Golden Triangle and Pushkar Tour: 10 Unhurried Days in Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Pushkar

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, 2 nights. 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 Agra via Akbar's tomb at Sikandra

After breakfast, drive south to Agra on the Yamuna Expressway. Just before the city, stop at Sikandra to see the tomb of Akbar, the greatest of the Mughal emperors, set in a vast walled garden where blackbuck and langur monkeys roam. Akbar began the tomb himself, and his son Jahangir completed it around 1613. Its gateway, inlaid with white marble patterns, is a preview of what was to come at the Taj.

Check in to your hotel in Agra and rest. In the late afternoon, if you have energy, visit the tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah, the Baby Taj, on the far bank of the Yamuna; its delicate stone inlay was the first of its kind in Mughal India.

Your guide will confirm the plan for tomorrow's early start at the Taj Mahal, which is closed on Fridays. Before dinner, try petha, Agra's translucent sweet made from ash gourd, sold all over the city.

• MorningDrive to Agra, stopping at Akbar's tomb at Sikandra
• AfternoonCheck in and rest
• Late afternoonOptional visit to the Baby Taj

OvernightAgra, 2 nights.

The Taj Mahal at sunrise and Agra Fort

Your guide collects you before dawn so you enter the Taj Mahal as the gates open, 30 minutes before sunrise. Built by Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal and completed in 1653, it shifts from grey to pink to dazzling white as the sun rises. Take your time in the gardens and on the river terrace; this is the quietest hour of the day.

After breakfast and a rest, explore Agra Fort, the red sandstone citadel that was the Mughal emperors' main residence until the court moved to Delhi in 1638. Inside are white marble halls of audience and the Musamman Burj, the tower where Shah Jahan is said to have spent his last years looking at the Taj.

At sunset, cross the river to Mehtab Bagh for the view of the Taj reflected in the Yamuna. In the evening, your guide can recommend a restaurant for Mughlai food, the rich cooking of the old court.

• SunriseThe Taj Mahal as the gates open
• MiddayAgra Fort
• SunsetThe Taj from Mehtab Bagh across the river

OvernightAgra.

Fatehpur Sikri and on to Jaipur

After breakfast, drive west to Fatehpur Sikri, the city Emperor Akbar built in red sandstone in the 1570s and abandoned within a few decades. With your guide, walk through the palaces of his queens, the Diwan-i-Khas with its carved central pillar, and the great Jama Masjid entered through the 54-metre Buland Darwaza. Look for the five-storey Panch Mahal, an open pavilion built to catch the breeze, and, in the mosque courtyard, the white marble tomb of the Sufi saint Salim Chishti, where visitors tie threads to the carved screens as they make a wish. Go early, as there is little shade.

Continue into Rajasthan, the land of the Rajput kings. If you would like a stop on the way, the Chand Baori stepwell at Abhaneri is a short detour, its thousands of steps cut in a perfect geometric pattern.

Arrive in Jaipur in the late afternoon and settle into your hotel for three nights. If you have energy, take an evening walk to see the old city's gates lit up, or try Rajasthani dishes such as dal baati churma for dinner.

• MorningFatehpur Sikri with your guide
• AfternoonDrive to Jaipur, with an optional stop at the Chand Baori stepwell
• EveningFree in Jaipur

OvernightJaipur, 2 nights now and 1 more at the end of the trip.

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.

Into the desert to Pushkar

Drive south-west to Pushkar through farmland and the Aravalli hills. On the way, you can stop at Ajmer to visit the Dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, one of the most revered Sufi shrines in South Asia, visited by people of all faiths. Cover your head and leave your shoes at the entrance.

Pushkar sits in a small valley around a sacred lake. According to legend, the lake formed where a lotus petal fell from the hand of Brahma. Check in to your hotel near the ghats and spend the afternoon at your own pace.

At sunset, walk down to the ghats as bells ring in the temples and pilgrims float lamps on the water. Note that priests on the ghats may offer flowers for a blessing and ask for a donation; you are free to politely decline.

• MorningDrive to Pushkar, with an optional stop at Ajmer's Sufi shrine
• AfternoonCheck in and explore the town
• SunsetEvening prayers on Pushkar's ghats

OvernightPushkar, 2 nights, close to the lake.

Ghats, the Brahma Temple and a camel ride at sunset

Start early with a walk around the lake, when the ghats are busiest with bathers and prayers. Your guide explains the rituals and the stories of the town. Visit the Brahma Temple with its red spire, one of the very few temples in India dedicated to the creator god. If you like a climb, take the ropeway or the path up to the Savitri Temple for a view over the whole valley.

Spend the middle of the day browsing the bazaar for silver, leather, textiles and music, and try a falafel or a lassi in one of the rooftop cafés that have fed travellers for decades.

In the late afternoon, ride a camel, or sit in a camel cart, into the dunes outside town and watch the sun go down over the desert.

• MorningThe ghats and the Brahma Temple; optional Savitri Temple viewpoint
• MiddayPushkar bazaar and a rooftop café
• SunsetCamel ride into the dunes

OvernightPushkar.

Back to Jaipur for a free afternoon

Drive back to Jaipur after breakfast. The highway skirts Ajmer and passes Kishangarh, a centre of the marble trade, its roadside lined with marble yards, and the town that gave its name to a refined school of miniature painting. You reach Jaipur in time for lunch. Your last night is at a hotel convenient for the airport.

Spend the afternoon on anything you missed: the Albert Hall Museum, Jaipur's oldest museum, with its collection of arts, textiles, arms and an Egyptian mummy; the Panna Meena ka Kund stepwell near Amber, with its criss-crossing flights of steps; a block-printing workshop in Sanganer, where you can watch craftsmen stamp cotton with carved wooden blocks and try it yourself; or a last round of shopping for gems, carpets and blue pottery. Your driver is with you for the day.

For a farewell dinner, try a full Rajasthani thali, or the sweets at Laxmi Mishthan Bhandar in Johari Bazaar, a long-established Jaipur sweet shop. If you are flying early tomorrow, pack tonight and keep the evening simple.

• MorningDrive back to Jaipur
• AfternoonFree for museums, crafts or shopping, with your driver
• EveningFarewell dinner

OvernightJaipur, near the airport.

Fly home from Jaipur

Your driver takes you to Jaipur International Airport for your flight. Jaipur has direct flights to Delhi, Mumbai and other Indian cities and to several Gulf hubs. If your international flight leaves from Delhi, we can drive you there instead, about five to six hours, so please choose a flight leaving in the evening.

Allow about two hours at the airport for domestic flights and three for international ones. If your flight is late in the day, we can usually arrange a late check-out or a day room, and your driver can take you for a last look at the city on the way.

• MorningTransfer to Jaipur airport