ace cultural tours cambridge

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ACE Cultural Tours

Founded in 1958, Cambridge-based ACE Cultural Tours (including ACE Study Tours and ACE Cultural Cruises) is one of the country's most experienced operator of cultural travel. Every year ACE pioneers over 200 escorted programmes, from one-day courses to extended study tours and cultural cruises, covering every aspect of the arts as well as architecture, archaeology, history and the natural world. ACE's tours and cruises inform, educate and entertain in equal measure with a blend of cultural sight-seeing, privileged visits and explanatory talks - all under the guidance of a stimulating lecturer. As well as designing tailor-made tours for Cambridge alumni, ACE also works with a number of other private clients, including English Heritage, NADFAS and and the Friends of the Fitzwilliam.

ACE tours may include non-alumni of the University within their groups. However, with their educational and cultural focus, it is anticipated that ACE groups will be populated by suitably like-minded travellers.

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Welcome to the website for The Association for Cultural Exchange.

  We are a registered charity, founded in 1958, promoting international understanding through cultural exchange and education. We believe in the power of the arts to change and enrich lives. A culturally curious society enables us to better understand, respect and value one another and create the kind of world we want to live in.

More than 65 years later, the vision and values of our founder, Philip Brooke Barnes, have never been more relevant. The Association for Cultural Exchange owns and operates Stapleford Granary, a vibrant arts centre, just outside Cambridge. Our distinctive and innovative music programming presents concerts by performers of all nationalities and across all genres. We host art exhibitions, talks, workshops, and courses. To inspire children, a wide range of creative activities nurture what will hopefully become a lifelong passion for art and culture.

  Stapleford Granary is open six days a week for visitors to receive a warm welcome in our beautiful café, enjoy the free art exhibition and soak up the cultural ambiance.

How Does An Arts Centre Educate? - Read our CEO’s thought-provoking article here:

Read the full article  

  The Charity also wholly owns ACE Cutural Tours, which takes culturally curious travellers to destinations throughout the UK and around the world. We pioneered the concept of expert led special interest study tours. These are carefully curated to educate and inform across a wide range of subjects from art, architecture, music and history to archaeology, design, conservation and natural history. For service in both 2022 and 2023 ACE Cultural Tours won first place at the British Travel Awards as the 'Best Small Travel Company for Arts & Culture Holidays' and were also awarded a Platinum Trusted Service Award by Feefo for excellent customer service.

  For further information about Stapleford Granary and to find out about our events and activities, or to discover more about our cultural tours programme, please follow the links below:

Visit Stapleford Granary website   Visit ACE Cultural Tours Website

LATEST NEWS

Discovering world war two at stapleford granary.

For two days during February half-term the Orchard Room at Stapleford Granary was transformed into a snapshot of life in Britain in 1940 presented by the Fen Tigers living history group.

ACE Cultural Tours is awarded Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award

We are delighted to share that ACE Cultural Tours has received recognition for outstanding customer service by being awarded a Feefo Platinum Service Award

Protecting Our Rare Chalk Stream Habitat

Our site at Stapleford Granary is part of the river Granta chalk stream eco-system in South Cambridgeshire. With rising concern about the quality of the UK’s rivers and streams, we want to ensure that we are properly protecting and managing our fragment of this fragile habitat.

Unfurl exhibition opens at Stapleford Granary

“Unfurl” is the title of our latest art exhibition. The free admission exhibition opened on 23 February and runs until 28 April 2024.

Grant awarded to Spanish Ornithological Society

Tour Director Kevin Hand represented ACE in awarding a grant to the Spanish Ornithological Society on a recent cultural tour to Spain.

ACE Cultural Tours win Gold at the British Travel Awards

We are very proud that ACE Cultural Tours are celebrating having won Gold in the British Travel Awards, a celebration of the quality of tours and service provided by the company.

Stapleford Granary Image © Calum Barlow

ACE Cultural Tours

ACE CULTURAL TOURS - the Association for Cultural Exchange - runs tours and cruises in the United Kingdom, Europe and worldwide. Founded in 1958 as ACE Study Tours, ACE pioneers over 150 escorted programmes every year which focus on cultural subjects - art, architecture, archaeology, history, music, natural history as well as regional culture. ACE's tours and cruises inform, educate and entertain in equal measure with a blend of cultural sight-seeing and explanatory talks – and all under the guidance of an expert tour director. ACE's tours are characterised by their originality and diversity, ...

ACE CULTURAL TOURS - the Association for Cultural Exchange - runs tours and cruises in the United Kingdom, Europe and worldwide. Founded in 1958 as ACE Study Tours, ACE pioneers over 150 escorted programmes every year which focus on cultural subjects - art, architecture, archaeology, history, music, natural history as well as regional culture. ACE's tours and cruises inform, educate and entertain in equal measure with a blend of cultural sight-seeing and explanatory talks – and all under the guidance of an expert tour director. ACE's tours are characterised by their originality and diversity, and many feature exclusive visits, privileged access and private concerts.

Holiday programmes from ACE Cultural Tours

Archaeology.

Our programme covers many aspects of British, European and world archaeology and includes tours of Hadrian’s Wall, Morocco, Greece, Turkey and Egypt.

Architecture

Our Architecture tours admire such masters as Palladio and William Kent, and explore architectural riches across Europe from St Petersburg to Seville. We visit historic ...

Our tours that delve into the Art History of the UK, Europe and further afield range from the 20th century artists of Northern England, the life and route of Caravaggio ...

Cultural Cruises

On our small ship cruises – for between 15 and 30 participants – we explore Portugal’s Douro River aboard the royal barge, as well as the Lycian coast of Turkey and ...

Our historical themed tour programme covers aspects from ancient times to 20th century warefare. Popular departures include Secret War, investigating the British intellig...

Houses & Gardens

Explore garden design and history and the art and architecture of historic houses in the company of our expert tour directors and a small group of friendly, fellow travel...

Our music tours encompass various festivals in the UK and across Europe. We join the Haydn festival in Eisenstadt, celebrate Schubert in Schwarzenberg and enjoy the ...

Natural History

Our Natural History programme looks at birdlife, botany and the contrasting landscapes of the UK, Europe and further afield including the rugged isles of Scotland, wintering ...

Regional Culture

Our Regional Culture departures contextualise the history and cultural heritage of destinations as diverse as Bohemia and Moravia, Japan, Burma, Ethiopia, and Bhutan .

Theatre & Literature

Our tours specialising in Theatre focus on the delights of Shakespeare's plays in London's Globe or the bard's hometown of Stratford. We also take in contemporary play's ...

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Travel for the culturally curious

call +44 (0) 01223 841 055 | Contact Us

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ADDRESS ACE Cultural Tours Stapleford Granary Bury Road Stapleford Cambridge CB22 5BP UK

TELEPHONE +44 (0)1223 841055

OFFICE HOURS

Monday - Friday 09:00 - 17:00

THE OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED ON BANK HOLIDAYS:   

  25 December - Christmas Day 26 December - Boxing Day

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