson Museum at the University of Sydney.
Travel through the fascinating regions of Northern Spain via Porto to Lisbon. Explore outstanding art collections, spectacular monuments and vibrant cities.
Experience the fine arts and culture of Persia. See Tehran's fine museums, visit Isfahan’s exquisite mosques and the great sites of Pasargadae and Persepolis.
Christopher Bradley is an archaeologist who specialises in the history and art of North Africa, Central Asia and Arabia. UK-based, he is a graduate of Liverpool University.
Explore Ancient Greece’s rich history. visit Minoan sites in Crete, Mycenaean Pylos, Bronze Age and Classical Olympia, Delphi and Macedonian Thessaloniki.
Explore Corsica and Sardinia, two Mediterranean islands which, despite centuries of invasion and settlement, retain a proud independent spirit.
Follow the Frank Lloyd Wright trail from his prairies style in Chicago through to Buffalo and on to Wright’s most famous work, Fallingwater, outside Pittsburgh.
Explore the art and culture of the Low Countries, from medieval cities such as Bruges, to wonderful modern museums and less well-visited gems.
Kathleen Olive has a Ph.D from the University of Sydney and lectures on art and history. This will be her third tour to Japan for Academy Travel.
Thomas Abbott, lives in Berlin and specialises in the history, art and architecture of Germany. He holds a degree in art history and leads tours to northern and central Europe.
Combine stunning landscapes with the strong and distinctive musical traditions of Finland, Sweden and Norway expressed through composers like Grieg and Sibelius.
Travel from Burgundy, south through Lyon to the Côte d’Azur, exploring medieval villages, admire fine Roman ruins and visit exceptional regional art galleries.
See outstanding art, enjoy fine opera and explore the rich literary heritage of Germany, travelling from Munich to Berlin with Australian Book Review.
Christopher Menz is a former Director of the Art Gallery of SA. He has published extensively on the decorative arts and is a regular contributor to Australian Book Review.
Survey the work of the passionate men and women who, over the past three hundred years, have created some of the best-loved gardens in the south of England.
Michael Turner is an archaeologist, an antiquarian, garden historian and lecturer. For many years he was Senior Curator of the Nicholson Museum at the University of Sydney
This new 15-day tour takes you from Copenhagen, to Oslo, Bergen and Iceland, to explore the region’s distinctive landscapes and cultural traditions.
Explore the art and history of Paris, from its Roman origins through its medieval glory to the cauldron that shaped modern art, on this 13-day study tour.
Dr Michael Adcock is a social and cultural historian who specialises in the art and history of France. He has written extensively on France from the 17th to the 20th century.
From Edinburgh to the Isle of Skye, explore Scotland’s unique history and traditions through its most beautiful country estates, including Balmoral Castle.
Enjoy the world's leading opera festivals attending four outstanding performances at the Bavarian State Opera and three unforgettable Glyndebourne operas.
Enjoy a compelling lucid production of Wagner's four-part masterpiece at the Bavarian State Opera, with an unsurpassable international cast.
Travel in the footsteps of medieval merchants from Hamburg to Helsinki, visiting historic Germanic and Scandinavian cities on the Baltic, brimming with history.
Discover another Italy on this 17-day journey along the medieval pilgrim route, enjoying spectacular scenery, hidden gems and the elegance of provincial Italy.
Dr Nick Gordon has a University Medal and a PhD in history and lectures on European art. Nick is also a practising painter and brings this passion to the visual arts.
Travel from Albury to Melbourne exploring the life and legend of one if Australia’s most important characters in history, art, literature and folklore.
Ben Churcher is an archaeologist who has worked extensively in both Australia and the Middle East. Since 1994 he has lectured on and led tours on these regions.
Experience Ethiopia’s history, culture and landscapes. Travel to Lake Tana, Gondar’ s royal enclosure, the Simien Mountains, Axum and Lalibela’s rock churches.
From Mozart to Klimt, take a journey through the history, art and music of three of central Europe’s great capitals. Includes performances and a Danube cruise.
Delve into history, culture and art on this 17-day tour of Russia. Visit St Petersburg’s palaces and museums, Moscow’s Red Square and the Golden Ring.
Dr Matthew Dal Santo is a historian with a D.Phil from Cambridge University. His expertise includes modern Russia, Scandinavia and the Balkans.
Enjoy the best of land and sea travel on this 17 day tour travelling from Malta to Venice, featuring a nine-night cruise on the luxury sailing yacht Sea Cloud II
Settle in and relax on this residential tour as we discover the unique amalgam of enterprise, republicanism, ambition and virtuosity that shaped the Renaissance.
Enjoy performances by leading American orchestras and opera houses, including the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra & New York’s Metropolitan Opera.
Discover Iran’s cultural highlights on this comprehensive tour visit, museums, monuments, palaces and gardens from the Caspian Sea to the desert city of Yazd.
Unpack and unwind on this residential tour exploring the art and history of Venice, from its Byzantine origins to its Renaissance glory and modern beauty.
Discover Portugal on this 15-day tour, from Lisbon’s Golden Age to the World Heritage-listed sites of Sintra and Évora, medieval Coimbra and colourful Porto.
The greats of American modernism and contemporary architecture: Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies van der Rohe, Richard Neutra, Frank Gehry and the Eames brothers.
Discover Turkey's arts, culture, history and food. Travel in from Istanbul to Ankara, through Anatolia, the Aegean Coast to Gallipoli and returning to Istanbul.
Dr Jenny Lawless is a historian and former inspector of history for the NSW Board of Studies. She has travelled and researched extensively in Turkey.
Visit the great regional galleries in Victoria, products of the Gold Rush and pastoral wealth of Victoria and still vibrant centres of visual art.
Dr Nick Gordon has a University Medal and a PhD in history. He is also a practising painter. He teaches and leads tours with art and history themes.
Travel from Mildura up to Mutawindji National Park on a discovery of our ancient indigenous heritage and the beauty of some of our most remote national parks.
Chris Carter has led archaeology and history themed tours in Europe, South America and Australia for over 20 years. He recently completed a PhD in archaeology.
Enjoy the best of the Big Apple, including jazz, opera at the Met, Broadway plays, a private visit of MoMA, history and architecture walking tours.
Dr Matthew Laing is a historian and political scientist with a PhD from the ANU. Matthew leads tours to the United States, Scandinavia and around the Baltic.
Dr Kathleen Olive has a PhD and lectures on art and history. Already well known for her tours to Europe, this is her third Japan trip.
Snow, Christmas markets and fine music abound on our regular Christmas/New Year getaway tour. Includes Christmas in Salzburg and New Year’s Even in Vienna.
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