The University’s Alumni Travel Programme has unveiled a trio of world class destinations for its debut year, including an exclusive Birmingham alumni-only trip to the Middle East to discover its archaeology and history.
Three limited-place tour packages are being offered to University of Birmingham alumni and their friends and families between September and December this year, including fortnight-long excursions to Turkey, Morocco and the Galapagos Islands.
Highlights of this year’s itinerary include a specially-created tour of classical Turkey, accompanied by the University's Dr Gillian Shepherd, lecturer in classical archaeology. The two week-long September trip delves into the country’s Byzantine past and also features excursions to Troy, Assos, Smyrna, Pergamum and an Aegean cruise.
A brief overview of each tour and links to further information are below.
Turkey – Breathing new life into the Trojan Horse
(18 September – October 1) 
The tour, which is available only to University alumni and their friends and family, comes with a designated expert from the department of Archaeology and Antiquity – Dr Gillian Shepherd.
Turkey’s complex Byzantine and classical history are a prominent feature of the fortnight-long excursion, which begins in Constantinople (Istanbul). The tour also takes in Hellespoint, the city of Troy, Assos, Pergamum and Smyrna, the birthplace of Homer. A private yacht then takes visitors to Ephesus, Priene, Euromos and Iassos along the Aegean coast for an unforgettable cruise.
For a full itinerary click here.
Morocco – Imperial Cities
(15-26 October)
The excursion, which is led by Professor James Allan, lecturer in Islamic Art and Archaeology at the University of Oxford’s Oriental Institute, uncovers Morocco’s 6,000 years of archaeology, art and architecture.
Fused by the influences of the Berbers, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs and colonial reach of the French, Spanish and Portuguese, the trip offers a richly varied account of the country’s history.
Starting in Tangiers, visitors are taken to the UNESCO-protected city of Medina and on to Volubilis and the Ummayad Imperial cities of Fes, Meknes, Rabat and Marrakech. The tour features desert dunes, magnificent scenery, exotic cuisine and bazaars.
For a full itinerary click here.
The Galapagos Islands and Ecuador
(24 November – 6 December)
Experience firsthand the world class ecology that was instrumental to Sir Charles Darwin formulating his theory of evolution.
The two-week trip, which is led by Ben Sheldon, Professor of Field Ornithology at Oxford University, begins in the Andean city of Quito – what was the most northern outreach of the Inca empire – and the first city in the world to receive World Heritage status.
The plazas and churches of Quito are visited before the tour moves on to the Galapagos Islands to take in its rich varieties of flora, fauna and wildlife, as well as witness its evolution in action.
For a full itinerary click here.