Andante Travels

WINE AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF GREECE AND HER ISLANDS

2008-07-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

WINE AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF GREECE AND HER ISLANDS

An invitation to join a

TUTORED TASTING of the
NEW WINES OF GREECE AND HER ISLANDS
( Including Malmsey of Monemvasia, Samos Muscat and the new producers of Nemea)

WEDNESDAY 20th AUGUST

At the Chapel Lecture Theatre, The Close, Salisbury
(entry through the Salisbury and South Wilts Museum courtyard, out-of-hours entry, right-hand side)

19.15 – 20.30

£10 per person
All proceeds to go to the Salisbury and South Wilts Museum

As you may know, Andante Travels in Archaeology and Arblaster and Clarke Wine Tours are joining together and chartering a fabulous traditional tall ship to sail those “wine dark seas” of Homer next June, and discover the newest wines and the oldest civilisations of Greece.

Gone are the days of Retsina and Domestica – dynamic young winemakers have embraced new technology and wine-production methods to produce exciting modern style wines made with traditional grape varieties.

Come and sample the results in a tutored tasting led
by Tim Clarke. (Wine Director of A&C)

Archaeologists from Andante will be on hand to tell you more about the fabulous sites of antiquity which we will be visiting: Minoan Crete, Agamemnon’s Mycenae, Sacred Delos, and later Roman and Byzantine sites – all set in one of the most spectacular settings of the western world, and approached as they always were – by sea.

Whether or not you intend to join us next year, this will be a fun evening and a chance to meet us all.
Tickets, strictly in advance from the Andante office are £10 per person, and all profits will go to the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum.

Any questions? Want to book places?
Email us at Tours@andantetravels.co.uk or ring 01722 713800

Olympian Hippodrome discovery

2008-07-24T01:04:00.000-07:00

A team of German archaeologists have recently made a tantalising discovery in the ruins of Ancient Olympia in the Peloponnese. Noted for the dubious honour of the Roman emperor Nero competing here for Olympian laurels, the Hippodrome, once thought to have been lost forever, has been unearthed.

Prior to this, scholars and archaeologists had knowledge of the hippodrome only through written sources. Although archaeologists have been tirelessly excavating the site since 1875, nothing has been found until now. Pausanias alludes to the excitement of the Hippodrome;

“They now draw level with those who have drawn the lot for the second place and the starting ropes are lowered here; this procedure continues until all the horses are level in a row at the tip of the prow. At this point the drivers can begin to demonstrate their skills and the speed of their horses,”

Olympia is one of the many fascinating sites that we explore on our Peloponnese tours. Perhaps just being there gives a huge insight into why the modern Olympic Games is always steeped in so much politics and often considered the embodiment of the human spirit.

Stonehenge Skeleton

2008-07-03T08:49:00.000-07:00

A Skeleton from Stonehenge.

In 1978 the remains of an Early Bronze Age burial were found during the excavation of the ditch surrounding the monument. The remains were of a male, aged between 25 and 30. Unusually, he was found to have several wounds, which appear to have been inflicted by arrows. Three arrowheads were found with the burial, one or more of which were responsible for the fatal wounds inflicted.

This object has been adopted by Andante Travels who have added this additional information: Discovered during excavations by Cardiff University. The young student, Denise Allen, who first exposed the leg bones is now Deputy Director of Andante Travels in Archaeology (Salisbury).

...insights to those unplanned and unplannable episodes...

2008-06-19T03:31:00.000-07:00

Some tour reports from staff make very entertaining reading and provide insights to those unplanned and unplannable episodes which sometimes occur on tour. This was from our Latium tour in May:

There was an interesting incident. Among the food provided for the picnic was a lovely home-made cake (baked by the sister of one of our contacts). Guests fell upon it like locusts, and it disappeared rapidly, leaving only a few crumbs. One guest asked if I had tried it, and I replied that I had not, it had all disappeared so quickly, and I made flippant remarks about gannets. This electrified the locals. My comments were translated, mobile phones pulled out, sisters telephoned, cake mercy-dashes made in cars (all the time I was hopping up and down saying “No, no! Honestly, it doesn’t matter, I was just joking etc.”) Anyway, in a remarkably short time a car screeched up, and another cake was produced. I was handed a huge cake doorstep (which was, actually, very nice indeed). Guests, of course, found all of this hilarious, and naturally those of them who had missed out first time descended on the new cake. And this is where the interesting bit comes in. One of the guests had Italian grandparents, but knew nothing about their background but their name, which was an unusual one. They had tried to find out what part of Italy the family came from, but had been able to find no-one with that name anywhere. When she tried the new cake, she immediately recognized it as one her grandmother used to make. She mentioned this to the local people, told them the name, and they told her that there are lots of people with that name in Ceprano and the surrounding towns. She was quite pleased.

New museum on our Dordogne tour

2008-05-21T06:33:00.000-07:00

We are extending our Dordogne itinerary next year to include this amazing new museum. The finds are truly spectacular, very special, most unusual art form and extensive. All made 15,000 years ago… and all very new – displayed in latest high tech. way. As you can see, only just hit the press and already we’re adapting our itinerary….!

Click here to read find out more about the museum, or click here to view our Dordogne tour.

‘Maya in Mexico’ article from Conde Nast Traveller

2008-05-21T06:22:00.000-07:00

Can you dig it?

A new archaeological trip in Mexico provides a historical backdrop to this summer’s blockbuster film

Led by BBC documentary maker David Drew. Andante Travels’ ‘May in Mexico’ tour should appeal to the Indiana Jones in you. Just as the new film. The Kingdom of the Skull, takes Harrison Ford into the heart of the Mayan world in search of an intricately carved headpiece. The tour itinerary includes visits to the must-see Uxmal, and Palenque on the Yucatan Peninsula, as well as lesser-known sites of the ancient civilisation. Drew, author of The Lost Chronicles of the Maya Kings, has an academic background at Oxford and the Institute of Latin American Studies, and is closely involved with the Cusichaca Trust in Peru, which works with local communities to restore their ancient heritage. So he should be well placed to comment to whether a culture without metal tools could actually have created the type of skull around which the film’s plot revolves. Andante Travels (01722 713800: www.andantetravels.co.uk). ‘Maya in Mexico’ tour departs 17 November: 16 days from £3,350 per person full board, including flights, tours and site entry, ‘The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ is out on 22 May.

Click here to view our Maya in Mexico page

THE TRUE FACE OF JULIUS CAESAR

2008-05-21T06:17:00.000-07:00

An extraordinary find has been recovered from silt in the riverbed of the Rhone in Arles, southern France.

It is a bust of Julius Caesar, showing the great General as a fifty year old man with a broad head, heavily lined and wrinkled face, and strong neck with a prominent adam’s apple. It is a most realistic and life-like portrayal and contrasts strongly with the busts of Caesar which have been known hitherto – all of which depict him in a stylised and conventional form more suited to a god and were almost certainly created after his death.

For Andante’s travellers joining either: Caesar’s Gallic Wars, or Provence, we suggest you follow this link and get the know the man who changed the face of history. For those following his campaigns during the Gallic Wars, who will come to know the man by his deeds during the course of the holiday, this is a truly wonderful find. Now you may know him better!

Dated 49-46 BC.

Following in the footsteps of Dr.Who…

2008-04-15T01:20:00.000-07:00

Perhaps you were one of the 8 million viewers who tuned in recently to witness the great Dr.Who (played by David Tennant) arrive in ancient Pompeii in AD 79, on the eve of the historic and catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
It may interest you to know that one of Andante’s tour groups to Pompeii last year were fortunate enough to catch the BBC film crew in action on Mount Vesuvius last October.
Although it is unlikely that ‘the Tardis’ will still be a landmark at the ancient site in the coming year, our Pompeii tours are well worth a first hand look at the destruction caused by that fateful event.
Andante Travels still has four Pompeii tours running this year. The dates for these are Mon 8th Sep – 15th Sep, Mon 22nd Sep – 29th Sep & Sun 5th – 12th Oct. BOOK NOW!

Brilliant Things for Akhenaten

2008-01-31T04:08:00.000-08:00

Dr Paul Nicholson one of our Guide Lecturers has realsed a new book read below to find out more:

Brilliant Things for Akhenaten: The Production of Glass, Vitreous Materials and Pottery at Amarna Site 0.45.1

This book examines the coming of glass to Egypt and its relationship to the production of faience and pottery, particularly at Amarna site O45.1. The text combines excavated evidence with experimental archaeology and laboratory analyses to give a reconstruction of the production of glass and other materials at Amarna, both in terms of technology and social context. The excavations carried out by Flinders Petrie at Amarna (18912) are reassessed in the light of the new work and finds from that time put into a broader perspective. 394p, b/w illus, tabs, CD with images (Excavation Memoirs 80, Egypt Exploration Society 2007)

Click here for more information

Two rooms available on our Egypt tour

2008-01-29T01:22:00.000-08:00

There are two double or twin rooms unexpectedly available on our very popular Egypt Tour, running 23 March to 7 April 2008. Led by Dr Paul Nicholson, senior lecturer at Cardiff University, this tour is in its second successful year – highlights include an exploration of a ‘real’, virtually tourist-free middle Egypt, and the vast and atmospheric site of Tel-el Amarna, the capital of Egypt under the pharaoh Akhenaten, where Paul excavated for several years. As well as all the must-see sites from Cairo to Aswan, we include 4 nights on a wonderful 5 star deluxe Nile boat, and a flight to Abu Simbel to see the magnificent temples built by Ramses II. Other departures in April, October and November are also available.

Heading off on Bare Bones Leptis this February?

2008-01-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

If so have a look at our new Google map of the tour by clicking here. If you like what you see and are not booked on the tour this February, don't worry because you can still book on our November tour. Visit the tour page or ring on 01722 713800.

If there is a tour you would really like to see a new Google map of email daniel@andantetravels.co.uk

Peru. Once experienced, never forgotten…

2008-01-11T01:23:00.000-08:00

Starting with the Pacific coast, one of the driest places on earth where rain is almost unknown except for the devastating storms which happen once in a lifetime, and which may well be responsible for wiping out successive civilisations….

Continuing to the thin, pure air of the Highlands which brightens every colour, and the local people revel in this, wearing the brightest of patterns in joyous colours.

Where guinea pig is a delicacy, tamales (thick rissoles of maize meal) are a staple dish and the drink everyone wants to learn how to make is a pisco sour.

For the uninitiated, as David Drew writes, Peru normally means the Incas, an extraordinarily well organised society that tamed their harsh environment and produced a uniquely formidable architecture in meticulously fitted stone. But in reality their grip on the area was short – some 100 years at most, and brutally cut short by the invading conquistadors.

For thousands of years before that, a variety of civilisations, each reaching heights more astounding than the last, had developed in Peru, and not just in the Highlands, but more significantly, along the long stretch of Pacific coastline. This is a strip of desert which runs for 1,000 miles through Peru and down into Chile where rain almost never falls.

By the first millennium BC, the peoples of the coastal valleys had learnt to irrigate the desert, transforming the river mouths into verdant oases that supported huge populations who built enormous constructions: temples, cities, vast palace compounds.
One of the great secrets that Andante’s travellers come to share is how untouched and little visited are most of the stupendous archaeological sites of Peru. Standing on the sandy plain near Trujillo on Peru’s north coast, for example, where once stood a great city of the Moche people between the enormous pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, we hear how both structures are built like Russian dolls, one construction laid over another. You could be on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes in the late 19th century – such is the quiet, the air of mystery and the knowledge that so much remains to be discovered.

The exciting excavations at the temple of the Moon, Trujillo, revealing vast new stucco panels from former temples, since each was built over the other, like Russian dolls

The same is true of Chan Chan with its great mud brick compounds (the biggest in the world) for the rulers of the Chimu. Each king building a fresh compound of his own next to his predecessor’s.

In Chan Chan, the greatest adobe city on earth, each new ruler created his royal compound afresh, a neighbour to his predecessor’s.

The arid conditions of the desert preserve past generations and their artefacts in sometimes shockingly fresh condition. Walking through the cemeteries of El Brujo, for instance, human bones and woven fabrics emerge eerily from the blowing sand. Hundreds of years have passed since their burial, but their mummified remains and brilliant weaving is just dessicated. Great private and public collections of pots, mummies and vast quantities of textiles hve sat in display cases and museum stores for many years.

One of the greatest fascinations here, despite the arrival of the conquistadors, is the strong and detectable continuity from the pre-Columbian past to the present. In the more remote areas of the country (some of which we visit), traditional farming communities maintain a way of life and many basic beliefs which appear to have changed little since ancient times. And it is this very basic “human” connection with the past which makes a trip to Peru so intense and exciting.

Andante guests (bottom left) concentrate on balancing as they walk alongside the salt pans. The pans are all individually owned and tended by local people.

From the arid desert landscapes of the coast, with the majestic but eerie adobe ruins, the contrast could not be greater when you then arrive in the brilliant colours of the verdant Highlands of Peru. Landing at Cusco, a sign welcomes you which tells you that it is not Altitude Sickness which makes you feel giddy, it is being so close to heaven. And it might seem that there is much truth in this.

Much has been written about Cusco, The Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, and I very much doubt that I could improve upon it here. Suffice it to say that it is all true. The air is clearer, the colours are brighter, the people more colourful. David’s local connections through working with the Cusichaca Trust mean that we are greeted by local villagers and invited to a potato tasting (there are hundreds of different varieties) in one of the villages famed for its weaving.

As well as the hundreds of different types of potato (of which we sample many), Peru produces a magnificent variety of maize cobs…

These connections mean David also knows exactly how best to visit Machu Picchu – a first visit at the end of the afternoon when all the day trippers are returning and the site is quietly waiting nightfall, and then up before daybreak to ensure we are sitting waiting in the greyness of dawn to catch the first dramatic shafts of light as they strafe the iconic hillside opposite and illuminate the Inca village below. These are the things that memories are made of…

The mists rise as the day dawns over Machu Picchu. It is a magical moment – humming birds and butterflies suddenly appear from nowhere as one of the most dramatic sites in the world is lit up for another day.

Click here for the webpage for this tour

Travels in Archaeology - extra tour dates for 2008

2008-01-09T03:44:00.000-08:00

Every year we find that certain tours fill unexpectedly quickly after the brochure is published and, as we hate to dissappoint people, we do our best to arrange extra departures.

Andante’s Guide Lecturers enjoy leading the tours so they can usually be persuaded to help us out, but sometimes their other work commitments mean that they have no more time to spare. This year the most popular tours which filled immediately were: Egypt, Ravenna and Aquileia, Albania, Syria and Provence.

We feel very lucky to be working with a new Guide Lecturer who has offered to lead two tours to Egypt for us in 2008 – Lucia Gahlin. Lucia is an experienced excavator and lecturer, and has published a number of books on Egyptian religion and artefacts. One of her fans has described her as: “a fresh-faced whirlwind of enthusiasm who instantly captured wide attention and affection for her ability to communicate her extensive knowledge in a lively and entertaining way” – an impression which was confirmed by a meeting with Andante staff.

A new Spring Egypt tour has now been set up and is ready to go – the dates are 2nd – 17th April 2008, and the programme is the same as that advertised in the brochure, except that we are using another boat for the Nile Cruise – of 5* standard, but larger than that on the original tour. We are also in the process of finalising arrangements for a tour during the first half of November, since the original autumn tour is also full – please contact the office for details.

The popularity of our tour to see the wonderful mosaics of Ravenna and Aquileia has continued into 2008, and the April departure filled very quickly. We therefore asked Professor Tony King, who has previously led this tour for us, if he would lead an extra tour in early May. Very fortunately he said yes, and the dates are 6th – 13th May 2008. Because of hotel availability, we are running the tour the other way round on this occasion – beginning with Aquileia, and ending with Ravenna. This will work well chronologically – as the mosaics in Aquileia are mainly late Roman, whereas those in Ravenna are Byzantine – and Tony is pleased to have the opportunity to explain the history this way round. It does mean that the tour will no longer be able to end with a morning in Venice, but there are likely to be other advantages to make up for this.

Bookings for Syria have been excellent for Autumn 2008, and this has given us a long awaited opportunity to offer an extra departure to Dr Mike Bishop. He has been a very popular leader of tours around Roman Britain, and is already leading the Saxon Shore Forts tour for us in 2008. However, he also knows Syria well, and will be leading an extra departure which will follow on from the existing tour – probably 22nd October – 1st November. We are awaiting final confirmation of one or two details, but this looks almost set to go.

Another stroke of luck was to have persuaded Oliver Gilkes, our very popular Guide Lecturer for Albania and other destinations, to lead a third Albania tour for us in Autumn 2008. This is an unusual tour to an amazing destination, and Oliver is the best person to lead it, having excavated at Butrint for many years, through difficult periods of the country’s chequered recent history which he has experienced at first hand. The new departure will be either just before or just after our original autumn tour dates (29th September – 8th October) – we are still confirming availability – phone us for details and confirmation.

We have also been delighted at the popularity of our Provence tour this year – we had rested it for a while, and are now offering access by train, rather than by plane. The sites and the countryside are truly wonderful – not to mention the food and drink, of course. We are planning a second departure in the autumn, and will have the details available very soon.

Extra tours dates

Ravenna, Aquileia, Rome and her heirs 6th – 13th May 2008
Syria – From the Hauran to the Euphrates 27th Oct – 1st Nov 2008
Egypt – Land of the Pharaohs 2nd - 17th April 2008
Albania – Land of the Eagles 29th Sept – 8th Oct 2008
Provence – Barbarians, Greeks and Romans (by train) Autumn 2008

(Dates in italics are provisional please ring for confirmation.)

Experience Libya this Spring

2008-01-09T03:38:00.000-08:00

No-one with an interest in the ancient world will want to miss the Classical sites of Libya.

There is still a sense of adventure in visiting a country which is still only just opening up to tourism – the visa process is more complicated than for most Mediterranean destinations – but our guests always come back full of enthusiasm for the unspoilt and unexploited sites, and also for the friendliness of the Libyan people.

Dr Denise Allen, Deputy Director of Andante says, “The preservation of the ruins here is unfailingly impressive, and they are set against what must be one of the longest undeveloped beaches on the Mediterranean.

We offer two nine–day tours for Spring 2008.
The first, from 18th – 26th March is led by Dr Josephine Quinn of the University of Oxford, who is particularly interested in the differences between Punic Tripolitania and Greek Cyrenaica.

A second tour, from 22nd - 30th April benefits from the expertise of Professor Bill Manning, who has led many tours for us to various parts of the Classical world, including a number to Libya.”

Click here to go to our webpage for this tour

The Maya in Guatemala and Belize – a different world.

2008-01-07T03:11:00.000-08:00

Trips to discover the ancient world don’t come much more exotic than this. As Director of Andante Travels, I have been on many tours, but this one remains fresh in my memory – every day a new adventure in extraordinary surroundings, and the nights in interesting (in some cases superb) hotels.

We start with a flourish - staying in one of the most famous hotels in the world – the converted monastery of Santo Domingo in Antigua. We enjoy the luxuries and eccentricities of this extraordinary hotel and take time to explore, acclimatize and delight in the pure air of the Guatemalan highlands.

Thousands of candles light the walkways every evening and home-made cakes and coffee are set up on little tables in the courtyards to greet you after a day unravelling the early colonial monuments built post-Conquistadors. Fresh flower petals float on the stone basins and tiny streams around the patios. We have never stayed in a more enchanting place. http://www.casasantodomingo.com.gt/english/index.html

From Antigua, we drive east to the capital, Guatemala City, to visit the National Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography and get our first glimpse into the world of the Ancient Maya. David Drew, your guide and author of The Lost Chronicles of the Maya Kings, is likely to take this opportunity to introduce you to the nature of glyphs (picture writing, below), which recount in great detail the exploits of great lords and mighty warriors. Learning and attempting to decipher glyphs as the holiday progressed was an unexpected pleasure.

Two Maya Royals confront each other on the back of this unique "throne" in the National Museum. Note the elegance of their manicured fingers and their skulls, deliberately deformed in their youth to mimic the pointed skull of the corn god.

Crossing briefly into Honduras, we then spend a full day on foot around the site of Copan - one of the most famous of all the Mayan cities which flourished around AD 450.

Once you are introduced to the complex religious and political iconography revealed in the temples and monuments, exploration takes on its own addictive quality. And surrounding you are brightly coloured parrots in the trees, slow iguanas winding themselves around branches above your head and toucans in the shafts of sunshine. Andante’s tour manager will try to convince the site guardians that our guests should have their traditional picnic in these surroundings – and whilst there’s not a great deal of choice for your lunch in this little place, even a simple lunch in such a place is likely to be memorable.

The following day, standing by the wonderfully carved stele at Quirgua, once a vassal state of Mayan Copan, David will recount the tale of Lord “Cauac Sky” of Quirgua who captured his overlord “18 Rabbit” of Copan and bore him home triumphantly to be sacrificed.

Happily, no such fate awaits us, as we are borne by boat across the bay to our next hotel to disembark in its gardens amongst many surprised pelicans.

Don’t worry, the porters take care of our luggage once we arrive at the hotel's garden by motor launch

We are now in the unique Afro-Caribbean town of Livingston, quite different in every way from the societies of Guatemala and Belize. The next morning we board an open launch to spend much of the day motoring gently up the wide Rio Dulce, heavy jungle and mangrove swamps on either side, binoculars at the ready, passing tiny villages and fabulous wildlife.

It is a long drive to Tikal, but then Tikal, surely the greatest of the Maya metropolis, is the sort of place which no one should just happen upon. It requires anticipation; a bit of a build-up. The architecture here is some of the finest we see, and the site has been extensively excavated, although there is much, much more still in the clasp of the jungle.

More nights in a fine hotel, this time in thatched bungalows along the side of the lake. Those who wish (and you’ll kick yourself if you don’t) are then up before dawn, ready to climb one of the massive temples which rear up above the canopy and sit looking out over the jungle as day breaks and howler monkeys start their noisy search for breakfast. This is one of my best ever memories – and me an acrophobe and all!

The Mayan cities of Caracol, Altun Ha, Yaxha, and the lives of the people who built them will remain in your memory for a very long time.

We chug slowly through idyllic lagoons covered in lilies and pass stately wading birds in the shallows to reach the Maya city of Lamanai, today in deep jungle.

For me, one of the most enduring memories of this tour was the river journey to the eco-lodge at Lamanai (place of the crocodiles). Our river journey takes us past Amish settlements in meticulously swept and ordered clearings, each ranch fenced, and each with its own horse and carriage. We pass Mayan villages where the children played by the river and the women beat their washing on the rocks.

I may be biased, but for me this was the best of everything, a real insight into worlds very different from our own, not only at the time of the Maya, but today as well.

Annabel K. Lawson Ph.D.
Director, Andante Travels Ltd.,

click here for the webpage for this tour

Dordogne cave paintings in crisis!

2008-01-03T02:01:00.000-08:00

The Dordogne cave paintings are coming under attack from a fungal infection, as a result of the air filter system that was put in place to protect it. To find out more information, and read quotes from Dr Paul Bahn, our guide lecture in the region, click here.

New tour dates for Ravenna and Aquileia - Rome and her Heirs

2007-12-19T03:37:00.000-08:00

Due to overwhelming demand we have added new tour dates for this tour. They are 6th -13th May 2008 and the guide lecturer is Prof. Tony King. It’s the same tour however it is done in reverse order, and without a visit to Venice. Click here to find out more.

Special Offer - Current World Archaeology Conference 2008

2007-12-19T03:28:00.000-08:00

Andante Travels has got together with Current World Archaeology to offer our customers a reduced price of £85 per person (general admission £125) to enter the ‘Archaeology ’08’ conference, which is taking place February 9-10, 2008 at the British Museum.

Click here for more information

New interactive maps

2007-12-19T02:26:00.000-08:00

There’s nothing like poring over a map to build anticipation before you embark on a tour...
That’s why we have been busy experimenting with Google Maps. We have created an interactive map of one of our most popular holidays, ‘Pompeii, Herculaneum & Classical Campania’. See below or click here to explore the Bay of Naples!

View Larger Map

New Book

2007-12-19T02:12:00.000-08:00

Chalkland: an archaeology of Stonehenge and its region, by Andrew J Lawson

We have been informed of an insightful new book that would be a recommended read for anyone with an interest in Stonehenge and the surrounding area.

“Comprehensive and authoritative account of the archaeology of the Stonehenge region, drawing extensively on the findings of recent excavations. The author is a well-known prehistorian, who as Director of Wessex Archaeology for many years built up one of the largest and most successful archaeological units in Britain, and who has been personally involved in many of the excavations this book describes. This important work will be of great interest to academic and professional archaeologists, but is written in a lucid and engaging style which will appeal also to the general reader.”

‘240 x 170mm, 352pp (approx), many figures and ills, paperback and casebound editions. 978-0-946418-61-9 (casebound); 978-0-946418-70-1 (paperback); £25 casebound, £17.95 paperback’

Click here for more information

Hello and welcome to the Andante Travels Blog!

2007-12-19T01:40:00.000-08:00

Andante Travels is owned and run by archaeologists and we take pride in the fact that we work with some of the most renowned specialists in this field. Over the last 22 years, we have carefully crafted rather unusual holidays that anyone with an interest in the past will hopefully find stimulating and enjoyable.
We offer two types of tour; the original Travels in Archaeology - on which every detail is taken care of, leaving you free to enjoy a holiday in which the archaeological story is paramount. We are also proud to present our new Bare Bones Tours for travellers who still want the essential archaeological expertise, but appreciate less structure and the option of more independence on their holiday.

This blog is to inform you, our travellers, about news and happenings within Andante and also within the wider archaeological world. If we are putting on a new tour, or any special offers, this is the place you will hear about it first.

We hope you enjoy our blog and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

From all at Andante Travels