Cruise Lake Pichola by boat for waterside views of Udaipur’s City Palace, Jag Mandir and shoreline mansions. Look towards the Aravalli Hills as the lake frames the city’s marble balconies and palatial facades.

First created in the 14th century, the lake became central to the landscape shaped by Udaipur’s Mewar rulers. Seeing the city from the water brings its royal architecture and lakeside setting into a single, distinctive view.

• 7 Dinner (D)
• 10 Breakfast (B)
• 3 Lunch (L)

• Agra: Walk through Kachhpura village, where vibrant murals illustrate scenes from the Ramayana, India’s ancient epic chronicling the life of Prince Rama and the triumph of good over evil. Discover local projects focused on sustainable farming and water conservation. The walk ends at Mehtab Bagh, the Moonlight Garden aligned across the river from the Taj Mahal, where you’ll enjoy pakoras and tea with one of the city’s most iconic views.
• Sariska Tiger Reserve: Observe a local chef as they prepare regional specialities using traditional Rajasthani techniques. The demonstration highlights the use of aromatic spices and cooking methods rooted in desert traditions, with recipes often adapted to seasonal ingredients and centuries-old practices passed down through families.
• Jaipur: Experience patangbaazi, the traditional sport of kite flying, at a family-run haveli built by the Thakur of Mandawa. Practised in Jaipur since the 18th-century, this competitive pastime involves cutting rivals’ strings mid-air, a favoured pursuit of kings. Join expert kite flyers on the Chandni Terrace and take part in the cultural custom of tying a Rajasthani turban or scarf. Enjoy Indian high tea with spiced chai and regional snacks.

Insight Vacations

• Top-rated dining, from farm-to-table to local restaurants
• 4 & 5-star stays
• Business class coach with extended leg room, and select flights

Meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers over a welcome dinner at a local Delhi restaurant. Taste traditional North Indian dishes shaped by aromatic spices, and raise a glass of wine or locally brewed beer.

The shared meal offers an introduction to the flavours of the region and a chance to get to know the people travelling with you through India.

Visit Jama Masjid, one of India’s largest mosques, and ride a rickshaw through Chandni Chowk. Its crowded lanes bring you close to spice stalls, textile shops and tea vendors, with the red sandstone walls of the Red Fort visible along the way.

Visit Raj Ghat, the memorial at Mahatma Gandhi’s cremation site. Together, these places reveal Old Delhi’s Mughal heritage, trading traditions and modern national history.

Explore Bangla Sahib Gurdwara, a Sikh place of worship recognised by its golden dome and serene pool. Meet volunteers involved in its community kitchen, which prepares and serves thousands of free meals each day.

The kitchen puts seva, or selfless service, into practice for visitors from all backgrounds. The gurdwara is associated with Guru Har Krishan, the eighth Sikh Guru, and remains an active centre of worship and community life.

Explore Humayun’s Tomb amid the formal gardens of this UNESCO World Heritage Site in Delhi. Look closely at the mausoleum’s red sandstone, white marble and balanced design, which bring Persian and Mughal influences together.

Commissioned by Empress Bega Begum for her husband in the 16th century, it was the first garden tomb on the Indian subcontinent. Its architecture helped shape later Mughal monuments, including the Taj Mahal.

Explore Agrasen ki Baoli, a historic stepwell tucked into central New Delhi. Descend beside its long tiers of stone steps and repeated arches to appreciate the geometric design of a structure built to reach and store water.

Believed to have been rebuilt during the Lodi period, the baoli offers a view of Delhi’s older water-management traditions amid the surrounding modern city. Its depth and symmetry make its practical purpose strikingly visible.

Walk with a guide through Kachhpura, an Agra riverside village where murals depict scenes from the Ramayana. Learn about local initiatives supporting sustainable farming and water conservation.

Visit Mehtab Bagh, the Mughal garden aligned with the Taj Mahal across the Yamuna River. Tea and pakoras accompany a view that lets you take in the mausoleum’s form and garden setting from the opposite bank.

Visit the Taj Mahal at sunrise, when early light brings definition to its white marble, inlaid details and carefully balanced silhouette. Explore the monument and its formal gardens in the quieter hours of the morning.

Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned this 17th-century mausoleum in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Its precise symmetry and fusion of architectural traditions make it a defining achievement of Mughal design.

Explore Agra Fort, the red sandstone stronghold that served as both an imperial residence and a centre of Mughal power. Visit its palaces and audience halls to see how successive emperors adapted the complex.

Begun under Emperor Akbar in the 16th century, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is also linked to Shah Jahan, who spent his final years confined here. Its layered architecture tells a story of royal ambition and changing fortunes.

Dine in a former princely residence in the Agra region, where carved stonework and historic courtyards provide the setting for a traditional Indian lunch. Savour Rajasthani specialities while taking in the building’s Indo-Saracenic character.

Constructed during the reign of Maharaja Ganga Singh, the residence brings a sense of princely history to the table. This is a chance to experience regional cooking in a setting closely tied to the royal heritage explored throughout Rajasthan.

Experience a cultural performance near Sariska Tiger Reserve featuring music and dance traditions from the surrounding region. Listen to the rhythms and watch the movements that give this gathering its local character.

Presented during an evening at the resort, the performance offers a different perspective on the area beyond its forests and wildlife. It brings Rajasthan’s expressive traditions into focus in a relaxed setting shared with fellow travellers.

Set out on morning and afternoon game drives through Sariska Tiger Reserve with expert trackers. Search its dry forests and varied terrain for sambar deer, nilgai, leopards and Bengal tigers, while watching for the reserve’s abundant birdlife.

Once a hunting ground for Alwar’s maharajas, Sariska is now a protected habitat where tigers have been reintroduced. The two drives reveal how the landscape and opportunities for wildlife sightings change across the day; sightings remain unpredictable.

Watch a local chef demonstrate Rajasthani cooking near Sariska Tiger Reserve. See how aromatic spices, regional ingredients and established techniques are brought together to prepare local specialities.

Rajasthan’s cooking traditions developed in response to its landscapes and seasonal produce, with methods and recipes passed through families. The demonstration offers a closer look at those practical choices and the flavours behind dishes encountered during the journey.

Ride through Jaipur’s walled city by e-rickshaw with a woman driver from The Pink City Rickshaw Co. Pass the old city’s lively streets and the intricate facade of the Palace of the Winds.

This social enterprise trains local women as drivers and equity holders, creating economic opportunities alongside a distinctive way to explore the Pink City. The journey connects Jaipur’s historic architecture with a present-day initiative supporting women’s livelihoods.

Dine outdoors at a private rural estate in the Aravalli Hills near Jaipur. Enjoy Indian specialities made with seasonal ingredients beneath the evening sky, with lanterns and traditional furnishings shaping the setting.

The estate was once used by Jaipur’s nobility for countryside hunting retreats. Its location offers a sense of the rural landscape beyond the city, while the meal draws on regional flavours in a place connected to Rajasthan’s princely past.

Travel by Jeep to Amber Fort, the hilltop stronghold overlooking the landscape near Jaipur. Explore its courtyards, mirrored halls and painted chambers, and take part in a special blessing rooted in local tradition.

Built by the Kachhwaha Rajputs from the 16th century onward, the fort combines defensive ramparts with richly decorated royal spaces. Its sandstone and marble architecture reveals both the authority and artistic tastes of Rajasthan’s former rulers.

Visit Jaipur’s City Palace, a complex of courtyards and audience halls that remains associated with the city’s royal family. Explore its museum displays of costumes, manuscripts and arms for a closer look at courtly life.

Established in the 18th century, the palace brings Rajput and Mughal influences together within the heart of the Pink City. Its continuing royal connection makes it both a historic landmark and a living part of Jaipur’s identity.

Choose to visit the Albert Hall Museum as your included Jaipur Insight Choice. Explore collections that include miniature paintings, textiles, sculpture and artefacts from across India inside Rajasthan’s oldest state museum.

Completed in 1887, its grand Indo-Saracenic building was originally envisioned as a centre for industrial arts. The displays offer a window onto Jaipur’s patronage of craftsmanship and the wider artistic traditions that have shaped the region.

Choose to explore Jantar Mantar as your included Jaipur Insight Choice. Walk among monumental instruments designed to track celestial movements, including one of the world’s largest stone sundials.

Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II built this observatory in the 18th century. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it expresses his interest in astronomy through architecture on an extraordinary scale. This activity is an alternative to the Albert Hall Museum visit, rather than an additional scheduled stop.

Visit Dera Mandawa, a family haveli in Jaipur, for Indian high tea and a hands-on introduction to patangbaazi, traditional kite flying. Join experienced kite flyers on the terrace and try the local custom of tying a Rajasthani turban or scarf.

Kite flying has long been a competitive pastime in Jaipur, with participants aiming to cut rivals’ strings in the sky. Spiced chai and regional snacks add to the welcome at this historic family home.

Enjoy a farm-to-table lunch at Bijay Niwas Palace, a former royal estate in rural Rajasthan. Taste traditional dishes prepared with seasonal produce from its on-site organic farm, surrounded by orchards and fields.

The farm also provides employment for nearby communities. The meal connects local ingredients and agricultural traditions with the history of a princely retreat, offering a closer view of rural life beyond Rajasthan’s major cities.

Tour Deogarh Mahal with a Local Expert, exploring the courtyards, audience halls and painted rooms of this 17th-century hilltop residence. Hear how the Thakur family has restored its ancestral home while preserving the stories held within its walls.

Built by Rawat Dwarka Dasji, the palace reflects Rajput and Mughal influences and the heritage of the Marwar region. Its continuing role as a family residence gives the visit a personal dimension beyond its architectural detail.

Explore Udaipur’s City Palace, the sprawling royal complex above Lake Pichola. Discover marble balconies, mirrored interiors and museum collections of costumes, weaponry and decorative arts.

Built and extended over four centuries by Mewar rulers, the palace blends Rajput and Mughal design. Its position above the water makes clear why Udaipur’s royal residence remains one of the city’s defining sights, while its collections reveal details of courtly life.

Walk through central Udaipur, passing the carved Jagdish Temple and visiting Saheliyon-ki-Bari, the Garden of the Maidens. See the garden’s ornamental features before exploring a local bazaar lined with textiles, jewellery and artisan crafts.

The 17th-century temple and garden reveal different sides of the city’s heritage: public devotion and a leisure space created for royal women. The bazaar adds the colour and activity of everyday Udaipur.

Dine overlooking Lake Pichola with your Travel Director and fellow travellers. Enjoy regional cuisine and raise a toast together as Udaipur’s lakeside palaces begin to glow at dusk.

The waterside setting brings the city’s royal architecture into view during a shared closing meal. It is an opportunity to reflect on the places and traditions encountered across Rajasthan while experiencing Udaipur’s evening atmosphere.

Witness an Aarti ceremony at Jaipur’s Birla Temple, an evening Hindu ritual of light and prayer. Observe the offering of lamps and hear devotional sounds within the temple setting.

Also known as Lakshmi Narayan Temple, this white-marble landmark is dedicated to Vishnu and Lakshmi. The ceremony offers a glimpse of living religious practice. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Join a guided yoga session at Deogarh Mahal with a trained instructor. Practise in the calm surroundings of the historic palace, focusing on movement and breath away from the bustle of Rajasthan’s cities.

The 17th-century former royal residence provides an atmospheric setting for a tradition deeply associated with India. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.