Creswell Crags
Creswell Crags

To travel on an Andante tour is to encounter the past in real time. Through the expertise, passion and knowledge demonstrated by our Andante Guide Lecturers, history will be brought vividly to life in a variety of ways. Whether you are handling artefacts, enjoying behind-the-scenes access or listening to lectures as you go, our guides will be on hand to ensure your experience on tour is both memorable and immersive. From leading archaeologists to broadcasters and esteemed historians, the experts leading our tours will put sites into cultural context, share fascinating insights and make your journey to the past simply unforgettable.

Tours that focus on a particular theme or subject may also be led in full or part and/or accompanied by an Onboard Expert Guest Lecturer or Celebrity Guest and other tours are led by other experts such as Local Guides in a particular destination. Please see individual tour pages on our website for who is taking part in any particular tour.

Andante Guide Lecturer


Andrew Farrington
Andrew Farrington

After a career of teaching Classics, Ancient Greek, and Roman history, Andrew is now Assistant Professor in Ancient Greek History in the Department of History and Ethnology at the Democritus University of Thrace.

View profile
Dr Andrew Foxon
Dr Andrew Foxon

Andrew Foxon has a strong background in archaeology, prehistoric technology and interpretation.

View profile
Aristotle Koskinas
Aristotle Koskinas

Aristotle studied classical archaeology at the University of Ioannina, Greece, and worked for the Greek Ministry of Culture for several years.

View profile
Barnaby Rayfield
Barnaby Rayfield

Barnaby Rayfield was born in Hampshire and studied German at Bristol University, along with subsidiary courses in theatre and European cinema.

View profile
Colonel Paul Beaver
Colonel Paul Beaver

Paul Beaver is very much a hands-on historian with a pilot’s log book which includes the Spitfire, Harvard and Mustang.

View profile
Diana Blumberg
Diana Blumberg

Diana Blumberg is an archaeological scientist who specialises in the analysis of archaeological materials. She has worked on archaeological field schools in both Pompeii and Portus (the latter being one of the harbours of ancient Rome), and also has excavation experiences in the United Kingdom.

View profile
Dr Doru Bogdan
Dr Doru Bogdan

A researcher and lecturer at the University of Alba Iulia in Romania, Doru Bogdan is a specialist in Roman archaeology and has also supervised an array of fascinating excavations.

View profile
Dr Andrew Richardson FSA
Dr Andrew Richardson FSA

Andrew was born in Folkestone, and his career has focussed firmly on Kent. He studied archaeology at Cardiff, where he completed his doctoral thesis on ‘The Anglo-Saxon cemeteries of Kent’, published in 2005.

View profile
Dr Andy Fear
Dr Andy Fear

Dr Andrew Fear is Lecturer in Classics at the University of Manchester.

View profile
Dr Andy Souter
Dr Andy Souter

Dr Andy Souter currently lectures at the University of Reading and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He is particularly interested in the architecture of ancient Rome and completed his PhD thesis on the rural economy of Roman Portugal.

View profile
Dr Brian Ayers
Dr Brian Ayers

Brian Ayers is a British archaeologist specialising in medieval urban archaeology. He was formerly the City Archaeologist of Norwich, about which city he has published extensively (including the book Norwich: Archaeology of a Fine City), and the County Archaeologist of Norfolk.

View profile
Dr Campbell Price

.Dr Campbell Price is Curator of Egypt and the Sudan at The Manchester Museum.

View profile
Dr Christina Hatzimichael-Whitley
Dr Christina Hatzimichael-Whitley

Dr Christina Hatzimichael Whitley is a lecturer in the department of Continuous Professional Education at Cardiff University, where she teaches Greek art and archaeology from the Bronze Age to Classical and the Byzantine period.

View profile
Dr David Rudling
Dr David Rudling

Dr David Rudling is the Academic Director of the Sussex School of Archaeology. He is also an Honorary Research Fellow and Visiting Lecturer at the University of Roehampton.

View profile
Dr Denise Allen
Dr Denise Allen

Dr Denise Allen began her archaeological career in the 1970s as an excavator on many British sites. She studied Archaeology at Cardiff University, with a PhD on Roman Glass.

View profile
Dr Eireann Marshall
Dr Eireann Marshall

An Honorary Research Fellow for the Open University, Dr Eireann Marshall is bilingual (Italian and English), and she has led many Andante tours.

View profile
Dr Elizabeth Baquedano
Dr Elizabeth Baquedano

A Mesoamerican specialist, Elizabeth is a Senior Honorary Lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL. She often lectures at the British Museum.

View profile
Dr Elizabeth Bloxam
Dr Elizabeth Bloxam

Dr Elizabeth Bloxam is currently Visiting Professor of Egyptology at North East Normal University, Changchun, China and has held an honorary senior research associate post at University College London for the last ten years.

View profile
Dr Elizabeth Norton
Dr Elizabeth Norton

British historian, Elizabeth Norton, has written twelve books on the Tudors, including The Temptation of Elizabeth Tudor and The Lives of Tudor Women. She has also edited the only source book on Anne Boleyn.

View profile
Dr Emma J. Wells
Dr Emma J. Wells

Academic, author and broadcaster, Dr Emma J. Wells is a specialist in the ecclesiastical and architectural history of medieval and reformation-era England, and the author of an array of publications.

View profile
Dr Gillian Shepherd
Dr Gillian Shepherd

Director of the Trendall Research Centre for Ancient Mediterranean Studies at La Trobe University in Australia, Gillian specialises in the Greek colonisation of Italy and Sicily.

View profile
Dr Ian Friel
Dr Ian Friel

Dr Ian Friel is a maritime historian, who has enjoyed a long career working in museums, including the Mary Rose.

View profile
Dr Jacke Phillips
Dr Jacke Phillips

A specialist in the archaeology of Sudan and Ethiopia, Dr Jacke Phillips is a Research Associate at the Centre of African Studies, SOAS, University of London and Affiliated Scholar at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge.

View profile
Dr Jamie Sewell
Dr Jamie Sewell

Dr Jamie Sewell has fifteen years’ experience supervising excavations in Britain, Germany, Romania and Italy, including Pompeii. He has authored books and articles on the archaeology of towns in Hellenistic Italy and in the broader Mediterranean region.

View profile
Dr John Mcnabb
Dr John Mcnabb

Dr John McNabb has been a Senior Lecturer in Palaeolithic Archaeology at Southampton University since 2010.

View profile
Dr Joyce Tyldesley

Dr Joyce Tyldesley is a Reader in Egyptology at The University of Manchester, where she teaches a suite of online courses in Egyptology. She is also an Honorary Research Associate of the Manchester Museum.

View profile
Dr Katie Tucker
Dr Katie Tucker

Dr Tucker is a Visiting Fellow in Osteoarchaeology at the University of Winchester, a Visiting Researcher at the German Archaeological Institute, Berlin, and a freelance osteologist and archaeologist.

View profile
Dr Laura Evis

Dr Laura Evis is a Lecturer in Forensic Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Exeter.

View profile
Dr Mehreen Chida-Razvi
Dr Mehreen Chida-Razvi

Dr Mehreen Chida-Razvi is a Research Associate in the Department of the History of Art & Archaeology at SOAS, University of London, and Assistant Editor for the International Journal of Islamic Architecture.

View profile
Dr Michael Jones
Dr Michael Jones

Author and presenter Dr Michael Jones is a leading military historian with special interests in the Hundred Years War and Richard III. He is a member of several distinguished societies in the UK, including the British Commission for Military History and the Royal Historical Society.

View profile
Dr Eleanor Blakelock

I am a trained archaeometallurgist who specialises in Early Medieval metalwork. My primary fieldwork experience is at Sedgeford in Norfolk, where I am now the director of excavation of the largest trench.

View profile
Dr Nick Summerton
Dr Nick Summerton

Nick is a retired general practitioner, clinical academic and public health physician with longstanding interests in Roman Britain, Roman Numismatics and Roman Medicine.

View profile
Dr Nick Thorpe
Dr Nick Thorpe

Dr Nick Thorpe is Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at The University of Winchester.

View profile
Dr Paul Bahn
Dr Paul Bahn

Dr Paul Bahn is the leading expert on prehistoric rock art worldwide, and is certainly one of our best-known archaeologists.

View profile
Dr Rita Roussos
Dr Rita Roussos

A native Athenian, Rita taught archaeology and art history at the American University of Athens. She has worked on archaeological projects in Isthmia, Kato, Lossous and Mantinea.

View profile
Dr Rob Dinnis
Dr Rob Dinnis

Dr Rob Dinnis is an expert on the Palaeolithic, and particularly the archaeology of the last Ice Age.

View profile
Dr Sandy MacGillivray
Dr Sandy MacGillivray

Dr Sandy MacGillivray is an archaeologist who specialises in the Aegean Bronze Age as well as the civilisations of Crete, the Cyclades and mainland Greece during this period. He has previously excavated at Sparta, Paros and Kythnos in Greece, at Knossos in Crete.

View profile
Dr Simon Elliott
Dr Simon Elliott

Dr Simon Elliott is a best-selling author and has written books on a wide variety of classical history subjects, ranging from Septimius Severus in Scotland and Roman Legionaries to how the Roman military built an empire.

View profile
Dr Tertia Barnett
Dr Tertia Barnett

Dr Tertia Barnett is an archaeologist specialising in the rock art of Britain, Europe and North Africa. She currently runs a research project exploring Neolithic rock carvings in Scotland, based at Historic Environment Scotland, and is also an Honorary Fellow at Edinburgh University.

View profile
Dr Val Turner
Dr Val Turner

Dr Val Turner has been Shetland’s Regional Archaeologist since 1986. An expert in Prehistoric and Viking Field Systems Val has project-managed two major excavation projects: Old Scatness Broch and Iron Age Village and Viking Unst.

View profile
Elizabeth Cory-Lopez
Elizabeth Cory-Lopez

Elizabeth is an independent Experimental Archaeologist with an MPhil, an MScR and an MA (Hons) in the discipline. Her expertise is prehistoric technical processes, drilling, and she has taught on the Archaeology of Scotland.

View profile
Esther Unterweger
Esther Unterweger

Born in Austria, Esther studied Provincial Archaeology and Art History at the University of Graz, Austria. Her other interests include 20th century Vienna and the Viennese Secession, two of her favourite subjects.

View profile
Eugenia Alexiou
Eugenia Alexiou

Eugenia Alexiou was born in Athens. She studied Archaeology and Art History at the National University of Athens and holds a Masters degree in Byzantine Art.

View profile
Francois Desset
Francois Desset

Francois Desset is a French archaeologist specialising in Near Eastern Archaeology.

View profile
Giles MacDonogh
Giles MacDonogh

Giles MacDonogh is an academically trained historian and the author of fifteen books: eleven on history and another four on wine. Most of the history books are about Germany and span the period from the birth of Frederick the Great until the reign of Angela Merkel.

View profile
Guto Rhys
Guto Rhys

A specialist in 'The Pictish Language', Guto is the author of the Ulpan Gaelic language course and works with historical linguistics.

View profile
Ian Colvin
Ian Colvin

Ian Colvin is a historian specialising in the late Roman and Byzantine history of the Caucasus regions. He studied classical and modern Georgian after receiving his MST in Byzantine studies, and has devoted himself to excavations at the site of Nokalakevi.

View profile
Isabella Sjöström
Isabella Sjöström

Isabella Sjöström is an archaeologist with a particular interest in Anatolia and North Africa. She has excavated in the UK, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Libya, and currently works as a pottery specialist with the Sudan Archaeological Research Society in Sudan.

View profile
Jenny Hall
Jenny Hall

Jenny Hall was Senior Roman Curator at the Museum of London for 36 years and is now Honorary Lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London.

View profile
Jeremy Bennett
Jeremy Bennett

Jeremy Bennett is currently embarked on PhD studies at Magdalene College, Cambridge. His research focuses on the development of the agrarian landscapes of Malta and Gozo, particularly the rise of agricultural terracing.

View profile
Dr Jeremy Bennett
Dr Jeremy Bennett

A British archaeologist, Jeremy was awarded his PhD at Magdalene College, Cambridge. His research focuses on the development of agrarian landscapes of Malta & Gozo.

View profile
John Oxley
John Oxley

John Oxley is an independent archaeologist, and former York City Archaeologist 1989-2019. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

View profile
John Shepherd
John Shepherd

A specialist in the study of ancient glass, John has worked extensively in the field in Europe as an archaeologist, including France, Italy and Bulgaria.

View profile
Katie Campbell
Katie Campbell

Katie has worked as an archaeologist for the past decade throughout Central Asia and the Middle East, and is now completing a doctorate at the University of Oxford looking at the impact of the Mongol Conquests on the cities of Central Asia and the Caucasus.

View profile
Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis

Lindsey Davis is a novelist known for her Roman detective, Marcus Didius Falco and her ongoing series about his daughter, Flavia Albia. She has also written standalone books, some set in English Civil War, and novellas. Her work has been dramatized for radio and is being developed for TV.

View profile
Lucia Gahlin
Lucia Gahlin

Lucia Gahlin is a specialist in the archaeology of Ancient Egypt and has been leading archaeological tours to Egypt for over 20 years. She is an Honorary Research Associate at University College London’s Institute of Archaeology.

View profile
Marc Morris
Marc Morris

Dr Marc Morris is a historian who specialises in the Middle Ages. He studied and taught at the universities of London and Oxford and is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He is the author of the Sunday Times bestseller The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England.

View profile
Mark Corney
Mark Corney

Mark Corney is an Archaeologist, broadcaster and former Senior Landscape Investigator with the Royal Commission for Historic Monuments of England.

View profile
Milena Melfi
Milena Melfi

Dr Milena Melfi: Milena Melfi is an archaeologist of the ancient Greek world mostly interested in the archaeology of sanctuaries and religious sites.

View profile
Nick Jackson
Nick Jackson

Graduating in archaeology from the Institute of Archaeology at University College London, Nick later took up a research post at the University of Cambridge.

View profile
Oliver Gilkes
Oliver Gilkes

Oliver is an archaeologist of eclectic experience. Currently he works as a freelance consulting archaeologist, and provides advice for Andante Travels on designing as well as leading a number of tour groups.

View profile
Peter Berridge
Peter Berridge

Peter has published on a range of archaeological subjects including prehistoric stone tools and Norman castles. He has worked on excavations in Britain, Gibraltar and Morocco. His particular passion is the study of Colchester Castle.

View profile
Peter Yeoman
Peter Yeoman

Peter Yeoman has worked as an archaeologist throughout the UK for more than 40 years, directing and publishing major excavations, while also writing a number of books. He studied Archaeology and History of Art at the University of Leicester.

View profile
Prof. Tony King
Prof. Tony King

Professor Tony King is a lecturer in archaeology at the University of Winchester and a specialist in Roman archaeology. He has excavated widely in Britain and abroad, at sites that include Hayling Island, Meonstoke Roman Villa, Pompeii, Leptis Magna, and at Volubilis.

View profile
Prof. Valerie Higgins

Professor Valerie Higgins is currently Associate Professor of Archaeology and Program Director for Sustainable Cultural Heritage at The American University of Rome.

View profile
Professor Jean-Luc Houle
Professor Jean-Luc Houle

Jean-Luc Houle is an associate professor of anthropology (archaeology) in the Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology at Western Kentucky University.

View profile
Professor John Hines
Professor John Hines

John Hines is Professor in the School of History and Archaeology at Cardiff University, and is a specialist in the archaeology of the early medieval period, particularly the material culture and literature of the Vikings.

View profile
Professor John Rick
Professor John Rick

Professor John Rick is Associate Professor Emeritus and former Chair of Anthropological Sciences at Stanford University, previous Curator of Anthropological Collections, and past Director of Stanford’s Archaeology Center. He focuses on South American archaeology including the lost city of the incas.

View profile
Professor Suzannah Lipscomb
Professor Suzannah Lipscomb

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is an award-winning historian, author, and broadcaster. She is Professor Emerita at the University of Roehampton; Senior Member of Common Room at St Cross College, Oxford; and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Society of Antiquaries.

View profile
Terry Richardson
Terry Richardson

Terry Richardson has a university background in ancient history and classical civilisation. He first travelled to Turkey as an undergraduate back in 1977 and has been back countless times since then, and he also lived in southwest Turkey for around 13 years.

View profile
Tony O’Connor
Tony O’Connor

Tony O’Connor graduated in Ancient History and Archaeology from Manchester University, specialising in the Roman Empire and the Phoenicians.

View profile
Farès K Moussa
Farès K Moussa

Farès has researched and published on Phoenician, Carthaginian, Roman and ancient Amazigh cultures in North Africa and the central Mediterranean; and on rock-art in North Africa and Saudi-Arabia.

View profile
Tony Wilmott
Tony Wilmott

Tony Wilmott specialises in the Roman and Late Antique periods, with particular interests in the Roman military and frontiers, in Roman religion, and also in the late and post-Roman transition.

View profile

Celebrity Guest Lecturer


Andrew Graham-Dixon
Andrew Graham-Dixon

Andrew Graham-Dixon is a leading British art historian and broadcaster.

View profile
Ivan Hewett
Ivan Hewett

Telegraph classical music critic Ivan Hewett has been The Daily Telegraph’s classical music critic for 16 years and has worked as a journalist, academic, author and broadcaster for more than 30 years.

View profile
Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis

Lindsey Davis is a novelist known for her Roman detective, Marcus Didius Falco and her ongoing series about his daughter, Flavia Albia. She has also written standalone books, some set in English Civil War, and novellas. Her work has been dramatized for radio and is being developed for TV.

View profile
Rupert Christiansen
Rupert Christiansen

The Telegraph’s opera critic Rupert Christiansen is the author of a dozen books, including Prima Donna and The Faber Pocket Guide to Opera.

View profile

Onboard Expert Guest Lecturer


Eugenia Alexiou
Eugenia Alexiou

Eugenia Alexiou was born in Athens. She studied Archaeology and Art History at the National University of Athens and holds a Masters degree in Byzantine Art.

View profile

Local Guide


Antonia Toka
Antonia Toka

Antonia has been working as an expert tour guide in Cyprus for several years.

View profile
Jaime Droguett
Jaime Droguett

Jaime has 27 years of experience leading tours, the majority in the Atacama Desert.

View profile
Miranda Spitha
Miranda Spitha

Miranda Spitha studied archaeology in Italy and is from Crete, so is very knowledgeable about history and contemporary life in Greece.

View profile

Other Guides


Andrew Graham-Dixon
Andrew Graham-Dixon

Andrew Graham-Dixon is a leading British art historian and broadcaster.

View profile

Newsletter