Luxury Golden Triangle, five-star hotels

Your driver meets you at arrivals with your name and takes you to your five-star hotel to rest.

• Once you are ready, your guide joins you for Humayun's Tomb, a red sandstone and white marble tomb set in a large symmetrical garden, then a drive past India Gate and the government buildings.
• Lunch is unhurried.
• Later in the afternoon, if you have the energy, the car takes you to the old city for the Jama Masjid courtyard and a slow walk through the lanes of Chandni Chowk.
• If you land late at night, we move the sightseeing to a later start the next morning.

After a relaxed breakfast you leave Delhi on the Yamuna Expressway.

• The drive takes about three to four hours with a coffee stop, and you reach your five-star hotel in Agra around lunchtime.
• After a rest your guide takes you to Agra Fort, the sandstone palace-fortress of the Mughal emperors, and then to Itimad-ud-Daulah, the inlaid marble tomb on the river.
• If the sky is clear, the day can end at Mehtab Bagh, across the river from the Taj, as the light turns gold.
• Dinner is at the hotel, and an early night helps, because tomorrow starts before dawn.

Your driver takes you to the gate before dawn so that you enter when it opens.

• In the half light the Taj Mahal is cool and quiet, and the marble moves from grey to pink to cream.
• Your guide leads you to the best viewpoints, explains the inlay and the minarets, and gives you time on your own.
• Plan roughly two hours inside.
• You are back at the hotel for a slow breakfast, and the rest of the morning is yours.
• Later in the day the car can take you to Sikandra, Akbar's tomb, a calm garden complex on the edge of town.
• The Taj is closed on Fridays, so we plan the route around that.
• In December and January fog can hide the sunrise, and when it does we wait for the light to clear.

You leave after breakfast for Jaipur, about five hours with stops.

• The first stop is Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar's red sandstone capital, left empty after only a few years.
• Your guide shows you the palaces, the pillared halls and the white marble tomb of Salim Chishti.
• The road then runs west through mustard fields and small towns, with lunch at a restaurant your driver knows.
• You arrive at your five-star hotel in Jaipur in the late afternoon, with time to rest before dinner.

The day starts early at Amber Fort, before the heat and the crowds.

• Your guide walks you through the courtyards, the Hall of Mirrors and the old ramparts.
• After lunch you visit the City Palace and the Jantar Mantar observatory, and then pass the Hawa Mahal.
• The afternoon is kept open on purpose: you can return to the hotel, visit the bazaars for block-printed textiles and jewellery with your guide, or simply rest.
• In the evening, the car can take you to a rooftop for the view over the old city at dusk.

After a slow breakfast your driver takes you back to Delhi, about five to six hours with stops.

• We time the drive around your flight.
• Your driver takes you to the airport or to your hotel, and one of the team will message you the day before to confirm the timing.