India
India
India
11 Days Starting in Delhi, India and ending in United Kingdom
Visiting: Delhi, Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri, Ranthambore National Park, Jaipur, Amber Palace, Alsisar
Tour operator:
Tour code:
ID
Guide Type:
Fully Guided
Group size:
1 - 50
Physical rating:
Please contact Riviera Travel if you have any concerns regarding the suitability of the holiday due to reduced mobility.
Age range:
9-99
Special diets catered:
Vegetarians, Please contact Riviera Travel with specific dietary requests.
Tour operated in:
EnglishTrip Styles:
Interests:
Activities:
From:
$2436 (USD) including Flights from the UKTourhub Members Discount - Sign In
Tour Overview
India, a unique country and civilisation, is a mindboggling potpourri of sights, sounds, colours and experiences as well as a culture-shock of astonishing contrasts. Immerse yourself in this tour and prepare for a revamp of any preconceptions towards one of the world's 'must-see' destinations!
The jewel of our tour is surely the Taj Mahal in the early morning, when its colours and ethereal beauty is at its most amazing. Built to house the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, Emperor Jahan's wife, it took 20,000 men 22 years to finish it. The end result transcends the extraordinary world monument it is. The tomb represents the ultimate expression of a pure and enduring love, a tangible expression of the u
nquantifiable. But there's more. We'll see the real India, a subcontinent that covers the full gamut of evolution, from the natural world, including the nation's unofficial symbol, the tiger, in Ranthambore, through the Rajasthan forts and palaces of the Moghul Empire, to the more recent Raj and British colonial influence.
We'll stay for three nights in Rajasthan, regarded as India's most colourful state, a region fringed by deserts, populated by a fiercely proud, warrior race and a plethora of forts and palaces. No area in all of India more clearly illustrates the paradox of ancient and modern which exist side by side.
We stay in Rajasthan's capital city of Jaipur, known as the 'Pink City' due to the colour of its walls and so many of its buildings, and we visit the Maharajah's City Palace as well as the great Amber Fort, one of the masterpieces of Rajput architecture, guarding the northern approaches to the city.
We delve, ever deeper, into the culture and history of Rajasthan with our stay at the Alsisar Mahal, a restored fort, converted into one of the region's best heritage hotels. A wonderfully romantic setting where Belgian crystal chandeliers hang above exquisite marble floors, cut from the very quarries that supplied the builders of the Taj Mahal.
On selected departures our tour continues on to the hill-station of Shimla, effectively the summer capital of India during the Raj. At over 7,300ft, the cooler climate made this the ideal location to escape from the searing summer temperatures on the plains below. Dominated by the baronial splendour of the Viceregal Lodge, Shimla was, in those days, a microcosm of late Victorian English society. Surrounded by vast forests of teak and pine and located across a long ridge with steep mountainous terrain on all sides, Shimla was not the easiest place to get to. But Victorian engineers managed to build one of the marvels of Indian Railways, the 96-kilometre narrow-gauge line to Shimla, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Our journey 'clickety-clicks' along those very tracks laid by those intrepid imperial engineers more than a century ago.
Highlights
Itinerary
Day 1 : Departure
Location: Delhi
Accommodation: Overnight Flight
Meals Included: No Meals
Airport check-in for your overnight flight to Delhi.
Day 2 : Arrival In New Delhi
Location: Delhi
Accommodation: Hotel
Accommodation Name: Le Meridien Hotel - New Delhi
Meals Included: Dinner
On arrival, we transfer to the five-star Le Meridien Hotel for one night. After a short rest we commence our guided tour of New Delhi. The city centre, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1911, is bisected by wide, tree-lined avenues, a hub which clearly reflects the Raj legacy and home to the former Viceroy’s Palace, now the Presidential Palace.
Heading down the imposing Rajpath, we pass India Gate and the Parliament building. We’ll visit some of Delhi’s older monuments, including the Qutub Minaret, started in 1199, which is the tallest stone built tower in India. Nearby is Humayun’s tomb, an outstanding example of Moghul architecture and the first mausoleum of its type, pre-dating the more widely known Taj Mahal by nearly a century. A buffet dinner is included tonight.
Day 3 : Old Delhi
Location: Delhi
Accommodation: Hotel
Accommodation Name: Le Meridien Hotel - New Delhi
Meals Included: Breakfast
This morning we continue our city tour, first visiting Old Delhi, starting with the Raj Ghat, a fittingly simple memorial to Mahatma Gandhi. We continue past the imposing walls and battlements of the great Red Fort before visiting the Jama Masjid, one of Asia’s largest mosques. We leave Delhi in the afternoon for our drive to Agra, arriving at our four-star Oberoi Trident hotel, in the late afternoon.Â
Day 4 : Taj Mahal
Location: Taj Mahal
Accommodation: Hotel
Accommodation Name: Oberoi Trident Hotel - Agra
Meals Included: Breakfast
We rise early to catch the sun rising over the Taj Mahal. In the soft morning light, as the mist rises from the Yamuna River behind it, the Taj Mahal seems to float, mirage-like, above the surrounding landscape. A combination of extraordinary beauty, symmetry and history makes this wonder of the world one of the most amazing monuments on the planet and you will have plenty of time to admire it from all angles. Moving on, we continue our tour with a visit to the vast red sandstone Agra Fort. Completed in 1573, it was the headquarters of the Moghul Empire, boasting vast size and opulence, its buildings make it more of a walled palace than a fort. In the evening you have the option of completing a wonderful day with another visit to the Taj Mahal, to witness the shrine at sunset.
Day 5 : Fatehpur Sikri
Location: Fatehpur Sikri
Accommodation: Hotel
Accommodation Name: Ranthambore Regency
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch
Leaving Agra this morning we continue towards the ancient abandoned city of Fatehpur Sikri, built in 1571, as Emperor Akbar’s imperial capital. Although it was mysteriously abandoned just 15 years later, it remains in a remarkable state of preservation, with numerus palaces, wide courtyards and beautiful carvings.
We stop for lunch (included) at the the Laxmi Vilas Palace in Bharat before going on to the railway station to catch the Shatabdi Express for our comfortable two and a half hour journey to Ranthambore National Park. Originally the private hunting preserve of Maharajahs, its 400 square kilometres of forested rolling hills, valleys and lakes form a unique ecosystem. Started in 1973, India’s famous Tiger Project was created to protect the country’s tiger population. Despite many difficulties, the tigers of Ranthambore have survived and numbers have stabilised.
Our hotel for the next two nights is the comfortable family-run three-star Ranthambore Regency on full board basis.
Day 6 : Ranthambore Tiger Safari
Location: Ranthambore National Park
Accommodation: Hotel
Accommodation Name: Ranthambore Regency
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
An early start this morning is worth the sacrifice as we head out to the park for our safari using specially built, 20-person, open-top four wheel drive vehicles known as ‘canters’. After many years of conservation, Ranthambore is now the best place to spot tigers in India, but the reserve is about more than tigers – over 300 bird species have been counted including impressive crested eagles, painted stork and wild peacocks. The park’s residents also include large numbers of sambars, the largest Asian antelope, as well as marsh crocodiles, wild boar and rare sloth bears and leopards. Look out for the playful troop of black-faced langur monkeys near the main entrance gate.
We return to our hotel in the late morning, with time to relax before and after lunch. In the afternoon we take our second trip into the park for another chance to spot the elusive tigers. Dinner is included this evening.
Day 7 : Jaipur
Location: Jaipur
Accommodation: Hotel
Accommodation Name: Jaipur Marriott Hotel
Meals Included: Breakfast
Leaving Ranthambore after breakfast we head north to the ‘Pink City’ of Jaipur. Our afternoon tour will cover all the major highlights of this ancient city. The famous Hawa Mahal, known as the Palace of Winds, is one of our first stops before we continue to the Astronomical Observatory constructed in 1726 and on to the City Palace, still home to the present Maharajah of Jaipur, where we’ll view collections of costumes, carpets, paintings and the impressive armoury.
Day 8 : Amber Fort
Location: Amber Palace
Accommodation: Hotel
Accommodation Name: Jaipur Marriott Hotel
Meals Included: Breakfast
This morning another highlight, on a tour of highlights: you’ll visit the immense Amber Fort, located in the hills just a short drive out of Jaipur. Sampling all the most fascinating sights, our guided tour includes the sections reserved for the Maharajah’s wives and concubines as well as the remarkable hall of mirrors, with tiny delicate convex mirrors embedded like a mosaic in the walls and ceilings.
Day 9 : Rajasthan
Location: Alsisar
Accommodation: Hotel
Accommodation Name: The Alsisar Mahal
Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner
After breakfast, we bid goodbye to Jaipur and head north, deeper into the interior of rural Rajasthan. We pass numerous small villages and towns on our way to the Sekhawati region of the state and the village of Alsisar. This was once part of India’s Silk Road and over the years the merchants here grew very rich, building a large number of luxurious mansions known as ‘havelis’, to display their wealth through the magnificence of their frescoed walls.
Although most of these have now been abandoned, the imposing and luxurious residence of the local kings has been lovingly restored into an amazing Heritage Hotel, the Alsisar Mahal, where we stay for the night with a buffet dinner. A maze of winding corridors, cool courtyards and arched colonnades, lead to the charming rooms, all different, but most are spacious and some with four-poster double beds. Rooms are air-conditioned, with bath or shower, but no TV.
In the afternoon we take a guided walk through the village to explore the best examples of the havelis that lie just outside the walls of the Alsisar Mahal. Dinner is included tonight.
Day 10 : New Delhi
Location: Delhi
Accommodation: Hotel
Accommodation Name: Le Meridien Hotel - New Delhi
Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner
After breakfast we head back to Delhi and the last night of our tour, at the Le Meridien Hotel. Dinner is included this evening.
Day 11 : Return Home
Location: Delhi
Meals Included: Breakfast
In the morning we will transfer to the airport for our flight home, arriving back in the UK to reflect on a once-in-a-lifetime tour.
What's Included
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Accommodation
Nine nights’ accommodation in three, four or five-star hotels
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Airport Transfers at Destination
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Entrance Fees
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Meals
Daily breakfast and seven meals
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Fully Guided
The services of a Riviera Travel tour manager
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International Travel
Scheduled flights to/from Delhi
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Transport
All local transport by train or coach as described
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All transfers
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All local accommodation taxes
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All flight taxes
What's Not Included
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Tipping and Gratuities
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Insurance
Check out our Q&As
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Are all the relevant entry visa’s included in the price of the tour?
No
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Will there be an escort accompanying this tour?
Yes
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Is the tour coach air conditioned?
Yes
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Is there any free time to explore places during the tour?
As detailed in the itinerary
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Are children permitted to take part in the tour?
We are unable to accommodate children under 9 years old at the date of departure..
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Are flights included in this tour?
Scheduled flights to/from Delhi
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Are the local guides on the tour English speaking?
Yes
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Will I know the names and details of all the accommodation before I depart?
Yes
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What is the standard of the hotels on this tour?
As detailed in the itinerary
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Are airport transfers included in this tour?
Yes
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How long has the tour company been trading?
For almost 40 years
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I have reduced mobility; can I still travel?
We want to ensure you make the correct choice before you book your holiday with us. If you have any concerns regarding the suitability of the holiday due to reduced mobility we would encourage you to contact us to discuss these concerns
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Do I require travel insurance?
It is a condition of booking that you carry suitable travel insurance.
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What is my luggage allowance?
You will receive details of your luggage allowance with your final travel documents, which are sent approximately 10 days prior to your date of departure.
Reviews of this Operator
Dates & Availability
Monday - Thursday
Oct 07, 2024 - Oct 17, 2024Thursday - Sunday
Jan 16, 2025 - Jan 26, 2025Monday - Thursday
Mar 10, 2025 - Mar 20, 2025Thursday - Sunday
Apr 03, 2025 - Apr 13, 2025Thursday - Sunday
Oct 09, 2025 - Oct 19, 2025Monday - Thursday
Nov 03, 2025 - Nov 13, 2025Book with Confidence
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Low Deposit
Riviera Travel requires a minimum deposit of 500 GBP per person or the full booking value, whichever is less, with the final balance not due until 75 days before departure.
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Cancellation Policy
We don't charge a cancellation fee, here is a summary of riviera travel charges.
Up to 75 days before tour starts: Forfeit 100% of deposit.
At 74 days before tour starts: Forfeit 50% of booking price.
At 60 days before tour starts: Forfeit 70% of booking price.
At 30 days before tour starts: Forfeit 90% of booking price.
At 14 days before tour starts: Forfeit 100% of booking price.
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