DESTINATIONS — ESCORTED TOURS
Art: Giotto frescoes in Assisi
History: Zulu battlefield,
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
History: Angkor Wat, Cambodia
the aurora borealis off their bucket list, why not suggest adding a total solar eclipse? Astronomy tour brand Explorers, part of the Intrepid group, has a 16-day trip to Indonesia to witness this rare phenomenon in the company of astronomer Dr John Mason. Next year’s trip is already sold out, but a departure on February 28, 2016, starts at £4,799 including flights, accommodation and some meals.
l HISTORY Forget stuffy history lessons or tweed-clad teachers – the best way to understand a region’s past is to learn about it while you’re there. Explore calls on historian and archaeologist Antonio Marretta to accompany its Ancient Sicily tour, bringing the dusty Greek and Roman ruins at Syracuse and the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento to life (15 days, from £2,182 including flights in September or October). Likewise, journalist and author Jonathan Fryer lends his expertise – he covered the Vietnam war, contributed to the BBC’s From Our Own Correspondent and is a university lecturer – to Jon Baines Tours’ newest itinerary. Gold, Frankincense and Trade in Oman and Jordan departs November 4, covering more than a 1,000 years of history by retracing the route of
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travelweekly.co.uk — 28 August 2014
ancient frankincense merchants from Muscat to Salalah, Jerash, Petra and Wadi Rum (flight- inclusive prices from £3,550). Even if clients don’t fancy spending their whole time immersed in history, expert input can still help make sense of what they see. Travel Indochina’s Khmer Empire Tour bookends its visit to the iconic Angkor Wat with an archaeologist-led tour of Angkor National Museum beforehand and a lecture from a University of Sydney historian for a more in-depth explanation afterwards. Putting a human face on war history, Riviera Travel’s South Africa Tour visits KwaZulu-Natal’s battlefields in the company of a local guide whose great- grandfather was a Zulu chief who fought at Rorke’s Drift. Likewise, Grand UK’s Battle of Britain calls in a local aviation historian to put the rest of the tour – which includes seeing Spitfires, Hurricanes and a Lancaster on the Battle of Britain Memorial flight at RAF Coningsby – into a local context.
l ART Everyone interprets artworks in their own way, but understanding the historical and cultural influences that shaped them can unlock more layers of meaning. In the Basilica of St Francis in
PICTURE: AAVINDRAA
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