Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is an island the size of a pear in the Indian Ocean, but its climate is not all of a piece: two separate monsoons wet the two sides of the island in turn. The southwest monsoon affects the west and south coasts between May and September, the northeast monsoon the east coast between October and January. For routes covering the cultural triangle — Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya, Kandy — and the west coast, the most settled period is December to April.

The island's small size is its advantage. You can be on the coast in the morning, in tea fields at 1,800 metres in the afternoon and in front of a two-thousand-year-old stupa in the evening. For getting around the country the train is not a tourist option but everyday life itself; the hill line counts as one of the most talked-about train journeys in the world.

Despite drawing tourist interest quickly in recent years, Sri Lanka is one of the rare places where mass tourism has not yet changed the fabric. That keeps the cost low and makes the trip feel less staged. Our programme in this region is a culture tour; it does not include diving, and is planned for January with the train journey built into the itinerary.