Along your itinerary, usually a mixture of good, great and perfectly OK. Our first night on arrival will typically be in a 3-star town centre hotel. This provides a convenient base for popping out to a bank/ATM and the local shops, as well as for our first bit of sightseeing and orientation. Ditto on our last night. Along the way, you may be:

• staying in a selection of 2-, 3- or 4-star hotels, or
• settled in your ger, Mongolian nomad-style, or
• rocking in your hammock in a lodge, deep in Amazonia, listening to the symphony of nature, or
• dreaming in a historic agriturismo in Tuscany

Our brief is to take you on an adventure tour, and we will always favour the small, characterful hotel run by a local family we've known for years. This makes for a more authentic experience than, say, staying at an anonymous chains hotel; and it's great to have the chance to meet your hosts over a drink or a meal. We're also proud to be made welcome and thought of as responsible travellers who support the local economy. It's a fun and interesting way of making the best of your tour - and it makes sense all round. Responsible Tourism, for us, isn't just a cliché.

A few examples

By characterful we don't mean cheap 'n' cheerful either:

• on the Indian Mexico trip, for instance, you're accommodated at a number of higher-class colonial houses with peaceful internal courtyards fragrant with herbal plants and flora
• on the laid back Blue Cruise in southern Turkey, your cabin has everything you need. Realistically, though, you'll pitch your mattress up on deck, along with the others, for a tranquil night under the stars as your moored up gület bobs gently in the breeze
• in Thailand, our Family Adventures programme provides some rather unusual creature comforts when we are hosted by the Lahu and Karen tribes, in their traditional longhouses on stilts: roll over in your sleeping bag, peek through the cracks in the cane floor, and you'll face a selection of intrigued farm inhabitants - mammal and feathered - peering up at you. Yes, you are well away from home
• on the Active Sri Lanka! and Buddha's Island tours, home from home in the lush highlands is the tea plantation owner's house. Your morning cuppa will never quite taste the same
• speaking of which, the Everest Teahouse Trek speaks for itself when it comes to accommodation
• discover the Nile in comfort aboard our cruiser, MS Doma, which has recently been refurbished inside and out: from plush spice-red sofas in the lounge and new cabin furniture, to fittings and fresh plasterboard throughout - plus the smooth hum of two quieter, energy-efficient engines

On virtually all our tours, there's no surcharge for single travellers, who are twinned up in a double room with another group member of the same sex. If you cherish your own space, however (Like to read late in bed? Get up early to capture the sunrise? Spread your stuff out?), you can upgrade to a single room on most Explore tours for a very reasonable surcharge.

Not so much an upgrade as a different take on your tried and tested holiday, our In Style programme offers all the classic adventure and cultural discovery of your Explore itinerary plus the distinctive accommodation that will surely make it truly memorable:

• a breathtaking setting (the Bait Ali Bedouin Camp in Jordan's Wadi Rum; the Old Cataract Hotel on the Nile)
• unique architecture (Morocco's classic riads)
• a historical association (the palaces of Rajasthan's maharajahs), for instance, or perhaps
• a touch of classy comfort (the well appointed lodges and more intimate guest-farms of Kwazulu Natal and the Garden Route)

Each tour is different in character and your home from home will vary as you go. Virtually all rooms are en suite and breakfast is generally provided. The tour dossier (which you can download) will provide specific details for the trip you're interested in, day by day.