Nine Muses Travel specializes in donor group tours for nonprofit arts institutions and special interest group trips with arts, culture and history themes. Each group tour is customized to emphasize inspirational, educational and transformational travel experiences that nurture supporters’ affinity with an organization and delight them with a one-of-a-kind group travel experience.

Here are 5 great destinations for your next group trip!

London Theater   It’s no surprise this is at the top of my list! London is the theater capital of the world, with something for everyone. Musical theatre? Plenty. Edgy, contemporary drama? Yep.  Shakespeare? Obviously. What better way to experience it all than to settle into the audience with a group of fellow theater-lovers and share in lively discussions throughout your trip about all the amazing shows you’re seeing? Go behind the scenes at the National Theatre, visit the V&A’s theater collection, and perhaps we arrange for your group to share a meal or champagne toast with a prominent artist. And of course, don’t forget to include Stratford-upon-Avon or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival!

Porto & Douro River Cruise, Portugal  The captivating city of Porto on the Douro River should be on any aesthete’s list. Its historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but don’t miss the Serralves contemporary art museum designed by Álvaro Siza or Rem Koolhas’s Casa da Música. Any groups interested in art, history, architecture, gardens, gastronomy and superb wines will revel in a 7-night river cruise along the Douro. Unpack once in Porto, then relax as you sail peacefully below undulating hills of vineyards through the world’s oldest demarcated and regulated wine region, also UNESCO World Heritage. Your group will bond over regional cuisine, excellent wine and excursions to quaint hillside towns and their hidden treasures. Inquire about the special activities I can arrange that you won’t find on any standard cruise itinerary!

Cuban Art & Architecture   Your group will leave half of their heart in Havana and the other half with you, for choosing to bring them to Cuba. You need to experience Cuba to understand you will never fully understand it, because the allure is the past meeting present, a story always evolving. You’ll join an approved People-to-People program to get an in-depth look at the history, art and architecture of this singular city. Visit Hemingway’s former residence, take an architectural tour of Old Havana and learn about its colonial heritage, and do not miss Fábrica de Arte Cubano, a vibrant art gallery/club housed inside a former factory. Your group will enjoy walking the candy-colored colonnades on Paseo del Prado to the warmth of the Caribbean sun and waves splashing along the Malecón and always remember this time together. Seeing Cuba by sea on a cruise is an excellent way to take in other ports of call like Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba and gain even more perspective on Cuban history and culture.

Crystal Bridges & Kansas City   Journey to the heartland of America for an art-lover’s dream trip to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas and the world-class museums of Kansas City, Missouri.  Even your 21c Museum Hotel in Bentonville is an art destination, perfectly situated to see the renowned collections at Crystal Bridges, set among picturesque surroundings and art trails. In Kansas City your group will be favored with curatorial tours at Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art as well as an architectural tour of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, designed by Moshe Safdie, who was the architect of Crystal Bridges. Kansas City is also a foodie town, and your group will enjoy fine dining or BBQ while reflecting on the amazing art they’ve discovered together.

English Gardens & Estates, featuring the RHS Chelsea Flower Show      Garden enthusiasts flock every May to London for the Chelsea Flower Show, and your group will have the privilege of visiting the famed show on less-crowded Members Day. May is the perfect time of year to visit the magnificent gardens of London and surrounding areas in radiant bloom. I recommend the Cotswolds and Oxfordshire, home to an enchanting array of gardening styles to delight any horticultural fancy including the Arts and Crafts movement, botanic, organic and environmentally sustainable gardens and designs by Capability Brown, known as “England’s greatest gardener.” A week strolling through the blossoming beauty of English gardens and dining on farm to table cuisine is a recipe for blissful group camaraderie.