Northern India Experience

People debate whether the Taj is better at sunset or sunrise. We’ll experience both! An early morning wakeup will have us at the East Gate for 6:30 am. You will then have at least two hours to stroll the expansive grounds of flowers, pools, and marble. Choose to find a quiet place to view this marvel under a Jujube tree, or feel free to follow behind a large and colourfully-dressed local family as it arranges itself for the iconic picture in front of one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. We will then walk back to our hotel for breakfast before journeying to Jaipur, The Pink City, with a stop at Emperor Akbar’s Fatehpur Sikri along the way. As we leave the region of Uttar Pradesh and approach Rajasthan, the colour of the land and its people become more and more vibrant. Monkey temples, jangling jewelry, fuchsia saris, Hindu priests, and Mughal architecture are all part of our afternoon and evening plans.

Dinner will be at our hotel.

Meals: Breakfast, dinner
Overnight: Agra Hotel

Rajasthan’s capital city of Jaipur is charmingly chaotic. After breakfast, we will make our way past the pink Jawa Mahal to the foot of the massive and imposing Amber Fort. You may enter by walking up. Your efforts will be rewarded when you see how the light hits the golden walls of this magnificent fort.

In the afternoon we leave the bustle behind as we travel along a quiet road to the peaceful small town of Bundi. Once settled in our hotel, feel free to stroll its quiet and relaxed streets, take a walk down to the lake, or simply lean back and read a book in your family-run hotel.

Dinner will be in the hotel tonight.

Meals: Breakfast, dinner
Overnight: Bundi Hotel

This morning you will wake up to the sounds of temple bells, motorcycles, birds, and the milk man. We’ve deliberately planned a slower-paced day so that you can relax and truly soak in the Indian way of life after the action of Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. After a delicious breakfast at our hotel we’ll head out for chai and then hike up the hill to Bundi Palace, partly hidden behind the encroaching shrubs. Bundi is famous for its fading but still remarkable blue miniatures. The quality of this blue on the walls is pure Bundi and you will be enchanted by how the miniatures reveal what life was like hundreds of years ago for the rich and powerful.

If you’re feeling energetic, climb higher into the hills and discover the abandoned ruins of Bundi’s once-active fortress. Later, as we wind through the town’s narrow streets, we hope you will meet Yug, Bundi’s famous local miniaturist, who will happily show you how such detailed paintings are created today.

Meals: Breakfast
Overnight: Bundi Hotel

After breakfast, we will drive through Chittorgarh on our way to Udaipur, The White City, Rajasthan’s most romantic location and known as Venice of the East. While the city does not have canals, it does have the beautiful Lake Pichola and white buildings as far as the eye can see. Udaipur offers something for everyone — markets, shopping, theatre, boating, memorable food, and grand palaces. It’s imposing, exciting, and a feast for the eyes. By the end of the evening, as you watch the sun set on the lake, you’ll likely be making a promise to yourself to return.

Meals: Breakfast
Overnight: Udaipur Hotel

Udaipur is a walking city and for the next two days, we’ll be on our feet. Our first stop of the day is the Jagdish Temple with its garlands of marigolds. Next, we’ll tour the marvelous, intricately carved City Palace to get a small taste of what life was once like for the local ruler. To get to Udaipur’s palace, we’ll have to make our way through colourful market stalls. While it will be hard to walk past the exotic offerings, we promise to return.

Board a small boat to explore Lake Pichola with a stop at the island of Jag Mandir (Lake Garden Palace). You will feel like a Raj prince or princess as you sit by the window overlooking the lake while staring at 14 feet marble elephants guarding the island.

Overnight: Udaipur Hotel
Meals: Breakfast

We have listened to our traveling companions from previous trips and will stay one more day in Udaipur as no one wants to leave! Today you have the morning free to get an outfit made from local fabric, to visit the temples, to weigh produce in the market, to buy copper pots, or to just lie in bed a little bit longer as you listen to the cacophony of India.

After lunch, however, we will be preparing for our early evening cooking course at the home of a local family. To us, India is very much about its glorious vegetarian food and Indians are rightfully proud of its complexities of flavour and texture. Let’s laugh and learn as we stain our fingers with turmeric.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Overnight: Udaipur Hotel

On our way to Ranakpur, our green haven in Rajasthan, we will again encounter two must-sees: Kumbelgarh Fort and the most important and sacred of Jain Temples in India. Kumbhalgarh offers extraordinary views and a chance for some exercise as we traverse the paved switchbacks up to the fort.

Next, our visit to the all-marble Jain Temple will be a silent one where you will encounter Jain priests as they worship. Jains believe in non-violence in all aspects of life as well as equality for all living things. This peaceful belief system permeates their temples and the only sounds you’ll hear here are whispering, bells, and monkey calls in the background. Once we arrive in Ranakpur you will have a few options: it’s an easy hike to the top of one of the nearby hills in the Aravalli Range or you could consider doing some yoga on the hotel grounds looking out over the mustard fields.

Perhaps you’d prefer to simply sit by the pool with a drink while you catch up on your correspondence and sort out your hundreds of pictures? It’s your choice.

Meals: Breakfast, dinner
Overnight: Ranakpur Hotel

This morning we move from one tranquil setting to another as we head to Chandelao, one hour east of Jodhpur, for our village homestay. Chandelao is home to the Thakur of Chandelao and his beautiful historical home and grounds are now open to guests. One of the highlights of this flower-strewn aristocratic residence is that from here you are able to experience Indian village life as it has unfolded for hundreds of years. Thakur Singh is still very involved in contributing to the local village and it is because of this that we will have the chance to travel to the desert for an evening barbeque, visit a local women’s sewing cooperative next door, and visit the tiny village of Pipar with its market and cloth artisans.

Dinner is at the hotel.

Meals: Breakfast, dinner
Overnight: Chandelao Hotel

Wake up to birdsong and the smell of flowers weighing heavily on the vines outside your door. Today you may relax by the pool, visit a local school, or join us on the day’s adventure to Pipar. As luck would have it, it is also the day for the yearly colourful Holi Festival where you will likely see locals dressed in their oldest clothes, throwing brightly-coloured paint powder at each other!

Meals: Breakfast, BBQ Desert Dinner
Overnight: Chandelao Hotel

The pace changes again today. We rise early and leave the calm for the more chaotic as we drive an hour to Jodhpur, The Blue City. Long a favourite of travellers, it’s known for its markets, its blue houses, and the magnificent Mehrengarh Fort. Considered the greatest of all Rajasthani forts, culture and history enthusiasts will happily spend half a day here perfectly content to take in the views, the opulent artifacts, and the stories of the constant battles that were at the centre of fort life for hundreds of years.

Next, Jodhpur’s Old City, with its Clock Tower, spice markets, and organized chaos will leave your head crammed with images. We love the masalas, the street food vendors, and the sound of copper pots being hammered. You will not leave this market without something — some spices for home, an anklet, or a shared moment with a local vendor. Jodhpur is pure Rajasthan hospitality on steroids.

Dinner is at the hotel.
Meals: Breakfast, dinner
Overnight: Ranakpur Hotel

After breakfast and some time to securely pack your ever-growing luggage, we’re off to the airport for our 90 minute flight back to Delhi. Our driver will meet us at the airport and this afternoon we will join the throngs at some of this city’s best attractions including Humayun’s Tomb and The Lotus Temple, one of the world’s important worship centres for the Baha’i Faith. Humayun’s Tomb is a mini-Taj Mahal in red while The Lotus Temple is a flowering white architectural feat built in 1986. Although made of marble, if looks like it’s made of velvet.

Meals: Breakfast, dinner
Overnight: Delhi Hotel