Cultural Tours & Music Holidays
Our Cultural Tours & Music Holidays programme includes a range of holidays that will appeal to a wide variety of tastes and interests. Whether you wish to learn more of the history and art of a particular region, experience one of our exclusive Kirker Music Festivals or enjoy a classical concert or opera performance, 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 will always allow plenty of time to enjoy your surroundings at a leisurely pace with the company of your fellow travellers.
2024 Programme
Our new brochure for tours departing in 2024 is now available to request and full details are also online - please see the Tour Calendar for a chronological list.
Request a 2024 Cultural Tours & Music Holidays brochure »
Search our complete programme of Cultural Tours and Music Holidays.
Browse all our departures in chronological order.
Featured Holidays
The Kirker Ischia Music Festival
7 nights | Departs 11 October 2023
Our annual visit to the beautiful and verdant island of Ischia in the Bay of Naples combines late summer sunshine with a series of exclusive concerts for Kirker clients. This year we host the Maxwell Quartet, pianist Thomas Kelly and violist and composer Simon Rowland-Jones, who will be joined by the Latvian soprano Laura Lolita Peresivana, for concerts given in the music room at La Mortella, the former home of Sir William Walton and his wife Susana.
Price from £2,920 per person (single supp. £392).
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Key Features
All our escorted holidays are led by carefully selected lecturers who will help you experience the best of what your chosen destination has to offer, but we will also allow plenty of time to enjoy your surroundings at a leisurely pace with the company of your fellow travellers. The key features of our Cultural Tours & Music Holidays are listed below (click on each section to expand and read more).
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We operate our tours with a smaller number of participants to ensure a more personal experience. Typically, there will be between 10 and 22 passengers. All our cultural tours and music holidays are in the company of a tour leader and, where necessary, there will also be a local guide available to help with the smooth running of your holiday.
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We always take great care when selecting the hotels and they vary from small, family-run 3 star hotels to luxurious 5 star properties. To us, location and atmosphere are just as important as star rating. Several of the hotels we have selected this year are included in our Short Breaks brochure and have long been popular favourites with Kirker clients. Whilst the tour price is invariably based on flights departing from London, we would be delighted to quote for a flight from your local airport. If you wish to make your own flight arrangements, please call us for a quote for ground arrangements only.
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The secret of these tours, which often include private openings and visits that would not be possible for the independent traveller, is the detailed planning that goes into every holiday to ensure that you have an unrivalled experience. They are designed to make the most of the time spent in each location but, once the tour has started, you are perfectly at liberty to opt out of a particular day’s activity if you prefer to relax or explore independently. We have built-in relaxation time in each of the tours – and have, in many instances, included dinners in good local restaurants which will give you more of an opportunity to experience the local flavour.
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Our lecturers are a dedicated and loyal team of distinguished academics who have known Barry Cheeseman, and other members of the Kirker team, personally for a number of years.
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These music holidays are different from the others included in our programme in that we have prepared a special programme of music exclusively for Kirker clients and have engaged international musicians of the highest calibre. Artists, concert programmes and venues have all been carefully arranged and we like to think the atmosphere on these holidays will be more akin to a country house party where audiences and musicians alike will share in the uniqueness of the festival. Because the festivals are exclusively for our clients there will be a larger number of participants than on our other escorted holidays.
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For more information on single travellers, walking & mobility, age limit, travellers with disabilities and changes & cancellations click here »
Featured Artists & Leaders
Barry Cheeseman
Carducci String Quartet
Doric String Quartet
Simon Rowland-Jones
Charlie Hall
Andrew Taylor
Luis Gomes
Videos
A selection of videos to give you a flavour of our Cultural Tours and Music Holidays
