OUR MISSION:

15th Anniversary “Origins” Tour

London, Amsterdam, Paris

June 2-16, 2025

This is Basically the same itinerary as our very first World to the Wise Cultural Tour back in 2010! We’d love for you to help us celebrate this anniversary in three of Europe’s greatest cities.

(The order of the cities has been reversed since we first published this information.)

LONDON (arrive June 3 from US)

What can we say about this great city that has not already been said? We could spend months here and still not see all that it holds. Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London are two of the non-negotiable sites we’ll visit, along with a whole host of other possible attractions: Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Covent Garden, the British Museum and more. We’ll include a day trip to the storied university town of Oxford and stroll where the likes of Lewis and Tolkien taught. 5 nights

We’ll then hop on the Eurostar train to….

AMSTERDAM

“Quaint” barely begins to describe this enchanting city, with its 17th century architecture and iconic canals. The city has tenaciously maintained its old-world charm, and you’ll likely see more bikes here than anywhere else! We’ll visit world class museums such as the Van Gogh and the Anne Frank house, as well as cozy cafes and bustling markets. We’ll hopefully also include a bicycle excursion among the polders as we marvel at the Dutch ingenuity that has reclaimed so much land from the sea. 3 nights

Then another train to…

PARIS

The City of Lights has quite possibly inspired more songs and literature than any other city. Notre Dame Cathedral (now reopened!), the Eiffel Tower, Musée d’Orsay, Montmartre with its artists’ square, the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysées…not to mention the obligatory sidewalk cafes, crème brûlée, pastries, baguettes, cheese.…(oops, got a little sidetracked there…) We’ll include a side trip to the house and gardens of artist Claude Monet in the Norman village of Giverny. And we think you’ll be surprised by the openness and friendliness of the French! 5 nights

Return to the US June 16

NOTE: This tour is priced in such a way where you can join us for London-Amsterdam, Amsterdam-Paris, or all three cities.

ANOTHER NOTE: As we have moved the dates of this tour forward, the sign-up window is shorter as we need to begin booking hotels and certain attractions. For this reason the deadline for the deposit is March 1.

So how much is all this going to co$t? Click here for all the scoop, including costs, payment timeline and more.

Ready to sign up now? Click here!

CHRISTMAS IN NEW ZEALAND

This tour, originally scheduled for March as a spring break trip, was cancelled due to our minimum number of travelers not being met. However, we have taken a group on two different occasions to New Zealand over the Christmas-New Year’s break; if you are interested in this possiblity for 2025-26, email us at david@daviddurham.org.

This will be our third time to organize a tour to Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud. This is the indigenous Maori name of this striking country, and we can safely say it is impossible to leave there indifferent! Your hosts, our longtime “mates” Neil and Jill White, who live on the North Island in the Bay of Plenty, will take you to various parts of both the North and South Islands. You’ll begin by basing out of their beautiful, secluded area called Tanners Point, where you’ll experience beaches (including a hot water beach and boat tour of Cathedral Cove), gorge(ous) hikes, sailing and or rowing (weather permitting), and an unforgettable visit to Hobbiton, the original movie set of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit movie series. Early March is technically late winter in the US, making it late summer in New Zealand, an ideal time to visit.

After a brief stop in the nation’s largest city of Auckland, you’ll head to the Northland, the area where New Zealand first became a nation with the signing of the Waitangi Treaty. There you’ll experience an authentic Maori presentation and learn how the European and the Maori learned to coexist. You’ll also visit Russell, the first permanent European settlement and seaport.

From the Northland you’ll fly to the South Island city of Christchurch, where you’ll hop into a rental van and drive to one of the most scenic spots in New Zealand, Lake Tekapo. The lake’s striking turquoise color comes from finely ground rock particles, known as glacial flour, that scatter sunlight. The area is also considered one of the best sites in the Southern Hemisphere for stargazing.

From Tekapo you’ll continue on to Queenstown, one of the jewels of the South Island. Set on the edge of Lake Wakatipu and practically surrounded by mountains, Queenstown is both a summer and winter playground. You’ll be presented there with a number of options, including hiking, boat excursions, bungee jumping (or just watching!) at the original home of the bungee jump, and a day trip to Milford Sound in the west coast area of Fjordland. That’s right — you’ll think you’re in Norway!

And did we mention that you’ll do anything but go hungry? New Zealand is a mighty fine culinary destination, and in addition, you might never look at coffee breaks the same way again!

At the end of the tour you’ll fly back up to Auckland to catch your flight home.

Interested? Just send a quick email to david@daviddurham.org and we’ll keep you up to date!

Space is extremely limited as we like to keep our groups small for a better experience, so fill out the form and we’ll take it from there!

Ready to sign up now? Click here!