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Smithsonian Journeys Consumer Reviews

VIRGINIA -- We had the opposite experience with Smithsonian. We had booked a family trip to Yellowstone in 2020, which of course was cancelled because of the pandemic. We chose to roll over our deposit instead of taking a refund. In 2021, the no one else had signed up due to the continued pandemic, so we rolled it over again. In July 2022 we had a fabulous trip to Yellowstone with our grandson. Throughout our experience we were able to talk to a Smithsonian representative personally. We were contacted about adjusting the date of our trip one week earlier to be sure the trip would go. Smithsonian was dealing with travel chaos, just as we were. They were very professional and courteous, as we were with them.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS -- In February 2021, we reserved a trip run by Smithsonian Journeys to Normandy, France, scheduled to take place October 2 - 10, 2021. A deposit of $1,000 was sent to Smithsonian Journeys, who used AHI Travel to book hotels and airlines for the trip. We paid a total of $14,476 by check and credit card to AHI Travel for the full cost of the trip including Airline reservations in July and August, the last payment was made on August 3.

On August 25 we received notice that Smithsonian had cancelled the trip because the U.S. Department of State rated travel to France as "Advisory Level 4", DO NOT TRAVEL. Smithsonian offered the option of a full refund, which we took. Smithsonian refunded our $1,000 deposit within two weeks, but as of yet, we have not received the remainder of the funds from AHI Travel. They are claiming that it will take of to 8-weeks for the refund, but $6,300 of the $14,476 we paid to AHI was paid by them to Air France for air travel.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, "If a passenger is owed a refund, an airline, travel agent, or online travel agency must process it within seven business days if the passenger paid by credit card, and 20 business days if the passenger paid by cash or check".

The Normandy trip was not the first trip we have taken with Smithsonian travel and we have previously been happy with their service. However, based on our experience on the Normandy reservation, we would not recommend booking travel with Smithsonian Journeys and AHI Travel.

WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA -- My friend and I booked this trip as a "reunion" with our college buddies. We paid the deposit $1,000.00 on 11/15/19. Then Covid came along, and the trip was cancelled. We chose to have them keep the deposit in anticipation that we could make the next trip. The year 2020 passed, and in late May, 2021, they notified us we could make the trip in October. We talked with our friends, and found out that they had talked to Smithsonian about us all changing our trip to an earlier time slot. Then we found that AHI Travel (awful), booked my friend and I on a different date from our friends in Arizona. We tried to get it changed, and long story short, they finally had an opening on the other date, but did not notify us until mid September with sailing in October.

It had all been a nightmare and a mess, which they caused. We declined the new sailing date, and they have declined to return our $1,000.00 deposit. 2019-2021, and through no fault of ours they refuse. DO NOT TAKE A TRIP WITH THESE PEOPLE. I have travelled for 20 years, and never had such a terrible experience, lack of communication, and refusal to work with us.

Smithsonian Journeys suck!!! Would like to give them zero stars but unfortunately this is not an option. Booked a Peru family adventure trip through Smithsonian Journeys in August 2017. Got confirmation, paid trip in full. Few weeks later got an email from Thomson adventures - the company that Smithsonian had contracted to provide the actual trip - notifying us that Smithsonian Journeys had canceled our trip.

Smithsonian Journeys didn't even had the guts to call us personally to inform of cancellation. Smithsonian Journeys never apologized for the cancellation either. Luckily Thomson Adventures stepped up and offered to take us to the same trip minus Smithsonian lecturers. Turns out that Thomson Adventures never cancel - not for any reason. We had a wonderful trip thanks to the Thomson Adventures.

Shame on Smithsonian Journeys. Don't ever book the trip with Smithsonian Journeys - check out which tour operator they use and book directly with the tour operator. Thomson adventures and Tauck tours are good options - they don't cancel. Have never disappointed us.

TENNESSEE -- I had to cancel a trip with Smithsonian Journeys due to issues with the coronavirus. I cancelled it 6 months in advance. They will not refund my deposit! They want to transfer it to a future trip. I am very futile find that my respect for the Smithsonian is misplaced.

CAMBRIDGE, MA, MASSACHUSETTS -- In October of 2005 my wife and I booked a trip to Peru with Smithsonian Journeys located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The trip is scheduled for May, 2006. We selected this tour because of a great interest in the ruins of Machu Picchu and because it was one of the very few tours that included a stay in Sanctuary Lodge which is the ONLY hotel located within the walls of Machu Picchu. As one of the seven wonders of the modern world, it was CRITICALLY important to us to stay in that facility to achieve our travel desires. We paid a deposit of $500 for each of us.

Over a month later we noticed in one of the brochures from the company that the tour would NOT be staying in Sanctuary Lodge but in another facility some miles away from the monument itself. When I called the company to inquire about this change in January, 2006 I was told that the company uses several different hotels for that part of the trip and they were not going to use Sanctuary Lodge on this trip. I told them that staying at Sanctuary Lodge was the ONLY reason we selected this tour and that if the tour was not going to stay at Sanctuary Lodge we would like to cancel our participation in the tour and have our deposits returned. They refused to do so.

After a series of letters were exchanged they continued to refuse to refund our deposit offering only “travel vouchers” for another tour. In NONE of the letters does the company deny having switched hotels without notification. Obviously, this is unacceptable to us since we believe that Smithsonian Journeys used a form of “bait and switch” and we can NEVER trust this company again. We are experienced travelers and we have never been treated in such a shoddy manner by any other tour operator.

We believe this “bait and switch” tactic to be unethical and the failure to refund our deposits is, at the very least, a terrible business practice. We would like to alert you to the practices of this company as we believe them to be totally unacceptable for any legitimate travel agent.

All About the Ponant Smithsonian Journeys Cruises (as of August 2022)

By AussieBoyTX , August 8, 2022 in Ponant

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AussieBoyTX

Now that we’ve completed our first Ponant Smithsonian Journeys cruise, we can share our thoughts on the Smithsonian Journeys experience:

The tl;dr is that the experience is very good and probably worth the premium price if you are excited about the speakers, like to be around Americans, or want some hand-holding for your first Ponant cruise. Otherwise, Ponant usually offers a similar cruise without the Smithsonian experience for a lower price.

The Ponant Smithsonian Journeys cruises are a partnership (not a charter like e.g. Tauck, A&K, Backroads, et al ) that offers cruises targeted towards an English-speaking audience and differentiating itself through experiences that provide a deeper understanding of the places explored . As of now, those differentiated experiences are mostly through the Smithsonian Journeys speakers. The excursions offered on this Smithsonian cruise appear to be the same as those offered on regular Ponant cruises on a similar itinerary.

Our Reaction to the Differences in the Smithsonian Journeys Experience:

• Transfers to / from ship — because of the missed / cancelled flight risk, we never arrive on the day of the cruise and will not use this benefit.  
• All Excursions Included — I suppose they are worth $100-150 each ($600-$900 per week). We took an excursion each day more-or-less because we felt they were paid for. Generally, we would take one or two of the excursions offered by the ship and would organize something on our own for the other days. This remains our preference and on the Smithsonian Journeys cruise we did, we would have purchased only one, maybe two of the six days. As on a regular Ponant cruise, the excursions would benefit from a more detailed presentation with some intelligence on why or why not one would want to select any specific excursion.  
• The Smithsonian Journeys speakers — the speakers are renowned, have experience in the area visited and are very interesting. You also have the possibility of joining each of them at a small table over dinner, or at pre-dinner cocktails. If you’re a particular fan of one of the speakers, this is an opportunity to get tremendous access. To be honest, we were very pleased with the expedition leader and naturalists on the one Expedition cruise we’ve done and don’t need better / more speakers on Expedition cruises. On regular Ponant cruises, where the speakers are great in French, but “also speak English,” we’d enjoy an upgrade but don’t require the full Smithsonian experience.  
• The Tour Director — our Tour Director described herself as a “fixer” and offered to serve as liaison between passengers and crew in the event of any need. She did quite a bit more than that, was very visible, very helpful and appeared to have resolved some passenger issues. She was a native English speaker and likely was more approachable for someone uncomfortable dealing directly with the French crew. We’ve never had an issue that the Cruise Director or Hotel Manager couldn’t resolve for us, but we certainly agree that the Tour Director added value.  
• The Ponant Experience — at least as far as dining, shipboard activities and entertainment go, the Smithsonian experience was very similar to the regular Ponant experience (we were concerned these would be modified and were very pleased they were not). All announcements and presentations are in English and almost all passengers are Americans, changing the shipboard community part of the experience substantially. Aside from the Americans on our cruise, there were two or three German couples, a Spanish family with a cute 14 month-old and inexplicably a French couple.

As far as pricing goes, from a brief survey, as of August 2022, the Smithsonian cruises appear to have a slight price premium over regular cruises:

Here are two on Le Lyrial with 12 days & 10 nights including transfers from Buenos Aires:

• Regular cruise w/ 15% Ponant Discount starts at $11,910 (un-discounted is $13,610)
• Smithsonian cruise w/ 10% Ponant Discount starts at $13,270

And here’s another Caribbean cruise on Le Dumont-d’Urville with 8 nights in Feb/Mar 2023 (both cruises are also offering No Single Supplement):

• Regular cruise w/ 25% Ponant Discount  starts at $3,840
• Smithsonian cruise w/ 20% Ponant Discount starts at $5,160 (excursions are offered on six days and are included)

In summary, this is a low-risk way for English-speakers to experience Ponant, in the company of other (mostly) Americans, and with the Tour Director to ensure things go smoothly. As for us, it’s not that we won’t go on another Smithsonian Journeys cruise — and it’s not about the money — but we aren’t ones that get really excited about the celebrity speakers and included excursions. And, you know, we miss the French guests.

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Share on other sites, schnapperin.

Feels like it’s an American market offering compared to the NatGeo cruises only marketed outside of the US

have you looked into booking one of those via an European or Australian agent? 

• 2 weeks later...

highplanesdrifters

Thanks so much. Very helpful!

• 5 months later...

Thanks for directing me to your Smithsonian  review.   Very informative as usual. 

Since we intentionally chose not to take the Smithsonian to get a more authentic introduction to Ponant I think we made the right decision.   We often prefer doing things on our own.

One thing I'm not yet clear on is how you arrange things on your own with the limited information Ponant has supplied so far.   Most of the time they only say we will arrive in the Morning or afternoon without any times.    Do you plan a side trip on your own in advance or do you wait until you are in port?

On the Great Lake cruise some of the ports are so small we will probably do the ships tours -  at this time they only say will be over $250 pp. 

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Smithsonian Journeys

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Washington, DC 20077

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Smithsonian Journeys - THE OLE BAIT AND SWITCH A group of us signed up for their Eclipse Experience in Austin, TX, for April, 2024 (very costly adventure) but with the scientific experience that was promised we felt it was the trip of lifetime. AFTER the pay in full deadline , they have switched the itinerary and you are committed to one of following options as their discretion.... the original Observatory presentation, OR TRAVEL TO A COUNTRY AND WESTERN BAR OR ON YOUR OWN (which we could do for free!!!)......... We are so angry and expected a professional experience from Smithsonian . What is our recourse now??? Jacqueline emery

I signed up for Smithsonian Journeys only to discover after making my deposit that the operator is Odyssey Unlimited. If you book directly with Odyssey, the price is $1500 less per person for the same itinerary. Doesn't make good sense. I call this misleading, dishonest, and punitive to the buyer. So much for expecting integrity with a well-known institution!

Up front - I have never taken a Smithsonian Journeys tour - but I booked one and then had to cancel it. Consider this a warning if you are thinking about booking with them. In February 2022, we booked a voyage to Antarctica in for the following year. In May 2022, we had to cancel it. For reasons unknown to me, we still had to pay a $500 penalty. Didn't seem right, but the information was included with the booking, so we accepted it. When I called to check about my deposit (almost $6000) I was told it could take up to 60 days. This seemed odd, as many other companies can turn around a refund in 24 - 48 hours. But, again, I accepted it. Sixty + days passed; no refund. I called again and was told they had up to 90 days! When I protested, I was told I had to speak to a supervisor who would call me back. Still waiting..... Just something to consider if you are trying to choose among several trips.

Stay away from this company! They bait and switch. We signed up for a cruise in the Mediterranean on line. We didn't hear back from them for a week. In the meantime, we called and left a message but didn't hear back. We called again and were finally able to talk to a marketing guy who breezily told us that the category of stateroom we had booked more than a week before was no longer available and the only option he could offer us was a room two grades higher. His excuse was that Smithsonian's booking system sometimes can not keep up with actual booking situations and end up posting inaccurate info regarding availability. He said he could put us on the waitlist for the original category we booked but in the meantime pay the deposit for the more expensive category. What a scam. We said no thank you and cancelled our booking.

Trading on a name this company farms out its tours. Hot or miss. Yellowstone trip a super miss!!

We booked a Yellowstone Grand Tetons trip with a company we had thought would be measuring up to the hefty price tag and promotional materials promising lectures, experts, and fine accommodations. NOT! Far from it. When you are served a breakfast that has Jimmy Dean sausage sandwiches and you are told to take them back to your room and microwave them, when you are served a deli sandwich on three occasions with no place to sit to eat (stand in field, lean against the van) nor any beverage served, when you have to walk a quarter mile to stand in a cafeteria line for a mediocre breakfast then you conclude that you have been ripped off!! This was a trip during pandemic; they should never have run it; it should have been canceled. Instead, they allowed supposed high standards to be greatly lowered, but not the price!! And Smithsonian offered each person a $500 voucher for a future trip (to be booked within a year) and $500 refund -- they knew they blew it on this trip. Still a rip off. I will never use this company again.

When one books a tour through Smithsonian Journey they are but a middleman. They hand you off to a third party, who is well aware that you came to them secondarily and treat you accordingly. We had a significant problem with the sub-contractor, Odysseys Unlimited, for our recent Smithsonian Journeys tour to Africa. I complained by email to Smithsonian and was contacted telephonically by a representative who assured me that Smithsonian would investigate our complaints. That was the last that we heard from Smithsonian. One point Smithsonian stressed was that we would be met at arrival at the airport and taken to our hotel. Didn't happen. We got to our hotel by taxi paying $50 USD. We usually use Grand Circle Tours or their partner Overseas Adventure Travel. They have always been reliable and extremely helpful. We won't be travelling with Smithsonian or Odysseys Unlimited again.

We are having an amazing experience in Japan with Smithsonian Journeys/Odyssey Travel. Service couldn't be better. We have had to change plans a couple of times and they have been completely understanding and helpful. If there are better guides than Jonathan Hall and Kondo-San, we have never encountered them. We are learning so much about Japanese culture, and both Jonathan and Kondo- San have gone above and beyond the call of duty. Jonathan's lectures have been both enlightening and entertaining. One of our best trips - and we travel a lot.

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• Rick Steves Tours
• Comparing RS, Ody...

Comparing RS, Odyssey, and Smithsonian tours of Italy

If anyone here has been on both RS and Odyssey and/or Smithsonian tours, I'd love to get your impressions of how they compare. I've been on 2 RS tours, and enjoyed them a lot. My biggest complaint is that I always wish there were more time to explore the places we visit. I noticed that the Odyssey and Smithsonian tours spend 3 or 4 nights in the same location. That's appealing to me. However, in looking at their itineraries, it seems like they have guided day trips from their base, spend about a half day on the trips, and then return to their hotel. I'm wondering if that's an accurate assessment....and if so, whether that might be just as frustrating--especially if the hotels aren't centrally located.

I'm also interested in learning about your experience with Odyssey/Smithsonian guides and tour mates. in what ways are they similar to those on RS tours, and how are they different? I'm suspecting those on Smithsonian tours might be either older, more wealthy, or more academic than the people on the other tours, just because the primary difference between Odyssey and Smithsonian tours seem to be the addition of the academic subject matter expert, and an additional $1500. What differences have you seen in the makeup of the groups?

I am a long way from actually scheduling my next tour, but I'm looking at the Odyssey Northern Italy and Southern Italy tours, as well as the RS Southern Italy and Village Italy tours. Thanks!

It is not a complete apple to apple comparison. Each tour has different objectives as to tour "comfort." Our only experience with Odyssey Small group was 16 days to Machu Picchu and the Galapagos. It was very high end about $500/day/person. One hotel we used at the entrance to Machu Picchu had a posted rack rate of $1000/night. Odyssey provided a very high level of support - never carried a bag - outstanding meals and first class and then some at hotels. Tours guides were exceptionally good and, of course, the tour group was less than 20 -- actually on our trip we had 17. It was a fairly intense 16 days BUT very worthwhile and informative. Min amount of "shopping" time.

RS tours tend to be more low key and at a more economic level of travel. Excellent guides with good hotels and meals but you carry your own luggage. I think you really need to look at the details of the daily activity.

I have not done a Rick Steves tour yet (it's on my bucket list), but I have done two Smithsonian/Odysseys tours, including the Southern Italy tour, and one Smithsonian cruise.

Smithsonian usually has a guided tour in the morning and free time in the afternoon. I never went back to the hotel during free afternoons, although some people did. I have found Smithsonian to be very flexible. On the Southern Italy tour, a few of us decided to go to Naples one day instead of to the Amalfi coast, and our tour guide had no problem with it. Another day, a handful of us decided to hike Mt. Vesuvius instead of taking a cooking class in Sorrento. Once again, it was not a problem. On the Turkey tour, we mostly stayed pretty close to the tour guide. I think I was the only person who explored Istanbul on her own, but there were extenuating circumstances that required it.

The hotels are almost always centrally located or easily accessible to a central location. In Taormina, our hotel with a gorgeous view of Mt. Etna was at the top of a steep hill, which made for a challenging but manageable walk. There was also a frequent shuttle to the hotel. I didn't feel that I missed anything because of the hotel's location. In Istanbul, we were close to Taksim Square, and I would have preferred to be in Sultan Ahmet. Other than that, the hotels have always been very centrally located. All of the hotels have been extraordinarily nice, sometimes down right luxurious --- I am guessing a step up from the RS tours.

The demographic for Smithsonian tends to skew marginally older and wealthier than other tours. They are usually exceptionally well-read, and just about everyone has traveled extensively. Our group in Turkey was especially congenial, and three years later we still sometimes exchange correspondence about reading lists and world events.

The subject expert is a big difference between Smithsonian and other tours. Our expert on the Southern Italy tour was both erudite and fun, a delicate balance to strike. He provided a lot of deep context that made the trip more meaningful. On the Turkey tour, our subject expert was fine but possibly a bit superfluous, largely because our regular guide was so amazing. On a river cruise with Smithsonian, I thought that the subject expert was a tad stuffy, although I did learn some things.

The activity level is pretty much what you make of it. You can take it easy, or you can give yourself a workout. Turkey was a bit more strenuous than Southern Italy.

The food is really good on the Smithsonian tours. I gained 9 pounds on the Southern Italy tour. (Ouch!)

Are Odyssey tours part of Smithsonian Journeys?

Judy, Smithsonian contracts with Odysseys for some of their tours, including the Southern Italy tour. You make the reservation through Smithsonian Journeys, but then they hand it off to Odysseys Unlimited. The Smithsonian branded version includes a subject expert and all tips; Odysseys does not. Occasionally, there are some minor differences in the itinerary. For example, the Capadoccia extension on the Smithsonian version of the Turkey tour included a night in Ankara. The itinerary and accommodations for the Smithsonian version of the Southern Italy tour, I believe, are identical to Odyssey.

Many organizations hand off their tour programs to a tour/travel agencies such as GoNext or Odyssey Small Groups out of Boston. I would have no problem using Odyssey but they are a high end group. By definition Odyssey tours probably do attract more wealthy people since they are more expensive. A few years ago we did a Cuba trip with GoNext. It was the most exhausting, demanding trip we were ever on. Absolutely exhausted after one week but the most enlightening/educational trip we have ever been on in 30 years of travel.On returning to Miami we spend a week on a Ft. Lauderdale beach recovering. Truly a vacation from a vacation was needed.

We have done both RS and Odysseys and like both. We choose the tour company based on the itinerary. Odysseys is more high end, you are expected to tip the main guide, the tour participants are well educated and well traveled but can be a bit spoiled some times. RS tour people are a bit easier to live with and more independent. Both companies give excellent service, have great guides and stand by their product. With Odysseys the airfare is included in the price. You can request the land only price and book your own airfare. That being said, if your flight doesn’t arrive when the other tour participants arrive at the airport then you will have to transfer yourself to your hotel. With the free afternoons on the tours, if you are pooped you can go to room or wherever and chill. Or you can do your homework before the trip and see something the tour doesn’t cover. Next year we are planning on doing the RS Sicily and Southern Italy because we like the itineraries. Either way you can’t go wrong.

I would agree with Mary. We’re leaving on our 5th RS tour - Southern Italy and toured Spain & Portugal with Odyssey. I still like RS tours better, but dear friends have moved on to Odyssey tours because they don’t have to carry their luggage and the hotels are more corporate and less quaint. The food on the Odyssey tour was top notch, but sometimes I prefer something more casual. In our experience the RS guides have been more personal - our Odyssey guide was very nice but kept his distance, nothing spontaneous. Travel partners were all nice, but required and expected more service. We ended up getting based in Carmona and did day trips to Córdoba and Seville - it would have been nice to actually stay in one of those towns and get to spend more time. I also agree that I would make my decision based on the itinerary.

I have done three RS tours and I'm currently on my second Odysses tour. (I take tours when public transportation isn't great.) This tour is Southern Italy and Sicily. I did their Northern Italy last year and also the RS Village italy the year before.

I prefer Odysses. All hotels are very centrally located. The coaches can't always park near the hotel but unlike with RS tours, the luggage is transported to and from the coach.(In Venice this was well apprecitated.) All tour directors/guides are licensed and from the country you are visiting. The included meals have been great with wine included. Local guides everywhere. You are given plenty of time when visiting a location that includes both guided time and free time.

My current tour has 18 people. Everyone is getting along. All types from different areas of the U.S. and backgrounds. I will say the RS tour people are a little more knowledgable of the local culture but our tour director is doing a great job in teaching people. The only tipping is to the tour director. We are spending 3-4 nights in most locations (but this depends on the tour.)

Having a local guide really helps. I'll give you an example. Sienna was included on both the RS Village Italy tour and the Odysseys Northern Italy. With Odysses, a local, licensed guide gave us a tour of the town. With RS, our guide was not licensed to "guide" so we were told to either use the RS app or the guidebook to take a tour ourselves.

Odysses also has amazing customer service. On my current tour, there was a problem with our hotel stay in Matera. We had to skip the overnight. Instead, we spent one night in Alberobello about a five minute walk to the central areas of the Trulli and an extra night in Lecce. It turned out we all loved Lecce and was glad for the extra night. (I know RS does not really push Apuglia and I'm glad. Hardly any english speaking tourists. It was a highlight I never expected.) Odysses also refunded us $250 and added an extra included dinner as a "We're sorry." We had that last night and it turned out to be one of the best meals we had on the trip. I think the included limoncello helped.

Thanks, everyone -- this is really helpful information!

For those of you who have been on Odyssey tours, how does tipping the tour director work? Is this done in cash? How much is one expected to tip?

If you have taken an Odyssey tour and opted for their transportation, how was your experience with this? Once you select the airport you want to fly out of, do they give you any options about flights or just tell you what flights you are on?

For me, one of the biggest drawbacks might be the flights. I know you can fly on your own, but it seems to be a better deal financially if you select the package with the flights included. However, I usually like to arrive a number of days ahead of a tour, to get over jet lag, do some touring on our own, and acclimate. The idea of hitting the ground running for a tour isn't super appealing.

How would you compare the amount of time you are given to explore/visit any particular sight on RS vs Odyssey? On the RS tours I usually wished I had more time most places. I'm guessing that would be the case with any tour, but I'm wondering whether you felt you had more time with Odyssey?

For those of you who took the Odyssey Southern Italy tour, how did you feel about combining Southern Italy and Sicily? It seems like that might be too much ground to cover in such a short time?

Of the 4 itineraries (Odyssey Northern Italy, Odyssey Southern Italy, RS Village Italy, and RS Southern Italy) I like the RS Southern Italy itinerary best. But combing through the reviews, that tour has fewer 5 star reviews than do many others, and that concerns me. I have already visited Venice twice, and been to the Cinque Terre on the RS 21 day tour. I'd like to see areas of Italy I haven't visited before. Appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!

No tour is going to give you lots of free time. They want to include as much as possible. That's why people take tours; to cover as much ground as possible in a short amount of time.

You have to go with the itinerary you like best. I'm glad RS does not include Apuglia in any of his books. It was amazing. Very few American tourists so it was not overrun. Most everone we ran into was Italian. No "we serve spaghetti" restaurants. Contrast that with Matera and Alberobello where it was wall to wall people. (And that's April. Can you imagine what it is like in Summer.) I'm in Sorrento now and I can hardly move through the crowds. It's fun to see five British/Irish style pubs on the main pedestrian street. (Not).

That being said, I enjoyed Sicily and will probably go back to see the rest of the island.

As for flights, Odysses will only book flights that leave on day 1 as per the itinerary. I always book my own flights as I like to arrive in Europe a few days before so I can acclimate to the time. Some of the people on my current trip have 6 AM departures from Naples to they can make connecting flights back to the U.S. Their transport to the airport leaves the hotel at 3 AM. Most of the ones who had the tour company arrange the flights were those who wanted everything done for them.

As for tipping, the company states that is is completely up to you but suggests about 10 Euro per person per day for the tour director. All you have to do is put it in an envelope and hand it to him/her at the farewell dinner. Not as earth shattering as some think. All other tips are included.

One thing I will say about Odyssey......since none of the hotels were near where the coach could park I was glad to have baggage service included.

One thing I would like to comment on is the cultural experience. Every day, except travel days, we had a local guide with us. Local as in is from the area. We went to three working farms for lunch/dinner and to see how they each produce different products. We went to one former palace where the owner, the fifth generation of the family, opens it up to groups for meals and they bring in local musicians and singers to perform and teach us folk music of the area. At no time were we told to use a guidebook or listen to a recorded audio for a tour. (That has happened to me on RS tours.)

And there is nothing wrong after a full day of sightseeing and activity to return to a comfy hotel. (Our hotel in Lecce was a former palace.)

Frank II and Marie -- did you "lose" an entire day on the Southern Italy tour traveling from Sicily to Matera? There are a lot of compelling things about the tour, but I worry it tries to cover too much ground in too short an amount of time. How does the amount of time spent on the bus compare with that of the RS Italy tours you've been on? Thanks!

You arrive in Matera about mid afternoon. The other long drive is between Lecce and Sorrento but you spend the morning and have an included lunch in Polignano al Mare which is a beautiful town on the sea.

But I think you are looking for something that doesn't exist--a tour that goes at your speed. If you are afraid of seeing a long drive on one day and that will ruin your trip, then go with RS. RS changes hotels basically every two nights while Odyssey tries to let you stay at least three.

Ultimately, you have to go with the itinerary you like best and the one you feel more comfortable with.

Ruth, the trip from Taormina to Matera took most of the day, but it was a very pleasant and interesting. The long bus day came after three pretty active days in Taormina, Etna and Agrigento, and so it was nice to be able to relax a bit.

Frank II, I am sorry to hear that Matera was crowded. When I was there in 2014 there were very few tourists. Residents would walk up to us and ask us (in Italian, of course) if we were enjoying our stay and whether we would recommend Matera to our friends. The hospitality was outstanding, and I found the whole place magical in an offbeat way. Of course, this year, 2019, Matera is a European Capital of Culture, which may account for the crowds. When we were there, they had just been selected for the 2019 Cultural Capital status. Everyone we met was so excited about it.

Alberobello is indeed touristy, but still worth seeing. Lecce was great, and I found Otranto especially fascinating. I had not realized before the trip how important Otranto was to stopping the Ottoman advance toward Naples and Rome. Also, the 12th century mosaic on the floor of the Otranto cathedral combined biblical scenes with Greek mythology, Alexander the Great, King Arthur, and more. I have never seen such diverse cultural references in a single work of art. (Oh my, I am enjoying reliving the whole experience.)

Marie, we were in Matera on April 25 which is a holiday and that could be the reason it was so crowded.

Our tour encountered some hotel problems. So instead of staying overnight in Matera, we spent one night in Alberobello and added an extra night in Lecce. With that, we got to go to Galatina and Gallipoli on the western shore of Apuglia. I only heard one person outside our group speak English. Never in my life have i seen such clear water as I did at Gallipoli.

At first my tour mates were unhappy with the change. But once we actually did it, we were all happy that we got the extra night in Lecce. We saw parts of the unspoiled Italy rather than just the checklist overcrowded tourist sites.

@Frank II: You have to go with the itinerary you like best. I'm glad RS does not include Apuglia in any of his books. It was amazing. Very few American tourists so it was not overrun. Most everone we ran into was Italian.

RS doesn't have the whole guidebook market although you're right, places he mentions tend to zoom in popularity both due to his books and others that "discover" the same place. We had a wonderful time in Apuglia, but in general the entire Adriatic side of Italy is far more Italian tourists than British or American. So Apuglia is not the exception, its almost the rule. We liked Trani a lot too! The flip side is you need to learn at least a few words of Italian and be comfortable (or accomodating) to situations where you can't understand everything or communicate all you'd like. Whereas in Sorrento you can do fine without a single Italian word.

The flip side of the story is that even right down the road from the heavily touristed places you can find a more local existence. For example Cinque Terre is filled with tourists, many from America. We read a NYT article a few years back about Lerici, about 15 miles away. Same ocean, same charm, also an Italian tourist destination but unknown to Americans. So again outside of the larger hotels you'll need a few words of Italian, but you can take a vacation with a completely different feel and still take a boat ride across to Porto Venere, drive to Portofino or Santa Margherita Ligure (a better place to visit IMHO), etc. Lerici isn't well served by public transit, but other than that if you visit you might get a sense of what RS might have found a few decades ago in the CT.

John....yes, you do have to have some Italian in Apuglia. But that's what makes it great.....it's catering to Italians and not Americans.

I also agree regarding Santa Margarita Ligure. A charming little town that seemed to be lacking in tourists when I spent time exploring. Contrast that to Vernazza that felt like the streets of NYC at rush hour......or even worse.

Since you are at least considering a tour that includes Sicily I would suggest looking at Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) for a tour of Sicily. They tend to spend three nights at each location. They handle your luggage for you. The tours are smaller than RS, our tour of Sicily had 16 members. The people on our tour were on average a little older than on RS tours (OAT travelers were similar in terms of wealth or education as RS tour members, although overall maybe they hadn't travelled quite as much as the RS tour members). The hotels are generally nicer than RS. The tour guide was just as good as RS guides. The hotels were mostly centrally located (with one exception but it was a really nice resort hotel). They did use local guides just like RS does and they were similar to RS tours. The tour bus was comparable to RS buses. You have the option of booking your flight through OAT and having them pick you up at the airport, however, the cost was more expensive than we got on our own. Instead, we bought our own flights and arrived a few days early to get over our jet lag (we stayed in Cefalu before the tour - we used a car service that we found on Trip Advisor to pick us up from the airport and take us to Cefalu and then a few days later pick us up from Cefalu and take us to the hotel in Palermo. The car service was either Alex Travel or Adriana Viaggi, they may be affiliated companies). On the day we left Sicily we just got a taxi through the hotel to take us to the airport. I really liked seeing Sicily, I found that there were fewer tourists in general than on the Italian mainland (of course they did have tourists like me just not as many and definitely fewer Americans, of the tourists more were from other parts of Italy and some from other parts of the EU). It seemed to me that the people of Sicily were friendlier as a rule than in some big or touristy Italian cities, even in the cities of Palermo and Catania . Also, I felt safer (I did wear a money belt). OAT also offers pre-trip and post-trip extensions to different parts of Southern Italy, we didn't do that (instead we flew from Sicily to London and stayed there for a few days before flying home).

We have only ever taken one guided tour and it was with Odysseys Unlimited. We did our own air reservations and went several days ahead to adjust to the 16 hour time change in Asia before the tour began. We stayed in the tour’s first hotel which was very nice. Only one other couple went early which really surprised us. We also added three days at the end and returned to a place which we felt deserved more time. Odysseys had the best, most inclusive itinerary of all the tours we studied and considered. It was also a good value for the length of time for the tour. The tour was well done, several special events, cooking class was one. Some very nice hotels, one not so nice, one average. Many of the other participants did not seem to have any confidence in traveling independently but were a nice group from all over the USA. Tips- cash to the guide was suggested at $10-15 per day per person, given at end. We put it in an envelope. Guide was excellent, a native of the country we toured. She had to shepherd 19 people on and off high speed trains, not easy for her. Odysseys is a good tour company. No one complained about their flight arrangements.

I have traveled with Rick Steves tours (Eastern France) and Odyssey (Pousadas and Paradores and to Italy).

• Odyssey uses mostly 4-5 star hotels but not necessarily in the towns that you are visiting (use hotels as a base and do day trips to major sights).
• Odyssey local tour guide tips are included however we were encouraged to pay for local tour guides (why?, felt we were always paying).
• Odyssey does take the luggage to/from the bus.

Odyssey the meals were not necessarily "local fare" but more Americanized.

For the money, I enjoyed Rick Steves much better although I had to carry my own luggage. Loved the charming family-run hotels located in town - no bus and close to amenities and tourist sights. The included meals were also better as they were more regional.

Local tour guide tips are included however we were encouraged to pay for local tour guides (why?, felt we were always paying)

You should not have had to pay anything extra to any tour guide. Did you tell Odysses about this?

Just the opposite on my two Odysses tours of Italy--we ate regional dishes known to that area and definitey not "Americanized."

On my last tour, there was a last minute problem with a hotel and we had to change the original plans. This happened two days before the tour was supposed to begin. (We didn't miss anything just a minor change of hotels and timing.) It was not Odysses fault. However, Odysses called every tour member to apologize and let us know they were going to refund each of us $250 and added an extra included dinner that turned out to be one of the best meals we had.

Another vote for OAT. We took their TERRIFIC tour of Sicily, also Umbria & Tuscany (combined in one itinerary). Took RS for Greece & Portugal (two separate tours), Greece being the outstanding-er.

Not Italy, but we have taken two Odysseys tours. On neither was any hint given that we should tip local guides. It sounds like there may have been some collusion between the main and local guides. It should have been reported to the Odyssey’s office. On the general question of carrying your own bags and the related issue of hotels without elevators (thought by some to be “quaint”). One of the main reasons we have taken some tours is our advanced ages, 80 and 82. There is no way I would pay the substantial prices RS charges and carry my own bags, either up stairs, or even from the bus.

This topic has been automatically closed due to a period of inactivity.

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Visit a Remote National Park, Learn Tribal Traditions in the Rainforest, and Swim Under a Waterfall on This Central America Cruise

On an eye-opening stop in Panama, Smithsonian Journeys changed my mind about cruising.

Pam LeBlanc/Travel + Leisure

We come ashore with a slosh, the frayed edges of a wave splashing over our dinghy as it pulls into a small cove at the edge of lime-colored hillside. 

Six men wearing beads around their necks beat out a rhythm on drums as I swing my legs over the side of the boat and lurch onto the beach.

My stop here in Panama’s remote Darien National Park is part of a week-long Smithsonian Journeys cruise through Central America aboard Le Bellot , a small ship in the French-based Ponant line . Unlike the cruise I took last year, aboard a megaship with its own carousel, surf machine, and ice-skating rink, this one caters to passengers who would rather absorb lectures about maritime history and biodiversity than participate in a sexy legs contest.

Smithsonian Journeys cater to passengers interested in absorbing lectures about maritime history and biodiversity.

We boarded in Colon, Panama, and will finish in Costa Rica. So far, I feel like I’ve gotten a front row seat in a college class that touches on environmental issues and history.

After spending a day in the San Blas Islands, we motored through the Panama Canal. The first of six locks hoisted our ship 85 feet up to Gatun Lake ; on the other side, we eased slowly back down. 

Lake levels this year have dropped due to drought, and canal officials have reduced the number of ships that transit each day. The entire 51-mile trip took Le Bellot about eight hours, and for the last 30 minutes I climbed onto an inflatable unicorn and floated in the pint-sized pool on the ship’s back deck.  

Along the way, we listened to commentary. France started construction of the canal in 1881 and the United States took over in 1904. More than 25,000 workers died from accidents and disease before it opened in 1914. 

The next day included a visit to the  Punta Culebra  Nature Center in Panama City, where a three-toed sloth dangled from a tree out front. The long-haired hippie shuffled slowly down a branch as we entered the center, operated by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. 

Exhibits highlight work being done to protect amphibians from a fungus that dries their skin. I admired a tangerine-colored Panamanian golden frog , now functionally extinct in the wild. Scientists here also work with shipping authorities to channel boat traffic through designated lanes, reducing collisions with whales. 

But today’s meeting with the Embera tribe in the Darien National Park is the trip’s highlight. 

Pam LeBlanc/Travel + Leisure

In all, about 12,000 Embera live in scattered settlements throughout this rainforest, and their language and traditions have remained the same for generations. Most women don’t wear tops; men wear strips of fabric tied at the waist. They use jagua, a type of fruit from the jungle, to decorate their skin with temporary tattoos. 

Government officials recommend traveling in the park only with a guide. We spend half a day watching dance demonstrations and learning how the people weave plants into intricate baskets and ornaments, then swim in a waterfall.

This is the part of travel that sticks with me. It’s not the size of the ship or the entertainment on board, it’s what I learn along the way. I’ve never been a big fan of cruises, but this one changed my mind.

Cruising Alaska’s Inside Passage – with Smithsonian Journeys

• Get inspired by the possibilities.
• Build your ideal trip.
• Sail through the Johnstone Strait and observe humpback whales and orcas in their natural habitat
• Discover the Tlingit culture in the small village of Kake and see the world's tallest totem pole
• Explore Sitka, a former Russian colony, and witness totems carved by the Tlingit Indians
• Experience the awe-inspiring beauty of Misty Fjords, with its rain forest and glacier valleys
• Spa Relaxation
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• Pacific Northwest
• United States
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• Vancouver, BC
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Full Itinerary

Day 1: vancouver | embark, day 2: sailing in the johnstone strait | at sea.

• 1 Breakfast, 1 Lunch, 1 Dinner

Day 3: Inside Passage | Metlakatla, Alaska

Day 4: misty fjords, alaska, day 5: petersburg, alaska, day 6: kake | endicott arm, alaska, day 7: point adolphus | elfin cove, alaska, day 8: sitka, alaska, day 9: sitka, alaska | disembark.

• 1 Breakfast

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My preferred start date.

Initial deposit is 30%, and most travelers will call our office and pay the deposit with a credit card.

Final payment is due 100 days prior to departure by Visa, Mastercard, Discover or AmEx. All final payments by credit card may be subject to a surcharge and maximum of $20,000 charge

See our general terms and conditions:

• Adventure Life Terms & Conditions

We are an agent for one or more providers on this trip with specific cancellation policies and terms:

• Ponant Special Terms & Condition - Ponant

For full cancellation policy details, please contact us for a quote.

• 8 Breakfasts, 7 Lunches, 8 Dinners
• 8 Nights Accommodations
• Accommodations as listed
• Ground transportation as listed
• Activities as listed
• Meals as listed
• Access to a 24-7 Emergency line while traveling
• Unlimited Wifi
• Onboard Entertainment 
• Captain’s Welcome Cocktail and Gala Dinner
• Gratuities to Onboard Crew
• “Open Bar” (pouring wines, house champagne, alcohol except premium brands...list available upon request)
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• Highly experienced and bilingual (French-English) expedition staff
• Park Entry Fees into Protected Areas
• Water sports activities (except scuba diving) using the ship’s equipment, when permitted by local authorities and confirmed by ship Master according to safety and sea conditions onsite. 
• A program of onboard enrichment provided by two Smithsonian Journeys Experts
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• Comprehensive 8-night cruise aboard the deluxe Le Soléal, with all the amenities for which PONANT ships are famous
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• CDP recommends that every Traveler has full and adequate travel insurance covering the risks of cancellation, assistance being required, repatriation, damages to and loss of baggage, and medical expenses

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My husband and I are planning a trip to see Bryce, Zion, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in June 2017. While doing some research I saw a nice 7 day tour by Smithsonian Journeys and was wondering if anyone has any experience with this company. They don't have reviews on their website and are a little pricey. The reason we are leaning towards their trip is that it gives us 2 nights at each park with more time to really enjoy our surroundings and hike around. If I can get any advise I would appreciate it.

My husband and I are 55-60 years old and in good shape, we want to sightsee and do some hiking as well as possible rafting.

There's no need to do an organized tour of these national parks. They won't take you anywhere that you can't drive yourself. Additionally, 2 nights only gives you one full day at these destinations. That may sound like it's giving you "more time to really enjoy our surroundings and hike around"; but it isn't. For Zion and the North Rim, you need at least 3 nights to give you 2 full days. There's no rafting in any of these parks. That would have to be organized elsewhere. There's a 1/2 day smooth water float on the Colorado River below the Glen Canyon dam outside of Page. There's also a company that does raft trips out of Panquitch, Utah which is about 30 minutes from Bryce.

Folks on the forum can help you organize a nice drive yourself tour.

This is really, really, really easy to do independently. The roads are perfectly easy to drive, you can book your own hotels, you can take your own hikes, and if you do want to do a tour (rafting, mule ride, canyoneering) you can book your own guides. And it will probably be cheaper than a bus tour, and more to your own tastes.

Thank you so much Connie. It just seemed overwhelming to plan everything so I was leaning towards a guided tour. We just did 2 weeks in England and France independently and made out well but it was a lot of planning.

Thanks JennAzz. I will get a guidebook and start my planning. We really don't want to waste money on a tour if it's easy to do independently. Any hotel/lodge suggestions would be appreciated.

There's only one lodge inside the park at the north rim, so that's easy. Find it at http://www.nps.gov/grca It might be booked up already (they take reservations a year in advance), but keep checking back, as people cancel all the time. There are also a couple lodges outside, I think about 30 miles from the rim though. So in the park is better.

There's one lodge inside the park at Bryce. Then there's the big Ruby's complex right outside, which is a bit busy for me. I liked Bryce Canyon Pines, on highway 12 about 15 minutes away. http://www.nps.gov/brca

For Zion, look at listings in the cute little town of Springdale, which ends literally at the park entrance. Too many good choices in town to name! There's also one lodge inside the park. http://www.nps.gov/zion

Planning this trip to do independently will probably be easier than planning a trip through England and France. You'll get lots of help here. For your part, read the topics under the heading "Top Questions About Utah" in the right side bar of this page (not visible on a mobile device). There are several about planning a trip to the parks.

Also read this article written about visiting the Utah parks.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g28965-c177493/Utah:United-States:Trip.Planning.html

An important factor in planning this trip is not to try to do it all. When visiting this part of the country, less is more. The driving distances are great.

The minimum night stays at each destination are: Zion Park 2 nights/3 is better; Bryce 1 night; North Rim Grand Canyon 2 nights. You can do this trip flying in and out of Las Vegas.

Do some research and then come back with some specific questions.

This topic has been closed to new posts due to inactivity.

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Smithsonian Journeys: Venice

Smithsonian Journeys: Venice invites you to take a tour of this magical city with a brilliant professor of Italian history as your personal guide. Enjoy over 30 minutes of 3D 360° video shot on location as you learn all about the history and culture of the city.

In this experience you’ll:

• take a gondola ride under the Bridge of Sighs and past Marco Polo’s house
• float down Venice’s famous Grand Canal and see where Casanova lived
• have an espresso in the beautiful Piazza San Marco
• go a walking tour of the city’s most interesting sites
• watch a Murano glassblowing demonstration
• and much more!

Guided by the charming professor Kenneth R. Bartlett, who has been teaching Italian history for nearly 40 years, you’ll discover fascinating facts along the way that will make your journey so much more memorable and rewarding. If you’ve ever wanted to visit Venice, now is your chance!

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Smithsonian Voices

From the Smithsonian Museums

SMITHSONIAN BOOKS

How the Smithsonian Conserved the Jefferson Bible

Thomas Jefferson cut and arranged selected Bible verses to create a chronological, edited story of Jesus’ life—and the conservation treatment was just as painstaking

Janice Stagnitto Ellis

When Thomas Jefferson's great-granddaughter, Carolina Randolph, sold The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth to Smithsonian Institution librarian Cyrus Adler in 1895, he had a plan for it. Miss Randolph and her family had kept this book out of the public eye for more than sixty-five years after Jefferson's death, but the time had come to let it be seen. She chose to entrust this closely held family treasure, Jefferson's "little volume," to a national venue, where it became a national treasure.

In 1904 the Government Printing Office had black-and-white photographs made of each page in order to publish a photolithographic facsimile edition of the book. These photographs now serve as the first documentation of the physical condition of The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth , eighty-four years after Jefferson made it. They reveal that, by 1904, the pages had already begun to tear at the edges from handling and use. Several page openings, including those at pages 38 and 77, were severely darkened, probably from exposure to natural light, gaslight, and their pollutants while the artifact was on display. Over the next hundred years, following the emerging profession of artifact conservation, the Smithsonian Institution reduced the public display of the book, limiting its access to protect it from the ordinary attrition of age and use, but time worsened its condition nonetheless. Eventually the museum considered it too fragile for exhibition and limited even scholarly access. Once again, Jefferson's volume became an inaccessible treasure.

In 2009 the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History (NMAH) committed to making The Life and  Morals of Jesus of Nazareth accessible again and embarked upon conserving and scanning the book's individual pages. Four NMAH conservators assembled to preserve Jefferson's Bible. The Smithsonian's Museum Conservation Insti-tute, Smithsonian Institution Libraries, and numerous consultants from the National Archives and Records Administration, Library of Congress, Winterthur/Univer-sity of Delaware, University of Virginia, and others provided additional expertise. Conservation scientists tested the materials. Scholars and conservators provided historical, bibliographic, and treatment insight. In order to meet the museum's priority of exhibition and scholarly use, conservators needed to make the artifact usable again without causing further damage. To achieve this result, they needed to define the artifact's condition, determine its chemical and physical instability, implement a conservation treatment to stabilize it, produce a preservation scan, and create a baseline from which future conservators could monitor its condition over time.

The Jefferson Bible, Smithsonian Edition: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth

The Jefferson Bible, Smithsonian Edition is an exact facsimile reproduction based on the original copy in the Smithsonian collections. The Jefferson Bible, Smithsonian Edition is as beautiful an object as was so painstakingly crafted by Thomas Jefferson himself.

Preparing the book for conservation treatment and exhibition was a painstaking process. And Jefferson's creation is no ordinary book. Unlike other early nineteenth-century books, it was not printed by a single printer on one type of paper and brought to a bookbinder to be bound. It is more like a scrapbook. Created by Jefferson's own hand sometime between 1819 and 1820, it was made up from multiple clippings removed from other printed Bibles and glued to the front and back of each leaf in forty-three paper folios. These clippings were arranged so densely that, at first glance, each page resembles a single imprint. A close examination reveals the seventy-seven-year-old Jefferson's mental and physical skills: a practical demonstration of his meticulous hand-work, his tidiness and planning, his strategic and near-surgical approach to "extracting" clippings from his source books, and his careful attention to detail.

To make The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth , Jefferson purchased two copies each of three New Testament translations. The Greek and Latin translations are printed together in Wingrave's 1794 London edition of Leusden's Greek Testament; the English translation is from Jacob Johnson's Philadelphia 1804 edition of the King James New Testament; and the French is from Ostervald's Paris 1802 edition of the New Testament. He needed two copies of each so that he could cut passages from the fronts and backs of pages.

He purchased blank paper, most likely "royal" size, which measured 19 by 24 inches. Each royal sheet was cut down into six pieces measuring 9½ by 8 inches. These were folded in half to produce pages measuring 8 inches tall by 4¾ inches wide. Jefferson drew a center-divide ruling line on the front and back of each page. He made tiny pencil hatch marks on these ruling lines to indicate the upper margins of the pages. (On page 7, just above the pencil mark, a single curly reddish hair protrudes from beneath the upper left corner of verse 15. Then he carefully glued the New Testament cutouts onto his blank paper beginning at the pencil mark. He arranged the text on either side of the ruling line in two vertical columns per page, so that on each double-page spread one can read the same text in four columns: Greek and Latin on the left-hand page; French and English on the right. He handwrote page numbers and notes in the margins and made corrections to his mistakes or the publishers' when needed. For example, he added an omitted verse to the English margin on page 40 and corrected a translation error by changing the word "out" to "up" on an English verse on page 5, Luke 6:12. On page 64 he edited Matthew 24:38 by cutting out the word "as" in the verse that begins "For as in the days," revealing an intellectual focus as sharp as the knife he used to remove the offending word Page 22 reveals that, just above Matthew 13, Jefterson had accidentally cut off text at the far right edge of a clip-ping. But he then aligned and glued a replacement fragment in place with such precision that only the darkening caused by the extra adhesive under the fragment gives the mistake away.

Using iron-gall ink mixed at home from commercially available ink powders, he wrote abbreviations in the margins to indicate the gospel and chapter number: a cross stroke on the letter "M" indicated "Mt" for Matthew, "Mk" for Mark, and "L" and "J" for Luke and John. He frequently started the quill stroke for each diminutive initial capital in the center of the letter, leaving a small tail in the middle of each, before moving his quill to the ascending stroke.

Rather than send the completed forty-three folios to his favorite bookbinder, Joseph Milligan, who was in the twilight of his career, Jefferson sent them to a new bookbinder in Richmond: Frederick August Mayo. Two years earlier, on November 30, 1818, Jefferson wrote in his first letter to Mayo that "I am particular in my bindings and have hitherto been obliged to send my choice books to Milligan in Georgetown because I have found no workman in America but him who can give me such as the London and Paris bindings, besides the good taste with which he works. [A] book bound by him is as heavy as a piece of metal while the common bindings of this country are so spongy, that after a book has been opened, it will never shut close again." Mayo obliged with a binding that held the pages firmly immobile.

To bind it to Jefferson's liking, Mayo compensated the folds of the folios with extra paper stubs that increased the spine's bulk to equal that of the center of the page where Jefferson had glued the clippings. Mayo then added end leaves and Stormont pattern marbled flyleaves and sewed them together on four sewing supports, three folios at a time, to create a text block. He sewed pale blue- and rose-colored silk endbands to the head and tail, lined the spine with layers of heavyweight paper, and laced-on the front and back boards. He covered the book "tight back," gluing the leather directly to the spine linings, using full-leather, straight-grain red morocco, a goat skin laboriously steeped, slaked, pounded, stretched, and processed for more than sixty days and tanne with sumac. It was the finest-quality, most expensive leather available. He embellished the leather binding with gold tooling on the covers, spine, board edges, and turn-ins, and placed his binder's ticket on the inside of the front cover.

Jefferson wrote a separate, two-page index listing all the passages in the entire book. At some later point, the index was glued inside the book between the front cover and the marble flyleaf.

Nearly two centuries later, the original Mayo binding remained intact. But exposure to oxygen, humidity, and light had caused the Jefferson Bible's paper to become rigid. The glue Jefferson had used to adhere the clippings had hardened (it contains both starch and protein). The paper became inflexible and brittle from the glue's acidity. Humidity caused the paper to become distorted, and it had cracked at the hills and valleys. Mayo's binding also damaged Jefferson's paper. The robustly lined tight-back spine could barely flex. As the book was opened, the paper just beyond the stubs became the hinging point rather than the spine. When the paper became brittle with age, the stubs caused the forty-three folios to break. Opening the book wider than thirty degrees caused damage because neither the paper nor the binding had enough remaining flexibility.

To decide on a conservation treatment for the Jefferson Bible, conservators needed to understand all the risks and anticipate how to avoid them. With the Jefferson Bible, this was a complex task, because it is made from many different types of materials that affect the physical and chemical stability of each other and the whole. There are twelve different papers (the blank folio paper; six source book papers; maps; end leaves; stubs; marbled paper; and the index). Two types of adhesive were used to glue the clippings on the paper (starch and animal glue). There are seven printing inks (six source books and maps). At least four different iron-gall inks are included (ruling lines, page numbers, marginalia, and for the index). These inks were made from different proportions of the most common ingredients ("vitriol" iron sulfate, oak galls, water, and gum arabic) from recipe to recipe or from batch to batch. The resulting aging characteristics, chemical stability, and solubility of the inks vary considerably.

With so many materials, often a solution to one problem would exacerbate another. For this reason, aqueous (water) treatment of the paper was ruled out. Nonaqueous alka-lization solutions, commonly used to buffer acidic paper, would not have addressed the chemical needs of the other materials such as the iron-gall inks, and they were also ruled out. Ultimately, the complexity of the materials was too great for every type of chemical conservation treatment considered.

Conservation also required layers of decision making beyond simply identifying materials. For example, when investigating all the iron-gall inks in the volume, the conservators questioned where one recipe or batch ended and another began. The conservators needed to determine the most useful locations for analytical tests when iron-gall inks, paper, and adhesives varied significantly over one hundred pages. They observed that Jefferson had used a draftsman's tool called a divider to gently score the ruling lines on the pages before inking them. They debated whether the weakness in the center of each ruled page resulted from the physical damage made by the draftsman's tool, chemical damage from the acidic iron-gall ink eating into the paper, or the combination of both.

Even the proposed change of Frederick Mayo's bookbinding needed special consideration. Hannah French, a noted scholar of bookbinding history, described the binding as a masterpiece in her 1986 book, Bookbinding in Early America. Museum curators questioned how to maintain the integrity of the original craftsman bookbinder's masterpiece while addressing the needs of the Jefferson document bound inside.

The most compelling need of The Life and Morals of Fesus of Nazareth was repairing the physical damage that the binding structure had caused to the brittle paper. Without addressing the binding, the artifact would remain too fragile to ever use again. Ninety-eight percent of the book pages had either cracked or been partially torn by the stubs. The book was disbound to improve the flexibility of the Mayo binding and change the stub design. Although the original stubbed binding design had served the text block well enough when the book's paper was young and flexible, it did not serve the old, stiff paper.

To remedy the tight binding, conservators first took the book apart, keeping the leather cover intact but separating it from the bound text block, removing the restrictive spine linings beneath and snipping the sewing inside the pages so that they could be separated once again into forty-three loose folios. Every scrap removed from the original binding was saved for future research. The disbound pages were dry-cleaned and physically repaired using Tosa tengujo  Japanese paper, Berlin tissue, and a reversible adhesive. The repaired pages were digitally photographed using a Hasselblad H4D-50 50 megapixel DSLR camera and a Zeiss 120 macro lens, producing the first complete color images ever taken of the artifact. The folios were resewn not with the original stubs, which were numbered and saved, but with new, more flexible paper. The text block was resewn through the original sewing holes, using unbleached linen thread in an unsupported sewing stitch sewn through a linen spine lining material. The original silk endbands were sewn back in place, and the original red morocco covers and spine were reused. The resulting treatment provided the book with the needed flexibility while using materials and techniques sympathetic with the original artifact.

To address the chemical stabilization of the volume, the conservation treatment plan also included the design and manufacture of a long-term protective enclosure, Organic materials such as paper and leather degrade fastest when exposed to light, oxygen, and moisture. The protective enclosure reduces the book's exposure to these hazards as well as environmental fluctuations and pollutants.

In 2011, with the conservation treatment of The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth completed, the National Museum of American History once again is able to present Carolina Randolph's gift to a wide audience, through exhibitions, Smithsonian Books' facsimile reproduction, and digital images. The preservation project not only has made the volume more accessible but also provided new insights into how it was constructed and, through materials analysis, provided a baseline description of the book's physical and chemical state, thereby enabling future conservators to monitor its condition with accuracy. For the first time, scholars and the general public alike can access this treasure in intimate detail. Jefferson's little volume is now simultaneously safely accessible to everyone and safely preserved at the Smithsonian.

The Jefferson Bible, Smithsonian Edition  is available from Smithsonian Books. Visit  Smithsonian Books’ website  to learn more about its publications and a full list of titles. 

Excerpt from  The Jefferson Bible, Smithsonian Edition  by Janice Stagnitto Ellis © 2011 by Smithsonian Institution

A Note to our Readers Smithsonian magazine participates in affiliate link advertising programs. If you purchase an item through these links, we receive a commission.

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