Highlights: The metro and a cycle rickshaw ride tour of Old Delhi

Description: After checking in this morning we meet our Tour Leader and discuss the week ahead. In the afternoon we head for the narrow streets of Old Delhi, and after a cycle rickshaw ride we reach the Jami Masjid mosque. Time then to explore the Chandni Chowk Bazaar, at the heart of the Old City.

Locations: Delhi

Highlights: New Delhi was designed by Lutyens in the 1930s and still retains the feel of colonial India.

Description: After breakfast we spend the morning on a guided tour of the other side, the modern side, of the city. New Delhi was designed by Lutyens in the 1930s and still retains the feel of colonial India. We'll see the Parliament buildings, India gate, the Rajpath, and the Qutb Minar as well as visiting Humayan's Tomb, a precursor of the Taj in Agra. In the evening we transfer to the Railway station for the evening train to Jaipur, travelling Chair class in an air-conditioned coach.

Locations: Jaipur

Highlights: The 'eternal Pink city' Enclosed within hills, this' rose pink'

Description: We have a whole day in the 'Pink City', as Jaipur is often called. After breakfast our guided tour will include visits to the City Palace, including the collection of textiles and Rajasthani costumes, before we visit the remarkable observatory built by the Maharajah and astronomer Jai Singh. The highlight of the tour, however, is perhaps the Palace Of The Winds. Built in the late eighteenth century, this 5 storied structure is arguably the most iconic structure in the city. There will also be time to explore the narrow alleyways and bustling streets of the Old City, before we break for lunch. In the afternoon we head out of the city, to the Amber Fort. Reached by a winding pathway, this hilltop Fortress gives a glimpse of the opulence of the Moghul world with the stunning Chamber of Mirrors being perhaps the most memorable part of the complex. After drinking in the views over the surrounding plains we head back into Jaipur.

Locations: Jaipur

Highlights: Visit to Pachewar village

Description: This morning we leave behind the bustle of Jaipur and head out into rural Rajasthan, as we drive to the village of Pachewar. A small unspoilt village, Pachewar is noted for the decorative style of the houses here. Our walk around the village will offer the chance to see traditional artisans at work, in a community far removed form the bustle of India's big cities. Our accommodation tonight is in the 300 year old Pachewar Fort, which has been converted into a Heritage hotel.

Locations: Pachewar

Highlights: Exploration of rural Rajasthan as we drive to Karauli. Surrounded by red sandstone walls

Description: We continue our exploration of rural Rajasthan as we drive to Karauli. Surrounded by red sandstone walls, the city has always been well fortified since its beginnings in the fourteenth century, and indeed the city even today is dominated by the old Fortress. After checking in at our hotel we head, by camel cart, to the Fortress. Once the residence of the Royal Family here - said to be descended from Lord Krishna - the place is now abandoned and inhabited largely by geese and monkeys; a silent reminder of earlier times. From the Fort we head for the Madan Mohanji Temple where our tour ends.

Locations: Karauli

Highlights: Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary

Description: Today we drive via Hindaun and Mahuwa to the small town of Bharatpur. Close by is the Keoladeo Ghana National Park, some dozen square miles in size and with much of its area under water. The park, once a duck-hunting reserve for royalty, is a world famous ornithological site, offering opportunities to see both breeding water birds and transitory migrants. We aim to visit the park at dusk, when there is a good chance of observing geese, heron, storks, and, if we are lucky, perhaps the rare Siberian Crane, amongst the some 300 species observed here.

Locations: Bharatpur

Highlights: Once the site of the Moghul Emperor Akbar's court

Description: After another opportunity to observe the birdlife of the Park at dawn, on an optional second observation session, we drive to Fatehpur Sikri. Once the site of the Mughal Emperor Akbar's court, the city is now deserted, having been inhabited for just some 16 years after its construction in 1569 before being abandoned. Still standing virtually intact, just as it did in the sixteenth century, the place is a treasure house of royal buildings. In the centre of the main courtyard is the Pachisi Board, once used by the Emperor for games similar to chess, but using live slave girls as pieces. We'll see also the Panch Mahal, towering five stories high, and the remarkable Diwan- i-Khas, with its lotus shaped central pillar. From the silence of Fatehpur Sikri, we drive to Agra, and the bustle of a large modern city. But a city with a gem at its heart.

Locations: Agra

Highlights: Magnificent Taj Mahal never fails to stun the viewer

Description: An early start this morning, before breakfast, as we drive the short distance to the Taj Mahal, in time to see the place at sunrise. Built some 300 years ago, the Taj never fails to stun the viewer; its symmetry and elegance, its perfect proportions making it, in the views of many, the world's perfect building. It certainly bears comparison with Humayan's Tomb, which we saw in Delhi; an earlier structure in a similar style, but clearly not as perfectly proportioned. The Taj took 22 years to build, on the orders of Shah Jahan who wanted a monument to his love for his wife Mumtaz; the Emperor joined her under the white marble dome of the Taj after his death. After that incomparable first view of the building we will have a guided tour before returning to our hotel for breakfast. Later we will visit the Red Fort, the other major Mughal structure in Agra, built at the behest of Akbar the Great, before spending the rest of the day exploring the streets and markets of present-day Agra, or perhaps visiting the 'Babt Taj, across the river from the Taj; of interest in its own right, the place offers another view of the Taj Mahal itself.. In the evening we head for the train station and the evening train to Delhi.


Locations: Delhi

Highlights: After breakfast today our tour ends.

Description: Return To Onward Destination

Locations: Delhi