Tour Host Pick of the Month
by Sheri Leigh

Bequeathed to this nation by an English scientist who had never even visited the U.S., the Smithsonian is the world’s largest museum complex. With 14 separate museums under its aegis, such as Air and Space, National Portrait Gallery and National Museum of American History, and more than 90 separate affiliated museums around the country, you could spend years wandering the Smithsonian’s halls and never see it all.

Not surprisingly, Smithsonian Study Tours, the travel department of this fantastic cultural institution, offers the largest and most diverse museum travel program in the U.S. More than 250 destinations are featured, spanning 15 thematic choices, including Arts and Architecture, Cuisine, Essence Tours (which focus on a specific place), Performing Arts and U.S. History. 

It also offers tours created for special groups, such as family programs, domestic and international cruises, weekender trips and seminar tours, which include in-depth lectures.

Family programs include “Family Adventure in Costa Rica,” “Dragons and Dynasties: China for Families” and “Treasures and Traditions: London for Families.”

Domestic cruises include, “An Antebellum Christmas Along the Intracoastal Waterway,” “Fall Foliage on the Hudson River” and “Retracing the 1899 Harriman Expedition.” International cruises include “Great Cities of the Baltic,” “Legendary Landscapes of the Yangtze River” and “Journey of Odysseus: Retracing the Odyssey through the Ancient Mediterranean.”

Seminar trips include, “Renoir, Matisse, and Picasso on the Rivera,” “Rome: Western Civilization and the Eternal City,” “Capitals of Art Nouveau: Nancy and Brussels,” “The Arts of Russia,” “More than Meets the Eye: Magic and Meaning in Trompe l'Oeil Art” and “Michelangelo: Artistic Genius.”

These trips are all inclusive with no added entrance fees, and feature the most knowledgeable lecturers available. The rates may appear high at first glance, but with all that’s included with each trip, as well as the first-class accommodations, they are a bargain for the traveler interested in a specialized study tour.

Smithsonian Museum Lover's Vacation packages have recently been introduced. In association with Collette Vacations, these trips offer travel arrangements, accommodations and exclusive Smithsonian Museum Notes. These trips are much less expensive than the museum’s regular study tours, because they don’t include the expert lecturers Smithsonian Study Tours are noted for.

Both the Study Tours website and the Smithsonian site itself are fantastic resources. They’re easy to use, detailed, and have fascinating histories of each museum and lots of neat stuff for the kids. The Smithsonian, live or virtual, is a great place to visit, especially if you want to give the kids a great holiday.