5 stops over 8 days

Delhi
Agra
Dholpur
Ranthambhore
Jaipur

The Taj at first light, two hours before the crowds
Gangetic river dolphin surfacing on the Chambal at dawn
Gharial and Indian skimmer on undisturbed ravine sandbanks
Tigers among the ruined pavilions of Rajbagh, Ranthambhore
Ranthambhore Fort, 700 feet above the lakes

Day by day

What actually happens

Length: 8 days
Stops: 5
Pace: Balanced
From: ₹2,18,000

1

Delhi

Arrive Delhi

Met at Indira Gandhi terminal three and driven to Lutyens’ Delhi, twenty-five minutes at that hour. The Imperial’s corridors hold one of the better collections of Daniell aquatints in private hands; walk them if jet lag has you up at four. Otherwise sleep. Nothing formal is scheduled, and the kitchen will send up khichdi at any hour you ask.

Night: The Imperial, New Delhi
2B D

Agra

Humayun’s Tomb, then the Yamuna road

Humayun’s Tomb at eight, before the coach parties — the prototype for everything the Taj later refined, in red sandstone and white marble. A short walk through Nizamuddin basti afterwards for the qawwali courtyard. The Yamuna Expressway takes three and a half hours. You reach Mehtab Bagh at sunset, the Taj across the river with nobody in front of it.

Night: The Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra
3B L D

Dholpur

Sunrise at the Taj, on to Chambal

Gates at first light. Two hours inside while the marble turns grey to pink to white, then breakfast back at the hotel. Agra Fort afterwards, including the octagonal tower where Shah Jahan spent eight years looking downstream. Two hours south to Dholpur by lunch. An evening boat on the Chambal: gharial hauled out on the sandbanks, skimmers working the shallows.

Night: Raj Niwas Palace, Dholpur
4B L D

Ranthambhore

Dolphins on the Chambal

On the water by six-thirty. The Gangetic river dolphin is blind, navigates by sound, and surfaces for about a second — you learn to watch for the roll rather than the animal. Red-crowned roofed turtles line the driftwood. Indian skimmers, of which perhaps 2,500 remain, cut the surface with the longer lower mandible. Four hours to Ranthambhore after lunch.

Night: Sujan Sher Bagh, Ranthambhore
5B L D

Ranthambhore

Ranthambhore: zones one to five

The old zones are the good ones. Rajbagh and Padam Talao lie directly under the fort walls, with sambar feeding chest-deep in lotus and tigers using the ruined pavilions for shade. Two drives, morning and afternoon, in an open gypsy allocated by the forest department’s permit lottery. Marsh crocodile, rufous treepie that will land on your hand, and no promises.

Night: Sujan Sher Bagh, Ranthambhore
6B L D

Ranthambhore

The fort above the lakes

A second morning in the park, then the climb to Ranthambhore Fort — tenth century, seven hundred feet up, reached by a ramped stair past langurs and the Ganesh temple that still receives wedding invitations by post from all over India. The view down over Padam Talao explains the whole valley. Afternoon safari, then dinner under canvas.

Night: Sujan Sher Bagh, Ranthambhore
7B D

Jaipur

Into Jaipur

Three and a half hours north-west, arriving for lunch. Amber in the late afternoon, when the light is low on the yellow stone and the Sheesh Mahal genuinely glitters. Then Anokhi’s block-print museum in a restored haveli below the fort, and an hour in Johari Bazaar among the lac bangles. Dinner in the courtyard, under the frangipani.

Night: Samode Haveli, Jaipur
8B

Jaipur

Depart Jaipur

This is your departure day. If the flight allows, Jantar Mantar at nine — the Samrat Yantra sundial stands 27 metres tall and reads to two seconds. Then twenty minutes to the airport for onward connections, or four and a half hours by road to Delhi if you are flying long-haul. Late checkout is arranged wherever possible.

Night: Departure day — no overnight