Morocco in May: May 13 - May 23, 2024
Against a landscape from the Atlantic Ocean to the High Atlas Mountains to the Merzouga desert, this is your chance to experience the culture of this exotic land. Visiting World Heritage Sites, including ancient Roman outpost Volubilis, Ait Benhaddou, historic mosques, and the old medina of Marrakech (and more obviously!), you will enjoy ten days absorbing the enchanting colors, architecture, arts, landscapes, music, and food of Africa’s northwesternmost country. Four- and five-star hotels and a luxury desert camp guarantee your comfort for one of your life’s unforgettable experiences!
Le Côte d’Azur: September 25 - October 5, 2024
Art and Architecture Tours LLC is delighted to present Le Côte d’Azur—a 10-day/10-night venture that will explore this fabled coast where Europe meets the Mediterranean Sea. No mere ‘region’ of France, the “Riviera” has lured artists, ex-pats, and the “jet set” with its glorious weather, beautiful light, and its exciting topography as the continent cascades down to the sea. Join us for ten days to discover how the Côte d’Azur has enchanted travelers for ages and provided the setting for some of the 20th Century’s most celebrated art and artists. We will sample villas, gardens, museums, villages, Vieux Nice,Monaco, as well as cuisine—all bathed in beautiful Mediterranean light.
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Venice and the Palladian Veneto: Dates –September 15 – 26, 2023
Over a period of eleven days (7 in Vicenza, and 4 in Venice), enjoy privileged access to Italy’s most significant Renaissance architect, Andrea Palladio (1508-1580), plus important sites throughout the Veneto region and Venice: Vicenza, Verona, Lake Garda, Padua, Asolo, Possagno, Murano, and more….This tour includes 11 nights’ lodging, 21 meals, all entry fees, and expert guidance.
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Portugal: Accompanied by the Garth Newel Quartet - September 27 to October 7, 2023
From Lisbon to Porto, including vineyard visits in the Douro River Valley: ten days absorbing the enchanting colors, architecture, arts, landscapes, music, food and wine of Europe’s westernmost country. Five-star hotels in Lisbon and Porto, three concerts by the Garth Newel Piano Quartet, a wine culture, and World Heritage Sites will make this one of your life’s unforgettable experiences!
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Going to London to Visit the Queen: Garth Newel and Friends Join the Jubilee - June 16-25, 2022
In one year the United Kingdom will celebrate a first-ever event - the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith. Marking The Queen’s 70-year reign, next June will be a time of celebrations, and Garth Newel - its artists and patrons - will help with the festivities. With public concerts in Oxford, Norfolk, and London, the Garth Newel Piano Quartet will make debut performances in the UK, building on its public performances in Scotland in 2017 and in Venice in 2019. This is your opportunity to join the celebrations as Garth Newel prepares to launch its own 50th season of superb chamber music!
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From the Firth of Clyde to the Firth of Forth: Cultural Riches of the Scottish Lowlands - July 9-21, 2022
There’s so much to love about Scotland—in addition to the Highlands, whiskey, bagpipes, and tartans! From Edinburgh to Stirling Castle and Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow—to Culzean Castle on the Firth of Clyde, and the Borders; from a daytrip to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne in the North Sea, and a return visit to Scotland’s capital of Edinburgh, this tour is designed to reveal the exceptional flowering of the Scottish Lowlands. Privileged visits including two nights on the Dumfries House estate, the two largest collections of original Chippendale furniture, ducal estates and world-class art collections, gardens at their peak, ruined Border abbeys, excellent dining, and special attention to Scotland’s “starchitects” Robert Adam, leading neo-classicist of the late 18th c. and Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Scotland’s late 19th c. leading Art Nouveau architect. An amazing swath of art and architectural history in 12 days! Join us. Just a few places remain on this tour.
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Sicily: Crossroads of the Mediterranean - September 27 - October 8, 2022
Sicily: Crossroads of the Mediterranean is an 11-day/11-night venture that will explore the largest island in the Mediterranean that has been inhabited over millennia by some sixteen cultures. From west to east—Palermo’s Spanish baroque extravagance to the 6th c. BCE Greek Valley of the Temples, the 474 BCE masterpiece of ancient Greece Teatro Greco in Siracusa, and countless other cultural monuments—our guide Sicilian Tommaso Pante’ will also make sure that we have lots of opportunity to enjoy the surrounding sea, the varied terrain, the cuisine and the spectacular Mount Etna (eruptions permitting). You know you’ve always wanted to visit Sicily. With just six open places available, now’s the right time!
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In the Italian Veneto: Art, Architecture, Gardens, and Music - October 6-14, 2019
2017 - Around the Gulf of Venice
September 6- 16, 2017
Around the Gulf of Venice is a 10-day exploration of the layered history of the northern Adriatic. With 4 nights in Venice and 6 in Udine, this carefully curated tour is replete with riches-- Ravenna with its Byzantine era 5th and 6th century mosaics; Venice's St. Mark's Basilica and the major architectural sites around the Piazza San Marco; Andrea Palladio's 16th c. Church of the Redentore; the Correr Museum; Marciana Library--plus time to explore the Venice Biennale or the glass artisans on the island of Murano. Farther north, in Aquilea, the Roman Forum, 4th c. mosaics, and the Patriarchal Basilica all underscore the significance of its location on the Adriatic, while the renaissance and baroque era palazzi of the region speak of the Venetian influence over this northern region. Special private hospitality will punctuate this small-group tour.
2018 - "A Scotch Tasting"--Sampling the Best of Scotland
August 11-21, 2018
“A Scotch Tasting"--Sampling the Best of Scotland is a tour designed to immerse the inquisitive traveler in a wide swath of Scottish culture--from the oldest inhabited house in Scotland to the 21st c. Scottish Parliament and from the rolling landscape of the Lowlands to the fabled mystery of the Isle of Skye. With in-depth visits to cultural centers of Edinburgh and Glasgow, visitors will depart having sampled Scotland at its best.
2016 - Architecture of the Scottish Borders
May 18 - 24, 2016
Roger White, FSA, who will guide our tour of the Scottish Borders describes the tour this way: “The houses featured really cover the full span of country house types and periods in the region, from the medieval/16th century ones like Traquair, through Georgian (including Robert Adam, of course) and Scottish Baronial (Sir Walter Scott’s Abbotsford, the original Scottish Baronial prototype) to Manderston—the Edwardian swansong of the country house.
The contents at the two big ducal houses, Bowhill and Floors Castle, are exceptional by any standards, and to my mind the real plum is Mertoun - not well known because not open, but in a lovely position on the banks of the Tweed and a rare example of a house by Sir William Bruce, Scotland's first true classical architect. It contains the Duke of Sutherland's 'second eleven' pictures (the first eleven are in the National Gallery of Scotland), which includes a perfect matching pair of Claudes, some excellent Dutch pictures, and delectable Guardis.”