7-Day Private Golden Triangle

Your driver meets you at the airport and takes you to the hotel.

• There is nothing fixed today, because many flights land late at night or very early.
• If you arrive in daylight, we can drive you through the tree-lined avenues of New Delhi and stop at Lodhi Gardens, a calm park with fifteenth century tombs and joggers in the evening.
• It is a gentle introduction and helps you shake off jet lag.
• Dinner is at the hotel, or at a restaurant your driver can suggest.
• Drink plenty of water, since Delhi air is dry and often dusty.
• We keep this day light on purpose so that tomorrow's guide-led day starts rested.
• Please send your flight details when we plan so the driver can track your arrival.

After breakfast your guide takes you to Humayun's Tomb, the garden tomb built in the sixteenth century that foreshadows the Taj.

• The car then goes to Qutub Minar, with its tall tower, iron pillar and ruined mosque, then through Lutyens Delhi past India Gate.
• After a long lunch you head to Old Delhi.
• The Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in the city, comes first, and then a walk or rickshaw ride into Chandni Chowk, where spice sellers, sweet shops and silver dealers share the same lanes.
• Cover shoulders and knees for the mosque.
• Red Fort is closed on Mondays, so on those days we swap it for another sight such as the Raj Ghat.
• Your driver collects you at an agreed point, and you are back at the hotel by evening.

You leave after breakfast on the Yamuna Expressway, which reaches Agra in roughly three to four hours.

• The road is wide and fast, and a coffee stop near the midpoint is easy.
• You check in around lunchtime and rest for a while.
• In the afternoon your guide takes you to Agra Fort, the Mughal fortress on the river, and then to Itimad-ud-Daulah, a small tomb of white marble with delicate inlaid flowers.
• If you wish, the day ends at Mehtab Bagh, the garden that faces the Taj across the Yamuna, which is quiet and good for photographs as the light warms.
• Dinner is at the hotel.
• Go to bed early because tomorrow begins before dawn.

You leave the hotel in the dark and arrive as the gates open.

• Your guide walks you through the entrance gate, where the Taj Mahal first appears framed by the arch, then along the long pool to the platform.
• The first light turns the marble from grey to pink.
• You spend roughly two hours inside, including the mausoleum interior and the side mosques.
• Breakfast back at the hotel is relaxed, and the rest of the morning is free.
• In the afternoon the car can take you to Sikandra, the tomb of Akbar, set in a wide garden with deer and monkeys, or you can rest.
• In December and January fog can hide the sunrise, so we keep the morning flexible.
• The Taj is closed on Fridays.

Leave after breakfast for Jaipur, roughly five hours with stops.

• Your first stop is Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar's former capital in red sandstone, where the guide explains the Diwan-i-Khas pillar, the Panch Mahal and the great mosque courtyard.
• Allow ninety minutes.
• The road continues west across flat farmland, and lunch is at a roadside place the driver knows.
• If you want, a short stop at the Abhaneri stepwell, a deep stepped well with hundreds of symmetrical stairs, adds about twenty minutes.
• You reach Jaipur in the late afternoon, check in and rest.
• In the early evening, the car can take you for a short drive past the Hawa Mahal and the lit-up old city walls, with a stop at a bazaar if you feel like walking.

Your guide meets you early for Amber Fort, which is best before the heat and the crowds.

• You walk up the ramp or ride, enter through the Sun Gate and explore the Sheesh Mahal, with its mirror ceilings, and the terraces above Maota Lake.
• On the way back the car stops for a photo at the Jal Mahal.
• Then comes the City Palace, with its museum rooms and courtyards, and the Jantar Mantar, where huge stone instruments measure time and the stars.
• Lunch is slow.
• In the afternoon, you can walk the bazaars near Johari Bazaar or visit a workshop making block-printed cloth, which can be discussed when we plan.
• End at the Hawa Mahal in golden light.

After breakfast you set out for Delhi, roughly five to six hours depending on traffic at the city edge.

• A coffee or lunch stop around the halfway point is easy to arrange.
• If you have a free morning, a last short stop at a market or a view of Nahargarh Fort can be added before leaving, but please tell us your onward time when we plan.
• Your driver takes you to the airport or your Delhi hotel, and the guide has already said goodbye in Jaipur.
• Keep water and a light snack in the car, and let the driver know when you want a rest stop.
• We say goodbye at the terminal.