A Taste of India

When you arrive in Delhi for the beginning of your India two week itinerary, you’ll be collected by your private driver and taken to your hotel. You can choose from either a hotel situated about half an hour’s drive from the airport or a comfortable hotel in Central Delhi, and ideal base to explore both the spice markets of Chandi Chowk and the modern bars of Connaught Place. Here, you can catch your breath and rest after your flight. In both hotels, you’ll have a comfortable room with a private en-suite bathroom.
 

Today you'll be transferred to Jaipur by air-conditioned car, a trip which takes around 5 hours. The Pink City is a fantastic place to kick off a trip of North India highlights and during your two nights here you can relax, acclimatise, and explore. There is so much to see in this elegant and astonishing city that you could spend days here without getting bored. Jaipur centre is a colourful mix of saris, saddhus, holy cows, spice markets, street vendors, camel carts, elephants, beggars, traffic, temples, forts and palaces.

In Jaipur, you’ll stay in a friendly family-run hotel that feels very homely where the owners will always make you feel welcome. Breakfast is served in the peaceful courtyard area. The rooms here are tastefully furnished in traditional Indian-style and some have four-poster beds. The hotel has a swimming pool for refreshing dips.
 

On Day 3 of your India two week itinerary, you’ll take a guided tour of this remarkable city, visiting the City Palace, the Observatory and the fairy-tale Palace of the Winds (Hawa Mahal). In the afternoon, you’ll visit the imposing Amber Fort that lies just outside the city limits. From the battlements of the Amber Fort, you’ll have a wonderful view of the rocky hills and the smaller walls and forts constructed by the Rajputs and the Mughals in the area.

The City Palace and the Palace of the Winds both stand in the ancient quarter of the city. The City Palace has several beautiful museums with fascinating collections. If you see the flag flying, it means that the Maharaja is in residence. The Palace of the Winds is a world-famous, pyramid-shaped building with dozens of windows. This is where the women of the royal harem could watch the processions in the street below, unseen by the masses.

 

This morning, you'll leave Jaipur and head east towards Galta, an optional stop on your India two week itinerary. The Monkey Temple here is a pilgrimage site that attracts flocks of devotees. The stream is reputed to be water from the River Ganges, although this is geographically impossible. People bathe and sing on the steps (ghats) that lead down into the pools. Their voices echo through the rocky gorge, which opens into a wider valley dotted with temples overrun with monkeys.

After Galta, you’ll drive for another three hours before arriving in Bharatpur. This is a fascinating waterworld, criss-crossed by pathways that your cycle rickshaw driver can take you along. Maharajas of the historic Singh family used this region as their hunting grounds. If you like, you can stretch your legs here and see some of the wildlife and birdlife attracted by the wetlands.

There are hundreds of rare birds in the Bharatpur wetlands one of the lesser known North India highlights, such as the rare Siberian crane. Currently, there are several tigers here, originally from Ranthambore National Park, which prey on the waterfowl and wildlife. It’s unlikely that you’ll see this in action, but keep your eyes peeled all the same.

A few kilometres further on, you’ll come to stunning Fatehpur Sikri. The great ruler Akbar set up his capital here, and built a grand city, but after only 40 years the water supply became too difficult to maintain in this dry area, so all of the inhabitants packed up and moved on. They left behind a phenomenal collection of grand temples and palaces, with the ruins of old houses standing between them. Now it is an atmospheric ghost city, full of green parrots and monkeys. You can arrange for a guide to lead you through the forgotten city locally, and tell you the stories behind the monuments or explore by yourselves. This is also an optional stop on route to Agra and well worth a visit.

After visiting Fatehpur Sikri, you’ll drive on to Agra, where you’ll arrive at your hotel near to the centre of Agra. The hotel will be comfortable, with a restaurant and other creature comforts that you might need such as a swimming pool.

You'll have breakfast this morning or head off earlier for a sunrise visit and eat later. You’ll be taken to the Taj Mahal by your driver and a guide, a highlight of any India two week itinerary. It was built by Shah Jahan as a token of his love for his deceased wife, and is undoubtedly the most romantic mausoleum in the world. After this, you’ll head for Agra Fort. This huge but restrained structure seems to be immersed in a dreamy atmosphere when it’s bathed in the golden light of late afternoon, which slants through the pillars and galleries. From its majestic walls and through its arches, you can see the Taj Mahal, just as Shah Jahan would have done centuries ago, when he was imprisoned here by his son. You'll then return to your hotel and the rest of the afternoon is completely free.
 

This evening, we will arrange for a car from your hotel in Agra to the railway station, for the overnight train to Varanasi. The station platform will be a chaotic jumble of businessman, suitcases, children, monkeys and dogs. At every stop, station vendors will wander through the train displaying their wares and shouting loudly as they sell samosas, pakoras, and sweet masala chai and coffee. You’ll be immediately popular with the locals, who love speaking to foreigners and will happily offer you any food that they have brought aboard. It is an eye-opening experience that really will immerse you in the true India.

After a night on the sleeper train you’ll arrive in the holy city of Varanasi. You’ll be collected by your driver at the station and taken to your hotel, a comfortable hotel in the leafy Cantonment area, just north of Varanasi's railway station. The hotel has well furnished rooms with Indian art on the walls and a green themed restaurant which serves good Indian, Chinese and Western food. There is also a subterranean bar.

The next two days of your India two week itinerary are completely free for you to explore at your own pace. The Ganges is flanked by a series of ghats – broad stone staircases leading down to the water. You can stroll along the traffic-free ghats, and attend the evening and dawn prayer ceremony where flower candles are set afloat on the river.

Life and death rubs shoulders here like nowhere else on earth. Watching a cremation take place on the ‘burning ghats’ is something that you'll remember forever. Next to the cremation ghat, you’ll find kids playing cricket, cows nosing through rubbish, and women beating laundry on rocks and pilgrims bathing and praying.

Equally, you could take a city tour through the twisting alleyways of Varanasi, sneaking past the dozing cows, or take an excursion to Sarnath – a holy place for Buddhists - 10 km from Varanasi. It was here that Buddha gave his first lecture. You can get to Sarnath by auto rickshaw in about 20 minutes or, if you would prefer, we can arrange a private car to take you there.

 

Today your time is your own, but we can highly recommend a boat trip on the Ganges at dawn. This is an extremely special experience and a real highlight of your India two week itinerary. You’ll float past pilgrims from all walks of life as they perform their ritual bathing before sunrise, and religious chanting will drift to your ears over the water. In the afternoon, you can choose to visit the Bharat Mata Temple and Varanasi University, or simply to relax. At the end of the day, we will arrange a transfer to the railway station for the overnight train to Delhi (departs at 6.45pm).