Cultural tours in the Middle East & Central Asia

Jerusalem is the most complex, fascinating city on earth and we sift its many layers – of religion, history, art, myth and conflict – on our Holy Land tour that takes in not just the city but the Occupied Palestinian Territories and its many sites of legend and Biblical renown. Suspended between East and West this region has seen the rise and fall of astonishing civilisations – and our itineraries, which feature Turkey, Iran, Jordan, Oman and Uzbekistan as well as Israel and the West Bank, reflect their greatest achievements.

These include Persepolis, that masterpiece of the First Persian Empire, and Isfahan, one of the Islamic world’s finest cities, in Iran; mysterious Petra, the rock-hewn, rose-pink necropolis in Jordan; and Haghia Sophia, the former basilica and mosque in Istanbul where East and West truly fuse. These are also lands of adventure and we follow the brutes and heroes of history, from Genghis Khan, Tamerlane and Alexander the Great on the Silk Road to TE Lawrence in the wadis and fortresses of the Jordanian desert.