Taj, Temples & the Ganges: North India

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.

After breakfast, leave Delhi and drive south-west through the farmland of Haryana and into Rajasthan, with tea stops along the way. Arrive in Jaipur, Rajasthan's capital, founded in 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II and laid out on a grid inspired by ancient Indian planning. The old city's buildings were painted pink to welcome the Prince of Wales in 1876, earning it the name Pink City. Check in and spend the evening at leisure, or visit Birla Mandir, a white marble temple to Vishnu and Lakshmi that glows beautifully after dark.

Start early at Amber Fort, the hilltop palace of the Kachwaha rulers above Maota Lake, riding up to the ramparts by jeep. Explore its courtyards and the Sheesh Mahal, a hall lined with thousands of tiny mirrors. Pause for photos at Jal Mahal, the palace in the lake. In the afternoon, visit the City Palace, still home to the former royal family, and Jantar Mantar, the 18th-century observatory of giant stone instruments and a UNESCO site. See the honeycomb facade of Hawa Mahal, then browse the bazaars for block prints, gems and blue pottery.

After breakfast, drive east towards Agra. On the way, stop at Fatehpur Sikri, the red sandstone city Emperor Akbar built as his capital in the 16th century and abandoned soon after. Walk through the Buland Darwaza, the towering Gate of Victory, see the Panch Mahal and the courts where Akbar met his nobles, and visit the white marble shrine of the Sufi saint Sheikh Salim Chishti. Arrive in Agra in the afternoon. In the evening, watch the sun set over the Taj Mahal from Mehtab Bagh, the Moonlight Garden across the Yamuna.

See the Taj Mahal at sunrise, then board a morning express train to Jhansi, about two and a half hours away. From the station, drive the short distance to Orchha, a peaceful town on the Betwa river that was the capital of the Bundela kings in the 16th and 17th centuries. Explore the Jahangir Mahal, built to welcome the Mughal emperor, and the painted rooms of the Raja Mahal. In the evening, walk down to the river to watch the sun set behind the domed royal cenotaphs, or chhatris, along the bank.

After breakfast, drive south-east from Orchha to Khajuraho, about four hours away, through the countryside of the Bundelkhand region. In the afternoon, visit the Western Group of temples, a UNESCO World Heritage Site built by the Chandela kings between about 950 and 1050. Of the many temples they built, around 20 survive. Their walls are covered with sculptures of gods, celestial dancers, musicians, warriors and lovers, carved with extraordinary skill. The Kandariya Mahadeva temple is the largest and finest. In the evening, you may watch the sound and light show.

Spend the morning exploring the Eastern Group of temples, which includes both Hindu and Jain shrines, among them the Parsvanath Temple with its delicate carvings. Then visit the quieter Southern Group, including the Duladeo and Chaturbhuj temples, set among fields at the edge of the village. The afternoon is free to relax at your hotel or visit a nearby village to see rural life in Bundelkhand. You might also enjoy a performance of Indian classical dance, sometimes held at the cultural centre in the evening.

After breakfast, transfer to Khajuraho airport for your flight to Varanasi, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the holiest city in Hinduism, on the banks of the Ganges. You are met on arrival and taken to your hotel. In the evening, take a cycle-rickshaw through the busy streets to Dashashwamedh Ghat for the Ganga aarti, a ceremony of fire, bells, chanting and incense performed each night by priests on the riverbank. Watching from a boat on the river is especially memorable.

Take a boat on the Ganges at dawn, gliding past the ghats as pilgrims bathe, pray and make offerings in the soft morning light. Pass Manikarnika Ghat, the city's main cremation ground. Walk with your guide through the narrow lanes of the old city, near the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. After breakfast, visit Sarnath, where the Buddha gave his first sermon after his enlightenment, to see the Dhamek Stupa and the museum with its Lion Capital of Ashoka. In the evening, board the overnight train to Delhi.

Arrive in Delhi in the morning after your overnight journey. You are met at the station and taken to your hotel, where you can rest, shower and enjoy a late breakfast. Spend the afternoon at leisure. Dilli Haat is an open-air market where artisans from every Indian state sell crafts and regional food, while Khan Market has bookshops, boutiques and some of the city's best cafes. For a quiet hour, the Lodhi Garden nearby has 15th-century tombs set among lawns, where Delhi residents walk and jog in the evening.

Spend your last day exploring Delhi with your guide. In the old city, visit Jama Masjid, one of India's largest mosques, and ride a cycle-rickshaw through the lanes of Chandni Chowk. Then move to New Delhi for Humayun's Tomb, the Mughal garden tomb that inspired the Taj Mahal, the soaring Qutub Minar and a drive past India Gate. Your hotel room is kept until the evening so you can freshen up. At the appropriate time, you are transferred to the international airport for your onward flight, with memories of a remarkable journey.