ACE Cultural Tours launches 2017 Tour Programme

• ACE's new partnership with Fauna & Flora International brings two new tours to Romania and South Africa
• New tour on Bauhaus offered in association with ACE's partner, the Twentieth Century Society
• Special 2017 anniversary tour on Luther with Cambridge University's Professor of Reformation History, Richard Rex
• New tour to celebrate 100th anniversary of the Dutch avant-garde, De Stijl includes the retrospective Mondrian exhibition at The Hague
• Historian Jeremy Black leads a new tour looking at Baroque & Rococo Bavaria

The new 2017 programme of ACE Cultural Tours has just been published, complete with a selection of exciting new worldwide departures some of which celebrate 2017 anniversaries, others capitalise on new partnerships with special interest organisations.

ACE Cultural Tours is different – wholly owned by its parent charity, the ACE Foundation, each year all of the company surplus goes to support educational projects in the UK and abroad. As a result, ACE is truly committed to offering stimulating travel that supports global cultures, and has joined forces with several organisations who share its vision.

This year ACE launches a new partnership with Fauna & Flora International (FFI) with two new special tours in 2017: Wild Romania, and South Africa: Flowers of the Fairest Cape. Both departures will include privileged content given by FFI staff and their local partners, who will explain their pioneering role in supporting sustainable conservation.

A brand-new tour dedicated to Bauhaus: German Modern Art & Design, led by former Chairman of the Twentieth Century Society, Alan Powers, has blossomed out of ACE's successful partnership with the Twentieth Century Society. This partnership also supports the return of the popular twentieth century tours to Cornwall and East Anglia.

Iran makes a welcome return to ACE's programme after several years, with a fully-revised itinerary, Iran: Glories of Persia, taking travelers off the beaten tourist trail to reveal little-known UNESCO World Heritage sites. Also new to the Distant Destinations roster is Japan: Temples & Art of the Inland Sea, a fascinating and innovative route which includes a section of the Shikoku Island pilgrimage trail.

ACE celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Dutch avant-garde, De Stijl, with a tour dedicated to Van Gogh & Mondrian in the Netherlands including an unmissable retrospective at The Hague of works by one of the founding artists of the movement: Piet Mondrian. Further new art tours include Art Collections in Lille & Lens, where the opening of the Lens branch of the Musée du Louvre in 2012 has cemented the status of Pas-de-Calais as an artistic centre.

See Europe with fresh eyes in the company of experts, with new tours including Baroque & Rococo Bavaria with leading 18th century historian Jeremy Black, and Oracles of Greece with archaeologist Carolyn Perry. Or, join the University of Cambridge's Professor of Reformation History, Richard Rex, on a special 2017 anniversary tour In the Footsteps of Luther: 500 Years of Reformation.

Closer to home, examine the life and works of one of England's greatest native artists on Hogarth in London, led by former Director of the Foundling Museum, Lars Tharp, and admire Romanesque England: The Carved Churches of Herefordshire in the company of Rose Walker, one of the country's foremost authorities on Romanesque sculpture.

All of these tours and many more can be found on the ACE website at www.aceculturaltours.co.uk or in the pages of ACE's new 2017 brochure. Order a copy through the website or contact the office direct.

ENDS

Notes for Editors

For more information, images, or a copy of the ACE 2017 brochure please contact Kate Price Thomas on 01223 841055, at kate@aceculturaltours.co.uk or visit www.aceculturaltours.co.uk

ACE Cultural Tours is the UK's most experienced cultural tour operator. With a growing portfolio of over 1000 specially tailored tours for small groups, ACE offers over 180 departures every year. Each tour is led by a Tour Director – both a specialist in their field and a convivial host – and the tour groups regularly enjoy privileged access to private buildings, collections and performers. Owned by the charity the ACE Foundation, all surplus from the tour company is used to fund educational projects in the UK and abroad.

ACE Cultural Tours is a bonded tour operator, holding ATOL licence no 1204 and is also a member of AITO and ABTOT.