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Agra, the Taj Mahal, watercolour by Donald Maxwell, 1877–1936.

Essential India - Delhi, Varanasi, Jodhpur, Jaipur & Agra

  • Visits many of India’s most celebrated sites and cities as well as lesser-known but quintessential places.
  • Spends more time at each location than most mainstream tours, with free time for rest and independent exploration.
  • Varanasi, one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities and the most sacred in India; magnificent Rajput and Mughal forts, palaces and tombs.
  • Includes no fewer than nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The rich and fertile riverine plains of northern India have long formed a corridor allowing migrations and invasions to spread across the Subcontinent. The result is a region of fascinating cultural diversity.

Like the Ganges and the Yamuna, the sacred rivers of Hindu lore, this tour runs through the modern state of Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring Rajasthan. Yet its scope is not limited by these geo-political boundaries. Participants are treated to a comprehensive overview of the Subcontinent’s history – from the emergence of Hinduism and Buddhism to the decline of the Mughal Empire, the last Islamic power before the British Raj of the nineteenth century.

Varanasi, perched on the banks of the Ganges, is India’s most sacred place and claims to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. Founded by Lord Shiva, the city is mentioned in scriptures dating from the early Vedic period, in the second millennium bc. It was known as Kashi, the Luminous, during the life of the Buddha, who visited on several occasions on his way to Sarnath nearby where he preached his first sermon. Pilgrims still flock here to wash away their sins in the holy Ganges. The modern Varanasi is also a place of learning and culture – with the first Hindu university in India. 

In Rajasthan, the legacy of the Rajputs endures in their spectacular forts and palaces. Initially resisting Muslim expansion in North India, these Hindu maharajas later became co-architects of the Mughal Empire. Their fine cities have been magnets for tourists and travellers since the days of Pierre Loti and Rudyard Kipling. Some have ancient origins, but in the more settled times of the heyday of the Mughals and of the period of British rule they built increasingly elaborate and delicately ornamented palace apartments within the embattled forts of their forebears. 

These buildings of the Mughals in the 16th and 17th centuries are often regarded as the apex of India’s artistic achievements, a prestige due no doubt in no small part to its best-known representative, the Taj Mahal, a creation which hovers somewhere between architecture, jewellery and myth. White marble is typical of the late period, while earlier buildings are of red sandstone – the deserted capital of Akbar at Fatehpur Sikri, and the Red Fort of Agra.

Few cities in the world rival Delhi in imperial succession. With most new ruling powers establishing their own capital alongside those of its predecessors, Delhi’s architectural legacy is a palimpsest of power – from a monumental 13th-century minaret to the majestic expansiveness of Lutyens’ New Delhi. Empire succeeds empire; just eighteen years after the Viceroy took up residence in Government House it was handed over to a newly independent India.  


Itinerary


Practicalities

Price, per person. Two sharing: £9,270. Single occupancy: £11,560.

Flights with IndiGo: Delhi to Varanasi, Varanasi to Delhi and Delhi to Jodhpur; travel by private air-conditioned coach; accommodation as described below; breakfasts, 11 lunches and 10 dinners with wine or beer, water and coffee; all admissions; all tips; the services of the lecturer, tour manager and local guides. 

Flights from London to Delhi are not included in the price of the tour. We will send the recommended flight options when they come into range (by January 2026) and ask that you make your own flight reservation.

The Imperial Hotel, New Delhi; 18–20 November: 5-star hotel designed by F.B. Blomfield, a member of Lutyens’ team. Taj Ganges Hotel, Varanasi: a comfortable 4-star hotel outside the city centre. Daspan House, Jodhpur: a small 4-star boutique hotel set in a former family home. Samode Haveli, Jaipur: a 5-star hotel centrally located in Old Jaipur. Trident Hotel, Agra: comfortable, well-run, modern 4-star close to the main sites with a spacious garden. Roseate House Hotel, New Delhi; 22–23 November and 30 November–1 December: a 5-star hotel conveniently close to the airport.  

Required for most foreign nationals, and not included in the tour price. We will advise all participants of the process. 

This is a long and demanding tour so a good level of fitness is essential. Unless you enjoy entirely unimpaired mobility, cope with everyday walking and stair-climbing without difficulty and are reliably sure-footed, this tour is not for you. 

You will be on your feet a lot, walking and standing around - sometimes on exposed sites in warm temperatures. Uneven ground and irregular paving are standard. 

There are three days with long coach journeys of at least 150 miles where facilities are limited. There are some fairly steep ascents to forts and palaces. Steps to temples and palaces can also be steep and slippery. The unruly traffic and busy streets of Indian cities also require vigilance. Average distance by coach per day: 49 miles.

Are you fit enough to join the tour?

Between 10 and 22 participants.

Before booking, please refer to the FCDO website to ensure you are happy with the travel advice for the destination(s) you are visiting.


Testimonials

Excellent. A wonderful introduction to the charms of Northern India.

The mix of famous sites and less familiar ones was wonderful - this tour is superbly organised and I am astonished at how much you managed to include in the two weeks.

I saw things I would never be able to see on my own.

A splendid assortment of places, experiences, people, flavours of India. A fine overview on my first trip.

We enjoyed every minute and we're sorry that we had to come home.

Everything was thought out with consideration for nervous western people not familiar with this huge Sub Continent and its complexities!

Whetted our appetite for more.

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