Spiritual

Sixteen of our trips carry this tag. It means the itinerary spends real days at places people travel to for religious reasons: the ghats of Varanasi, the ashrams of Rishikesh, the stupas of the Kathmandu Valley, Bhutan's cliff monasteries, the Buddhist cities of Sri Lanka. It does not mean a retreat, a yoga course or a silent week. Every trip is private and guided, and runs on the dates you choose.

Varanasi: two trips go there, and both do it the same way

Only two tours in the catalogue reach Varanasi. Golden Triangle & Spirituality is 8 days from EUR 1,175: Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, then two days on the Ganges and a domestic flight back to Delhi. Royal Rajasthan & Varanasi is 14 days from EUR 1,520 and arrives by overnight train after Ranthambore and Agra.

Both build the city the same way, and it is the right way. First evening: a rickshaw down to the riverbank for the Aarti, where priests work with fire and chanting while thousands watch from the steps and from boats. Next morning at sunrise: a boat along the roughly 90 ghats, past the bathing and the cremation grounds, with a sitar playing. Then Sarnath, where the Buddha gave his first sermon.

Two honest notes. The boat trip depends on the water level, so a high river can shorten it. And the Taj Mahal, which both trips include, is closed on Fridays.

Rishikesh and Haridwar: one trip, and it is the long one

North India – landscapes and culture, 21 days from EUR 2,300, is the only tour we sell that reaches the Ganges where it leaves the Himalayas. Days 17 to 19 are why people book it. A train to Haridwar, then Rishikesh, where you sit in on meditation and a morning puja at an ashram, cross the Laxman Jhula suspension bridge, and watch the evening light ceremony at Triveni Ghat. The next day in Haridwar means the Mansa Devi temple above the town and the cremation ghats, which are confronting if you have not seen Hindu funeral rites before, then the Aarti with flowers and lamps going into the river.

The other eighteen days are not religious in the same way, and we would rather say that up front: Gujarat, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, the Shekhawati havelis. What they do add is Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, the Jain temples at Hathee Singh and Ranakpur — 1,444 carved marble columns, no two alike — and Akshardham.

Nepal: all six trips, and the difference is how far you walk

Every Nepal tour carries this tag, because there you do not go and look at religious practice, you walk through it.

The short one is The world of Nepal, 9 days from EUR 930: Kathmandu Durbar Square, the 2,000-year-old Swayambhunath stupa, Patan's Golden Temple and the Mahaboudha "temple of 1,000 Buddhas", then Chitwan and Pokhara.

Temples, shrines & Himalayas, 14 days from EUR 1,350, goes furthest into daily practice. Boudhanath while pilgrims circle it with prayer wheels; Pashupatinath viewed from the east bank of the Bagmati, because the main temple is open to Hindus only; then two days at the Naydo monastery in Pharping, where you can put religious questions to the monks and, if you are up at 5am, join the morning puja in the prayer hall.

Trekking tour through Nepal, 11 days from EUR 1,575, is the only trip that reaches Lumbini — the Ashoka pillar, the Maya Devi temple, the birthplace itself — and it does so after five trekking stages. For more walking, Culture and Himalayan hiking is 14 days from EUR 1,760 and Majestic Himalayas is 17 days from EUR 1,640 with eleven stages. One planning point: jeep safaris in Chitwan do not run in July, August or September.

Bhutan: three trips, and every one climbs to the Tiger's Nest

Bhutan is the most concentrated version of this tag. The shortest is The land of happiness, 6 days from EUR 2,160: the Rinpung Dzong in Paro, the 61-metre Buddha at Kuenselphodrang, the Dochula Pass at 3,080 metres with its 108 chortens, the Chime Lhakhang fertility temple, and Kyichu Lhakhang, which marks where Buddhism entered the country.

Taktshang, the Tiger's Nest, is on all three. You are not obliged to climb it: an hour's walk gets you to the viewpoint opposite, and about two hours gets you to the monastery on the ledge. The Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon, 8 days from EUR 2,500, adds a hike to Bumdra monastery the day before. The magic of the gigantic Himalayas, 8 days from EUR 2,010, starts in Punakha instead and adds the Ha Valley.

Sri Lanka and South India: temples that are still in use

The wonderful world of Sri Lanka is 13 days from EUR 750 and the cheapest way into this tag. It takes in Kataragama, a pilgrimage site shared by Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and the Vedda; the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy with a Kandyan dance performance; the cave temples of Dambulla with over 153 Buddha images; the Vatadage at Polonnaruwa, which once held the tooth relic; and Anuradhapura, founded beside the Sri Maha Bodhi tree.

In South India, South India – Exotic World is 11 days from EUR 1,570 and puts you at the evening ceremony at the Meenakshi temple in Madurai, with its elephant procession, plus Brihadishvara in Tanjore and the Srirangam complex at Trichy. The diversity of South India is 25 days from EUR 2,860 and adds the Jain sanctuary at Shravanabelagola, Belur and Halebid, and Hampi.

What this tag does not include

Worth saying plainly, because people ask. No tour of ours goes to Bodh Gaya. None goes to the Golden Temple in Amritsar — the Sikh temple on our itineraries is Bangla Sahib in Delhi. None climbs Adam's Peak. And we do not run yoga or meditation retreats. If that is what you are after, this is the wrong catalogue.