Golden Triangle honeymoon

Your driver meets you at arrivals with a name board and takes you to the hotel in a cool, quiet car.

• The airport drive is usually under an hour.
• Check-in is yours to enjoy: rest, swim, take tea in the garden.
• Nothing is planned for the evening unless you ask.
• If you feel awake, the driver can take you for a short drive past India Gate and the tree-lined avenues of New Delhi, which are lit softly at night.
• Dinner at the hotel is a fine way to begin.
• Tell your driver when you would like to start tomorrow, and he will keep it relaxed.
• Honeymoon trips often begin tired, so this day is deliberately light.

Start at ten rather than eight.

• Your guide joins you for Humayun's Tomb, a calm garden complex that is a good first taste of Mughal architecture, then Qutub Minar.
• Lunch is somewhere quiet; your guide can suggest a courtyard restaurant.
• After a rest, the afternoon is Old Delhi at its gentlest: a short cycle rickshaw ride through the lanes near Jama Masjid, and a stop for tea or sweets.
• If you prefer, skip the old city and have a slow afternoon at the hotel instead.
• For the evening, a drive past the India Gate lights is optional.
• Wear shoes that slip off easily for the mosque, and carry a scarf to cover shoulders.

Leave after breakfast, around ten, for the roughly four-hour drive to Agra on the expressway.

• A break halfway has coffee and clean facilities.
• You arrive in the early afternoon and can rest at the hotel.
• Late in the day, your guide takes you to the Agra Fort, whose red sandstone walls face the Taj across the river, and the light turns warm around five.
• Then the driver takes you to Mehtab Bagh, the garden on the far bank, for a first view of the Taj at sunset, which is quiet and romantic with few people.
• Dinner is at the hotel.
• Tomorrow's sunrise visit means an early night.
• Ask the driver to pause for a photograph of the river at golden hour.
• The hotel can arrange a late dinner so you are not hurried back, and the guide leaves you alone as soon as you wish.

Wake early, as the driver takes you to the Taj Mahal gates around dawn.

• Your guide leads you through security, where large bags are not allowed, and into the garden as the marble shifts from grey to pink to white.
• Take your time.
• Many couples enjoy the bench near the central pool for photographs, and your guide can take your picture.
• The Taj is closed on Fridays, so if your dates fall on one, we move the visit to another morning.
• In December and January, fog can flatten the sunrise.
• Return to the hotel for a leisurely breakfast and a long rest.
• Itimad-ud-Daulah, the small marble tomb with delicate inlay, is a gentle afternoon visit before the evening.

After a late breakfast, the car leaves for Jaipur, a drive of roughly five hours.

• On the way, you stop at Fatehpur Sikri, the red sandstone Mughal capital abandoned centuries ago, for about an hour with your guide, and then at Abhaneri's deep stepwell if you wish.
• Lunch is at a roadside restaurant with a garden.
• You reach Jaipur in the late afternoon and check in at the hotel.
• The evening is free.
• A short drive up to Nahargarh Fort at sunset gives a view over the pink city, and a quiet dinner follows.
• Bring a light jacket, as it is breezy at the fort.
• Wear comfortable shoes for the courtyards at Fatehpur Sikri, which has uneven stone underfoot.
• If either of you tires on the road, the driver will find a quiet place to stop for a cold drink and a rest.

Begin early at Amber Fort, when the courtyards are cool and quiet, and walk through the mirror hall with your guide.

• On the way back, the car stops at the Jal Mahal for a photograph.
• If your flight is in the afternoon, a short visit to the City Palace or the Hawa Mahal facade fits before lunch.
• The drive back to Delhi is roughly five to six hours, so we plan a departure time that suits your flight; most couples fly home that night from Delhi.
• Flights are not included, so share your flight time when we plan.
• Your driver takes you to Delhi airport or your onward hotel, and the team can discuss a final night in Delhi if you prefer.