Day 3
After breakfast, make the short journey to the exquisite Taj Mahal, one of the world’s most essential sights. Built in the 17th century as a monument to undying love by the grief-stricken Shah Jahan, after the death of his beloved wife, the Taj really does have to be seen to be believed. Construction of the Taj took around 20,000 labours almost 20 years to complete. Spend a truly unforgettable morning wandering the sprawling gardens and gazing awe-struck at the Taj, famously described by the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore as “a teardrop on the cheek of eternity.”
After a wonderful morning, transfer to the four-star Vanaashrya Resort in Rajasthan, where you’ll stay for the rest of your holiday. En route, we’ll call at Abhaneri, a small town famed for its amazing baoris (stepwells), and the mighty Harshat Mata Temple, both of which date back to the 8th century.
Enjoy lunch at a local organic resort, before checking in at your hotel. Relax and unwind as you explore your idyllic new surroundings: the resort is spread out over 8 acres, and has its own lake. Individual cottages house each guest room with their own terrace. Dinner will be served at the resort tonight. Happy hour is between 6 and 7.30pm every day, and includes two-for-one on all drinks!
Day 4
Enjoy a relaxing, morning yoga session at the resort before breakfast is served. After breakfast, spend a blissful morning at leisure.
This afternoon, you can continue relaxing at the resort, or join the optional safari to the nearby Sariska Tiger Reserve. Spread out over 340 square miles, the reserve is made up of arid and deciduous forests, grasslands and rocky hills. A former hunting reserve, today Sariska is home to around 20 Bengali tigers and in 2008, it became the first reserve in the world to successfully relocate tigers after several tigers were moved here from Ranthambore National Park. With good conditions and even better luck, you may catch a glimpse of these majestic animals.
Aside from tigers, the reserve is home to the Indian leopard, honey badger and small Indian civet, along with rare birds including the Indian peafowl, white-throated kingfisher and grey partridge.
However you choose to spend your day, enjoy an evening relaxing at the resort, perhaps with a two-for-one drink in hand, sat by the pool, before dinner is served, preceded by a cooking demonstration from the chef.
Day 5
Begin your morning with an energising yoga session and relaxing breakfast, before a gentle camel cart ride will take you into the local village, giving you a glimpse of traditional life in Rajasthan. Enjoy a tour of the village, and meet some friendly locals, before you return to the hotel by camel for lunch.
This afternoon, you’ll head to the nearby Bhangarh Fort. Constructed in the 16th century, Bhangarh Fort is spread out over the sloping foothills of the Aravalli Mountains. Enjoy a guided tour of this impressive fortification, listening intently as your guide reveals some local legends. After the tour, pause for a refreshing tea/ coffee break, before you head back to the resort, where dinner will be served.
Day 6
After your new morning staple of yoga and a leisurely breakfast, you can choose between joining the full-day excursion to nearby Jaipur, or spending a blissful day relaxing at the resort.
Thanks to the distinctive pink hue of its central, walled district, Jaipur is known as the Pink City. The city, which is Rajasthan’s capital, is also one of its youngest, having been founded as late as the early 18th century. The tour starts at the monumental hilltop Amber Fort, which is to the north of the city. The UNESCO-protected Amber Fort is one of India’s most well-known and impressive fortifications, and is noted for its Mughal style. A series of ramparts, gates, cobbled paths are built into a hill that overlooks the picturesque Maota Lake.
We’ll then head into central Jaipur and take in the magnificent City Palace, which sits in the centre of the Pink City. The palace was built in 1727 to house the Maharaja of Jaipur, and did so until 1949, acting as the ceremonial and administrative seat of the Maharaja for over 200 years. This magnificent complex has lost none of its original pomp and splendour.
Pause for lunch at a local restaurant, before the tour continues to the Jantar Mantar Observatory, a fascinating collection of 19 large astronomical instruments that includes the world’s largest sundial. The instruments, which were finished in 1734, allow observations of astronomical positions with the naked eye.
However you decide to spend your day, enjoy dinner back at the resort tonight.
Day 7
Today brings the once-in-a-lifetime chance to visit Ranthambore National Park on an optional overnight safari. Said to have inspired some of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book stories, Ranthambore National Park is not only one of the largest parks in Northern India, it’s one of the best examples of conservation in the whole country. This national park stands atop a 600-metre-high hill range, and is home to an incredible variety of wildlife, including tigers, leopards and sloth bears.
The optional tour includes a ranger-escorted open-air canter safari through the park, in search of some of its most revered inhabitants. Keep your eyes peeled for any sign of the estimated 80 or so tigers that call the park home, along with striped hyenas, sambar deers and sloth bears. Those who join the Ranthambore excursion will stay overnight at the four-star Ranthambore Regency Hotel, before returning to the resort the following day.
Alternatively, you may choose to spend a day relaxing at the resort and making use of its facilities: the choice is entirely yours!
Day 8
Today, after yoga and breakfast, enjoy your last full day in India at leisure at the resort, no doubt reflecting an exceptional week.
Day 9
Enjoy a final morning at the resort, perhaps taking one last refreshing dip in the pool. After lunch, you’ll transfer to Delhi, where dinner will be served at a local restaurant, before you transfer to the airport for your return flight, at the end of a wonderful break
Day 10
Early morning arrival.