Golden Triangle and Amritsar Tour: 8 Days with the Golden Temple

Arrive in Delhi

Your driver meets you outside the arrivals hall at Indira Gandhi International Airport with a sign bearing your name and takes you to your hotel. Bank ATMs and mobile phone counters are in the arrivals area if you need rupees or a local SIM; your driver will wait. The drive in is a first look at New Delhi's wide, tree-lined avenues.

After a long flight, the best plan for the first day is very little. Check in, rest and adjust to Indian time; staying awake until a normal bedtime helps with jet lag. If you land early and feel fresh, an easy walk in Lodhi Garden, where 15th- and 16th-century tombs of the Sayyid and Lodi sultans stand among lawns and old trees, is a gentle introduction to the city.

Keep the first dinner simple. Delhi is known for rich North Indian cooking such as dal makhani and tandoori kebabs; for the first few days, stick to freshly cooked hot food and bottled or filtered water.

Your coordinator in Mumbai will call or message to welcome you, confirm tomorrow's start time and answer any questions.

• ArrivalMeet and greet at the airport; private transfer to your hotel
• AfternoonRest, or an optional walk in Lodhi Garden
• EveningFree, with an early night before tomorrow's sightseeing

OvernightDelhi. See the hotel options below.

Old and New Delhi with your guide

Start in Old Delhi, the walled city built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the 17th century. Climb the steps of the Jama Masjid, one of India's largest mosques, then take a cycle-rickshaw through Chandni Chowk, a tangle of lanes selling silver, saris, sweets and spices. Walk on to Khari Baoli, the great spice market, and pass the red sandstone walls of the Red Fort.

After lunch, cross into New Delhi. Humayun's Tomb, finished around 1570, is the garden tomb that inspired the Taj Mahal and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Continue to the 73-metre Qutub Minar, begun around 1200 and also UNESCO listed, then drive along Kartavya Path past the President's House to India Gate.

For a quieter moment, add Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, the Sikh temple whose community kitchen serves free meals to thousands of visitors daily.

Wear clothes that cover shoulders and knees and shoes that slip off: they come off at the Jama Masjid and the gurudwara, where heads are also covered (scarves are provided). The Red Fort is closed on Mondays, so your guide plans around it. Old Delhi is the place to try street food with your guide, from stuffed parathas to hot jalebis.

• MorningJama Masjid, cycle-rickshaw through Chandni Chowk, the spice market and the Red Fort
• AfternoonHumayun's Tomb and the Qutub Minar
• EveningIndia Gate, then dinner at leisure

OvernightDelhi.

To Amritsar and the Golden Temple by night

Your driver takes you to New Delhi station for the Swarna Shatabdi, a comfortable express with air-conditioned chair cars and meals served at your seat, or to the airport for a short flight. The train is a good way to see the Punjab countryside, with its wheat and mustard fields. It does not run on Thursdays, so on those days we book a flight.

Your Amritsar driver meets you on arrival and takes you to your hotel near the old city. Rest in the afternoon.

In the evening, walk with your guide to the Golden Temple. Leave your shoes at the free shoe store, cover your head, wash your feet at the entrance and walk the white marble path around the sacred pool as the gold sanctum glows under lights and hymns play across the water. It is one of the most peaceful experiences in India.

• MorningShatabdi train or flight to Amritsar
• AfternoonCheck in and rest
• EveningThe Golden Temple lit up at night with your guide

OvernightAmritsar, 2 nights, within easy reach of the Golden Temple.

The langar, Partition history and the border ceremony

Return to the Golden Temple in the morning, when pilgrims queue to enter the sanctum. Then step into the langar, the community kitchen where volunteers cook dal and roti for everyone who comes, regardless of faith or status. Help roll chapatis or wash dishes, then sit on the floor in long rows and share the meal.

Walk to Jallianwala Bagh, the garden where British troops fired on a peaceful crowd in April 1919, a turning point in India's independence movement; bullet marks still scar the walls. Next door, the Partition Museum in the Town Hall tells the human story of the 1947 division of India and Pakistan through letters, objects and recorded memories.

In the late afternoon, drive to Attari on the Pakistan border for the flag-lowering ceremony, a stirring display of high-kicking soldiers, music and patriotic crowds. Since 2025 it has been scaled down, with the gates closed and no handshake.

• MorningThe Golden Temple and the langar kitchen
• MiddayJallianwala Bagh and the Partition Museum
• Late afternoonThe flag-lowering ceremony at the Attari border

OvernightAmritsar.

Back to the plains and on to Agra

If your flight is not too early, slip back to the Golden Temple at first light, when the marble is cool underfoot and the morning hymns drift across the water. It is a calm farewell to Amritsar. Before you leave, try an Amritsari kulcha, a crisp stuffed bread baked in a clay oven and served with spiced chickpeas and butter, the city's favourite breakfast.

Fly from Amritsar to Delhi in the morning. Your driver meets you at Delhi airport and drives you to Agra on the Yamuna Expressway, with a lunch stop on the way.

It is a long travel day, so we keep the rest of it light. If you arrive in time, walk in Mehtab Bagh across the Yamuna to watch the sun set behind the Taj Mahal. The garden was laid out in line with the Taj itself and is much quieter than the main complex. Otherwise, rest at your hotel and have an early night: tomorrow you enter the Taj Mahal as the gates open, about 30 minutes before sunrise. Pick up a box of petha, Agra's candied pumpkin sweet, if you pass a sweet shop.

• MorningFlight from Amritsar to Delhi
• AfternoonDrive to Agra
• SunsetThe Taj from Mehtab Bagh, if time allows

OvernightAgra, a short drive from the Taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal at sunrise, Agra Fort, then Jaipur

Your guide collects you before dawn so you are at the gate when the Taj Mahal opens, 30 minutes before sunrise. Built between 1632 and 1653 by Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, the marble changes from grey to pink to white as the light rises. The first hour is the quietest of the day. Look closely at the flowers of inlaid semi-precious stone, and at the Koranic inscriptions around the arches, which grow larger as they rise so that they appear the same size from the ground.

Back at the hotel for breakfast, then explore Agra Fort, the red sandstone citadel of the Mughal emperors, with your guide. Afterwards, drive west into Rajasthan, stopping at Fatehpur Sikri, the capital Emperor Akbar built in the 1570s and abandoned soon afterwards.

Continue to Jaipur, arriving in the late afternoon. With time and energy, make a short detour to the Chand Baori stepwell at Abhaneri, thousands of steps in a perfect geometric pattern.

• SunriseThe Taj Mahal with your guide
• MorningAgra Fort
• AfternoonFatehpur Sikri and the drive to Jaipur

OvernightJaipur. See the hotel options below.

Amber Fort and the Pink City

Drive out early to Amber Fort, the hilltop palace of the Kachwaha rulers and part of the UNESCO-listed Hill Forts of Rajasthan, before the heat and the tour buses arrive. Walk up through its courtyards to the Sheesh Mahal, the Hall of Mirrors, whose ceilings are set with thousands of tiny mirrors that sparkle in the light of a single flame. We take you up by jeep, not by elephant. On the way back, stop to photograph the Jal Mahal floating in Man Sagar Lake.

In the afternoon, explore the walled old city, founded in 1727 and painted pink in 1876 to welcome the Prince of Wales. See the honeycomb façade of the Hawa Mahal, the Palace of Winds; the City Palace, still home to the former royal family, where two enormous silver urns stand in the hall of private audience; and the Jantar Mantar, an 18th-century observatory with a giant stone sundial and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

End with an hour in Johari and Bapu bazaars for jewellery, textiles and block prints, or watch the sunset from Nahargarh Fort above the city. For a snack, try pyaaz kachori, a spiced onion pastry, or ghewar, a honeycomb-like sweet.

• MorningAmber Fort and the Hall of Mirrors; photo stop at the Jal Mahal
• AfternoonHawa Mahal, City Palace and the Jantar Mantar
• EveningOld city bazaars, or sunset from Nahargarh Fort

OvernightJaipur.

Drive back to Delhi for your flight

After a relaxed breakfast, drive back to Delhi, straight to the international airport. Please book a flight leaving after 6 pm to allow for traffic.

The highway runs north-east through the Aravalli hills and the farming towns of eastern Rajasthan and Haryana, with clean highway restaurants for lunch and coffee. Traffic thickens as you reach Gurugram on the edge of Delhi, which is why we build in a generous margin.

If you are flying on within India, or to another country from Jaipur, we can end the tour at Jaipur airport instead and save you the drive.

• MorningBreakfast and check out
• DayPrivate drive to Delhi airport, or transfer to Jaipur airport