India In Style

Welcome to Delhi! You’ll be met immediately off the plane and escorted through fast-track immigration, baggage, and customs formalities, ensuring your arrival in India is as seamless as possible. Then meet your private driver and an Unforgettable Travel local representative and be transferred to your hotel in the heart of New Delhi.

The rest of the day is spent at leisure to recover from the flight. However, should you wish to explore locally, the hotel is within easy walking distance of buzzing Connaught Place, which boasts some of the Indian capital’s best dining, nightlife, and shopping. If you’d prefer to relax on-site, there’s a fine swimming pool, spa, and excellent dining options.

Your introduction to Delhi will be a busy but fascinating day. Visit Old Delhi, the beautiful Jama Masjid, one of the biggest mosques in Asia, visit Chandni Chowk and take a cycle rickshaw ride through the labyrinth of packed and seemingly chaotic streets. However, you will come to see that it’s not quite as disorderly as it appears, with streets organized into stores offering stationery, utensils, wedding items, and more.

New Delhi is in complete contrast, known for its colonial architecture and rubbing shoulders with cathedrals, gurudwaras, temples, and Mughal monuments. You’ll be taken to visit Humayun’s Tomb, the soaring Qutb Minar, and then enjoy a drive by India Gate and the New Parliament buildings.

Return to the hotel for the evening at leisure.

This morning, your private driver will escort you out of the capital and along the Delhi-Agra expressway to Agra, a transfer time of around 3.5 hours. Arrive into Agra late morning and head to your hotel to check in and freshen up.

In the afternoon, meet a private local guide to visit the extraordinary Agra Fort, which was the primary residence for the Mughal emperors until they shifted from Agra to Delhi in 1638. Afterward, head to the iconic and effortlessly beautiful Taj Mahal. Poetry in white marble: watch as the colors are reflected by the setting sun as the birds swoop and fly overhead on their way to roost for the evening. This is a magical time to visit this world-famous monument.

After breakfast you will set off by road to the famed pink city of Jaipur, home to one of the most important royal families of the state, the capital of Rajasthan, and the gateway into the rest of this remarkable region.

Along the way you will stop at the staggering Abhaneri stepwell. In a crowded field, Abhaneri is perhaps the most staggering of northern India’s stepwells – remarkable architectural features that descend into the earth to provide fresh drinking water in the desert. Abhaneri has around 3,500 steps and descends some 100ft, and was the inspiration for the prison frequented by Christian Bale’s Batman in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’.

Arrive in Jaipur mid-afternoon and check into your extravagant palace hotel. Enjoy the rest of the day at leisure.

Today, you will be joined by a private local guide to explore the fascinating sights of Jaipur. Begin at the incredible Amber Fort and marvel at its courtyard’s architecture and spectacular views; visit the City Palace, resplendent in artifacts and photos showcasing its royal past, an insight into how life used to be for the royals of Rajasthan. Also, visit the observatory, the largest in the world, which is still accurate to within a couple of minutes.

Drive by and have a photo stop at the Iconic Hawa Mahal or Palace of Winds. This beautiful facade allowed the ladies of the royal family who used to observe purdah to watch the proceedings and processions in the streets below without being seen. Take some time to explore the bazaars; Jaipur is a fun shopping destination famous for its block printing, blue pottery, jewelry, and much more.

After breakfast, your driver will take you on to Chhatrasagar, located in the heart of the Rajasthani wilderness. This exquisite rural hotel is replete with luxury tents pitched overlooking a lake teeming with birds, where from your veranda, there are uninterrupted views and virtually no sign of habitation – a rarity in India! 

On arrival, you have the rest of the day free to relax, soak in the views, or arrange sundowners or a jeep drive directly through the hotel. 

Enjoy a relaxed day at Chhatrasagar, with a wide variety of immersive activities on offer. A stay here allows you to experience rural Rajasthan in a way that few other properties do. With the help of friendly staff you may explore the farm, discover local temples, or set off on a village walk to meet isolated Rajasthani communities. Arrange a jeep drive through the grasslands in search of birds, nilgai, chinkara, and jackal. Then return in the evening to a sundowner on the hill and al fresco dining under the stars. This is undoubtedly one of the most peaceful, unique, and friendly hideaways in Rajasthan.

Leave the wilderness behind today and continue by road into Jodhpur, which has the most impressive of all the forts of Rajasthan, a wonderful old town and at one-time largest private residence in the world – the magnificent Taj Umaid Bhawan Palace, which will be your home for the next two nights.

After some time to freshen up, you will meet a local guide for a gentle walking tour through the atmospheric ‘Blue City’. The old streets of Jodhpur earned this nickname due to the distinctive blue-painted houses that dominate its skyline. The tradition of painting houses blue is said to have originated from the Brahmin caste, who considered blue to be a sacred color symbolizing the sky and the divine. Take in the city’s havelis, shops, chai cafes, and general hum of life with your guide before returning to the hotel to relax.

Meet your guide again to explore Jodhpur further. The entire morning is spent at soaring Mehrangarh Fort: the most impressive of all the forts of Rajasthan, with the most extraordinary stories, and the very best-curated museum.

Later, visit Jantar Mantar, an astronomical observatory built during the 18th century under the patronage of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, who was a keen astronomer and ruler of the region of Jaipur. Here you’ll find an intriguing collection of architectural and astronomical instruments designed to measure time, track celestial bodies, and predict eclipses.

Finish with a stroll through the old town, with narrow streets and myriad shops selling everything from street food to traditional perfume to puppets, and the Clock Tower market, where all the local women congregate and which sells everything from spices to electricals and is a profusion of color.

The rest of the day is then at leisure to enjoy your award-winning hotel.

This morning, your driver will escort you from Jodhpur to Jawai. Jawai is a picturesque reservoir located in the Pali district of Rajasthan, renowned for its abundant wildlife, serene landscapes, and the unique opportunity it offers to witness the elusive Indian leopard in its natural habitat. Dominated by large, rocky outcrops, with a lake at its heart, it is an area where nomadic Rabari herders, known for their vivid red turbans and brilliant white garments, who are as much a part of the landscape as the leopards that live here.

Check into the hotel, a wonderful luxury-tented property that also prides itself on the conservation and community projects in which it operates. In the late afternoon you will be taken out on a jeep safari into the surrounding scrubland in search of leopard and birdlife, then return to the lodge for drinks around the campfire and an exquisite dinner.

You have a full day to immerse yourself in the Jawai area, with an excellent selection of activities on offer through the camp. Enjoy further jeep drives or bird watching, join a walk into the unique Rabbari villages to learn about local traditions and lifestyle in rural Rajasthan, or enjoy private picnics or sundowners at a secluded spot in the wilderness. Staying onsite, you can also enjoy cooking demos, yoga, relax around the pool, or learn more about the camp’s conservation efforts, including those related to leopards and the local environment.

Enjoy a leisurely breakfast today to soak up the last of this beautiful location, then continue by road to Udaipur.

This journey will take you out of stark scrubland and around the lush hills of the Araveli region and includes a stop at the Ranakpur Temples. These quite extraordinary 15th-century marble temples are one of the most significant Jain sites in India, three storey high, with 27 halls and domes supported by over a thousand pillars, the surfaces are carved with superb reliefs, and the walls are topped with pepper-pot turrets. There are also two subsidiary temples and, opposite, a Sun Temple that is much older and carved with erotic images.

Continue onto Udaipur, set amidst the Aravali Hills and numerous lakes, the most famous of which has the Lake Palace at its center. The former summer palace of the Udaipur royal family, now an award-winning Taj Palace Hotel, it will be your accommodation for the next two nights.

The city of Udaipur in the land of Mewar is Rajasthan’s most romantic city. From your hotel you will have been looking over the City Palace Complex; today, your private guide will take you to explore the complex as well as Sahelion-Ki-Bari and the extraordinary and beautiful Jagdish Temple. There will be time to stroll around the streets of the old town before ending the day with a boat ride back to your hotel and then dinner at one of the hotel’s beautiful restaurants.

Sadly, your adventures in India have come to an end. At the appropriate time your driver will escort you to Udaipur Airport for your onward flight.

Please speak to your consultant to arrange extensions to this tour or further transport arrangements to facilitate your journey home.