There are occasions in (a journalist's) life when, telling others where you've been or are about to go, you find yourself hearing the inevitable. "Goodness," my audience usually exclaims, a tinge of envy colouring their voice, "you must have seen the whole world.""Far from it," is my instant response. The world is vast and the more I travel, the more I know there is yet to be seen. This is something that is especially true in the interior sense. How often has the joy of discovery been greatest when I have found myself at the most unheralded, least picturesque turning in the road, among the local inhabitants?

I had a favourite aunt, a grande dame wealthy enough to indulge every desire that a young nephew could only dream of. I sweated over times tables, she flew, she cruised into the sunset, she travelled. There was one particular journey she relished describing, a round-the-world expedition on a fabled ship. Her discoveries in the most exotic ports of call, it eventually became apparent, extended all the way to the ship's rail. She was as pleased as punch to recite in detail such journeys. And she always brought out the evidence, the trinkets paddled by the natives from shore to ship where they would be exchanged for coins chucked from the deck into the bobbing canoes.

I have no doubt that cruising in sight of foreign shores with an occasional tentative foray into the town beyond to break the spell is precisely the kind of holiday that, now and then, is the only kind that will do. If, however, you are the kind of traveller who takes a cue from a thoughtful guidebook, chances are that you are looking for something more substantial.

Which is where a much-abused word -culture- enters the scene. In fact, there are two words here, one with an upper-case 'C', the other its lower-case cousin. It's the latter version that's the more fascinating, as lower-case culture embraces just about every aspect of the destination you are giving so much of yourself to enjoy.

Can you imagine that there are people who disdain Holland because it is flat? Or ridicule Switzerland because it has, allegedly, created nothing more useful to civilisation than the cuckoo clock? (This was Orson Welles's error, Germany's Black Forest being the home of this cute invention.) If these people could see beyond such prosaic perspectives they would find enough to lure them back time and again. As a specialist in organising cultural travel explained, the secret of discovering and understanding a place is finding the most congenial avenue into it.

For example, I lived in New York for long periods, and suddenly finding myself having to write about it as a travel destination, was confronted with the obvious challenge. Too much to do in too cramped an area with far too few comfortable benches for sitting back and taking it all in. Central Manhattan alone is more than most people can cope with, so they concentrate on the popular, blockbuster sights. Customarily they emerge from the experience exhilarated by the city's legendary buzz, but the cost is virtual exhaustion. And ultimately how much of the essential Manhattan have they really seen?

The solution I discovered - New York via the Art Deco Route - has become a formula I began applying to other destinations. The idea, in Manhattan's case, was that by tracing the development of an architectural style around the borough, I first of all gave myself a necessary focus. I was immediately aware that many of Manhattan's other sights, especially the ones that had always seemed relatively inaccessible and less familiar, suddenly took on interesting new perspectives.

Because of its vast sweep of natural beauty, history and culture contained in such a tiny area, Israel similarly is among the most challenging places to visit, but hugely rewarding given a sensible route. My Art Deco experience suggested itself and I came up with a formula that has taken me and my photographer to every corner of the Holy Land. We call it "Israel, a musical focus". There aren't many nations where every imaginable kind of music is so successfully combined with its surroundings, making the whole experience greater than the sum of its parts.

I am particularly fortunate. My principal line of work, being music, has opened doors to unexpected and unfamiliar worlds from which otherwise I would largely be excluded. But if music journalism based on a working knowledge of some of the world's great stages is not a career that is open to everyone, it is still possible for the casual traveller to enjoy the interior worlds which exist beyond the experiences of, well, my wealthy aunt.

Fortunately there are excellent tour operators in the UK offering imaginative packages along these lines, often accompanied by expert guides. The exciting aspect of culture is that there is a wide variety of possible avenues by which a destination's character may be enjoyed. ATG (Alternative Travel Group) Oxford's trips are based on the premise that the best way to see a country is on foot. All aspects of the local and historical culture are absorbed into the itinerary: ancient trails linking medieval hill towns, wine, food, fresco-filled churches - and you reside in characteristic hotels that are often family run. ATG's own Romanesque monastery, Pieve a Castello in Tuscany, for example, offers residential week-long courses in painting, cookery and music, the latter tying in with the nearby Siena Music Festival. All escorted trips (you can book independently as well) are guided by trilingual graduates in order to assure that clients understand all aspects of the area visited. For more information, contact ATG Oxford, 69-71 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6PE (tel 01865 315664/fax 01865 315 697/8/9).

If you want to broaden your horizons beyond opera, Liaisons Abroad is your ticket. Maxine Caneva is the heart and soul of something rather unique, in that her company has privileged access to tickets for Siena's Palio, Venetian carnival balls, Six Nations rugby, Formula One racing, UEFA Cup football, Italian 'A league' and more. Drag hunting near Rome, personal shopping in the most famous fashion houses and dinners in private palazzi are just some of the subsidiary pleasures that add that memorable extra dimension, perhaps, to witnessing productions of Verdi's greatest operas at Verona's historic Arena, or Puccini's at the Torre del Lago open-air festival. Liaisons Abroad has its own ticket allocations with most of Europe's leading opera houses and festivals, as well as for special events such as the Pavarotti International, which takes place in the great tenor's hometown Modena; Three Tenors' concerts and celebrity performances worldwide. The provision of tickets to those booking through mainstream package holiday operators is a unique feature of this service. Contact Maxine Caneva on tel 020 7376 4020, fax 020 7376 4442, email info@lisiaonsabroad.com, website www.liaisonsabroad.com.

Voyages Jules Verne is among the travel industry's premier names. I like their description of an Andalucian experience that commences at the Palace of the Alhambra and culminates at Gibraltar. 'Take the attitude to life of its inhabitants or the local culture,' says its brochure, 'which owes more to its "Gitano" Flemish roots in the vigour of the Flamenco and its Moorish ancestry than it does to Spain proper. There is a vibrancy and a lust for living that is apparent in the music and the pursuits of its people - the horsemanship, the Zapateado dance, or the Flamenco guitar.' For more information, call Voyages Jules Verne on 020 7616 1000 or fax 020 7723 8629, email sales@vjv.co.uk, website www.vjv.co.uk.

Of all the travel services I have researched, Martin Randall Travel is perhaps the most comprehensive, culturally speaking. One example from its brochure suffices. 'The festival in Aix-en-Provence is one of the most enjoyable and esteemed of Europe's summer music events. The utterly charming old capital of Provence, graced with a profusion of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century mansions, quiet squares, arcades and a lively café life, provides a superb setting for a feast of first-rate opera and concerts. As with all our music tours, there is a gentle programme of walks and excursions designed to show the best of the region's art and architecture without taxing the participants' energies at the expense of the music'. Contact Martin Randall Travel for more information (tel 020 8742 3355, fax 020 8742 7766, email info@martinrandall.co.uk).

If I were choosing to go in search of life under one of Europe's most powerful and controversial rulers, the Habsburg Emperor Charles V in 2000, the 500th anniversary year of his birth, the British Museum Traveller would be where I would register myself. Operating curator-led tours the world over, both for members and non-members, this world-famous institution claims to be among the pioneers, over the past ten years of its own existence, of culturally focused trips to unusual destinations such as Libya, Georgia, Armenia, Sudan, Madagascar, Saudi Arabia and along the Silk Route. Call the British Museum Traveller on 020 7323 8895, or fax on 020 7580 8677.

Cox & Kings is the longest-established travel company in the world - it was founded in 1758 to act as agents for the British Army in India. Two and a half centuries on and the company still specialises in cultural and natural history tours of the subcontinent. It maintains offices in every part of the country and provides personalised service, as much for those on the trail of the most-often visited destinations - the Taj Mahal and Jaipur being two distinguished examples - as it does for those travelling to the offbeat but equally enthralling places found in every corner of this vast region. In recent years the company has broadened its horizons by offering specialist cultural programmes in Latin America, the Middle East and southern Africa. In all instances Cox & Kings offers both brochure-designed tours for groups as well as individuals in addition to custom- made itineraries designed by expert travel consultants at the company's London HQ.

Contact Cox & Kings Cultural Tours on 020 7873 5000, or by fax 020 7630 6038, email: Cox.Kings@coxandkings.co.uk, website: www.coxandkings.co.uk.