Launching Autumn 2022, a travel company that offers group adventures and bespoke tours for those with a passion for history.
We’re doing it again! Kate Jamieson and Alexandra Churchill will be in Portsmouth this October for another run at our bestselling tour. You get Mary Rose from me, Victory from KJ and then we recreate Nelson’s last walk in English soil before we go to the pub 🤘🏼
istoriatravel.org/portsmouth
We’ve been working really hard with our friends in Thailand and we’re ready to go live with this! In spring 2026 we’ll be running a Thailand in WW2 tour, built around exploring the infamous railway, with all the cultural experiences you can shake a stick at so you don’t go home feeling like you’ve missed out! 🐘 🇹🇭
https://www.istoriatravel.org/thailand
Instead of writing about elections I lolled at a dumb politician & seized Barnard Castle back for people who were more interesting there throughout history. It’s an article with vikings, Mel Gibson, the Crimean War, grumpy hermits & Saving Private Smith.
Because the town deserves better than an attachment to a lame politician
I’ve had enough of actual election nonsense so here’s an article claiming back Barnard Castle for those more interesting than a k**b politician who drove 300m for an eye test in lockdown…
Because the town deserves better than an attachment to a lame politician
Todays article is more Americana, as in why New Mexico is mad. It’s got everything from aliens to wars over cows, to prehistoric footprints to a giant pistachio nut…
Cowboys, desert, missiles, rib-eyes, aliens, John Wayne and a giant pistachio nut.
NEW TOUR ALERT - Coming in Aug ‘25, Battlefield Belgium, where we spend 5 days looking at a century of war in Ardennes. From the Franco-Prussian War, to to the Battle of the Bulge. Book/register interest now. Spaces are extremely limited on this one:
This is the battleground for Belgium. Exploring over 100 years of history, discover why the Ardennes is key to victory in every war...
Today’s article in my online magazine is another Vanished Occupation. This time, I look at the lost art of guillotining people for a living and draw a direct line to Lord of the Rings…
Revolution, N***s, serial killers and a wizard from the Lord of the Rings
Todays FREE weekly history article from me includes news from my articles and a look at Catherine Fletcher’s amazing new book: with a piece on how Roman roads impacted the fighting in Italy in 1944
Spies, N***s, football history and puritan s*x
Todays FREE weekly history digest includes highlights and news from my articles this week, and a look at Catherine Fletcher’s amazing new book, and how Roman roads impacted the fighting in Italy in 1944
Spies, N***s, football history and puritan s*x
It’s on. Join Kate Jamieson and Alexandra Churchill in Bristol for a day of boaty history and pubs. In that order, promise. 10th August. Places limited so don’t miss out!
Alex Churchill & Kate Jamieson take you on a rollicking tour through Bristol's maritime history. Pirates, ships and the city's dark ties to the slave trade...
Slightly new format for my online magazine. Each weekend you’ll get a free weekly digest about what I’ve been working on with samples news, & teasers for the next week. First is up, this week 🇮🇹 🥂 🎥 🕌 🇸🇦 and more…
Setting out my history stall
Slightly new format for my online magazine. Each weekend you’ll get a free weekly digest about what I’ve been working on with samples news, & teasers for the next week. First is up, and this week 🇮🇹 🥂 🎥 🕌 🇸🇦 and more…
Setting out my history stall
The history of religion fascinates me - In today’s article I’ve taken a look at the first Muslim believer in history, and SHE is fierce. 🕌
Thanks for the help Bedouin Husband 👌🏼 Mohammad Aref
Spolier, it's a she, not a he.
🤗UNBELIEVABLE. Is this the best roadtrip ever?! Join us and find out…
8 days, 2 timelines, 1500 years apart. WW2 and Ancient Rome ~ ROADS TO ROME goes from Bari to Rome, via Monte Cassino, Anzio, the Appian Way...
🇮🇹 CHECK. IT. OUT. 👇
🇮🇹 👉Where - Italy.
🇮🇹 👉When - 16th to the 25th Sept. 2024.
🇮🇹 👉Who - YOU!!
🇮🇹 👉Why? Because you're interested in Ancient Rome, you're curious about the Second World War, and a road-trip taking in Monte Cassino, Naples, Pompeii and more SOUNDS AMAZING.🤗👉
Ancient Rome, WW2 - two timelines, one direction, and 1,500 miles of history. An incredible roadtrip. It's true, all roads lead to Rome!
Today, I chose to write about the people of Normandy and what meant to those civilians caught up in the relentless invasion of Europe as the Allies smashed into Hitler’s forces. Read about Le débarquement de Normandie, 1944 and how this history has been in plain sight ⬇️🕯️
James Holland Guy Walters Alina Nowobilska Kate Jamieson Clare Mulley WW2TV - Paul Woodadge
Le Débarquement en Normandie
Our waitlist is open for our June 2025 war tour of Orkney. Join Alexandra Churchill and Kate Jamieson and see highlights such as:
🏴 The famous waters of Scapa flow
🏴 Medieval stonework fashioned out of paint by Italian WW2 POWs
🏴 Makeshift barriers fashioned out of piles of masonry in the name of Churchill
🏴The bleak waters that claimed the life of Lord Kitchener in 1916
And we’d be mean if we didn’t include the stunning prehistoric settlement of Skara Brae
To find out more and sign up to stay informed visit:
Wild, wartime memories. FWW, WW2 ... come with us to Orkney and explore the islands' wartime history. It's a battlefield tour, it's a history trip and more ...
I’ve gone for another bout of STOP FORGETTING THE FRENCH TODAY. Here’s a photo article about how the Battle for Normandy impacted the poor souls who lived there. 🕯️
Le Débarquement en Normandie
A few weeks from now I’m heading to Belgium with a small group 6 day group trip for & we have ONE PLACE LEFT. If you’d like to join me from one side of 🇧🇪 to the other following the German invasion, and meet Herman the cat, you can find out full details of the dates/price/itinerary at:
The First World War did not begin on the Western Front at Mons. For three weeks, the Belgian army had fought off invasion from a vastly superior army. The story of Belgium in 1914 is a multi-national one, and this tour examines the opening months of the conflict from everyone's point of view.
Parachutes 🪂 Gliders
Explosives 🧨
A One Night Stand Kit 🎉
And how Benjamin Franklin fits in 💡
I’ve been looking at Saul David’s book new book for todays FREE ARTICLE.
I know what you're thinking, and the answer is yes.
Update on Jordan, long chat with our Bedouin family last night & your opportunities to experience the Hejaz railway as Lawrence knew it might be extremely ltd now. At worst, it might be ripped up in the near future, at best, there are plans for a new modern line charging alongside 😪 ⬇️ for how to join me in 2025 🐪 🇯🇴 🚂
Both our Istoria Travel go to places nobody else on earth drags you. We’ve been exploring the railway with the local Bedouin for years now and keep finding new things to add. There are two versions of the trip. They both include Petra, Aqaba and the railway. The difference is how you want to spend your time in the desert. For those who want a bed, plumbing and a pool in between forays, there’s this one:
istoriatravel.org/jordan-glamping
The second trip, you’ll spend three days hiking through Wadi Rum and camping with our beloved Bedouin boyband…
istoriatravel.org/jordan-camping
Your 2025 team consists of Alex guiding all the old sh*t, namely , Mohammad, born and raised next to Petra is our guide for the REALLY old sh*t, Fareed is our Bedouin camp leader, cookery instructor and lovely Owen is on hand for logistics and to make sure that everything runs smoothly. He’ll even put plasters on your blisters! (Our auditions for the Bedouin boy band have so far been unsuccessful)
Escape EVERYTHING ✅
Battlefielding ✅
Steam train ✅
Live with the Bedouin a la Lawrence ✅
Visit Petra ✅
All the upside down ✅ 🍗 🍚 🫑 🥔 & how to make it
Today you can find out why Alexandra Churchill love Jordan & her history 🇯🇴 🐪 & how you can join her there next year
https://achurchill.substack.com/p/join-me-on-tour
I don’t do many tours, but the ones that I do, I like to take people where other travel companies don’t go, and tell stories in a unique way. You can see the company website at www.istoriatravel.org
Each spring I try to get to Jordan to get people walking in the footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia.
Yes we talk about him, but if you know anything about me, I don’t do the ordinary narrative. So my tours are very much about the Arabs, their Arab Revolt and all the other white people who happened to participate too. T. E. Lawrence wrote the English narrative on events, and so he made it all about him, but I try and redress the balance.
We’re the only WW1 tours that operate out of the southern half of Jordan, which is where all the best stuff is. Why take you to see a plaque on some rubble where he slept for three nights once, when we can take you to where he fought, and where the revolt plied their trade sabotaging the Turkish lifeline in the region, the Hejaz Railway?
I’ve spent more than five years exploring with the local Bedouin and locating various points of interest. Know how I know we’re unique? Because we get laughed at on our way around because we’re the only nutters that pass by every summer. For those with the legs for it, we’ll even take you to some WW1 trenches in the Arabian desert!
We start off in Aqaba, where we have a welcome dinner, get to know each other and set the scene.
The original tour was based on incorporating a three day desert trek in, so you can really get to know the region. I can’t explain what it’s like to wake up in the middle of Wadi Rum and see no sign of civilisation, but the fact that we have people who repeatedly done the same tour tells you a bit about the place, the people, and the way it clears your head!
If at all possible (the schedule is mayhem, and we have to latch on to existing trips and let our local guide work his magic) we will get you on the replica Turkish steam train that chugs back and forth in Wadi Rum and is subjected to a mock raid by the Bedouin. At the very least, you will get to explore a steam engine (it’s 1950s and Japanese, but a locomotive is a locomotive) and the bonafide WW1 carriages while they are stationary.
After the trek, we speed off past the policemen laughing at us at their checkpoints and head out onto the railway. This is the bit where I can guarantee we’re taking you where no other tour on earth goes.
I know we’re there for Lawrence and that part of Jordan’s history, but on my tours I don’t like to speed you past the bucket list items, and so then we head up to Petra, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Here you get a full tour and then more time to explore for yourself. There’s the opportunity to spoil yourself with a Turkish massage in Wadi Musa, before we round off the Arab Revolt content with a battlefield visit on the way back to Aqaba for a final night out.
We run a second tour, for those who are less mobile, hate trekking or just don’t feel like camping. The itinerary is the same, but whilst you are in Wadi Rum, you will be based at one of the glamping sites. You’ll get a 4x4 sunset jeep tour included, and the rest of the time will be for chatting about the Arab Revolt, and picking up any optional extras like more jeep tours, or star-gazing by night, or just relaxing by the pool.
You’ll have three people looking after you on these trips. I do the old stuff. Our local guide Mohammad Aref, does the really old stuff, having been born and raised on the doorstep of Petra, and Owen E Moody is our Tour Manager. He’s a repeat visitor to Jordan, Bedouin adoptee and had wholly fallen in love with the country and her people. That’s why he is riding a camel in one of the pictures below.
Both tours will take place in February 2025, and you can find a full itinerary, including dates and prices and booking information here. On one of the tours next year, you’ll even get a fourth expert, as we have a very excitable geologist Dusty coming all the way from the US!
- Alex
Dates now released for our Jordan trips for Feb 2025. Book now via the website for the trip of a lifetime tracking Lawrence of Arabia, exploring bits of the Hejaz Raikway where no other tour group goes, & learning all about the Arab Revolt 1916-18. We’ll even chuck in Petra! (Glamping and Camping options available) All in the company of self, lively Mohammad Aref and our trusty tour manager Owen E Moody - pastiest man ever to be adopted by the Bedouin 🫶🏼 🇯🇴 🐪
www.istoriatravel.org/tours
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0hmkmdq
Me waffling again for BBC this time
The Battle of the Somme was supposed to be the offensive to win WW1. What's the story?
Our Portsmouth Tour on 2/3 is now SOLD OUT. We’re looking forward to seeing you all. The toast to Nelson appears to have morphed into a night on the town. We think Nelson would have been smug that he can still pull a crowd! More days later in the year Kate Jamieson Alexandra Churchill
There are only seven places left for our Portsmouth Dockyard tour on 2nd March. HMS Victory with Kate Jamieson Mary Rose with Alexandra Churchill, then we recreate Nelson’s last walk on English soil before toasting him in the pub!
https://www.istoriatravel.org/portsmouth
Join Kate Jamieson & Alexandra Churchill for a day out at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard on 2nd March via Istoria Travel Mary Rose with Alex, lunch, HMS Victory with Kate, then we’ll recreate Nelson’s last walk on English soil before toasting him in the pub! Last time there was a Spitfire flypast too 😂
https://www.istoriatravel.org/portsmouth
Join Kate Jamieson & Alexandra Churchill for a day out at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard on 2nd March via Istoria Travel Mary Rose with Alex, lunch, HMS Victory with Kate, then we’ll recreate Nelson’s last walk on English soil before toasting him in the pub! Last time there was a Spitfire flypast too 😂
https://www.istoriatravel.org/portsmouth
We’re delighted to launch a new /Ancient crossover tour for September 2024! In conjunction with the lovely “Roads to Rome” will look at two times in history that Rome was successfully conquered from the South! From Bari to Rome, via Anzio, Cannae, Monte Cassino, Naples and Pompeii, learning about the Appian Way. The other guides will include Alexandra Churchill Full details here:
We’re delighted to be working with Professor Catherine Fletcher of Manchester Metropolitan University on a new tour based on her upcoming book: “Roads to Rome.” Part history book, part road trip, this will be an exploration of travel and travellers on the Roman road network across two millenni...
Kate Jamieson & Alexandra Churchill are repeating our Portsmouth Day Trip next Saturday for Istoria Travel - I handle the Mary Rose, there’s fish and chips, Kate covers the Victory and then follow in Nelson’s footsteps and inevitably end up in a pub. You can book here: https://www.istoriatravel.org/copy-2-of-scientific-london
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Our lead guide for Waterloo and Napoleonic adventures is Zack White. Zack has a PhD in Wellington’s army. Here he is talking about the women of Brussels and their care for the wounded after Waterloo. Next year he’ll be leading a four day, small group tour (Code S105) to Belgium to discover the four battles that made up the Waterloo campaign. He’ll be looking at it from the perspective of the British, French, Prussian troops and more. And telling you why Victor Hugo is not a good addition to the battlefield. Join our mailing list to receive our brochure on release next month at www.istoriatravel.org
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