India - Tigers & the Taj Mahal
India - Tigers & the Taj Mahal
our featured escorted tour by Newmarket Holidays
Day 1
Your Indian holiday begins with an overnight flight from the UK to Delhi.
Day 2
Arrive in Delhi, this morning, to be greeted by your Tour Manager, and transferred to your hotel. Later, after an included lunch and time to freshen up, join your tour manager on a guided tour, and explore the ruins of the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque and the ornate Qutb Minar tower that rises above them.
This beautiful hotel in central Delhi has a spacious restaurant and a lounge bar, an outdoor swimming pool and a gym. All the guest rooms are very well appointed, and each has a coffee-maker, TV, mini-bar and fridge.
Day 3
Today's guided tour will introduce Delhi's vibrant Old City. Drive by the historic Red Fort, Jama Masjid Mosque and Raj Ghat – Gandhi’s cremation site close to the Yamuna River – and enjoy an exhilarating rickshaw ride through the narrow lanes of Chandni Chowk.
You’ll also experience the grandeur of New Delhi, built by the British Raj to reflect the glories of the Empire. Highlights will include the historic India Gate war memorial and the vast boulevard of the Rajpath.
Later, we'll travel to Agra, India's City of Love and site of the exquisite Taj Mahal. After a visit to the royal pavilions, palaces and courtyards of majestic Agra Fort, you’ll make your first visit to the Taj, a monument to undying love, to see it in all its glory at sunset and enjoy a guided tour.
Close to the Taj Mahal and laid out around its swimming pool and beautifully landscaped garden. The hotel has a bar and two restaurants, a spa and a fitness centre. Each room has air conditioning, TV, a mini-bar, and tea- and coffee-making facilities.
Day 4
Start your day with the unforgettable view of the Taj Mahal at dawn, seen from across the Yamuna River. After breakfast, you'll journey to Abhaneri, a small town famed for its amazing baoris (stepwells). Discover the intricate beauty of Chand Baori, one of the deepest and largest stepwells in India, and its carved panels.
Leaving Abhaneri, you'll travel to Ranthambhore National Park, stopping en route for lunch at the sumptuous Umaid Lake Palace, a lovely heritage hotel and organic retreat that grows produce for its fine restaurant. Once the hunting ground of Indian princes, Ranthambhore is landscape of thorn trees, scrub and grasslands dotted with beautiful ponds, streams and lakes is a perfect habitat for the famous, elusive (and still endangered) Tigers of Ranthambhore, and other species.
Relax for the afternoon, then enjoy an evening tiger talk with a local naturalist: the perfect preparation for tomorrow's adventures.
Day 5
Today’s two canter (open-air vehicle) safaris in Ranthambhore Park are sure to be among the highlights of your entire holiday. In the company of a knowledgeable naturalist guide, you'll go in search of the park's most animal inhabitants: striped hyenas, sambar deer, sloth bears and, of course, tigers (and perhaps even a leopard).
A family-run hotel situated very close to the national park entrance. Set around a courtyard, the property encompasses a lawned area with sun beds, a pool, restaurant, bar, and a spa. Guestrooms are well equipped with marble floors.
Day 6
Rest and relax this morning, or join our optional excursion to climb the gradual, 273 steps to ancient Ranthambhore Fort, which sits atop a 600-metre-high hill range, and offers stupendous views of the park below.
This afternoon, after lunch at the hotel, you’ll bid farewell to Ranthambhore and journey to the Pink City of Jaipur, where you'll stay for the next two nights.
Day 7
After breakfast, visit Amber, the ancient capital of the Rajput Empire. Climb by jeep to the city's vast sixth-century hill-top fort to wander its Royal Halls and take in the magnificent views from the ramparts. After an included lunch, you'll tour Jaipur to see the City Palace complex, with its museums and ancient astronomical observatory, and drive past the innumerable windows and screened balconies of the 18th-century Palace of the Winds.
This evening, enjoy a special dinner at the Nokha House, hosted in traditional Rajasthani style by the Rathore family.
A gem in downtown Jaipur, this heritage hotel has beautiful lawns and gardens, a restaurant and a bar, an outdoor swimming pool and a gift shop. Each room has air conditioning, a mini-bar, tea- and coffee-making facilities and a safe.
Day 8
Bid farewell to Jaipur and journey across the desert plain into the Aravali Hills to the jungle-resort of Vanaashyra. En route you'll stop for a tea or coffee at Bhangarh, a ruined fort dating from the 17th Century.
This afternoon, take a camel cart to visit the local village and enjoy a pre-dinner cookery demonstration. You'll spend the night in a private cottage designed to give you a sense of the India of the past with the little luxuries of the present (like air conditioning).
Day 9
Enjoy today at leisure in Vanaashrya - swim in the pool or reflect on your journey through India.
Day 10
After an included lunch at Vanaashrya, depart for Delhi and the return overnight flight home.
Day 11
Arrive back in the UK
Set in the foothills of The Aravali Range, around a lake, the luxury cottage accommodation provides all modern comforts including air-conditioning, your own bathroom and private terrace. You'll also find a restaurant, Cloud 9 Bar, an outdoor pool and a spa. It's a feel of the real, rural India.
Enjoy 4 nights relaxation on the beach in Goa.
Situated right on the beach with various restaurants, bars and a casino. It boasts a large pool area and a spa as well as luxury Goan style rooms, all with balconies.
Guide Prices
11 days from £1526pp (was £1785)
What's Included?
- 8 nights' dinner, bed and breakfast accommodation in a series of four-star and five-star standard hotels, plus one night on the aircraft
- 22 meals including eight breakfasts, six lunches and eight dinners
- Entrance fees to all monuments
- The services of a friendly, experienced tour manager
- Free wifi and bottled water is available every day on board the coach journeys
- Return flights to Delhi
- Comfortable, air-conditioned coach travel and transfers
- Tipping is included for airport and hotel porters, restaurant and monument staff, naturalists and rickshaw drivers. Tipping is at your discretion for your tour manager, driver and driver’s assistant
More information
| Call | 01462 677111 |
| holidays@onyourtravels.co.uk |
