10 Days India Tour Plan Of Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Varanasi and Khajuraho
Places covered:
Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Varanasi and Khajuraho
Activities:
Food tours, cooking classes, playtime with elephants, desert safaris, introduction to spices.
Mode of transport:
By road and air
Accomodation:
A mix of best heritage and boutique hotels and homestays.
Meals:
All meals included in the tour package are from food tours, top specialty restaurants and hotels.
Sightseeing:
Major landmarks in each city along with lesser known places during city walks.
Duration:
10 days, not counting one free day.
Dates:
Suitable for almost all year.
Extra:
A professional photography guide can be included for help with photography and photo tours in certain cities of choice.
Travel Itinerary
Delhi Culinary Delights
First day in Delhi will begin with a vward winning food tour of Delhi. This tour will serve as a great introduction to Indian food, sights and culture and will help set the tone for rest of your trip to India. There will be approximately 16-18 different Indian food dishes from different Indian cuisines and you’ll visit up to 10 different food joints in Old Delhi, Central and South Delhi. All of the food joints that you’ll visit have been in business for generations and are famous for their quality of food. The oldest place in the list is in business for 110 years and youngest for 40. You’ll sample delicacies like samosa, lassi, butter chicken, kulfi (Indian ice creams), melt in mouth kebabs and much more. The Old Delhi part of the tour will take you through the old, narrow streets of medieval Delhi marked by old mansions, centuries old market and thousands of people milling about in their daily routine. Each lane in this area is a market for different commodity like invitation cards, spices, bicycles, cameras, utensils, vegetables, clothes , shoes, books and much more. The food tour will also include a visit to Spice Market of Delhi and a Bangla Sahib Gurudwara with a charitable kitchen which feeds more than 10000 people every day.
ACTIVITY: Sightseeing, food tour
Delhi Sights
This day in Delhi will be dedicated to exploring it’s famous and not so famous corners. To start the tour, we’ll first visit Humayun’s Tomb, a majestic monument built in remembrance of Humayun, the first proper Mughal king. The tomb’s design was used in Taj Mahal and the similarities between the two monuments is quite obvious. Next stop will be the grand Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple, a beautiful complex full of beautiful art, gardens and fountains. It’s also the world record holder for World’s Largest Comprehensive Hindu Temple. After lunch, we’ll visit the National Museum nearby, which is among the largest museums in India. A large number of articles ranging from pre-historic era to modern works of art are on display. Later, we will go to Raj Path and see President’s House, India Gate and gardens around it. India Gate is a war memorial constructed in memory of soldiers who died during World War 1 and Anglo Afghan wars. After a short walk, it’ll be time to head back to the hotel.
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY: Tea Tasting session in the evening
OPTIONAL DAY 2: Cooking Class
It’s time to cook some of the things that you sampled the day before in a half day cooking class led by a chef and his family. The class will begin with making of masala chai (Indian tea) along with some fried Indian snacks, pakodas which are best enjoyed hot. Enjoy your piping hot chai with pakodas as the chef gives you an introduction about Indian food and he things to expect during the cooking class. Then it’ll be the time to don the aprons and start cooking. You’ll learn to cook proper Indian meals consisting of pulao, daaal (lentils), egg plant,raita, rotis (flat Indian breads), stuffed paranthas (stuffed and fried rotis), vegetables and more. Dessert will be in form of halwa. Non-vegetarian food can also be covered in form of butter chicken, chicken tikka, mutton curry etc. The cooking class will end with a meal of all the things cooked by you. All the participants will also receive a small gift hamper of some of the basic Indian spices used in a typical north-Indian kitchen. After the cooking class, you can visit India Gate, Rajpath and President’s House. This area is the favourite family picnic spot for residents of New Delhi and is quite picturesque, specially after dark.
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY: Tea Tasting session in evening
Delhi to Varanasi (by air)
Today you will catch a flight to Varanasi. The total flight time is about 80-90 minutes. After landing, you will be taken to your hotel for rest and freshening up. Evening time will be dedicated to exploration of Varanasi city. You will visit some of the landmarks and temples for which the city is famous. Hindu Goddess for food is called Maa Annapurna and her only temple in the world is situated in Varanasi. This temple will also be a part of sightseeing in the city. Evening will be at Dashashwamedh temple for it’s impressive aarti ceremony.
DAY 3 : Varanasi (sightseeing)
The day will begin with an early morning boat ride at river Ganga. You will see the sunrise and explore various ghats (steps leading to river) and see numerous people busy with their morning rites and worship. After breakfast and some rest, you will visit some landmark temples like Kashi Vishwanath. Then we will drive to Sarnath, an important town for it’s Buddhist and Hindu heritage and see ancient stupas, buddhist temples.
Varanasi to Khajuraho (By air)
Another flight will take you to Khajuraho, the place where Kamasutra by Vatsyana, ancient Indian text about love making was written. Khajruaho is most famous for it’s beautiful temples, many of which are covered with erotic art. The temples were built in between 950 AD and 1050 AD by Chandela dynasty. Of 85 temples built, only about 20 have survived. These are situated in 2 different complexes with a few scattered all over the town and near it. On day 1, you will be able to explore a few.
Khajuraho Sightseeing
This day will be dedicated to sightseeing in Khajuraho as you see the 2 major temple complexes, one of them Jain and some major ones like Kandariya Mahadev Lakshman, Viraha among others. Apart from Temples, area near Khajuraho is full of natural beauty and you can spend some time visiting Pandav Falls in nearby Panna National Park which looks even more spectacular during monsoons.
To Agra via Orchha
After an early morning wakeup, you will get in to the car to reach Jhansi railway station from where you will catch a train to Agra. On the way, there will be a rest and sightseeing stop at Orchha, a small historical town about 16 km from Jhansi. Orchha is famous for it’s massive palaces, cenotaphs and temples built by Bundela dynasty. You will reach Agra in evening and get to hotel for checkin and rest.
Taj Mahal, Agra
Wake up early and reach railway station to catch train to Agra. Leave your luggage at the Agra hotel and reach Taj Mahal, one of the 7 wonders of the world. According to most people, it looks much better in real life than in photos. Enjoy your time there, soaking in all the sights and thousands of small but mind blowing details that most people miss without someone to tell them. Take a walk in the gardens and enjoy the play of water in fountains which increase it’s beauty many times over. Sit on the marble bench and get your photos clicked in the same place where countless celebrities like Diana have posed for pictures. Walk out and reach Agra Fort made of red sandstone for an interesting history lesson. As you walk through various parts of the fort, notice the breathtaking views of Taj Mahal as well as the Agra town which will come up. Next we’ll visit the historic Agra Fort which was centre of power for Mughal empire before they shifted the capital to Delhi. Drive back to the hotel for a night’s rest.
Elephants of the Pink City – Jaipur
Another early wakeup and we’ll drive towards Jaipur, the famous pink city of India. After check in at hotel, it’s time for a visit to the famous Hawa Mahal (Palace of wind). It’s 5 stories tall and built of red and pink sandstone. Front of Hawa Mahal consists of 953 small windows (jharokhas) which are decorated with intricate lattice work. After this, we leave to enjoy some play time with elephants, the gentle giants. But first, it’s time for a traditional Rajasthani lunch served in thaali (platter). Once meal is finished, play time will begin. You’ll have the chance to ride, feed and play with the highly trained and friendly elephants for hours. Ride an elephant of your choice in to jungle and sit under the open night sky around a bonfire. A demonstration of folk dance and handicrafts is also possible.
ACTIVITY: Sightseeing, Elefantastic
Jaipur Flavours and Sights
Get to know Jaipur better via a day long food tour as you explore it’s sights, smells and flavours at once. After a light breakfast, gather in the walled city for a drink of salty lassi. You’ll walk through the streets and pink markets enjoying the sights of this easy going city and sample all the delicious food it has to offer.
During the food tour you’ll sample different types of delicious kachouris, chai prepared over charcoal fire, some justly famous Rajasthani sweets, around half a dozen different snacks and a big traditional Rajasthani dinner at the end. During the food tour, we’ll cover sights such as Galta jee Temple (with it’s resident population of monkeys and langoors), Amer Fort, Nahargarh Fort and a few more depending upon available time.
Explore the local markets with their mind boggling varieties of colours, fragrances and people selling and buying almost everything under the sun like clothes, jewellery, bangles, shoes, utensils, spices and much more. The visitors will be introduced to some of the ingredients used in traditional Rajasthani cooking.
ACTIVITY: Sightseeing, food tour
Jaipur to Delhi
Drive to Delhi