Just outside Berlin is one of Germany’s most enchanting destinations: Potsdam. The one-time residence of Prussian kings and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the town is set among a chain of lakes, and features royal palaces and gardens, a historic town center filled with unique boutiques and great restaurants, and unique architectural works from […]

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Tokyo is one of the best places in the world to see modern and contemporary architecture. Aoyama, Harajuku, Roppongi, Ginza and other neighborhoods are filled with important buildings by some of the world’s leading architects, including SANAA, Herzog & de Meuron, Tadao Ando, Le Corbusier, Kenzo Tange, Rafael Vinoly, Renzo Piano, Toyo Ito, Fumihiko Maki, […]

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Until you see Agra’s Taj Mahal in person, it’s hard to imagine how impossibly beautiful a building can be. The classic images we know of this iconic structure seem to convey a stark white marble exterior, but upon closer examination you can see that the Taj Mahal is actually adorned with colorful inlaid semi-precious stones in intricate […]

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John is one of the travel experts based in our New York City office. He’s passionate about art and architecture, and helps design our tours around the world. Q: What are your favorite travel destinations? A: Each destination is fascinating in its own way, and I love exploring new places and discovering what’s distinctive about them—local […]

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One of the main draws for travelers to Barcelona is the number of structures built in Modernista style, that fantastical, colorful, most whimsical of architectural styles popularized in the late 1800’s that is the Catalan equivalent to Art Nouveau. Most often associated with Antoni Gaudi, there are in fact other renowned Modernista architects, most notably […]

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Known as the City of Frescoes, Padua is a compact historic town less than an hour from Venice. It has a lively university atmosphere, great outdoor cafes and a wealth of cultural treasures well worth seeing. In fact, fitting all of them into one day can be a challenge! For our travelers, we take care […]

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Vienna is one of the best places in Europe to find antiques, and many Artisans of Leisure travelers ask us to arrange their private day tours to include time to browse the best antique districts and visit Vienna’s leading auction houses, including the Dorotheum. For such clients, we assign guides who are particularly knowledgeable about Austrian and […]

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Many of our tours include Benesse Art Site on Naoshima Island, and one of the activities we arrange from there is a private excursion to nearby Takamatsu on the island of Shikoku. The excursion can be done in just half a day and is recommended for anyone interested in Japanese art and culture. We arrange […]

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