Golden Triangle with birds

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

• If you arrive in the morning or afternoon, your guide offers a first look at Delhi: Humayun's Tomb, with its gardens and its red and white stone, and a drive along the broad avenues past India Gate.
• Lodhi Garden, a short distance away, is a calm place to walk and often has parakeets, kites and a few other birds, a gentle preview of what comes later.
• Bring binoculars if you have them, along with a hat and sturdy shoes, since the wetland days involve a lot of walking.
• Dinner is easy, and the guide explains the order of the next days over a quiet meal.
• Delhi can be loud, so most guests find an early night best.

After breakfast you drive south-east on the expressway to Agra, roughly four hours with a tea stop.

• You arrive around midday, eat lunch, and spend the afternoon at Agra Fort, whose red sandstone walls hold marble mosques, audience halls and a long view along the river toward the Taj.
• Your guide tells the story of the Mughal emperors who built and lived in it.
• Later, cross the river to Mehtab Bagh, the garden facing the Taj, where the white dome turns gold toward evening and waterbirds sometimes gather on the bank.
• Dinner is at the hotel.
• The Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays, so we plan the Agra days to avoid that.
• Tomorrow starts early at the monument itself.

Visit the Taj Mahal early, soon after opening.

• The marble is cool, the light is soft and the crowds are fewer.
• Your guide takes you through the gateway, along the water channel to the platform, and into the tomb chamber, explaining the inlay and the symmetry.
• After breakfast you leave Agra and stop at Fatehpur Sikri, the red sandstone city Akbar built and left, about forty kilometres away.
• Then the road to Bharatpur is short, roughly an hour more.
• Check in and have a rest, and in the late afternoon the guide takes you into Keoladeo National Park for a first walk.
• Cycle rickshaws, driven by local men who know the paths, carry visitors along the causeways.
• The late light is often the best time for herons and storks.

Be at the park gate at opening for the finest hours.

• You travel by cycle rickshaw or on foot with a trained naturalist, who points out birds by call as much as sight.
• Depending on the season you might see painted storks, spoonbills, egrets, kingfishers, owls and the tall sarus crane; between October and February migrants arrive from the north.
• In some years water levels are low, and the guide will tell you what is possible.
• Tea is available by the temple deep inside the park.
• By late morning return to the hotel for breakfast, then drive to Jaipur, roughly four hours through farmland.
• You reach the city in the afternoon.
• In the evening you may stroll to the Hawa Mahal from the street, and have dinner nearby.

Begin at Amber Fort early in the day, when the courtyards are cool.

• Walk through the Ganesh Gate, the Diwan-i-Aam and the mirrored Sheesh Mahal, with views over Maota Lake.
• Back in the city, the guide leads you through the City Palace, still partly a royal home, and the Jantar Mantar, whose huge stone instruments tell time and track the stars.
• Lunch is in the old city.
• In the afternoon walk the bazaars for block-printed fabric, silver, lac bangles and blue pottery, or visit a workshop to see the printing done by hand.
• If you prefer a quieter hour, Jaipur has several gardens where kites and parakeets can be seen.
• The evening is for dinner and rest before the final day.

After breakfast you drive back to Delhi, roughly five to six hours with a stop for lunch.

• Your driver chooses a clean roadside restaurant and keeps a close eye on traffic as you approach the capital.
• If you have an evening flight, you can leave Jaipur in the morning without rushing; for an earlier flight, we can move your Jaipur night or start before dawn.
• The driver takes you to the airport or your Delhi hotel.
• Flights are not included in our journeys, so book your onward flight once your plan is confirmed and leave a generous margin for Delhi traffic.
• The drive is steady and the highway has several clean rest stops, so you can pause for tea whenever you like.
• Kites often sit on roadside poles along the highway, so a pair of binoculars in the car is still useful.
• Thank you for travelling with us.