Kirker Tour Leaders

One of the UK’s leading food and travel writers and an expert on France, Carolyn is a contributor to The Guardian, The Times, National Geographic Traveller Food and BBC Good Food, and was editor of France Magazine for nearly a decade.

Simon Monckton studied Theology at Durham University. He is particularly interested in the influence of religion on great Mediaeval cathedrals and how this differed throughout Europe.

Jonathan Ray is the Drinks Editor for The Spectator magazine, drinks columnist of The Field and Spear’s Magazine, contributing editor of Boat International and author of several books on wine and spirits including All About Wine, Bloodlines & Grapevines, Drink More Fizz! and That’s the Spirit!

Dr Stuart Clark is a writer and astronomer, described by The Independent as one of the "stars" of British astrophysics teaching. Stuart holds a first-class honours degree and a PhD in astrophysics. He is a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a former vice chair of the Association of British Science Writers. Stuart divides his time between writing books and, in his capacity as cosmology consultant, writing articles for New Scientist. He also works as a consultant and writer for the European Space Agency, where he was senior editor for Space Science, and has contributed to publications including BBC Sky at Night, BBC Science Focus, The Times, The Guardian, The Economist, The Times Higher Education Supplement and Astronomy Now.

Andrew Taylor graduated from the University of St Andrew's in 1989 with a degree in Church History. He has a further degree in Classical Studies and a Masters in the History of Art.

Martin Griffiths is a senior lecturer in space science at the University of South Wales.

Christopher was a choral scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford where he developed a passion for both performing and teaching.

Patrick Bade taught for the University of Glasgow MA programme at Christie's Education in London. He had worked at Christie's since 1981, where he also gave courses on the history of opera.

Dr Alex Koller was born and schooled in Vienna. He studied Art History and Slavonic studies at the Universities of Vienna and Salzburg and then went on to obtain his PhD at Magdalene College, Cambridge (1998). Since then he has led cultural tours throughout Europe and the Far East.

Jane has had a long association with Kirker Holidays and over the last decade she has escorted several exclusive Kirker music festivals in the UK and at sea, as well as tours in Europe.

Kirsty Fergusson exchanged a career in academia (she is a PhD specialising in French philosopher-novelists) for a life in gardening. Trained at Capel Manor, she was head gardener at Mapperton in Dorset during the early nineties, where a series of fortunate encounters opened the door to garden writing. 

Tim was co-founder of the UK's leading wine tours company, which he ran for nearly 30 years leading numerous tours to wine regions worldwide. Having sold the company some years ago, Tim has been busy with other projects, including making a delicious passito wine on the Greek island of Samos.

Graeme Coles has worked in the hospitality industry all his life, working in hotels both overseas and in the UK. It was whilst managing a hotel in Lewes, close to the Glyndebourne Opera Festival, that he developed a keen interest in opera and classical music.

Jeremy Boudreau is Head of History of Art at the British Institute of Florence and has lived in the city since 2000.

Louisa Pearson is a popular tour manager and wine guide, having previously worked for Grahams in Oporto, at Torres winery near Barcelona, and Arblaster and Clarke Wine Tours where she led many wine tours for the Sunday Times and Laithwaites.

After receiving a 1st class degree in Biochemistry at the University of Oxford, Fiona went on to carry out a PhD in Pharmacology at King’s College London specialising in inflammation and pain.

After studying at the University of Wageningen, near the Dutch city of Arnhem, Ger began his career as a consultant, before working as a guide and tour leader both in his native Netherlands and abroad.

Andrew read Modern History at Oxford and enjoys travelling slowly, particularly in central Europe and Mexico, with time to absorb the local history, art, architecture, music and food (bread baking is a side interest).

Juliet Rix is an award-winning journalist working for British national newspapers, magazines, and online media as well as the BBC. Juliet is a regular traveller to destinations throughout Europe with a special interest in Italy and the islands of Malta and Gozo.

Claudio Tedesco is an architect and opera director based in London who has been working in the opera field for more than 20 years.

Christofilis Maggidis is currently assistant to the director of Mycenae, and president of the Mycenaean Foundation with nearly three decades of field experience at major archaeological sites, including Mycenae, Glas, Crete (Archanes, Idaion Cave), and Akrotiri (Thera).

Oliver has an MA in organ performance studies from Cardiff University where he studied under the renowned Bach scholar Peter Williams. He also has a Premier Prix from the Conservatoire at Rueil Malmaison, Paris. Following his MA, Oliver worked at Classic FM Magazine for five years, before leaving in 2004 to become the editor of BBC Music Magazine.

Stephen Nelson is an artist who divides his time between London and Italy. He has exhibited at many galleries internationally, including the Francesco Pantaleone Arte Contemporanea gallery in Palermo, and he has been selected for the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy.

Alex Wilkins is a news reporter focused on space, physics and artificial intelligence.

Richard Barnett is a historian, broadcaster and poet. He taught the history of science and medicine at UCL, Cambridge, and Oxford, and received one of the first Wellcome Trust Engagement Fellowships.

Clinical Psychologist and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist, Dr Dany Nobus is former Chair and Fellow of the Freud Museum London and a founding scholar of the British Psychoanalytic Council.

Darren Price is a Professor of Particle Physics at the University of Manchester, UK. He read Mathematics at Cambridge, followed by an MSc and PhD in experimental particle physics.

Elaine Padmore is best known as the Director of the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, a post she held with great distinction between 2000 and 2011. She began her career as a BBC producer and was Director of Opera there for many years.

Richard Goldsbrough is the regimental historian of his former regiment, 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards. He studied military history at Balliol, Oxford, and has written several articles on his topic, including a Short History of the Queen’s Dragoon Guards and The Cavalry that broke Napoleon.

Robin Wallis studied Modern Languages at Downing College, Cambridge and International Relations at the London School of Economics.

Valentina is a noted chef, author and broadcaster on the subject of Italian cuisine. She has published more than 30 books including Risotto! Risotto!, Italian Regional Cookery and Food and Cooking of Milan and Bologna.

Ellen Jones graduated from University of Oxford with a PhD in Egyptology and has participated in archaeological missions to Egypt since 2018.

Charlie Hall has known Italy intimately since 1965 when his father set up the excellent John Hall Venice course for gap year students who wish to become enlightened by many aspects of Venetian and Italian culture.

Caroline Howard studied History of Art at Edinburgh University and now lives in Rome.

Louisa first visited Venice briefly in 1995 on a gap year, only to fall deeply in love with the city's art, culture and ambience. Graduating from the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, she went on to take a Master's in the History of Art, Venice and Rome, at the University of Warwick, partly held in La Serenissima.

Jonathan Phillips is Professor of Crusading History at Royal Holloway, University of London. His most recent book was The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin (2019), translated into several languages including Italian, Turkish and Indonesian.

Hugh Macdonald-Buchanan has long had an interest in the battlefields of The Western Front and has led many tours there for clients from all over the world.

Landscape architect, writer, photographer and lecturer, Roger Butler has a particular interest in the unique history, architecture and traditions of Britain’s canal network.

Andrew Allen read History of Art at the University of East Anglia and undertook his postgraduate study at the University of Essex taking his MA in early Italian painting.

Andrew Biggs has designed, planned and organised Opera and Music holidays with Kirker, BBC Music Magazine, National Trust and The Daily Telegraph for over 30 years. Recent tours led by Andrew include The Sibelius Festival in Lahti and La Scala in Milan. His 2026 tours will feature the Copenhagen Jazz Festival and a return trip to Finland.

Declan Hamilton has been leading music tours for many years. He studied singing at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Royal Academy of Music, and sang major roles in a number of operas both as a student and professional.