Arrive in Delhi. Meet at Indira Gandhi International Airport and transfer to your hotel. Day at leisure. Meals: none included · Overnight: Delhi

Delhi sightseeing: Old Delhi — the Red Fort, Jama Masjid and a cycle-rickshaw ride through Chandni Chowk. Then New Delhi: Humayun’s Tomb, the Qutab Minar, and a drive past India Gate and Rashtrapati Bhavan. Distance approx. 50 km across the day · Meals: breakfast included · Overnight Delhi

Drive to Jaipur. Depart for Jaipur, the Pink City, arriving in the afternoon. Check in, then an evening at leisure — the bazaars around Johari and Bapu are worth an hour on foot. Distance approx. 270 km · Driving time approx. 5 hrs · Meals: breakfast included · Overnight Jaipur

Jaipur: Amber Fort, City Palace, Hawa Mahal. Ascend to the Amber Fort by elephant, explore the Sheesh Mahal and the courtyards, and stop at the Jal Mahal on the lake. Afternoon at the City Palace and Jantar Mantar, finishing with the Hawa Mahal façade. Distance approx. 40 km across the day · Meals: breakfast included · Overnight Jaipur

To Agra via Fatehpur Sikri; Taj Mahal at sunset. Drive east to Agra, stopping at Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar’s abandoned red sandstone capital. Continue to Agra and visit the Taj Mahal in the late afternoon light. Distance approx. 240 km · Driving time approx. 5 hrs including the stop · Meals: breakfast included · Overnight Agra

Train to Jhansi, drive to Khajuraho via Orchha. Morning visit to Agra Fort, then the train to Jhansi. From there, drive to Khajuraho, stopping at Orchha — a riverside complex of Bundela palaces and cenotaphs that most travellers have never heard of and remember longest. Arrive Khajuraho in the evening. Train + approx. 175 km by road · Meals: breakfast included · Overnight Khajuraho

Khajuraho: Western and Eastern temple groups. A full day among the temples. Built by the Chandela dynasty between the tenth and twelfth centuries and lost to the forest for eight hundred years, the surviving complexes are covered in some of the finest stone sculpture in India. The Western group is the largest and most complete; the Eastern group includes the Jain temples. Optional evening sound-and-light show. Meals:
breakfast included · Overnight Khajuraho

Drive to Prayagraj, Triveni Sangam. A long drive east to Prayagraj, at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. Visit the Triveni Sangam, where a short boat ride takes you out to the point where the two visible rivers meet — one green, one brown, running side by side before they merge. Distance approx. 280 km · Driving time approx. 6 hrs · Meals: breakfast included · Overnight Prayagraj

To Varanasi; evening Ganga Aarti. Drive on to Varanasi and check in. In the evening, descend to Dashashwamedh Ghat for the Ganga Aarti — the nightly fire ceremony performed by priests in unison at the water’s edge, watched from the steps and from boats on the river. Distance approx. 125 km · Driving time approx. 3 hrs · Meals: breakfast included · Overnight Varanasi

Sunrise boat ride and the temples of Varanasi. Out before dawn for a boat ride along the ghats as the light comes up — bathers, pilgrims, laundry, cremation fires and the whole vertical face of the old city rising from the water. Afterwards, a walk through the lanes of the old town and visits to the principal temples. Afternoon free. Meals: breakfast included · Overnight Varanasi

Excursion to Sarnath. A half-day excursion to Sarnath, where the Buddha delivered his first sermon after enlightenment — the Dhamek Stupa, the excavated monastery ruins and the archaeological museum with the Ashokan lion capital. Afternoon at leisure in Varanasi. Distance approx. 25 km · Meals: breakfast included · Overnight Varanasi

Fly to Delhi, connect for departure. Transfer to Varanasi airport for the flight to Delhi, connecting with your international departure.
Meals: breakfast included · Departure