rt History tours - Casterbridge today has an unrivalled range of itineraries to coincide with all aspects of Art and Art History studies. We can arrange thematic Art Tours to rediscover the landscapes and locations that inspired the Great Masters, or concentrate on the art treasures of any one country. For example, no other nation contains such a wealth of treasures nor boasts such a rich heritage of artistic creativity as Italy. Our Art History Tours can be concentrated on any combination of the Mediterranean nations of Europe, the great galleries and museums of Northern and Central Europe, or further afield to worldwide destinations such as America, Canada or Russia.

The art histories of much of the civilised world unfold as groups visit the great buildings of Europe and other continents to discover outstanding collections of art treasures. Whether viewing Michelangelo's ultimate creation in the Sistine Chapel, visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, or following in the footsteps of the Impressionists in Provence, young and old cannot fail to be impressed by and learn from these supreme achievements of art and architecture.

Casterbridge will always guarantee a private tour for your group and will always provide a custom-designed tour to complement your studies. The permanent presence of a Casterbridge Tour Manager, complemented by local guides and special behind-the-scenes visits, ensures that our tour participants receive the maximum educational and cultural benefits.

We also aim, whenever possible, to provide thematic and chronological content to each day of the tour. On our Treasures of Denmark tour, for example, we study the nation's greatest art treasures in chronological order from the Vikings, through to the Renaissance, up to the present day.

All of the above factors have been major contributing elements in Casterbridge being the preferred tour operator for discerning art lovers.

To custom design the tour of your choice, call us free on 01935 810810 Monday - Friday 9-5.30.

Outline Itineraries - Art and Art History

The tours listed are just a small sample of the itineraries we can offer.

Overnights are shown in { }. (Day excursions are in parentheses.)

We will also be pleased to provide a customised itinerary to meet your particular requirements.

Call 01935 810810 for detailed day-by-day itineraries and costs for your group's proposed dates and preferred services.

BRAZIL
12 Days
Salvador da Bahia {3} - Fly to Rio de Janeiro {3} - Petropolis - Tiradentes {2} - Congonhas do Campoto {2} - Fly to Rio

CANADA
9 Days
Montreal {3} - Ottawa {2} - Toronto {2}

CENTRAL SAHARA
15 Days
Algiers {1} - Fly to Tamanrasset {1} - Tefedest range of Ahaggar, Mertoutek {1} - Trek exploring prehistoric rock art paintings {9} - Tamanrasset {1} - Fly to Algiers {1}

DENMARK
8 Days
Copenhagen {1} - Frederikssund - Roskilde - Odense - Aarhus {2} - Ebeltoft - Hillerod - Fredensborg - Helsingor {1} - Kronborg - Copenhagen {3} (Humlebaek, Bagsvaed)

FRANCE
10 Days
Rouen {2} (Honfleur, Deauville, Trouville) - Giverny - Auvers-sur-Oise - Paris {3} - Avignon {2} (Arles, St. Rémy de Provence) - Aix-en-Provence - Cagnes-sur-Mer - Nice {2}

ITALY
11 Days
Venice {3} - Ravenna - Florence {3} (Pisa) - Siena - Rome {4}

ITALY
9 Days
Naples - Sorrento {4} (Paestum, Amalfi Drive; Pompeii, Mt. Vesuvius; Capri) - Naples - Herculaneum - Rome {4} (Tivoli)

PORTUGAL
10 Days
Lisbon {4} (Queluz, Sintra) - Óbidos, Nazaré - Batalha - Coimbra {2} (Bussaco) -Tomar - Évora {2} (Monsaraz) - Lisbon {1}

SPAIN
8 Days
Barcelona {3} - Montserrat - Overnight train {1} - Madrid {3} (Toledo; El Escorial, Segovia)

USA
10 Days
New York {4} - Newport - Boston {4} (Lincoln, Concorde)

DETAILED ITINERARY EXAMPLE

The Art Treasures of Moscow & St Petersburg

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS
(Admission Costs Included): * Moscow: City Tour, Red Square, Kremlin, St Basil's Cathedral, Novodevichy Convent, History Museum, Arbat Street, Kalinin Prospekt, Lenin Mausoleum, Tretyakov Gallery, Pushkin Fine Arts Museum * Cathedral of the Assumption * St Petersburg: City Tour, St Isaac's Cathedral, Peter and Paul Fortress, The Hermitage, Piskaryovskoye Cemetery, Yusupovsky Palace, Mikhaylovskiy Palace, Russian Art Museum * Pushkin: Palace, Pavlovsk Palace & Park

Our tour provides a fascinating introduction to the art treasures of reborn Russia. The architectural beauty of St Petersburg and the art collection of the Hermitage are unrivalled, while Moscow contains many fascinating historical attractions, art galleries and museums.

DAY 1 DEPARTURE
Enjoy full meal service on your flight to Moscow. On arrival you will be met by your guide and transferred to your hotel.

DAY 2 MOSCOW
Moscow dates from 1147 and is the political, economic and cultural centre of Russia. Today we start with a City Tour to introduce us to Red Square, the Kremlin, the Bolshoi Theatre and St. Basil's Cathedral with its striking, colourful domes. We will enjoy a sweeping panorama of Moscow from the Lenin Hills and admire the artists at the Novodevichy Convent before continuing to the History Museum. A walk along Arbat Street and Kalinin Prospekt will enable us to contrast old and new Moscow in close juxtaposition.

DAY 3 MOSCOW
We begin our day in the vast Red Square where we will view the Lenin Mausoleum. We will tour the Kremlin and see an array of strikingly coloured historic buildings including magnificent gold and silver domed cathedrals. Our first visit to an art gallery in Moscow is the Tretyakov Gallery, which has the finest collection of traditional Russian paintings in the world. Pavel Tretyakov assembled the core of the museum's collection in the middle of the 19th century. In 1892 he donated his extensive collection to the city and during our visit today our specialist guide will show us the masterpieces of their period and genre.

DAY 4 MOSCOW
This morning we visit the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum, which possesses a superb collection of European art. A particular strength of the collection is the Impressionist and Post Impressionist paintings. Our specialist guide will point out that such works gained an appreciative audience in Russia long before they captured the imagination of collectors further west. This afternoon we will explore the Cathedral of the Assumption. This magnificent 14th century cathedral, built in the spirit of the Renaissance, is an airy and spacious masterpiece. The frescoes in the central dome, which date from 1642, give the impression of an illuminated manuscript.

DAY 5 MOSCOW - ST. PETERSBURG
We bid farewell to Moscow as we fly to St. Petersburg where we will transfer to our hotel. St Petersburg was founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and remained the imperial capital until 1918. On our introductory City Tour we will see Palace Square and the Winter Palace, the Admiralty, St. Isaac's Cathedral, the statue of Peter the Great and the permanently moored Aurora cruiser, which fired the shot that signalled the start of the 1917 Revolution. We will continue to the Peter and Paul Fortress wherein stands the Baroque decorated cathedral, for years the burial place of the Russian Tsars.

DAY 6 ST. PETERSBURG
The Winter Palace is the most famous building of imperial St. Petersburg, not only as the residence of the Tsars and backdrop for the 1905 and 1917 Revolutions, but also as the home of the Hermitage, one of the world's leading art museums. It is located in three buildings housing nearly 3 million exhibits. Our guide will show us the museum's fine collection of Italian Renaissance and French Impressionist paintings, as well as works by Rembrandt, Picasso and Matisse. We will also visit the Piskaryovskoye Cemetery, an impressive memorial to the 1941-43 siege of St. Petersburg during World War II.

DAY 7 PUSHKIN & PAVLOVSK PALACE
Our first destination today is the town of Pushkin, sixteen miles south of St. Petersburg. The Picture Gallery in the lavish palace has an excellent collection of 17th and 18th century canvases. We will continue to Pavlovsk Palace & Park, a Palladian mansion with landscaped gardens dotted with temples and pavilions.

DAY 8 ST. PETERSBURG
Today we visit Yusupovsky Palace, which is on a quiet stretch of the Moika River. During the 18th century the palace was the home of the wealthy Yusupov family who were internationally renowned collectors of art. The Yusupovs also witnessed one of Russian history's moments of high drama - the assassination of Grigory Rasputin in 1916. Our guide will show us the beautifully recreated interiors and recount the full story behind this murder. Later this afternoon we will stop at St Isaac's Cathedral, one of the largest of its kind in the world. With its magnificent dome it is visible all across the city. Inside, our guide will be able to show us around 380 works of sculpture, paintings and mosaics.

DAY 9 DEPARTURE
Our final tour is of the Mikhaylovskiy Palace, which houses the Russian Art Museum, and boasts a unique collection of Russian art from the 13th -20th century. Your enjoyable and rewarding tour will come to an end as you guide accompanies you to the airport for the return flight home.

Casterbridge is a Tour Operator that is a serious proponent of the academic and cultural benefits of group tours and we recommend you call 01935 810810 or Register now for sample or custom designed Art History itineraries.