11-Day Golden Triangle with Varanasi & Ranthambore

Arrival in Delhi. Your chauffeur meets you inside the arrivals hall at Indira Gandhi International Airport and drives you to your hotel. The evening is yours to rest after the flight. If you arrive early and feel up to it, we can add a gentle first drive through the wide avenues of Lutyens’ Delhi, past India Gate as the lights come on.

A full day in Old and New Delhi. A whole day across the two faces of the capital with your private guide. The morning is Old Delhi — the vast courtyard of the Jama Masjid, a cycle-rickshaw ride through the spice markets and silver lanes of Chandni Chowk, and a quiet pause at Raj Ghat, Gandhi’s memorial. After lunch you cross to New Delhi for the UNESCO-listed Humayun’s Tomb, the towering Qutub Minar, and a slow drive down Rajpath past India Gate, the Presidential Palace and Parliament.

Fly to Varanasi, and the evening aarti. A short flight east brings you to Varanasi, the oldest living city in India, on the banks of the Ganges. In the evening you witness the Ganga aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat — a river of lamps, bells and chanting as the priests offer fire to the water.

Sunrise on the Ganges, and Sarnath. Before dawn you take a boat onto the Ganges to watch the city wake — pilgrims at their prayers on the ghats, the first light on the old buildings, smoke rising from the fires. Later you visit Sarnath, where the Buddha gave his first sermon, and the lanes of the old city. The evening is free.

Varanasi to Agra. You fly west from Varanasi (via Delhi, which we arrange) and continue to Agra, settling in near the Taj by evening ready for a dawn visit. Where timings allow, we see Agra Fort this afternoon.

Taj at sunrise, then to Ranthambore. You see the Taj Mahal at dawn, then leave Agra for Ranthambore, some hours to the south, reaching the edge of the national park by afternoon. After settling in you head out on your first game drive into the park — a landscape of lakes, ruined pavilions and dry forest that is the tiger’s ground.

A day of safaris. Two game drives, at first light and in the late afternoon, when the park is most alive. Beyond the tiger there are leopards, sloth bears, marsh crocodiles, sambar deer and a wealth of birds, all beneath the crumbling walls of Ranthambore Fort. Between drives, the day is yours to rest.

A last safari, then Jaipur. One more morning drive into the park in the best light for wildlife, then back for breakfast and the road on to Jaipur, about three and a half hours, arriving in the Pink City by evening.

The Pink City — Amber Fort and the palaces. A full day in Jaipur. In the cool of the morning you climb to the honey-coloured Amber Fort above its lake, exploring the mirrored halls and painted courtyards. In the city you visit the City Palace, still home to Jaipur’s royal family, and the extraordinary open-air observatory of Jantar Mantar, and pause for the classic photograph at the Hawa Mahal, the Palace of Winds. The afternoon leaves time for the bazaars and the block-print and gem workshops.

A second day in Jaipur. A gentler day at your own pace. Choose from the hilltop forts of Nahargarh and Jaigarh with their long views over the city, the Albert Hall Museum, the step-wells on the city’s edge, or simply the bazaars and workshops — hand-block textiles, blue pottery and jewellery. There is time, too, for a leisurely lunch or the hotel pool.

Jaipur to Delhi, and departure. The morning road carries you back to Delhi, roughly five to six hours. Depending on your flight, we can add a final stop — a last monument or some time to shop — before your driver sees you to the airport for the journey home.