Your Guide to a Year of Cultural Adventures
Cultural travel isn’t about ticking sights off a list – it’s about getting closer, listening longer, and letting the world surprise you in the best possible ways.
With our expert local guides turning even the smallest detour into something extraordinary, we’ve mapped out 12 journeys that invite you to venture beyond the ordinary and into the adventure – one for every month of the year.
January: Egypt
January’s soft winter light and cooler temperatures transform Egypt’s ancient landscapes – perfect for wandering the Pyramids in comfort, tracing sun-warmed hieroglyphs at Karnak, or descending into the tombs of the Valley of the Kings without the intense summer heat.
The Ancient Egypt & Nile Cruise – Premium Adventure gives you two full days in Cairo, before drifting south along the Nile aboard the five-star MS Movenpick Royal Lily or Royal Lotus.
With the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum finally opening its doors, 2026 is your chance to stand before Egypt’s most extraordinary collection in a setting built to honour it. It’s Egypt at its most revealing; spacious, unhurried, and deeply memorable.
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Ancient Egypt & Nile Cruise – Premium Adventure
Discover ancient Egypt in style along the Nile from Luxor to Awan
February: Ladakh (India)
High in the Trans-Himalaya, February marks one of Ladakh’s most intriguing winter traditions: the Stok Festival, held in the village of Stok beneath the royal palace.
Timed each year according to the Tibetan lunar calendar, it’s a vibrant splash of colour in the depths of winter, where masked monks perform sacred cham dances, locals gather in their finest gonchas, and the air hums with drums, horns and the scent of butter lamps.
On our Search for Snow Leopards trip, you can witness the festival as the locals do, up close, woven into the fabric of daily life, before returning to the mountains.
It’s a striking contrast to the days spent tracking the elusive snow leopard across remote valleys, sharing butter tea with Ladakhi families, and absorbing the stark beauty of Hemis National Park in its most atmospheric season.
If you’ve missed our 2026 departures, don’t worry – 2027 dates are now live and ready to book.
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Search for Snow Leopards with Valerie Parkinson
Search for the elusive Snow Leopard with trekking guide Valerie Parkinson
March: Japan
Sakura season bathes Japan in soft blush tones; petals drifting through temple gardens, lining riversides, and settling like confetti around Kyoto’s shrines. Locals spread out hanami picnics, children snack on sakura mochi, and the whole country seems to pause for spring.
It’s the perfect backdrop for our Ancient & Modern Japan adventure. Travel by bullet train, wander Kyoto and Nara’s extraordinary temples and shrines, stroll Kanazawa’s samurai and geisha districts, breathe in mountain air in the Japanese Alps foothills, and end beneath Tokyo’s neon glow. The cherry blossom may be fleeting, but the memories linger far longer.
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Ancient & Modern Japan
Explore Zen gardens, temples and the most iconic sights of Japan
April: Greece
Booking a trip to Greece around Easter offers a rare chance to immerse yourself in local culture and ancient traditions.
From candle-lit street processions to lamb roasting on a spit and fireworks at midnight, the way Greeks celebrate “Pascha” is an unmissable spectacle.
On the Highlights of Ancient Greece, you’ll explore the Acropolis and wander atmospheric Plaka, while keeping an eye out for festive sweets like koulourakia biscuits and tsoureki braided brioche. And on Holy Saturday, join local people for the unforgettable glow and anticipation of midnight mass.
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Highlights of Ancient Greece
Journey through thousands of years of Greece’s history
May: Latvia, Lithuania & Estonia
May brings warmer days and long, light evenings to the Baltic states – a moment when café terraces spill into medieval squares, outdoor festivals begin, and locals celebrate the return of summer after a long winter. It’s an ideal time to explore these three distinct nations as their cultural calendars reawaken.
In Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius, you’ll find fairytale old towns alive with street musicians, open-air markets and flourishing arts scenes, while spring greenery softens the Gothic spires and Art Nouveau facades.
Beyond the capitals, coastal villages, wild national parks and tranquil forests reveal a quieter Baltic rhythm, full of folklore, wooden architecture and age-old traditions.
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Discover the Baltics
Visit three countries in twelve days, through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
June: Peru
June is a remarkable time to visit Peru, when Cuzco erupts in colour for Inti Raymi, the Inca Festival of the Sun.
Held each year on the winter solstice, this ancient celebration marks the Inca New Year – a moment when dancers, musicians and actors in vivid traditional dress honour Inti, the civilisation’s most revered deity.
As part of our Inti Raymi Festival adventure, your entry to the festival is guaranteed, from the sunrise ceremony at Qorikancha, through the spectacular procession to Sacsayhuamán, within a full-length Peruvian journey exploring Andes peaks, colonial cities and more.
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Essential Peru – Inti Raymi Festival Departure
Wonders of southern Peru and attend a festival in Cuzco
July: Mongolia
July brings one of Mongolia’s most vibrant celebrations: Naadam, a thrilling showcase of traditional nomadic culture.
This is the moment when the “three games” take centre stage – wrestling, archery and long-distance horse racing – alongside wonderfully niche traditions like ankle-bone flicking. It’s an energetic window into Mongolia’s deep-rooted heritage, where skill, stamina and ceremony intertwine on the open steppe.
Our Discover Mongolia – Naadam Festival adventure places you at the heart of the festivities, before taking you deeper into the country’s vast landscapes, from yak-dotted valleys and Buddhist monasteries to nights spent under endless star-filled skies.
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Discover Mongolia – Naadam Festival
Explore Mongolia's vast open lands and the Naadam Festival
August: Sri Lanka
One of Sri Lanka’s most spectacular cultural celebrations, Kandy Esala Perahera, the famed Festival of the Tooth, honours the sacred relic of the Buddha with nights of pageantry and devotion.
Each evening brings a procession of firebreathers, whip-crackers, drummers and dancers moving to an ancient rhythm through Kandy’s lantern-lit streets.
Lavishly decorated elephants carry symbolic relics, crowds gather shoulder to shoulder, and the air hums with incense and anticipation.
The festivities culminate in Diya Kapeema, the water-cutting ceremony at the Mahaweli River, marking spiritual renewal for the year ahead. It’s the kind of celebration that stays with you long after the drums fade.
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Discover Sri Lanka
Spend two weeks exploring the delights of this diverse island
September: Bhutan
September brings one of Bhutan’s most captivating celebrations: Thimphu Tshechu, a festival of masked dances, swirling brocade robes and ancient Buddhist rituals performed against a backdrop of Himalayan peaks.
It’s a national holiday, a social gathering, a spiritual ceremony and one of the most colourful spectacles in the Buddhist world.
On our Festivals of Bhutan trip, you’ll spend time at the heart of the Tshechu, watching monks perform sacred Cham dances, black-hat rituals and storytelling mask dramas that have been passed down for centuries.
You’ll see locals arrive in their finest kira and gho, families gathering in the courtyard for a day of blessings, and the unveiling of ritual banners and performances believed to bring good fortune for the year ahead.
Between festival days, explore Punakha Dzong, Paro Dzong and the iconic Tiger’s Nest – a cultural journey as vivid as the festival itself.
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Discover Bhutan
Experience traditional Buddhist cultures of Bhutan
October: Mongolia
We know we’ve spotlighted Mongolia earlier in the year, but October brings a spectacle too compelling to ignore: the Golden Eagle Festival.
In Bayan-Ölgii, Kazakh hunters arrive in traditional fur-lined attire, their eagles perched regally as they compete in dramatic events – from calling their birds down from the mountains to precision displays of speed, agility and age-old hunting techniques. You watch training demonstrations, colourful parades and spirited horseback games unfold against sweeping Altai peaks.
On our Discover Mongolia – Eagle Festival trip, the celebrations crown a journey through the country’s rugged south, including the vast Singing Dunes of Khongoryn Els and the flame-hued cliffs of Bayanzag, before you join locals in cheering on some of the world’s most extraordinary partnerships between human and raptor.
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Discover Mongolia – Eagle Festival
Wild Mongolia – from nomadic culture to eagle hunting
November: India
Each November, as the Hindu month of Kartika begins, the pilgrimage town of Pushkar erupts into colour for the Pushkar Camel Fair. From 1-9 November, thousands of traders descend with their finest camels, horses and cattle, joining Hindu pilgrims making their sacred journey to Pushkar Lake.
On our special Colours of Rajasthan – Pushkar Festival departure, you spend dedicated time at the fair itself, weaving between livestock parades, folk-dance and music performances, lively contests including tug of war and the legendary longest-moustache competition. You also have time to browse their vibrant stalls stacked with handcrafted bracelets, embroidered textiles and vivid fabrics.
Beyond the fair, the journey also includes Rajasthan’s standout highlights — from Jaipur’s hilltop forts to Ranthambore’s wildlife and the Taj Mahal at sunrise.
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Colours of Rajasthan – Pushkar Festival
Experience the best of India's colourful desert state
December: Finland
Not a festival as such, but Christmas in Finnish Lapland is treated with near-sacred enthusiasm – hardly surprising when Saint Nicholas’ official village sits right in Rovaniemi. It’s impossible not to feel festive on our ever-popular Finnish Wilderness Week.
Picture spending the run-up to Christmas tucked inside a cosy wooden cabin at Basecamp Oulanka. Days are spent snowshoeing along the frosted trails of Oulanka National Park, cross-country skiing around Juuma Lake, and dogsledding with local huskies through the hushed forests of Riisitunturi.
There’s even the chance to practise true Arctic know-how by building your own quinzee snow shelter. And with December’s long, dark nights, your odds of witnessing the Northern Lights dramatically improve.
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Finnish Wilderness Week
Mixed activity week in a remote part of Finland
If these trips have inspired you
plan ahead for a cultural adventure of your own, and take a look at our full collection.
