The best countries for travel in Asia
Asia
is an extremely diverse continent,
for wildlife and cultural safari
five diverse countries to choose from
We presently offer travel to five countries in Asia, covering most of the Indian Subcontinent.
We do not presently offer other parts of Asia, although we will inevitably add some further options in the future.
Selecting which country to visit depends very much on your interests.
If you are looking for wildlife safari, the best locations are in India and Sri Lanka, where the primary attractions are tigers, lions, leopards, snow leopards, elephants, rhinos and sloth bears.
If you are interested in active outdoor adventures and magnificent scenery, you might look towards the mountainous parts of India and almost all of Nepal.
If you are interested in culture and history, then you will never run out of places to visit in India, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.
For tropical beaches, there are options in India and Sri Lanka, but the Maldives takes the prize.
On this page, we run through all of the countries that we offer in Asia. Hopefully, the right country for you is on this list.
the usual first step is to choose
the optimum country for your safari
Countries …
From the Himalayas in the north, through the deserts of Rajasthan and the jungles of Madyha Pradesh, down to the tropical coastline of the Indian Ocean, India is a wonderfully diverse place. It is also a country packed to overflowing with incredible historic sites and cultural experiences. Easy to see why people rarely visit this remarkable country only once.
the most incredible and diverse country
The main hub for tourism in India is Delhi, located in the northwest …
Delhi is a vibrant, intense and chaotic city, which some people choose to explore, other choose to bypass.
Heading out on an overland exploration of Rajasthan, the usual first stop is the Taj Mahal.
But the city of Agra is otherwise less attractive, meaning that it only tends to feature for a single night.
The next stop is the great royal city of Jaipur, crowned by the majestic Amber Fort.
Jaipur is a classic walled city …
… seat of a powerful Maharaja and centred around a major palace complex.
The streets of the city are filled with traditional life and colour.
Next stop, Ranthambore, is the primary wildlife reserve in Rajasthan …
… with a wide range of wildlife, but particularly renowned for its Bengal tigers.
The Ranthambore area contains a handful of decent safari camps.
Next comes the Blue City of Jodhpur, on the fringes of the Thar Desert.
The bazaars of Jodhpur are amongst the most interesting and colourful in the country.
Jodhpur is also home to the remarkable Umaid Bhawan Palace Hotel.
The greater Jodhpur area includes some superb rural and small town palace hotels …
… in some of which you are actually hosted by the local royal family.
Some of these lodges specialise in rural activities, like horse-riding and village visits …
… often accompanied by lavish picnics and colourful bush dinners.
Continuing south, the Lake City of Udaipur sits in a more elevated and verdant location …
… centred on the famous Taj Lake Palace Hotel, of James Bond fame.
We usually prefer to stay in one of the fabulous palaces in the nearby villages.
East from Udaipur, the Jawai area is renowned for its leopards.
The area is home to a lovely safari camp, Sujan Jawai.
Further west, out in the Thar Desert, lies the iconic fortress of Jaisalmer …
… where it’s possible to ride camels out into the dunes for romantic sundowners.
Further east from Agra lies the religious centre of Varanasi …
… where Hindus come to bathe in the holy Ganges River and cremate their dead.
Rajasthan is usually best explored by road, but if you only have limited time …
… then several luxury train itineraries offer one week whistlestop tours.
A major advantage of some train trips are that they enable you to also explore the Maharashtra province to the south …
… including the incredibly impressive Ellora Caves …
… and ‘the other Taj Mahal’ in the city of Aurangabad.
Those train trips bring you to the coastal city of Mumbai, historically the ‘Gateway to India’.
This enormous city is renowned for the stark social contradictions …
… and is the home of the Bollywood film industry.
South from Mumbai lie the broad tropical beaches of Goa …
… an historic Portuguese settlement, which has long since served as a hippy retreat.
The beaches of Kerala, even further south, are arguably even more attractive …
… as are the famous Backwater area of canals and lakes …
… beyond which rise beautiful tea plantations and forested mountains.
… but Kerala is desperately short of decent lodges, which greatly limits the appeal of the place.
Heading back up to Delhi, we now turn our attentions north, towards the Himalayas …
… starting with the British colonial hill station of Shimla …
… which can serve as relaxing break at the end of an exploration of Rajasthan.
Rather more exciting is the remote Ladakh province, known colloquially as ‘Little Tibet’.
This fabulous area provides a superb insight into Buddhist culture …
… and lots of opportunities for genuine interaction with the lovely local people.
Unfortunately the main season in Ladakh (Jun-Sep) is contrary to that in the rest of India …
… although the winter snow leopard season (Nov-Mar) does work well with other areas.
Further east in the Himalayas lies the other famous British hill station of Darjeeling …
… these days a stronghold for Buddhists fleeing Chinese Tibet.
Hiking in the forested foothills can throw up some real surprises …
… whilst staying amongst the area’s famous tea plantations can be a real pleasure.
In the Assam province, in the far northeast, lies the important wildlife reserve of Kaziranga …
… one of the last places in the world where you can still go on an elephant-back safari.
Although there are tigers here, they tend to be quite elusive.
These eastern areas are generally accessed out of the city of Kolkata …
… which also offers a mix of colonial grandeur and modern colour.
The city is renowned for its flower market and flower festivals.
Finally we head to the wildlife reserves of the central Madyha Pradesh province.
The three best know areas are Bandhavgarh, Kanha and Pench …
… where important wildlife sightings include sloth bears …
… and, of course, iconic Bengal tigers.
The lodges here are a bit of a mixed bag, but they are improving all the time.
The best time to visit India is generally the Nov-Mar cool dry season.
Browse our collections of sample trips …
Set in the Himalayas to the northeast of India, Bhutan is a remote mountainous country, best known for its deeply-ingrained Buddhist culture, historic monasteries, colourful festivals, warm welcoming people, wonderful and diverse scenery, a wide range of outdoor activities and a surprisingly broad range of accommodation, including some really high quality lodges.
remarkable mountainous Buddhist kingdom
Bhutan is a small country, tucked away in the Himalayas.
Known as the Realm of the Thunder Dragon, this is an almost mythical place …
… ruled by a constitutional monarch and with a profound Buddhist faith.
Famously the country is run to maximise a metric known as Gross National Happiness.
Bhutan tops the world rankings for peace, economic freedom and freedom from corruption.
It is a truly unique place, whose primary attraction is its fascinating contemporary culture.
The country is comprised of a network of isolated and distinct valleys.
Paro is the location of the international airport …
… the impressive Rinpung Dzong Fortress …
… and the famous Tiger’s Nest Monastery …
… as well as offering some really interesting day hikes.
The area contains some lovely high-end lodges.
Thimphu is the modest capital, the primary intellectual and commercial hub …
… guarded by an enormous golden Buddha …
… and home to some of the largest festivals during October.
Punakha is at much lower altitude and has a much more mild climate …
… also with some hugely impressive historic architecture …
… three superb high-end lodges …
… and lots of opportunities for hiking, biking and rafting.
Gangtey is a more remote and high-altitude area …
… centred on a lovely monastery, whose main festival is also during October …
… with more superb high-end lodges …
… and where there are further hiking and biking options.
Finally we reach the sacred valley of Bumthang …
… which hosts more festivals throughout the year …
… and contains a couple of lovely lodges …
From here it’s possible to explore even more remote valleys …
… and experience some deeply authentic Bhutanese culture.
The best time of year to visit Bhutan is Sep-May …
… tuned to optimise for various activities and coincide with various festivals.
Set in the Indian Ocean, around 600 km southwest of the tip of India, the Maldives is a vast collection of gorgeous coral atolls, home to around 150 resorts, some of which are amongst the very best in the world.
arguably the world’s finest tropical islands
The Maldives is a vast collection of atolls in the Indian Ocean.
The islands are centred around the capital city and main airport of Malé.
The majority of resorts are accessed by sea-plane …
… landing direct in the lagoon and taxiing right up to the jetty.
The resorts range in size from a dozen to more than two hundred rooms.
All of the properties have substantial spa facilities.
About half of all rooms are located on the islands …
… whilst the remainder are out over the shallow waters.
All properties offer a good range of mainly marine activities.
They are also renowned for their polished hospitality and fine dining.
The islands are naturally a very popular honeymoon location.
Browse our collections of sample trips …
Set in the Indian ocean just to the southeast of India, Sri Lanka is a substantial tropical island with remarkable ancient Buddhist sites, extensive colonial history, a surprising amount of good quality safari areas, excellent marine sports and a remarkable range of high quality accommodation options.
amazing blend of safari, history and culture
Sri Lanka is a remarkably diverse tropical island.
On the west coast, the city of Colombo is the capital and main transport hub.
It a pleasant place to explore, with plenty of evidence of its colonial past …
… and of its much more ancient Buddhist faith.
In the mountainous heart of the island lies the historic capital of Kandy …
… home to the very sacred Temple of Buddha’s Tooth.
A little to the south lie the beautiful tea plantations of Nuwara Eliya …
… a prominent mountain retreat during the British period …
… and with lots of intimate and characterful places to stay.
Also close to Kandy is the Knuckles area, with tea plantations, mountain forests …
… and a couple of really attractive lodge options.
A little further north lies the important Buddhist centre of Anuradhapura …
The temple complex here is vast and extremely impressive.
There’s also some lovely rural lodges.
The Sigiriya area is centred on the famous hilltop fort …
… with further points of interest including the rock temples at Dambulla …
and the ancient ruined city of Polonnaruwa.
The best known safari area is the southeasterly Yala National Park …
… which is particularly renowned for its leopards …
… and contains some very attractive accommodation options.
To the northeast, Wilpattu National Park is larger and much lesser-visited.
The area is particularly known for its sloth bears, which are most reliably seen May-Jul.
There is a modest range of authentic safari camps.
The historic port of Galle is a popular location in the southwest …
… containing some authentic and historic small hotels.
The area is renowned for its iconic stilt fishermen.
A little further south, the Tangalle area is known for its lovely beaches and strong diving …
… and is also home to the island’s few larger resorts.
More remote beach options include the kite-surfing haven of Puttalam to the northwest.
To the northeast lies the predominantaly Hindu town of Trincomalee …
… which has a reputation for diving and whale-watching.
In the southeast corner lies the remote surfing centre of Pottuvil.
The best time of year to visit Sri Lanka is usually during the Jan-Mar dry season.
The period Jun-Aug can also be interesting, especially if you stick more to the north and east of the island.
Set in the Himalayas to the north of India, Nepal is an extremely mountainous country, best known for its exceptional trekking routes around Everest and Annapurna, centred on the characterful capital of Kathmandu and with a string of tiger safari reserves on its southern borders.
serious mountain trekking
The mountainous country of Nepal is located in the Himalayas to the north of India.
The central valley is home to the capital Kathmandu …
… which remains interesting, but is increasingly busy these days.
The nearby city of Bhaktapur is arguably more interesting to explore …
… as is the third of the three adjacent cities, Patan.
Just to the east lies the attractive rural area of Namo Buddha …
… home to one of the only luxury lodges in the country.
Nepal is all about trekking, with the best known are being the Everest Range to the east.
Remarkably, all nights on virtually all treks in the country are spent in tea houses, there is very little camping.
Treks in this region range in duration from 7 to 15 nights.
The Everest area includes verdant lower areas, with interesting villages and Buddhist culture …
… and high altitude areas all the way up to the famous Everest Base Camp.
However, the main Everest Trail can get rather busy, so traffic avoidance measures are recommended.
The next most popular trekking area is the Annapurna Range, to the west of the country.
Shorter 4-6 night treks in this area focus on the lower altitude areas …
… walking between the many scenic villages …
… and taking advantage of the impressive views.
Longer treks of 10-21 nights also head up to the renowned Annapurna Sanctuary …
… where the mountain scenery is immediate and imposing.
Close to Annapurna lies the Manaslu Range, which is also spectacular and much lesser-visited …
… but where trekking routes start around 14 nights and accommodation is very simple.
The fourth trekking area is Langtang, to the north of Kathmandu …
… where treks start from around 11 nights and accommodation is also very simple.
Below the southern foothills lies the renowned wildlife reserve of Chitwan …
… which contains a genuinely impressive range of wildlife.
Chitwan is usually visited by air from Kathmandu …
… but it can also be reached by river expedition from the Annapurna area.
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