Cultural Tours and Music Holidays

 

Whether you want to learn more about the history and art of a particular region, or experience a Kirker Music Festival, a classical concert or opera performance at one of Europe’s leading festivals or opera houses, we are confident you will find something that will whet your appetite for travel. All our escorted holidays are led by a guest lecturer who will help you experience the best of what your chosen destination has to offer, but we will always allow plenty of time for you to enjoy your surroundings at a leisurely pace with the company of your fellow travellers.

The 10th Kirker Ischia Music Festival

The festival is based at the 4* Albergo San Montano which has splendid views out across the Bay of Naples to Capri and Vesuvius. An included a private guided tour of La Mortella and a half-day sightseeing tour of Ischia, which takes you to the lush, rural interior and spectacular coastlines. There are also two optional excursions- one to Naples where you can visit the cities two great museums, the Archaeological Museum and the Capodimonte Museum.

The Kirker Chopin Festival in Mallorca

The festival will introduce you to the spectacular stretches of the north coast of Mallorca which come as a complete surprise to visitors who have experienced the crowded resorts to the south. The north coast is completely unspoiled and has been protected from development. You will spend a full day in Palma, capital of the island and a city of great style, where we will see the cathedral and the delightful old quarter.

Norwegian Fjords Cruise

Travelling along Norway’s long and dramatic coastline is universally acknowledged to be one of the world’s greatest journeys – it impresses both first time visitors and those who come back time after time to enjoy the glorious scenery. The deep, silent fjords are lined by towering mountains with their glaciers and fast-rushing waterfalls plunging for hundreds of feet into the clear waters.

Canary Islands, Madeira & Lisbon

Throughout these days the Kirker Music Festival at Sea programme will be in full swing with concerts, master classes, talks and interviews with the musicians on board. Our first port of call is the sub-tropical island of Madeira. Madeira is one huge floating garden, its roads and lanes lined by luxuriant and exotic flowers and shrubs.

The Metropolitan Opera & Art Galleries of New York

In addition to the three included performances at the Metropolitan Opera we will be visiting the city’s most important galleries and museums. Our first visit is to The Metropolitan Museum of Art followed by a visit to the remarkable collection of medieval art at The Cloisters, a department of the Met overlooking the Hudson River. We will visit MOMA an hour before the Museum opens to the public so that we can enjoy the collection’s highlights before the crowds arrive. The Frick Collection overlooking Central Park is one of the finest private art collections in the world.

Opera at La Fenice in Venice

During the holiday there will be three guided walking tours with visits to the Academia, the ‘National Gallery of Venice’, which houses the most important collection of Venetian paintings from the 14th to the 17th century and the Ca’Rezzonico for 18th century Venetian art including works by Tiepolo, Canaletto and Rosalba. We will also visit a number of important churches including Palladio’s magnificent church of San Giorgio Maggiore, wonderful painting cycles by Veronese in the Church of San Sebastiano, the paintings of Tintoretto in the Scuola di San Rocco and the Church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari for works by Titian, Giovanni Bellini, Alessandro Vittoria and Donatello and the tomb of Canova. In the Castello area of Venice we look at the less well known churches and scuole.

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America’s Music Cities

A Music Lovers Dream

       

Enjoy a finger-snapping, toe-tapping time on this tour of America’s most famed musical cities. Visit New Orleans, Memphis and Nashville as you revel in the sounds of the blues, jazz, country and good old rock ‘n’ roll. Experience the unique city of New Orleans, where jazz, food and fun are always on the menu. Have your choice on tour – either stroll through New Orleans’ famous French Quarter on a walking tour with a local expert or set out on a panoramic coach tour for a different perspective of the city. Spend two nights in Memphis, “birthplace of the blues,” and tour Elvis Presley’s Graceland. At the historic Belle Meade plantation indulge in a culinary and wine tasting experience. Enjoy reserved seats at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Tour historic RCA Studio B and see where country legends recorded hit songs. A visit to the Country Music Hall of Fame is sure to have you humming long after you return home.