Trips & Tours: Rajasthan and Taj Mahal

On arrival you will transfer to your comfortable hotel and look forward to sightseeing in the capital tomorrow.

Your tour takes in the city’s principle sights including the Red Fort, Jama Masjid and India Gate. There will be time to visit the famous Chandni Chowk and the large Laxmi Narayan or Birla Temple.

The rural desert region of Shekhawati is coming to ever-increasing attention of travellers to Rajasthan as it epitomises many of the classic images we have of the region. Small towns and villages with forts and palaces are inhabited by predominantly agricultural people whose dress of colourful turbans and saris reinforces the fact that Rajasthan still really is just as one imagines. Here the town streets are unusual in that they are often home to wonderful old havelis (mansions) painted in elaborate and fading frescoes, bearing witness to the one-time wealth of the region.

The rural back-roads of ‘the Garden of Shekha’ are, as much as the havelis as big a draw for travellers through the region. Wonderfully traditional and, whilst a cliché, almost untouched by the modernity of the 21st century, Shekhawati is rich and rewarding travel experience. A wander around a village provides numeral cameo images of the country – women collecting water from the well in large, decorated earthenware pots, laden camel carts, kids riding bikes far too big for them and men in bright orange loosely-wrapped turbans sat smoking beedis in the shade of the village tree.

The decorated mansions or ‘havelis’ as they are called in India hark back to a time when the local traders who moved to Bombay and Calcutta grew rich on trade, sending huge sums back to their homes in Shekhawati. The money paid for the aggrandisement of these houses with, in particular, frescos being a prominent display of status. They make for an amazing open-air gallery today and several are explored on you visit.

Heading west you head deep into the arid countryside around Bikaner. After a long drive you arrive in this city famous for its camels and, after freshening up, set off to explore the famous Junagarh Fort.

Built in 1593 A.D. by Raja Rai Singh, one of the most distinguished generals in the army of Emperor Akbar, the fort is a formidable structure encircled by a moat and walls some 1 kilometre long; 37 bastions provide further reinforcement as if it were necessary. Your visit reveals the beauty of this superb fortification.

Rajasthan is a vast state with many miles between large towns. These towns were their own feudal states in times gone by and Jaisalmer is no different. Straddling an important trade route from east to west the city grew fabulously rich on the camel caravans that passed this way. Maharajah Rawal Jaisal founded the city in 1156, building a town which literally rears out of the desert, its breathtaking golden bastions – 99 in all – lending it an almost mirage like air.

Within the network of lanes and alleys that make up the fort area of the city are India’s most magnificent example of carved-stone havelis. Numerous such mansions grace the town with many having work that would make the view think they were looking at wood rather than stone. Finely carved screens and balconies look out over the streets towards the city’s Raj Mahal palace and the Jain temples.

You’ll be able to explore several of these havelis, the Raj Mahal and temples today as you wander on foot. This afternoon is free to relax or perhaps explore some of the sites outside the city such as the Bada Bagh cenotaph or the Gadi Sagar, Mool Sagar and Amar Sagar lakes each of which is surrounded with ornate Rajput architecture. Then, late this afternoon you’ll head out to the sand dunes at Sam, a famous place to watch to the sunset and reflect upon a wonderful day.

An early start is needed for the long journey to Jodhpur where, upon arrival, you’ll head out to climb the ramparts of immense Meherangarh Fort. Approach is made through numerous gates and the sati marks – the carved handprints of the widows of Maharaja Man Singh who took their own lives after his death in 1843. From here the ramparts overlook the stunning blue houses of Jodhpur’s old town, a view that makes Meherangarh possibly Rajasthan’s most impressive Rajput fort. A warren of passageways, corridors and rooms make up the museum and are sumptuously decorated and display the relics from the days of the Maharajas of Marwar, the ruling dynasty of the region.

Today you’ll continue your journey east passing through the countryside of rural central and eastern Rajasthan. Arriving in Ranakpur you’ll visit the amazing Jain temples, home to some of the best examples of Jain temple construction anywhere in the world. One of the five holy places for the Jain community, these magnificent temples were created in the 15th century during the reign of Rana Kumbha and are superb examples of the ability of the artisans involved to carve marble, almost as if it were wax: one hall has 1,444 pillars all distinctly carved and no two being alike. Following your visit you’ll continue to the utterly romantic lakeside city of Udaipur.

After two days of travelling a chance to relax now- and what a location! You’ll get your bearings with a walk around the lake shore and a visit to the City Palace museum which overlooks the lake and the famous ‘floating’ Lake Palace Hotel. Enjoy tea as you look over Lake Pichola towards the Aravalli range in the background and notice the Monsoon Palace, Sajjan Garh, sat high on a hill overlooking the city.

The lakeside is lined with ghats and fine old havelis, many converted into guesthouse, cafes and restaurants. Udaipur is the perfect place to relax, though for those that prefer to keep busy offers the Bartikaya Lok Kala folk museum and the ‘artisan’s village’ of Shilpgram.

Today you make the drive north to Pushkar, the little lakeside town that has a holy lake as its centrepiece. A warren of narrow streets the town has ghats which lead down to the water’s edge and where the faithful come to pray. It has a wonderful, relaxed atmosphere and yet every year around the beginning of November the streets and surrounding lands become crowded with people, all coming for the famous Pushkar Cattle Fair or mela. Both a trading event and a religious fair the mela is a chance for the Rajasthani people to dress up in their finery and relax in what is a joyful atmosphere. A photographers dream and one of the world’s greatest festivals Pushkar Fair is one not to be missed.

Today has been left entirely free for you to wander around the town and soak up the atmosphere. Perhaps you’ take a walk to the Brahma Temple on a hill just beyond town, or maybe sip a lassi in one of the restaurants that overlook the lake.

The drive to Jaipur takes around 3 hours and after a pause for lunch you’ll set off to explore. Known for the colourful, traditional dress of the Rajasthani people the city is a photographer’s dream – the pink walls of the city (painted that way for a visit by Prince Albert), camels in the streets, roof-dwelling monkeys and camels pulling heavy loads only reinforcing an already strong image.

The City Palace and famous Hawa Mahal, the Palace of the Winds. The City Palace was the seat of the famous Maharajas of Jaipur who together build and extended many of the city sights. The Palace is a warren of rooms and corridors, elaborately decorated and with wonderful displays of weaponry. Note the two huge silver urns used by Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II to carry water from the Ganges on a visit to London in 1902.

Nearby climb up inside the remarkable façade of the Hawa Mahal which is filigreed with lattice windows. These ‘jharokas’ as they are known allowed the women of the court to watch processions and street life below without being seen. The Palace of the Winds is a city icon.

Today you’ll head the short distance to Amber, site of a fort and palace complex that sits on top of a hill guarding a defile and overlooking a tank, or reservoir. Once inside you’ll be able to gaze upon the elegant rooms that once were home to the incredibly wealthy Maharajas and their families and enjoy the spectacular view over the tank below. Don’t miss the mirrored Sheesh Mahal!

The afternoon has been left free for personal exploration. You could travel out to the cenotaphs at Gaitor, or climb the stairs to the sun temple at Galta.

A drive east sees you arrive at your night-stop, the little town of Sawai Madhopur which sits on the very edge of Ranthambore National Park. Renowned for its varied wildlife the park has much to recommend it, with the star attraction being the royal Bengal tiger population. An evening safari by 4WD vehicle enables us to access deep within the 392sq km of park in search of the tigers. Sightings are not as common as they once were but this makes it all the more thrilling when a sighting takes place. Much other wildlife besides makes the park its home, with sambar, chital, leopard, sloth bear, langur, caracal, hyena as well as much birdlife and so a safari is a thrilling experience.

To maximise your chances of seeing some of the country’s wildlife we have arranged for two further games drives today, one this morning and one in the afternoon. Such safaris should reveal some of the wonderful animals that make the park their home and in between you can relax in the gardens of your hotel, enjoying a break from travelling.

Today you set off east again heading towards what for many will be a highlight of their journey through India, a visit to Agra and the Taj Mahal. En route you pause at Fatehpur Sikri which sits atop a rocky ridge 37km west of Agra. 400 years ago Akbar built what was the first planned city in the Indo-Islamic style, created with great vision and energy, but which was completely abandoned after little more than a decade. Today it remains much as it would have been when it was left, a masterpiece in red sandstone, its palaces and halls a testament to the skill of the craftsmen who created it.

Later you arrive in Agra and look forward to your visit to the Taj Mahal tomorrow.

Early this morning just as the sun starts to rise you’ll enter the courtyard of the world’s greatest monument to love, the Taj Mahal. Legends around its construction are many and centre around where its materials came from – all over the then Mughal Empire, from as far away as Persian and Central Asia.

Built to house the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, Emperor Shah Jehan's wife the white marble glows softly in the early light, in winter often partly hidden by lingering mists. On close inspection the white marble is in many places inlaid both outside and in with precious and semi-precious stones in a style known as pietra dura. Words cannot easily convey the beauty of the Taj Mahal, a visit is essential to appreciate it.

Along the Yamuna River stands Agra Fort, seat of government for Mughals and today one of the most important and impressive examples of Mughal architecture in the country. With many composite parts the fort is famous for its charbagh gardens and wonderful views over the river and to the Taj Mahal.

This evening you take the train to Delhi.

Your tour ends after breakfast with a transfer to the airport.