Golden Triangle Short Break: 4 Days

Welcome to India. Our representative meets you at Delhi airport or railway station with a traditional garland welcome and escorts you to your hotel in a private air-conditioned car. After a long journey, the rest of the day is yours to rest and adjust to the new time zone. If you arrive early and feel like stretching your legs, take a gentle evening walk around Connaught Place, the elegant colonnaded circle at the heart of New Delhi, with its cafes, bookshops and busy street life. Your tour manager will brief you on the days ahead.

Spend the morning on Delhi's essentials with your guide. Visit Humayun's Tomb, the 16th-century Mughal garden tomb that inspired the Taj Mahal, and the Qutub Minar, a soaring tower of carved red sandstone begun around 1200. Drive past India Gate, the war memorial, and Rashtrapati Bhavan, the president's palace. After lunch, travel to Agra on the smooth Yamuna Expressway and check in to your hotel. The evening is free, or you can head to Mehtab Bagh, a Mughal garden across the river, to watch the sun set behind the Taj Mahal.

Rise early to see the Taj Mahal at sunrise, when the crowds are thinner and the white marble turns from grey to rose and gold. Your guide explains the story of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal and the skill of its inlay work. After breakfast, visit Agra Fort, the red sandstone Mughal citadel on the river. Then drive to Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar's abandoned 16th-century capital, to see the Buland Darwaza, the Panch Mahal and the shrine of Sheikh Salim Chishti. Continue to Jaipur for the night.

Begin at Amber Fort, riding up by jeep to its golden ramparts and the mirrored Sheesh Mahal, then stop for photos at Jal Mahal, the palace in the lake. Back in the Pink City, visit the City Palace with its museum of royal costumes and weapons, Jantar Mantar, the 18th-century astronomical observatory, and the honeycomb facade of Hawa Mahal, the Palace of Winds. After lunch, drive back to Delhi, about five to six hours away. You are dropped at the airport for your onward flight or at your hotel.