AMERICA'S TRUSTED HISTORICAL TOUR CO.THE PRESIDENTS & PATRIOTS DIFFERENCE

Solo Travelers Welcome
Solo friendly
Whether you're newly single or, perhaps, your companion just isn't into history as much as you are, solo travelers will find our tours fun and enjoyable, all while discovering new places and meeting new friends. And don't feel like you'd be the odd one out ... our tours are comprised of roughly half doubles and half singles. As an added service, should you wish to be matched with another solo traveler, we will be more than happy to try to find you a roommate.


We're a "Travel Club"
Join the club
Our deluxe motor coach tours are designed with your comfort and enjoyment in mind, and our small group setting creates a much more intimate, personal setting when compared with other tours who attempt to fill their motor coaches to capacity. In fact, many of our guests are repeat participants (more than 90 of our guests have joined us on six or more tours!). This, combined with a shared interest in the history being experienced, makes for an unusually relaxed, fun and friendly atmosphere. As a result, many of our patrons have begun calling us "their Travel Club".
As seen on TV
As seen on C-SPAN
Our host, Richard Norton Smith, was C-SPAN's in-house historian, where he was responsible for such long form series as Presidential Libraries: History Uncovered, The Contenders, and Influence and Image: America's First Ladies. If you are a C-SPAN viewer, you may have seen one or more of our tours featured over the past several years. C-SPAN has been along with us on several past trips, and has broadcast segments on their history channel, C-SPAN 3.

Begin your adventureUPCOMING TOURS

September 30, 2023 - October 8, 2023

The Best of the Best!

Eight Presidents, Autumn Foliage, and Olana:
The Best Art and History of New England, the Hudson Valley, and New York City

Starting at $5,955

For over twenty years now, we’ve been introducing travelers to the riches of the American past. No destination has been more popular than autumn foliage time in New England and New York’s Hudson Valley. In October, 2023 we will return to this cradle of the American republic, with an entirely new itinerary. Besides a handful of perennial favorites like the Adams sites in Quincy, Massachusetts and Calvin Coolidge’s rustic Plymouth Notch, Vermont – this year commemorating the 100th anniversary of his lamplit inauguration in the simple Coolidge homestead – we’re including three previously unvisited presidential birthplaces; the Revolutionary War battleground on Boston’s famed Bunker Hill; a first time visit to the colonial home of American patriot and Founding Father Paul Revere; a tour of Albany’s sprawling State Capitol building, the most sumptuous seat of government in America; a full day’s sampling of Vermont’s agricultural and environmental history in and around picturesque Woodstock; a picnic on New York City’s Little Island; and a visit to Federal Hall, birthplace of the American presidency.

Adding to the trip’s WOW factor: three remarkable homes and museums associated with as many pioneering artists and collectors…Boston’s Italian palazzo built to house the Old Masters and antiquities assembled by Isabella Stewart Gardner; landscape artist Frederic Church’s Olana, a 250 acre landscaped estate and palatial home overlooking the Hudson River; and The Cloisters, a medieval complex showcasing the priceless tapestries and religious art collected by John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

With first-class hotels, meals to match, and the incomparable landscapes of autumnal New England and the Hudson Valley – it’s no exaggeration that this nine-day tour, twenty years in the making, is called The Best of the Best.

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May 25, 2023 - June 1, 2023

Buckeyes and Hoosiers

Eight Days in Gilded Age America

Starting at $3,995

No one’s ever said it better than Harry Truman: “The only new thing in the world is the history you don’t know.” Americans have long neglected the history of the Gilded Age, that post-Civil War adolescence when a divided land gradually coalesced around railroads and robber barons, exploding industries and wartime promises tragically deferred, massive immigration and festering inequalities. And, oh yes – some of the most colorful, contentious, and occasionally corrupt, politics and politicians in our history. It’s an incredibly rich pageant, one that will serve as the backdrop for our travel back to the origins of today’s America. Situated in the heart of downtown Columbus, the Renaissance Hotel is our historical base camp for the entire tour. More presidents. Less packing.

Beginning the last week of May, we’ll visit sites associated with eight (mostly Gilded Age) presidents in Ohio and Indiana. Not to mention a host of historically significant women, from Lucy Hayes and Lucretia Garfield, to Florence “the Duchess” Harding, Nellie Taft and Ida McKinley. Such an itinerary allows for more in depth – dare I say, leisurely – exploration of the surprising McKinley era, the boyhood homes of Ulysses Grant and William Howard Taft, and the decidedly immodest post presidential estates of Rutherford and Lucy Hayes, and Indiana’s favorite son Benjamin Harrison. In Marion, Ohio we’ll tour the brand new Harding Presidential Library and Museum, as well as the newly restored Harding home as it appeared on Election Night, 1920. In fact, a majority of the 20 attractions we’ll visit are either themselves new to us, or places completely renovated/reimagined since any earlier travels.

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HISTORICAL SITES VISITED

RICHARD NORTON SMITHYour Personal Guide

Richard is an American historian and author specializing in U.S. presidents and other political figures. In the past, he worked as a freelance writer for The Washington Post, and worked with U.S. Senators Edward Brooke and Bob Dole.

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Our REVIEWSPEOPLE LOVE US

I loved my trip through Ireland! Wonderful tour and folks! Everything was perfect: accommodations, food, travels, and best of all — our companions! I highly recommend Presidents and Patriots History Tours! Hoping to go to Scotland in 2021!Angela Gill
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Input your quotation here. Also, you can cite your quotes if you would like.Ms. Smith, CA
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WHAT SETS US APART

For more than 25 years, Presidents and Patriots History Tours has offered historically themed travel premised on a simple idea – that there is no substitute for being there. Our itineraries reflect a wide range of historical interests, periods and places, enhanced by the commentary of noted author and historian Richard Norton Smith. We are committed to offering you uniquely professional travel packages, value, peace of mind, and outstanding service.

Full Transparency

Unlike travel agencies that quote a “base price” before adding on multiple expenses as you “build” your tour, our tour pricing is all inclusive.  That means first-class hotels, deluxe motor coach transportation, all included meals, and admission to all museums and other attractions. The same price includes all taxes and gratuities for group functions, including meals, guides, bellmen, and motor coach driver. Also included is full-service baggage handing for one large suitcase per person.

QUALITY MATTERS

Our tours are historically immersive. That means staying in atmospheric hotels, dining in historic restaurants, and arranging special experiences that make for memorable travel – all the while avoiding the herd-like feeling of large, impersonal tour groups.

At Your Service

Our team is available to you 7 days a week 365 days a year to answer any questions or concerns that may arise. You may feel free to telephone us anytime at (202) 657-7444 or email us at info@presidentsandpatriots.com

It’s All AboutWhat sets us apart

For more than 25 years, Presidents and Patriots History Tours has offered historically themed travel premised on a simple idea – that there is no substitute for being there. Our itineraries reflect a wide range of historical interests, periods and places, enhanced by the commentary of noted author and historian Richard Norton Smith. We are committed to offering you uniquely professional travel packages, value, peace of mind, and outstanding service.
  • Full Transparency

    Unlike travel agencies that quote a “base price” before adding on multiple expenses as you “build” your tour, our tour pricing is all inclusive.  That means first-class hotels, deluxe motor coach transportation, all included meals, and admission to all museums and other attractions. The same price includes all taxes and gratuities for group functions, including meals, guides, bellmen, and motor coach driver. Also included is full-service baggage handing for one large suitcase per person.

  • Quality Matters

    Our tours are historically immersive. That means staying in atmospheric hotels, dining in historic restaurants, and arranging special experiences that make for memorable travel – all the while avoiding the herd-like feeling of large, impersonal tour groups.

  • At Your Service

    Our team is available to you 7 days a week 365 days a year to answer any questions or concerns that may arise. You may feel free to telephone us anytime at (202) 657-7444 or email us at info@presidentsandpatriots.com