About us…

The Andante office: (back row from left) Mary Reynolds, Barnaby Jones, Thérèse de Cuevas, Sam Miell,  Denise Allen, Mark Allerton, Alexandra Casey, Alexandra Luchetti, Marisa Merewood, Director: Annabel Lawson

(front row) Joanna Lawson, Pamela Dent, Anna Gordon

How Andante began

This company started life in a corner of Annabel Lawson's dining room 21 years ago.  Before Andante she was a professional archaeologist.  Since then she and her colleagues have introduced thousands of people to the excitement of the ancient world.  Their combined knowledge spans two million years of human development.

Archaeology, wildlife, flowers

Archaeological sites are often in beautiful and remote places.  Even those at the very heart of the tourist trail frequently hide an untouched hinterland.  This means that the wild flowers, natural geology and birds and beasts of the area add a special interest to our holidays.  Many of our guests are knowledgeable and interested in these subjects, and you may come back with yet another area of interest!

Individuality

Our small size means that we are able to exercise personal control over many aspects of your holiday.  Our lecturers are frequently closely associated with the archaeological scene in the area you will be visiting, and may occasionally be able to arrange special access.  Guests appreciate and comment on the care and thoughtfulness with which their holiday is planned and run. 

94% for overall satisfaction

We are absolutely dependent on the views and assessments of our customers in order to keep improving our holidays.  We send a detailed questionnaire to everyone who travels with us and pay the return postage, hoping that having entrusted us with their holiday, customers will wish us to improve whatever might be made better.

Furthermore, we wait until all the questionnaires have been returned, analyse and discuss the information travellers provide, take these into consideration in planning the next tour, and write to you to let you know the overall concensus.

Last year 92% of our guests returned their questionnaires and awarded us 94% for overall satisfaction.  Since we are aware of a degree of cynicism regarding the publication of questionnaire results, we invite anyone to come and inspect them in our offices - and we'll provide a cup of coffee whilst you do it!

Good value

We choose all elements of each tour with your comfort and pleasure in mind and make absolutely transparent what is included and what is not.

Bare Bones tours are simpler, pared down to the essentials of top class archaeology and seamless travel arrangements, so they are less expensive and offer more free time, but most Andante tours include more or less everything.  Our customers have even been known to comment on how little they actually spent.  Last year they awarded us an average of 4.4 out of 5.0, or 88%, for value for money.  Even the most expensive of our tours are routinely considered good value.

Free time for local shopping