Libya holidays, tailor made

Libya is a country slowly opening its doors to travellers: oil revenues mean that visitors are not seen as cash cows to be milked, and fractured relations with the west have kept many away.This means that the intrepid souls who do venture here are rewarded with an uncompromisingly friendly welcome from the locals and the chance to absorb the magnificent history and scenery in the company of very few others.

The major attractions for most are the Mediterranean coastline's Classical cities; this tour focuses on them, whilst also taking in less-well known sights that give a rounded insight into Libya past and present.

Whilst initially based in Tripoli, we take in the Roman remains of Leptis Magna and Sabratha. Leptis is the most extensive Roman city anywhere and Sabratha's theatre is a signature highlight of Libya. We also take in the remarkable mosaics of Villa Sileen and the Phoenician burial site of Janzour - interesting and unusual diversions.

Flying east to Cyrenaica, we base ourselves near Apollonia, one of the key Greek cities of the region, and the principal port for Cyrene, that gave the province its name and famous for its massive Doric Temple of Zeus. Ptolemais is the other major Hellenistic city in Cyrenaica, and visits to the remains of Ras Al Hilal church and the unrivalled collection of Byzantine mosaics at Qasr Libya round off our time in the east. After flying back to Tripoli and touring the medina, museum and Commonwealth War Cemetary of the capital we head to Ghadames, one of the legendary Saharan entrepots and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Our drives to and from Ghadames take us through the Berber heartland, where we can admire fortified granaries and troglodyte dwellings, before finally heading back to the UK.

Our groups will be accompanied by a UK tour leader from Heathrow, and on the ground will have the services of a Libyan representative who will be with the group for the duration of the trip, as will a security guard, a measure required by the Libyan government. At certain key sights, we will also make use of local guides. The maximum size of the group will be 12, plus the tour leader. On a tailor-made basis, you will still have a Libyan representative to escort you throughout the trip, and use local guides where appropriate. In the desert, you will always have a sizable support team of cooks, drivers and guides (and at least 2 vehicles), regardless of whether you are in a group or on a tailor-made basis. Spring and autumn are best. The winter months of November - January are pretty cool and wet on the coast, whilst the summer months of June-August get unpleasantly hot, especially in the Sahara desert. In Spring and Autumn, the temperature will be in the mid-twenties Celsius most of the time on the coast, and in the early thirties in the desert and there is a fairly small chance of rain.