Cultural Tour activities in Europe
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Paul Street Tours
These very personal walking tours cover the Castle District (about two hours), less-explored areas of Pest, such as the Jewish Quarter and Andrássy út (two to three hours), the Little Ring Road, the parks and gardens of Budapest and shopping, with lots of anecdotal information on architecture and social history, especially life in and around the udvar (courtyards) of fin-de-siècle Pest. Tours are available by appointment year-round in English or Hungarian.
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AGTRP
You don't need a guide to enjoy Lecce, but to the untutored eye one baroque church can look very much like another. So if you're serious about architecture it's well worth considering a local guide. Simona Melchiorre is a fluent English-speaking guide and the current president of the AGTRP. If you want to get in touch with skilled guides speaking a variety of languages visit the site. An average three-hour tour costs around €85, although it does depend on the number of people and the itinerary.
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Hungária Koncert
Focusing on Budapest's Jewish heritage, this operator has a 2½-hour tour available twice daily most weekdays year-round and once on Sunday. The tour includes a visit to the Great and Orthodox Synagogues, the Jewish Museum, a walking tour of the ghetto and a nonkosher snack, as well as transport to the Great Synagogue.
Tickets are available from locations throughout the city, including the Duna Palota (V Zrínyi utca) entertainment centre and at the entrance to the Great Synagogue (VII Dohány utca 2-8).
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Quasimodo
Quasimodo is a small company that's been offering two excellent day trips for years. The Triple Treat tour explores Damme plus nearby castles and promises a waffle, beer and chocolate at various establishments around Bruges. The Flanders Fields tour takes in Ypres and its famous WWI battlefields. The price includes all admission charges and a picnic lunch. Reservations are necessary.
Both trips operate Tuesday to Sunday from April to October. The rest of the year there's a Triple Treat tour on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and a Flander's Field tour on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Tours don't run between mid-December and mid-February.
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A
Cyprus Tourism Organisation Tours
There are three different types of walk in Lemesos, all organised by the CTO. They're free, but it's wise to book in the high season.
'A Stroll in Neapolis, Nemesos, Limassol' takes you around Lemesos' historic centre, its monuments, craft shops, markets and traditional shops. As a bonus, local gossip from (some of) the CTO guides is thrown in.
'Germasogeia - A Village Blessed by Water' goes to, you guessed it, Germasogeia village, where the water theme is covered by a visit to the village dam. You also get to see the village itself, its architecture and street life.
'Discover the Natural Environment of Germasogeia' is a walk in the hills (a bit of fitness required),…
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Dracula Trail
The famous story of Dracula, inspiration for a thousand lurid movies, was written by Bram Stoker while staying at a B&B in Whitby in 1897. Although most Hollywood versions of the tale concentrate on deepest, darkest Transylvania, much of the original book was set in Whitby, and many sites can still be seen today.
The tourist office sells an excellent Dracula Trail leaflet, but you shouldn't miss the stone jetty in the harbour, where the Russian boat chartered by Dracula was wrecked as it flew in ahead of the huge storm.
After the town sites, you can climb the same 199 stone steps that the heroine Mina ran up when trying to save her friend Lucy. At the top of the steps is…
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Leb i Vino
If you've been hunting for a place that allows you to dive into traditional Bulgarian culture, then look no further than Melnik. Run by the husband-and-wife team of Yane Kamenarov and Elena Georgieva-Kamenarova, Leb i Vino ('Bread and Wine') is a cultural organisation that aims to celebrate the musical and cultural heritage of the Pirin region.
Through visiting local villages and interacting with sagacious elders, Yane and Elena have collected the knowledge and artistry of everything from singing and wool dying to instrument making and carpet weavingWhile their primary goal is to keep traditional Pirin culture alive and to transmit it to future generations, they also…
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B
Tourist Guides Association of Serbia
Independent and licensed guides for city or country tours.
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C
Sati Tours
Highly rated agency with daily excursions to major sites around the country from Yerevan for AMD4600 to AMD12,000 per person, plus accommodation, two- and three-day all-inclusive regional tours, and car and driver hire.
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Green Line Walk
Despite the fact that crossing into the North is now easy and some of the 'mystery of the other side' has therefore vanished, the Green Line and the spooky buffer zone with its abandoned, crumbling houses still fascinate foreigners. The Green Line is unmissable and it exudes a sense of division. While there's not a lot to see once you are there (save for some creative graffiti work), its mere presence gives Lefkosia its bizarre edge.
You'll see the double minarets of the Agia Sofia mosque, North Nicosia's most remarkable landmark, with the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot flags that hang between them like washing. The Green Line embodies the eeriness of the capital's and the…
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Bizarre Bath Comedy Walks
For something less reverential; a chaotic blend of street theatre, live performance and guided tour. The 1½-hour tours leave from outside the Huntsman Inn on North Pde Passage.
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Alhambra Night Tour
The Palacios Nazaríes are romantically lit in the evening and are truly heart-flutteringly beautiful. You won’t get to see as much as on a day visit, but you won’t have to deal with the same crowds either.
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