North India tours - Rajasthan, Taj Mahal, Ganges

India really puts your sights and senses to the test. As soon as you set foot on this subcontinent, you’ll be overloaded with colours, sounds, and smells. If you begin your North India tour in Delhi, perhaps India’s most intense city, you might find yourself a little overwhelmed. When you arrive in Delhi, we’ll take you to either a comfortable hotel in Central Delhi, or a resort in the surrounding countryside. After a comfortable night in a hotel, you’ll travel by car to Jaipur the following day. In Jaipur you’ll stay in a charming family hotel and experience Indian hospitality firsthand. Private transport is provided in, ensuring a stress-free beginning to your North India tour.

Click here for more about our Delhi and Jaipur tour.

This is one of our most popular North India tours, taking you to the most famous spots in Rajasthan and helping you to get to know this colourful state in an unusual way. As you travel between the Mughal forts and Rajput palaces in the cities, you’ll get a real feel for the abundant countryside, full of tropical fruits and golden husks of corn. Gradually, the fertile land will give way to extensive desert, where the brightly coloured saris and turbans stand in startling contrast to the barren landscape and the many camels, mules and vultures give the land more than a touch of the exotic. 

Click here for more about our independent Rajasthan tour.

If you stand on the battlements of Jaisalmer Fort and gaze out over the wide expanse of the Thar Desert, the sand dunes seem to stretch out forever. However, if you are going to venture into this vast and barren world, you’ll need a suitable form of transport. What other way to set out into a desert than by camel? They may be odd, stubborn, smelly, and easily distracted, but they are also charming and unlike any other animal on earth. This North India tour will take you on a one-night desert adventure by camel. After your tiring camel ride on the first day, the guides will prepare a delicious meal for you and you’ll sleep in a cosy tent. At night, when your camel is chewing happily next to your tent, you'll find yourself appreciating your humpbacked friend. We attempt to avoid the very busy tourist routes on our North India tours, and you’ll pass through typical desert villages during the trip. 

Click here for more about our Jaisalmer camel safari tour.
 

Explore the real India of desert towns and beautifully decorated clay hut villages during this unique North India tour. You’ll start your voyage of discovery in the magical desert city of Jaisalmer, where the ancient sandstone fort blends into the horizon almost like a mirage. On the first day, you’ll leave Jaisalmer early to drive to the desert village of Osiyan. From here, you’ll begin an extraordinary camel trek, and spend one night under the starry night sky in surrounded by rolling sand dunes (and gurgling camels). The module ends up in the region of Shekawati, renowned for its colourful havelis. These are beautiful merchants’ palaces, richly decorated with murals on the outside and inside. When the trip is over, you’ll be taken back to Jaipur to continue on your North India tours. 

Click here for more about our Rajasthan desert tour.
 

This North India tour has one main character, a large striped carnivore who stalks through the tropical jungle and waits for unsuspecting gazelles at the lakeshore. Ranthambore is a classic national park, and officially the second best place in the world to see a wild tiger. Even better, it is easily accessible - only a couple of hours by train from Jaipur. In the park, there are many shooting lodges and hideouts leftover from the heyday of the Maharajas, which give the whole area a sense of majesty. A gigantic fort towers over the whole park and provides a fantastic lookout-point for spotting wildlife.You’ll set out on several safaris during this North India tour and visit the fort at sunset to get a panoramic view of the incredible wildlife at dusk.

Click here for more about our India tiger tour. 

The mysterious Shekawati region is packed with magnificent havelis (houses), which are intricately decorated both inside and out. These are the pride and joy of the Marwari merchants who live in the region. During this North India tour, you’ll stay overnight in the little town of Nawalgarh, which has managed to preserve its cultural heritage wonderfully well, partly thanks to the efforts of your host. The owner of your quirky resort has clear ideas about sustainable hospitality and you’ll sleep in charming clay huts complete with traditional furniture made by his own hands. You’ll take a guided walking tour to see the old havelis and Nawalgarh town. 

Click here for more about our Nawalgarh Rajasthan tour. 

The Taj Mahal is only one of the spectacular wonders of the world that will cross your path en route from Jaipur to Agra. The amount of incredible marvels strung along a small 200km route of your Northern India tours is mind-boggling. Many travel organisations offer a Golden Triangle Tour that features Delhi- Jaipur- Agra, but we reckon that leaves some of the best stuff out. Take this trip and be amazed by mystical Galta, stunned by the wildlife in the wetlands of Bharatpur, spooked by the deserted city of Fatehpur Sikri, and stunned by the fairytale Red Fort of Agra.

Click here for more about our Golden Triangle India tour.

This module begins in Agra and takes you east towards Varanasi. First, you’ll come to the medieval city of Orchha, where a series of serene temples lines the banks of the Betwa river. After this, you’ll travel on to Khajuraho, arenowned for its erotic temples. After eye-popping Khajuraho, you’ll continue to your final destination – Varanasi. Thousands of pilgrims flock to this sacred city every single day to perform bathing rituals on the banks of the Ganges. You’ll sleep in a charming hotel right on the river and take a boat trip at dawn to soak up the spiritual atmosphere. You’ll travel between places by train and private car. This North India tour ends with the night train to Delhi – a chance to get a glimpse of local travel. 

Click here for more about our Varanasi tour package.

During this North India tour, you’ll take the overnight train directly from Agra to Varanasi. You’ll become part of the hustle and bustle on the platform, full of train vendors looking for customers to buy their samosas or chai. Overnight trains are amazing places to get a glimpse of local life. On the train, you’ll find pilgrims from all corners of the country on their way to Varanasi to bathe in the Ganges. In Varanasi, we recommend that you take a dawn boat trip in the mists of the early morning, when Hindus wash in the sacred river. After the trip, another overnight train will take you straight back to Delhi. 

Click here for more about our Varanasi by train tour.