Escorted Tour Leaders in Escorted Tours

You can call our Escorted Tours team of experts on 020 7386 4646 for further information and reservations.

Colin Amery

Architectural writer and historian Colin Amery was until recently director of World Monuments Fund in Britain, and involved in numerous major international restoration projects, including sites around Angkor Wat in Cambodia. He is now President of the Lutyens Trust, a Trustee of The Architectural Heritage Fund, and an architectural consultant working on English cathedrals. He is also the author of many books on architecture.

Patrick Beresford

Patrick has enjoyed a varied career. On leaving the army he became an international bloodstock agent and polo player, and later Chef d'Équipe to the British Three-Day Event team. He has travelled extensively and led riding and other tours to a variety of destinations including Europe, Central Asia, Ecuador, Morocco, Jordan and Argentina.

Liz Bonham

Though born and educated on America's East Coast, Liz Bonham spent most of her holidays with her maternal grandparents in Ayrshire and ultimately moved to the United Kingdom. Liz has worked in special education and is keen on tennis, golf and bridge, though her real passion is travel.

Marie-Thérèse Hill

Marie-Thérèse was born in Vienna and now lives in Hampshire. She was educated at the French Lycée and a language school in Switzerland, and is fluent in French, English, German and Italian. Her familiarity with European culture and extensive contacts worldwide are reflected in her unique tours.

Nicola Howard

Nicola has a degree in History of Art and a background in fine art and photography. Having lived in Paris, Barcelona and Rome, she speaks fluent French, Italian and Spanish and has specialised in these countries, as well as in Turkey, North Africa and the Middle East.

Tania Illingworth

Tania (née Tolstoy) is three quarters Russian, her grandparents having fled Russia in 1918. A degree in Russian Language & Literature, with Byzantine Art, reinforced her passionate interest in all things Russian. This, and the wide knowledge acquired in years of visiting to Russia, make her tours unique.

Harriet Landseer

Harriet lives in Prague (with occasional stints in Ireland and Andalucia) and, having led tours for Specialtours since 1996, now concentrates on Central Europe as her main area of expertise. Fluent in Czech, she is also at ease in German, French and Spanish. She studied History of Art at Yale University.

Antonia Lloyd Owen

Antonia joined Specialtours in 2002 with a degree in History of Art & Architecture and a good understanding of the Decorative Arts. Having lived in Spain and worked in Germany and Austria, she feels comfortable in these countries and has since widened her interest to Scandinavia and the Baltic.

Anna Longridge

Anna studied at the Université de Pau in France and uses her bilingual skills in reading European, Russian and Middle Eastern history. She is a keen traveler and painter (exhibiting regularly in London) with a passion for architecture, and has led tours to St. Petersburg, Egypt, India, Libya, Vietnam and Cuba.

Lucy Abel Smith

Lucy Abel Smith is an art historian, lecturer and journalist and has organized and led tours in Europe for over 25 years. She was a Director and then Chairman of Specialtours until she left in 1989 to concentrate on writing. The author of Prague: A Guide, she continues her research on Czech country houses. She is a past Chairman of the Gloucestershire regional committee of The Art Fund and past President of the European Friends of the Attingham Summer School. Her interests include gardening and collecting contemporary art - she runs a biennale in her garden for the Quenington Sculpture Trust and has been commissioned to write a book on 'Art in the Garden'.

Chris Bradley

Chris Bradley has been a professional guide and lecturer for over 30 years, specialising in the Middle East, and has written guidebooks on The Silk Road, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Cairo, many of them illustrated with his own photographs. He is a NADFAS lecturer who has also lectured at the Royal Geographic Society and regularly gives illustrated talks for the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. His television credits include producing documentaries for BBC, Channel 4 and National Geographic Television.

Clare Ford-Wille

Art historian, Clare Ford-Wille, has for many years lectured to numerous prestigious organisations including the University of London, the National Gallery, the Wallace Collection, the V&A, the Royal Academy, the National Trust and other societies. She has worked for leading Old Master dealers in London and been employed as an art historian by the Central University of Iowa and Stanford University, California. She contributed to the National Gallery's CD-Rom sound guide and the Companion Guide to European Art. 

Peter Lauritzen

Historian, author and lecturer, Peter Lauritzen, has lived in Italy since leaving Princeton University with a Fulbright Grant for study in Florence in 1962. A resident of Venice for 40 years, he has written Venice: A Thousand Years of Culture & Civilization, Palaces of Venice, Villas of the Veneto and Venice Preserved as well as the official UNESCO report. He has lectured in Europe and the USA and led tours specialising in Flemish and Dutch art, Imperial Russia, the Iberian peninsula, the Holy Roman Empire and classical antiquity.

James McDonaugh

James McDonaugh has an MA in Philosophy and Theology from Oxford as well as a diploma in Art History and an MA in Architectural History from the Courtauld Institute. Combining a deep knowledge of art with literature, history and theology, he is a freelance art history lecturer, with a particular interest in Italy, and has recently accompanied tours to Venice, Florence, Siena, Mantua, Rome and Naples as well as to Sicily and its surrounding islands. He also lectures in London, Paris and Istanbul.

Nicholas Merchant

Nicholas Merchant has an abiding interest in antiques and has worked for some of the major auction houses both in London and the provinces. His interests are broad and he likes to discuss art and artefacts in their historical context. His convivial style has made him a popular lecturer all over the world, including at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Susie Orso

Susie Orso joined Specialtours in 1987 and has arranged and accompanied numerous tours for The Art Fund and specialised American groups. She lives in Florence and has developed many private contacts in Italy, along with a faithful following. Susie is bi-lingual in Italian and speaks fluent French and German, and some Spanish.

Michael Pelham

Michael Pelham is a graduate of King's College, Cambridge, who has long been interested in ancient history and comparative religions, has lived in Egypt and travelled extensively throughout the Middle East, Turkey and elsewhere. He has recently led tours to Myanmar, Cambodia, Turkey, Croatia, Laos, Brazil, Vietnam and Southern India.

Emily Pontifex

Emily, who heads up our Escorted Tours department, has years of experience working in specialised group travel. She studied French and Spanish at Bristol University, being fluent in both languages, and has a particular interest in Spain and Latin America. She has led tours to China, Ecuador, Peru, Vietnam and accompanied tours on several Mediterranean Cruises.

Frances Roxburgh

Frances Roxburgh joined Specialtours in 1990. She had previously worked in guidebook publishing and the art world and led walking tours in Italy. She has a degree in French, Italian and History of Art and has accompanied many tours for The Art Fund, as well as European and American museum and garden groups.

Richard Snailham

After 11 years teaching, Richard became a lecturer at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst for 25 years. During this period, and the subsequent 14 years, he undertook numerous expeditions to some of the world's most exciting destinations (many with explorer John Blashford-Snell), and for the past 20 years has led tours to Ethiopia, China and Bolivia. He has also given some 2500 lectures and had six books published.

Caroline & Peter Stanley

Caroline and Peter are avid travellers with a love of Asia, especially the Indian sub-continent. For the last ten years they have taken tours to Rajasthan and other parts of India, and in 2008 visited Bhutan for the first time, which they loved. They like to feel that their tours are in reality 'roving house parties'.

Rhydian Vaughan

After nine years in the Welsh Guards and several with Lloyds, Rhydian's involvement in the field of Talent Development and Management Training and a passion for military history have made his battlefield tours extremely popular. Personal and moving stories and locations rather than 'cemetery hopping' is his preferred style.