Golden Triangle food journey

After arrival, your guide meets you at the hotel late morning.

• The first stop is Old Delhi near Chandni Chowk, where you walk through lanes of sweet shops, parathas, kebabs and chaat stalls.
• Your guide picks places with busy kitchens and high turnover, and you taste a little at each so you are not full by noon.
• A visit to the Khari Baoli spice market lets you smell cardamom, cloves and dried chillies.
• Jama Masjid's courtyard offers a pause.
• In the afternoon, Humayun's Tomb gives a calm walk after the food.
• Dinner is lighter, perhaps at a restaurant serving North Indian cooking.
• Tell your guide about allergies and spice tolerance on arrival.
• Eat lightly at breakfast, because the walk offers many small tastes.
• Your guide carries wet wipes and bottled water, and will steer you away from anything you would rather avoid.

Leave after breakfast on the four-hour expressway drive.

• A stop midway offers fresh parathas or tea.
• In Agra, lunch is a traditional Mughlai meal with kebabs, biryani and breads, in a place your guide recommends.
• After a rest, the Agra Fort is the afternoon sight, and its red sandstone halls show the Mughal court the food came from.
• At dusk the driver stops at the Taj viewpoint at Mehtab Bagh.
• Dinner is at the hotel or a quiet restaurant in the old city.
• The Taj itself is closed on Fridays, so the plan is arranged around your dates.
• Try the petha, the translucent pumpkin sweet that Agra is known for.

If you wish, begin with an early Taj visit, as the gates open at sunrise and you are back for breakfast.

• Then leave at about ten for Jaipur, roughly five hours.
• The road passes Fatehpur Sikri, where you stop for an hour, and lunch is at a roadside restaurant serving local dal baati or simple thali.
• You arrive in Jaipur in the late afternoon.
• Take a walk in the old city lanes close to the hotel, where tea sellers and sweet shops are busy.
• Dinner is a Rajasthani thali with several small dishes.
• Pace yourself, because the portions are generous.
• The thali is served with many small bowls, so you can taste widely and leave what you dislike.
• Ask for the sweets last, since Rajasthani desserts are rich.
• A short walk afterwards helps digestion.

Begin with Amber Fort in the morning, when it is cool and quiet.

• Then your guide takes you to the old city bazaars, where you try kachori with spiced lentil, lassi in clay cups and the sweet ghewar if it is in season.
• Stop at a spice merchant and a tea stall.
• Lunch is at a local restaurant known for Rajasthani dishes such as laal maas or a vegetarian thali, depending on your preference.
• The afternoon includes the City Palace and Hawa Mahal.
• In the evening, the driver takes you to a rooftop restaurant with a view of the lit-up palace.
• Cooking classes can be discussed when we plan, but are not assumed.

A looser day.

• Start with a late breakfast, then visit the Jantar Mantar and the City Palace museum if you have not yet.
• Midday is for a long lunch at a restaurant your guide selects, perhaps at a heritage haveli.
• In the afternoon, you can visit a chai stall, a block-printing workshop, or a family spice shop, and browse the Johari and Bapu bazaars for textiles.
• Many guests choose to rest before dinner.
• For the evening, Nahargarh Fort offers a sunset view, with snacks if you wish.
• Bring a light jacket, and carry water throughout.
• If you prefer, replace the afternoon with a rest at the hotel and join the evening tour only.
• Tea in a clay cup from a street stall is a small pleasure worth trying, and your guide will point out a clean stand.

After breakfast the car leaves for Delhi, a drive of roughly five to six hours with a lunch stop at a roadside restaurant known for its fresh bread.

• If your flight is in the evening, you arrive in good time for the airport.
• Flights are not included, so share your flight time when we plan.
• Your driver takes you to the airport or hotel, and your guide can suggest where to eat on your last evening in Delhi.
• Carry any spices you buy in sealed bags, and ask for them to be packed for travel.
• Bread and sweets bought at roadside stops travel well in the car, but spicy dishes are best kept for lunch.
• If you want to take home tea or spice blends, your guide can steer you to reliable sellers.