Bring the past to life
History has happened. It exists in stories and records, on creaking shelves and in mysterious archives. But it is far from dry and anything but dusty. As Karl Marx observed, history has a tendency to repeat itself. So, might we not learn to take lessons from it? It can be bloody and beautiful, inspiring and insightful. It’s where we’ve been, and it points the way to where we’re going.
- Unearth the secrets of Saqqara, Egypt
- After-hours at the Acropolis Museum, Greece
- The mysteries of the Aztecs, Mexico
- So long Saigon, Vietnam
- Beneath the blitz, UK
- Enter the gladiatorial arena, Italy
- Uncover the secrets of the Forbidden City, China
- From ancient fossils to distant stars, USA
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
Join an archaeological excavation in Egypt
For historians, archaeologists, and Egyptologists
Location: Cairo, Egypt
Fast Facts: Age 16+ | September – June | Half day
On this incomparable expedition, you’ll travel to the edges of Egypt’s capital city – joining the archaeological mission tasked with excavating the legendary necropolis of Saqqara. This is ancient Egypt’s ‘city of the dead’; the sacred burial place of many of its most storied (and often most notorious) pharaohs and queens.
Here, you’ll unearth the secrets of this vast UNESCO World Heritage Site, gaining a first-hand introduction to the digging, surveying, and recording that serves as the foundation of modern archaeological research. With an expert’s assistance, you’ll study sacred objects and mysterious artefacts that have lain hidden for thousands of years beneath the Egyptian sand.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in Egypt. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this classClass Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Explore areas ordinarily closed to the public
- Embark on a guided tour led by the archaeologists working on the site
- Learn first-hand about the science and techniques of archaeological excavation
Leave with a newfound knowledge of archaeology, ancient Egypt, and critical thinking; in addition to a passion to further explore the fascinating course of our human story.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
An exclusive introduction to the ancient world’s most iconic landmark
For historians, classicists and archaeologists
Location: Athens,Greece
Fast Facts: All ages | May – October | Half day
Built in the 5th century BCE, the acropolis of Athens – an ancient Greek citadel perched on a rocky outcrop atop the city – is the focus of this newly refurbished museum that lays at its feet. A site of enormous archaeological significance, the museum houses many of the artifacts that have been rescued and retrieved from this legendary monument. Through war and peace, they tell the story of one of the ancient world’s most iconic sites.
After the museum has closed its doors for the day, you’ll embark on an exclusive tour with a specialist guide. Not only will you discover the ancient secrets of the acropolis, but you’ll even have the chance to handle some early artifacts, before enjoying a view of the Acropolis itself during a private dinner on the museum terrace.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in Greece. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this classClass Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Embark on an exclusive tour of the Acropolis Museum with a private guide after it has closed its doors to the public
- Discover and handle ancient artifacts found on the sacred rock of the Acropolis
- Enjoy a private dinner on the museum terrace with breath-taking views over the Acropolis
You’ll leave not only with a deeper knowledge of the Acropolis itself, but of the ancient Greek world in all its richness and variety.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
Study the artworks and pictograms of ancient Teotihuacan
For future historians, archaeologists and artists
Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Fast Facts: Age 16+ | November – April | Full day
Just northeast of Mexico City lies Teotihuacan, an ancient metropolis whose roots go back to 600 BCE. Within this sprawling archaeological site are located the mesmerising ruins of Mesoamerican pyramids, plazas and temples built in the Pre-Colombian Americas. At its zenith, this was the largest Mesoamerican urban centre. Throughout the site are located many, mysterious mural paintings – in reds, blues, greens and yellows – that depict the mighty figures of the Great Goddess and the Storm God.
In this fascinating experience, you’ll uncover the mysteries of Teotihuacan’s murals alongside a specialist guide. In Atetelco, discover artifacts and fossils in what was once an active workshop, and view the mural paintings of Tetitla, an important source for understanding the religious and social workings of the civilizations who once occupied it.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in Mexico. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this classClass Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Be accompanied by a knowledgeable archaeologist, gaining exclusive access to Atetelco, once an active archaeological workshop, to discover artifacts and material culture
- Glimpse the workings of the original excavation
- Access areas of the Palace of Tetitla closed to the general public to view ancient mural paintings
- Embark on a guided tour of the Teotihuacan archaeological zone
Leave with an archaeological and artistic understanding of Mesoamerica’s earliest civilizations and their curious cultures.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
An historical tour through the sites of the Vietnam War
For future historians
Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Fast Facts: Age 16+ | November – April | Full day
The Vietnam War, a period of prolonged conflict between North Vietnam (allied with communist nations such as China) and South Vietnam (with heavy and controversial involvement from the U.S. military), lasted the twenty years between 1955 and 1975. Ho Chi Minh City, formerly – and still frequently referred to as – Saigon, offers a seamless fusion of past and present, in which many of the war’s devastating impacts can still be felt.
On an informative tour of wartime sights in Ho Chi Minh City, you’ll join an expert guide to explore some of the key locations where officials on both sides met to discuss confidential details and make decisions during the war, and learn about the weighty effects of the conflict on Vietnam then and now.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in Vietnam. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this classClass Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Embark on a tour of wartime sights in Saigon, including the Reunification Palace and a secret weapons chamber used by the Viet Cong
- Discover the role of the Rex Hotel in history as you enjoy the view of downtown Saigon from its rooftop café
- Have a late lunch of Pho (noodle soup) at the Pho Binh restaurant, where Viet Cong commanders planned the Tet Offensive in 1968
- Visit the private home of the former US Ambassador to South Vietnam for an evening of traditional cuisine, music and dance
Leave with first-hand, spatial knowledge of modern Vietnam and its long and often tragic history.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
A private tour of Churchill’s subterranean ‘war rooms’
For future prime ministers, politicians and historians
Location: London, England
Fast Facts: All ages | All year round | Half day
During World War II, Churchill and his war cabinet of government ministers and military strategists occupied a collection of basement offices in Whitehall. They met in these rooms 115 times, mostly during the Blitz and German V-weapon offensive to discuss strategies and confidential details; the rooms were in operation 24 hours a day until August 1945. Today, it is a museum that helps visitors to experience what life was like at the very nerve centre of government during the war’s darkest days.
Immerse yourself in the top-secret rooms where Churchill and his war cabinet made history and determined the future of Britain, on a private tour of the museum led by its Director.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in England. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this classClass Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Enjoy a private tour of the Churchill War Rooms with an expert guide
- Go behind the glass and access areas of the museum seldom open to regular visitors
You’ll leave with a deeper understanding of WWII, British history, and the people and personalities who shaped these times.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
Sign up for a hands-on day at gladiator school
For historians, archaeologists, and Egyptologists
Location: Rome, Italy
Fast Facts: All ages | May – October | Half day
Brave, strong, and stoic, gladiators have gone down in history as the bold warriors who fought well or died well: as courageous entertainers who sated the Roman public’s thirst for bread, blood and circuses. From around 250 BCE, gladiators came face to face with one another in mortal combat, each violent confrontation an armed fight; often to the death.
At the first school in Italy to teach this ancient discipline, you’ll attend your very own practical combat class with a gladiator wearing full Roman costume and replica weapons (known as ‘rudis’) and uncover the history of some of the world’s most famous fighters.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in Italy. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this classClass Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Learn about the history of the gladiators
- Attend a practical class and receive specialist training with a gladiator wearing full Roman dress and armour
- Receive a Roman citizenship certificate in recognition of your achievement
You’ll leave with a nuanced, first-hand knowledge of what life was like in the ancient Roman world.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
Head inside the secretive fortress of China’s historic emperors
For future historians, politicians and Sinologists
Location: Beijing, China
Fast Facts: Age 12+ | March – May or September – October | Half day
For almost 600 years, the emperors and rulers of the powerful Ming and Qing dynasties governed China from inside the terracotta walls of the Forbidden City. A vast world unto itself, its mighty red walls conceal countless palaces, temples, gardens and courtyards. And at its heart, the nucleus of what was – until 1912 – the Imperial Court itself.
Your expert guide to the Forbidden City’s secrets is specialist historian and writer, professor Jeremiah Jenne. An engaging and personable storyteller, Jeremiah will take you on a private tour of this UNESCO World Heritage Site, including areas shut off to the rest of the public; revealing how the imperial legacy continues to shape China’s present and future.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in China. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this classClass Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Explore the Forbidden City on a private tour with Jeremiah as your guide
- Gain VIP access to sections of the Forbidden City off-limits to the public
- Ask questions along the way
After your tour, you’ll leave with a rare, insider’s insight into the history, architecture, and workings of one of the world’s most fascinating locales.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
An after-hours tour of the American Museum of Natural History
For future historians, scientists and curators
Location: New York, USA
Fast Facts: All ages | All year round | Half day
From the mammals of the ‘old world’ to the stars above, the American Museum of Natural History – located in Manhattan, New York – remains one of the largest repositories of human and natural artefacts anywhere in the world. Fossils, prehistoric plants, fragments of meteorites, ancient human tools. The entire story of earth is here, contained within its walls. But it’s also a working scientific institution, employing hundreds of specialists and researchers.
And on this thrilling day, you’ll have a private tour of the museum led by an expert postdoctoral researcher. What’s more, it’ll take place after hours, when the halls and exhibits are closed to the general public. This is a rare and wonderful opportunity indeed.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in America. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this classClass Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Learn about the history and work of the American Museum of Natural History, from its founding to its ongoing scientific research
- Get a private, after-hours tour of the Museum and its countless exhibits and artefacts
- Visit the Hall of Ocean Life, a location curated by your guide herself
You’ll leave with a rare, behind-the-curtains understanding of one of the world’s most important museums and scientific institutions.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.