Our Tour Directors

Chosen not only for their specialist knowledge, but equally for the clarity and enthusiasm with which they communicate and impart their passion to others, our expert Tour Directors are personally involved in the creation and planning of our tours. Several of our tours, particularly our river cruises, combine the expertise of multiple Tour Directors, whose specialisms across distinct subject areas combine to create a unique amalgamation of perspectives. On many of our tours, the Tour Director or Directors will be supported by an experienced Tour Manager, responsible for ensuring the smooth day-to-day running of our itineraries.

Click here to view our Tour Manager biographies.

Tom Abbott BA, MA
Tom is an art and architectural historian associated with the Foundation of Prussian Palaces and Gardens.

Harriet Allen PhD
Harriet is a geographer and a Fellow, Tutor and Director of Studies at Girton College, Cambridge.

Chris Aslan
Chris is primarily a writer but also lectures for the Art Society and leads tours to Central Asia whenever he can.

Meg Bernstein PhD
Meg is an art historian specialising in medieval European art and architecture.

John Binns PhD
Rev John Binns has visited and written about Ethiopia on many occasions

Meg Boulton PhD, FRSA
Meg is a specialist in medieval art and on theories of space.

Christopher Bourne BA
Christopher is an expert on the art and architecture of Belgium.

David Brotherson PhD
David Brotherson is an archaeologist with a passion for world history and educational tourism.

Judy Brown
Judy is a Scottish mezzo-soprano who trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

John Bryden MA, ARCM, ARCO
John is an international concert pianist and organist and classical music lecturer

David Burke PhD
David is an historian of intelligence and international relations

Sarah Burles MA
Sarah is a freelance art historian and museum professional who worked at the Fitzwilliam Museum

Sandy Burnett MA
Sandy is a versatile musician and music commentator, enjoying a career that combines broadcasting, performing and lecturing.

Emilie Capulet MA, MMus, PhD
Emilie is an international award-winning concert pianist, lecturer and musicologist.

Jessica Chiba MA, PhD
Jessica Chiba is an Assistant Professor at the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham

Ian Colvin
Ian is a historian and byzantinist with experience in leading tours to Armenia, Georgia and Turkey

Imogen Corrigan
Imogen Corrigan spent nearly 20 years in the British Army before turning to a life-long interest in Anglo-Saxon and Medieval History.

Oliver Coulson MA, PhD
Oliver Coulson, is an architectural historian with a special interest in medieval ecclesiastical and vernacular architecture.

Suzanne Fagence Cooper MA, PhD
Suzanne is a lecturer and historian who specialises in British art history.

Ian Coyne
Ian Coyne is an expert tour leader with a long-held passion for 20th century European history.

Michael Downes MA, MPHIL, DPHIL, OBE
Michael is a conductor, writer and lecturer with a particular interest in opera

Peter Exley BSc
Peter is an ecologist and ornithologist who works for the RSPB.

Oliver Gerrish MSt
Oliver is an architectural historian who studied at the University of Cambridge.

Julia Griffin MA, PhD
Julia is a specialist in 19th and 20th century British and Polish art, design and cultural history.

Kevin Hand MSc, MCIEEM
Kevin is a conservationist, ornithologist and environmental consultant.

Charles Hind MA, FSA
Charles is an architectural historian and Chief Curator and H J Heinz Curator of Drawings at the RIBA

Rima Hooja PhD
Rima is an archaeologist, historian, heritage specialist and educationist based in Jaipur

Caroline Hopkinson-Woolley BA
Caroline Hopkinson-Woolley is a writer who has published her fiction in anthologies and won several awards.

Kristine Horner PhD
Kristine Horner, PhD, is a sociolinguist and linguistic anthropologist.

David Hurrion
David has worked in gardens and nurseries around the UK and has travelled extensively abroad discovering plants and gardens.

Nick Jackson
Nick Jackson graduated from the Institute of Archaeology at UCL, and has excavated widely in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Paul Jackson MA, PhD
Paul is a conductor, pianist and musicologist and former Director of Music at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge.

Ellen Jones PhD
Ellen is an archaeologist, Classicist and Egyptologist who is a frequent traveller to Egypt, Italy and Greece

Yoko Kawaguchi MA
Yoko Kawaguchi is a cultural historian specialising in the relationship between Japan and the west.

Russell Keable BA, MMus
Russell teaches at the University of Surrey and is active as a composer, arranger, lecturer, broadcaster and performer.

Nick Keyes
Following 20 years in the British Army, Nick has led many battlefield tours of Crécy, Agincourt, Waterloo, Normandy and the Western Front

Mike King BA, MA
Mike is a museum professional and Heritage Manager for Newry, Mourne and Down District Council.

Marcus Kohler BA
Marcus is an ecologist and ornithologist who works in the UK, South East Asia, Australasia and Africa and has led wildlife tours across the world

Alex Koller PhD
Alex is an expert in art history and architecture.

Aristotle Koskinas
Aristotle is an archaeologist, lecturer and tour guide

Stephen Nelson BA, MA
Stephen is an an established sculptor with specialist knowledge of Italy and Mexico.

Isaac Nugent MA
Isaac is an art historian currently pursuing a PhD at the University of York. He is also a gallery educator at the National Gallery.

Ailsa Mainman BA, MSc, PHD
Ailsa is a freelance archaeologist and writer based in York.

Marie-Anne Mancio MPhil, DPhil
Marie-Anne is an art historian, writer, experienced tour leader and Arts Society accredited lecturer

Eireann Marshall
Dr. Eireann Marshall is a Research Associate and Associate Lecturer with the Open University.

Steve Mastin MA, PGCE, FHA
Steve studied history and classics before becoming a teacher and is a Fellow of the Historical Association

Christopher Milton PhD
Christopher is a musicologist and musician whose academic research focuses on the life and music of Benjamin Britten.

Elizabeth Morrell BA
Elizabeth Morrell is a sinologist and Chinese speaker

Niccolò Mugnai BA, MA, PhD, AFHEA
Niccolò is a classical archaeologist with a particular focus on North Africa.

Richard Pailthorpe
Richard Pailthorpe's career has involved museum, heritage and estate management.

Eleftheria Pappa PhD
Eleftheria Pappa is a specialist in the archaeology of the Mediterranean.

Alan Powers PhD
Alan is one of the UK’s leading architectural historians.

Robert Sakula
Robert is a trained architect and experienced tour guide. He has lived and worked in Mexico City, Cairo and London.

Jamie Sewell PhD
Jamie is an archaeologist and historical guide focusing on pre-Roman settlements in Italy

Ashley Solomon FRCM, FRAM
Ashley is Chair and Head of Historical Performance at the Royal College of Music and Director of Baroque ensemble Florilegium.

Andrew Spira MA
Andrew was a specialist in Byzantine and Russian icons at the Temple Gallery, London, before working as a curator at the V&A Museum.

Robert Stagg PhD
Robert is a Leverhulme Research Fellow at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Moira Tait MA, FRAS
Moira is an archaeologist who gained her MA in the archaeology of Southeast Asia

Andrew Taylor BD, MA
Andrew is an expert in the architecture and art collections of the English country house

Lars Tharp MA, FSA
Lars is a Danish-born art historian, lecturer and broadcaster.

Lucrezia Walker BA, MA
Lucrezia lectures at the National Gallery and teaches the London Art History Programme for the University of North Carolina.

Diana Ward MSC, CBIOL, MRSB, MCIEEM
Diana is an ecologist and wildlife specialist.

Nicholas Wearne BA (hons), MPhil (Oxon)
Nicholas is an ACE Bursary student, a tutor and Junior Fellow at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

Mark Welch BSc, PhD
Mark is a former professional research scientist in the Department of Earth Sciences at the Natural History Museum.

Christopher Wellington MA
Christopher is a historian based in Italy with a special interest in the Church and art and architecture, especially of the Middle Ages.

Joshua White BA, MPhil
Joshua is an art historian with extensive experience lecturing in Modern and Contemporary art at British and American institutions.

Richard Wigmore MA, AGSM
Richard is a writer, broadcaster, lecturer and former professional singer.

Andrew Wilson BA, BD, FSASCOT
Andrew is a specialist in archaeology and ancient history with a particular interest in Roman frontier systems and Byzantine mosaics.

James Winnett BA, MFA
James Winnett is an artist and guide lecturer specialising in Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the Arts & Crafts Movement, early medieval stone carving and the history of Glasgow.

Katharina Zinn PhD
Katharina Zinn, PhD, is an interdisciplinary Egyptologist teaching Egyptology, heritage and museum studies and ancient civilisations.