For centuries, the Via Francigena carried pilgrims, merchants and armies across Europe to Rome, shaping the towns and communities that grew along its route.

In this episode of The Thinking Traveller, Dr Jeni Ryde joins us to discuss the history of this ancient road, from its medieval origins and changing fortunes to the fortified hill towns, landscapes and cultural heritage that still mark its course through Italy today.

Academy Travel is a leading specialist in small-group cultural tours, allowing you to travel with like-minded companions and learn from internationally renowned experts. Like our podcast, our tours are designed to appeal to travellers with a strong interest in history, archaeology, architecture, the visual arts and the performing arts.

Learn more here - https://academytravel.com.au/

For nearly three thousand years, the Odyssey has held its place as one of the foundational texts of Western literature – the story of a man's ten-year journey home from Troy.

A journey through shipwreck, sorcery and the wrath of the gods, the Odyssey belongs to myth. Yet the Greeks imagined its adventures unfolding across a real Mediterranean landscape, among the volcanic coasts of Sicily and southern Italy, where Etna still smoulders and the Strait of Messina churns between Scylla and Charybdis.

In this episode, archaeologist Dr Estelle Lazer explores what the Odyssey can tell us about the world of Homer, how myth became attached to real geography, and why these stories still grip us, right up to Christopher Nolan's latest film adaptation.

Academy Travel is a leading specialist in small-group cultural tours, allowing you to travel with like-minded companions and learn from internationally renowned experts. Like our podcast, our tours are designed to appeal to travellers with a strong interest in history, archaeology, architecture, the visual arts and the performing arts.

Learn more here - https://academytravel.com.au/

Born into a turbulent Castile, Isabella rose to claim a contested throne and, alongside Ferdinand of Aragon, helped forge modern Spain.

In this episode of The Thinking Traveller, we welcome award-winning historian and author Giles Tremlett to our program, who will lead our new Spanish Queens, Kings & Caudillos tour in 2027.

Giles discusses Isabella’s rise to power, the forces that defined her reign, and why she continues to inspire both admiration and condemnation.

Academy Travel is a leading specialist in small-group cultural tours, allowing you to travel with like-minded companions and learn from internationally renowned experts. Like our podcast, our tours are designed to appeal to travellers with a strong interest in history, archaeology, architecture, the visual arts and the performing arts.

Learn more here - https://academytravel.com.au/

For more than five centuries, Egypt's pharaohs were buried in a remote desert valley on the west bank of the Nile. Hidden among barren limestone hills, the Valley of the Kings became the final resting place of some of the most well-known rulers of the ancient world, including Tutankhamun, Seti I and Ramesses II.

In this episode we are joined by Egyptologist Dr Bill Manley as he explores how and why the Valley of the Kings came into being, the extraordinary tombs cut deep into its cliffs, and the beliefs that shaped Egypt's vision of the afterlife.

Academy Travel is a leading specialist in small-group cultural tours, allowing you to travel with like-minded companions and learn from internationally renowned experts. Like our podcast, our tours are designed to appeal to travellers with a strong interest in history, archaeology, architecture, the visual arts and the performing arts.

Learn more here - https://academytravel.com.au/

Ravenna is one of Italy’s most quietly extraordinary cities – a place where the final centuries of the Roman world can still be read through intricate mosaics and imperial monuments.

In this episode we are joined by Dr Eireann Marshall as she explores how this lagoon city rose to prominence, becoming first a Roman Imperial capital, then the seat of Ostrogothic power, and finally a key centre of the Byzantine world.

At the heart of this story are not only Emperors and armies, but a remarkable group of women whose lives intersected with some of the most dramatic events of late antiquity.

Academy Travel is a leading specialist in small-group cultural tours, allowing you to travel with like-minded companions and learn from internationally renowned experts. Like our podcast, our tours are designed to appeal to travellers with a strong interest in history, archaeology, architecture, the visual arts and the performing arts.

Learn more here - https://academytravel.com.au/

At the glittering court of Louis XIV, where art functioned as an extension of power, no figure defined the sound of absolutism more completely than Jean-Baptiste Lully.

Rising from modest origins in Florence to become the most influential musician in 17th century France, Lully crafted a distinctly French operatic style that mirrored the grandeur and discipline of the Sun King’s reign.

In this episode we are joined by Dr Tarita Botsman as she explores explores how Lully secured his extraordinary position at court and forged a close working relationship with the king himself. Featuring musical excerpts from Lully's works, Tarita reveals how his compositions helped define the cultural identity of the ancien régime.

Academy Travel is a leading specialist in small-group cultural tours, allowing you to travel with like-minded companions and learn from internationally renowned experts. Like our podcast, our tours are designed to appeal to travellers with a strong interest in history, archaeology, architecture, the visual arts and the performing arts.

Learn more here - https://academytravel.com.au/

Corinth was a central city of the Greek world, influential in shipbuilding, colonisation and pottery production, and later in architecture, politics and early Christianity.

Today we are joined by Dr Amelia Brown – an archaeologist, historian and Hellenist. In this conversation, Amelia moves beyond the familiar comparisons with Athens to reveal a city whose character was forged through trade, travel and cultural encounter.

Amelia is the author of 'Corinth in Late Antiquity: A Greek, Roman and Christian City', based on her extensive on-site research. She is currently preparing a new study examining who was represented in Corinth’s Roman public portraiture, and joins Academy Travel as a tour leader in 2027.

Academy Travel is a leading specialist in small-group cultural tours, allowing you to travel with like-minded companions and learn from internationally renowned experts. Like our podcast, our tours are designed to appeal to travellers with a strong interest in history, archaeology, architecture, the visual arts and the performing arts.

Learn more here - https://academytravel.com.au/

Slovenia sits at a crossroads of Europe – where the Alps meet the Pannonian Plain and where a short Adriatic coastline opens onto the wider Mediterranean world.

From Lake Bled and its island church to ancient pagan traditions and Ljubljana's legendary dragon, Slovenia is steeped in myth and memory.

In this episode, we are joined by Dr Lauren Mackay, an historian of Early Modern Europe, as she examines how geography and power intertwined to shape Slovenia’s identity across the centuries.

Academy Travel is a leading specialist in small-group cultural tours, allowing you to travel with like-minded companions and learn from internationally renowned experts. Like our podcast, our tours are designed to appeal to travellers with a strong interest in history, archaeology, architecture, the visual arts and the performing arts.

Learn more here - https://academytravel.com.au/

Marg Horwell is one of Australia’s most acclaimed costume designers, whose work spans opera, theatre and large-scale international productions.

Her work on The Picture of Dorian Gray – which toured the West End and Broadway – earned both an Olivier Award and a Tony Award, marking a rare double recognition across the UK and US stages. Marg’s designs currently feature across two Academy Travel programs: New York Theatre April 2026 with Giant starring John Lithgow as Roald Dahl, and Sydney Theatre April 2026 with My Brilliant Career, where costume plays a defining role in shaping this new stage adaptation.

In this special conversation, brought to us by STAGES – the podcast of our Tour Leader Peter Eyers – Marg reflects on designing for actors, narrative and historical context, the transition of productions between continents, and the craft of costume as a vital storytelling language.

Academy Travel is a leading specialist in small-group cultural tours, allowing you to travel with like-minded companions and learn from internationally renowned experts. Like our podcast, our tours are designed to appeal to travellers with a strong interest in history, archaeology, architecture, the visual arts and the performing arts.

Learn more here - https://academytravel.com.au/

Patagonia is one of the world’s great frontier landscapes – a region shaped by ice, wind and the long histories of those who have lived and travelled there.

In this episode of The Thinking Traveller, we are joined by Dr Chris Carter who traces how Patagonia’s dramatic environment has shaped its people, cultures and national parks.

Chris is an archaeologist with over 25 years’ experience leading tours, including over 30 tours to South American countries. His PhD research was based on excavations he carried out at coastal sites in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile.

Academy Travel is a leading specialist in small-group cultural tours, allowing you to travel with like-minded companions and learn from internationally renowned experts. Like our podcast, our tours are designed to appeal to travellers with a strong interest in history, archaeology, architecture, the visual arts and the performing arts.

Learn more here - https://academytravel.com.au/