Home > Build your trip > India Modules > Northern India tours

North India tours - Rajasthan, Taj Mahal, Ganges

Northern India is a brilliant area to explore, and with so much to see and do, we believe that our Rajasthan tours will offer you a really memorable India travel experience. Our starter packs will help to ease you into Indian culture, cutting down on culture shock. They’ll take you to Jaipur after one night in Delhi. Delhi can be pretty overwhelming, so we believe it's better to save it until the end of your India trip. Jaipur is more relaxed and rich in tradition – not to mention textiles and jewellery. This makes it an ideal starting point for your Rajasthan tour. It is also a convenient base for exploring Rajasthan, and then heading to Agra and Varanasi.

After finishing one of our Rajasthan tours, you can continue travelling in India and explore the foothills of the Himalayas where you’ll find vast open spaces, peace-loving monks, tea plantations and snow-capped peaks. Please see our Darjeeling tours in North East India, and our North West tours in India for more details.

Our Rajasthan tours in Northern India can also be combined with Goa, our South India tour packages or with our trip in Nepal.

Prefer to leave the planning to us? Take a look at our ready-made holidays to India or give us a call on 01273 322044.

Prices below are valid until 30th September 2012, are based on two people travelling and exclude international flights. Prices for departures beyond this date and for international flights are available on request. For departures during peak seasons (e.g. summer holidays, Christmas and New Year) supplements may apply.

Rajasthan tours: Delhi and Jaipur Authentic starter pack

Duration:	4 days, 3 nights
Price:	£235 per person - based on 2 people sharing
Departure:	Daily from Delhi
Route:	Delhi - Jaipur

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 Rajasthan 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 one of our comfortable hotel in Central Delhi. 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 run hotel and experience Indian hospitality firsthand. Private transport is provided to ensure a stress-free door to door service at the start of your Rajasthan tour.

Click here to learn more about our Jaipur tour.

Rajasthan tours: Samode Palace Palace in the Hills - Maharaja-Style

Duration:	3 days, 2 nights
Price:	£378 per person - based on 2 people sharing
Departure:	Daily from Jaipur
Route:	Jaipur - Samode Village

If you’re looking for a little luxury on one of our Rajasthan tours, why not have a taste of maharaja style comfort for a night or two? Your driver will take you from Jaipur on to the rural village of Samode, where you’ll stay in a stunning palace named by Time Magazine as one of the five best hotels in the world. Here, you can take a dip in one of the pools, treat yourself to a sauna or Ayurvedic massage, and perhaps enjoy a cocktail in the intimate courtyard bar. This is sure to be one of the most memorable highlights of your Rajasthan tour. This is a great extension to our Authentic Starter Pack.

Click here for more about our Samode Palace tour.

Rajasthan tours: Jaipur to Jaisalmer Camels and castles in Rajasthan

Duration:	6 days, 5 nights
Price:	£408 per person - based on 2 people sharing
Departure:	Daily from Jaipur
Route:	Jaipur - Pushkar - Udaipur - Jodhpur - Jaisalmer

This is one of our most popular Rajasthan tours, taking you to the most famous spots in Rajasthan and helping you to get a taste of this very colourful state in just a few days. During your Rajasthan tour, you will travel between the Mughal forts and Rajput palaces in the cities, and get a real feel for the rural desert landscape countryside. Gradually, as you continue your India trip, you'll notice that the fertile land gives way to vast desert scenery, where the brightly coloured saris and turbans stand in startling contrast to the barren landscape and the camels, cows, peacocks, monkeys and elephants lend the landscape more than a touch of the exotic.

Click here for more about our Rajasthan tour.

Rajasthan tours: Jaisalmer Jaisalmer camel safari

Duration:	2 days, 1 night
Price:	£75 per person - based on 2 people sharing
Departure:	Daily from Jaisalmer
Route:	Jaisalmer - Thar Desert - Jaisalmer

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 is one of our most adventurous Rajasthan tours and will take you on a one-night desert adventure by camel. At the end of your desert camel ride the guides will prepare a delicious meal for you and they'll set up your camp for the evening. At night, when your camel is chewing happily next to your tent, you'll find yourself appreciating your hump-backed friend. We attempt to avoid the very busy tourist routes on our Rajasthan tours, and so you’ll pass through traditional desert villages during thi spart of your India trip.

Click here for more about our India adventure.

Rajasthan tours: Jaisalmer to Jaipur Desert forts and clay huts

Duration:	4 days, 3 nights
Price:	£278 per person - based on 2 people sharing
Departure:	Daily from Jaisalmer
Route:	Jaisalmer - Thar Desert - Bikaner - Mandawa - Jaipur

Explore the real India of desert towns and beautifully decorated clay hut villages during this unique Rajasthan 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 of your Rajasthan tour, 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 surrounded by rolling sand dunes and 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 both the exterior and interior walls. When this part of your India trip is over, you’ll be taken back to Jaipur to continue on your Rajasthan tours. Or you can head back to Delhi for a night or two, from Mandawa, before you fly home.

Click here for more about our tour in Rajasthan.

Rajasthan tours - Ranthambore National Park

Rajasthan tours: Jaipur and Ranthambore National Park Tigers and turrets

Duration:	3 days, 2 nights
Price:	£235 per person - based on 2 people sharing
Departure:	Daily from Jaipur
Route:	Jaipur - Ranthambore National Park - Jaipur

This India trip has one main character that makes it different from our other Rajasthan tours; a large striped carnivore who stalks through the tropical jungle and waits for unsuspecting gazelles at the lakeside. 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 from Jaipur by road. 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 morning and late afternoon safaris during this Rajasthan tour and visit the fort at sunset to get a panoramic view of the park with its incredible wildlife at dusk.

Click here for more about our India tiger tour.

Rajasthan tours: Jaipur and Mandawa Havelis and camel carts

Duration:	3 days, 2 nights
Price:	£175 per person - based on 2 people sharing
Departure:	Daily from Jaipur
Route:	Jaipur - Mandawa - Jaipur (or Delhi)

The mysterious Shekawati region is packed with magnificent havelis (grand merchants houses), which are intricately decorated both inside and out. These havelis were the homes of the Marwari merchants. Some still live in the region and others have abandoned their homes and followed their business to the big cities. A few have preserved their home as a museum to a bygone era. During this Rajasthan tour, you’ll spend two nights in a stylish desert resort in Mandawa. This authentic and quirky resort offers local hospitality and you’ll sleep in charming fully furnished clay huts complete with traditional furniture, well maintained grounds and a swimming pool. During your stay, you’ll take a guided camel safari out to a nearby village where rural desert life continues at a timeless pace- this is sure to be a memorable and unique highlight of your Rajasthan tour.

Click here to learn more about our tour through traditional India.

North India Trip: Jaipur to Agra Sunrise at the Taj Mahal

Duration:	3 days, 2 nights
Price:	From £168 per person - based on 2 people sharing
Departure:	Every day except Thursday from Jaipur
Route:	Jaipur - Galta - Bharatpur - Fatehpur Sikri - Agra

The Taj Mahal is only one of the spectacular wonders of the world. Other historical sites of note are accessible en route from Jaipur to Agra. There are a few interesting, but optional, stops strung along this short (200km) route of your north India trip. Many travel organisations offer a standard Golden Triangle Tour that features Delhi- Jaipur- Agra, but we reckon that leaves some of the best stuff out. Take this India trip and be enchanted by mystical Galta, captivated by the wildlife in the wetlands of Bharatpur, haunted by the deserted city of Fatehpur Sikri, and charmed by the fairytale Fort of Agra and history that surrounds it.

Click here for more about our tour from Jaipur to Agra.

North India Trip: Orchha and Khajuraho Riverside Ruins & Lost Temples

Duration:	4 days, 3 nights
Price:	£288 per person - based on 2 people sharing
Departure:	Daily from Agra
Route:	Agra - Orchha - Khajuraho

This module begins in Agra and takes you east to two very different and fascinating places en route to Varanasi. To begin your north India trip, you’ll visit the peaceful medieval town of Orchha. It's name means 'hidden place' and it does feel a world away from the busy city of Agra. Here you can explore the scattered riverside ruins, colourful streets, temples and old palaces. Vultures fly among the old chattris that sit serenely on the banks of the beautiful Betwa River. After this, you’ll travel on to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Khajuraho, renowned for its ancient temples covered in complex scenes and some surprisingly beautiful and graphic erotic carvings!

Click here for more about our tour of the Khajuraho Temples.

North India Trip: Varanasi Sacred City on the Ganges

Duration:	3 days, 2 nights
Price:	£185 per person - based on 2 people sharing
Departure:	Daily from Varanasi
Route:	Varanasi

In Varanasi, you'll take a dawn boat trip in the mists of the early morning, when many Hindu pilgrims wash and pray in the sacred river. Flowers and candles float out from the boats across the holy waters and add colour to the magical dawn scene. This 2 night module allows enough time for you to have a glimpse of this busy city. Here it is all about the Ganges! Make sure you take a walk along the ghats to take in all the sights, sounds and activity close up. It is truly a fascinating place.

Click here for more information about this Varanasi trip.

Click here for our quote request form

Click here for our suggested holidays to India

Follow Rickshaw Travel and be inspired...