India with Kids: a 12-Day Family Tour of Delhi, the Taj Mahal, Ranthambore, Jaipur and Goa

Arrive in Delhi

Your driver meets you at the airport, holding a sign with your name, with child seats if you ask for them, and takes you to your hotel. Every hotel on this trip has a pool, and where possible we book family rooms or connecting rooms so that everyone sleeps close together.

Long-haul flights are hard on children, so today has no plans at all. Rest, swim and let everyone adjust to the time change. Try to stay awake until early evening and get some daylight, which helps small bodies reset their clocks. Keep to bottled or filtered water, including for brushing teeth, and carry hand sanitiser for the days ahead.

Hotel restaurants in Delhi are used to young travellers and can make mild versions of Indian dishes. Good first tastes for children are butter chicken, dal makhani, plain naan, jeera rice and a sweet mango lassi. An early dinner and an early night set you up for tomorrow.

• ArrivalMeet and greet and private transfer
• AfternoonPool time and rest
• EveningEarly, mild dinner at the hotel

OvernightDelhi, 2 nights, at a hotel with a pool.

Delhi at a child's pace

Spend the morning with a guide who knows how to keep children interested, with stories, games and plenty of stops. Start at Humayun's Tomb, the Mughal garden tomb that inspired the Taj Mahal, with plenty of space to run around and squirrels and green parakeets in the gardens. Ask your guide to show the children how the water channels divide the garden into four parts, a design they will see again at the Taj.

Then ride a cycle-rickshaw through the narrow lanes of Old Delhi's Chandni Chowk, a sensory adventure of bells, horns, spices and sweet shops, past wedding-card printers and stalls piled with silver foil and glittering bangles. Stop for jalebi, crisp syrupy spirals fried in front of you. Hold small hands tightly in the crowds, and keep the visit short, an hour is plenty.

Head back to the pool in the afternoon, or visit the National Rail Museum if your children like trains; it has historic steam engines and royal saloon carriages, a toy train ride round the grounds, and is closed on Mondays.

• MorningHumayun's Tomb
• Late morningCycle-rickshaw through Old Delhi and jalebi
• AfternoonPool, or the National Rail Museum

OvernightDelhi.

A fast train to Agra

Take a fast morning train to Agra, about two hours, an adventure in itself for most children, with snacks and tea served at your seats and the countryside rolling past the window. Your driver helps with luggage at the Delhi station, and your Agra driver meets you on the platform. If you prefer, drive about three and a half hours on the expressway instead.

After lunch and a swim, see Agra Fort, the red sandstone citadel of the Mughal emperors, with its great gates, marble palaces, hidden passages and the story of Shah Jahan, the emperor who built the Taj, imprisoned here by his own son. Children enjoy the view of the Taj from the fort's octagonal tower, where Shah Jahan is said to have spent his last days looking at it.

At sunset, walk in Mehtab Bagh, a quiet garden across the Yamuna river, to watch the Taj Mahal turn pink and orange in the evening light. It is calmer than the Taj itself, with space for children to wander, and makes a good family photograph.

• MorningFast train to Agra
• MiddayLunch and a swim
• AfternoonAgra Fort
• SunsetThe Taj from Mehtab Bagh

OvernightAgra, 1 night, with a Taj view where possible.

The Taj Mahal at sunrise, then tiger country

Enter the Taj Mahal at sunrise, before the heat and the crowds. Children under 15 enter free. Your guide brings the story to life: a grieving emperor, thousands of workers and elephants carrying marble from far away. Let children look for the tiny flowers of coloured stone set into the white marble, and try the famous photograph of holding the Taj by its tip. There is room to explore the gardens before breakfast. The Taj is closed on Fridays, so we plan around that. Only small bags are allowed in, so bring just water, sun cream and a camera.

After breakfast, take a train to Sawai Madhopur, the station for Ranthambore. Pack books, cards and snacks for the journey. Your driver meets you and takes you to a lodge near the park gates, with a pool and plenty of space to play.

In the evening, meet your naturalist, who will tell the children what to look and listen for on tomorrow's safari: pugmarks in the dust, scratch marks on trees and the alarm calls of deer and monkeys.

• SunriseThe Taj Mahal
• DayTrain to Sawai Madhopur
• EveningSafari briefing at the lodge

OvernightRanthambore, 2 nights, at a lodge with a pool.

Tiger safaris

Head out at dawn on a jeep safari into Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, about three hours. We book a private six-seat jeep where permits allow, rather than a large shared canter, so you can stop when the children need to. Children love watching for pugmarks on the track and listening for the alarm calls of deer and monkeys that warn of a tiger nearby. Even without a tiger, there are crocodiles in the lakes, spotted deer and sambar, peacocks, wild boar and langur monkeys.

The park is dry deciduous forest scattered with ruined pavilions and lakes, below the walls of Ranthambore Fort, more than a thousand years old. Bring binoculars, a hat and water, and remind children to stay seated and quiet near animals.

Rest by the pool in the middle of the day. Older children may enjoy a second safari in the afternoon; younger ones may prefer to stay back with a parent. Wrap up warmly for dawn safaris between November and February, when open jeeps are cold, and bring a blanket for small ones.

• DawnMorning safari
• MiddayPool and rest
• AfternoonOptional second safari

OvernightRanthambore.

On to the Pink City

Take an optional last safari at dawn, then drive to Jaipur after breakfast. The road runs through farming villages and small towns, with camel carts, goats and women in bright saris working in the fields, plenty for children to spot from the window. Your driver will stop for a break and snacks along the way, and you arrive in time for lunch and a swim.

Jaipur's old city was painted pink, the colour of hospitality, to welcome the Prince of Wales in 1876, and it has stayed pink ever since. On the way into town, stop for a photograph of the Hawa Mahal, the Palace of the Winds, a honeycomb of small windows from which royal women once watched the street without being seen.

In the evening, walk the Pink City's bazaars for a lassi in a clay cup and a kulfi, India's dense, creamy ice cream, and look for bangle sellers and puppet makers. Rajasthani string puppets, or kathputli, make a good souvenir, and some sellers will put on a little show.

• DawnOptional last safari
• DayDrive to Jaipur
• AfternoonHawa Mahal photo stop and pool
• EveningBazaars, lassi and kulfi

OvernightJaipur, 3 nights, at a hotel or resort with a pool.

Amber Fort and the Jantar Mantar

Ride up to Amber Fort by jeep in the morning; we never book elephant rides. The fort climbs a hillside above Maota Lake, and inside there are courtyards, ramparts and winding passages to explore. The highlight for most children is the Sheesh Mahal, the Hall of Mirrors, whose walls and ceiling are covered in tiny pieces of mirror; it is said that a single candle could once light the whole room. Go early, before the heat and the crowds.

Then see the giant stone instruments of the Jantar Mantar, an 18th-century observatory built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Children can tell the time from a sundial as tall as a building, said to be accurate to about two seconds, and find their own star sign on the twelve zodiac instruments.

Have lunch back at the hotel; Rajasthani food can be spicy, so ask for mild dishes or simple paneer, dal and rotis. The afternoon is free for the pool.

• MorningAmber Fort by jeep
• Late morningThe Jantar Mantar
• AfternoonPool

OvernightJaipur.

Block printing in Sanganer

Drive to Sanganer, a town of textile printers on the edge of Jaipur, for a hands-on block-printing workshop. Watch craftsmen carve patterns into wooden blocks and mix colours, then each child presses their own design onto a scarf or tote bag to take home. Expect a little ink on the fingers. Sanganer is also known for handmade paper, and some workshops let children see how it is made from cotton rags.

In the afternoon, visit the City Palace, still partly the home of Jaipur's former royal family. Children enjoy the armoury of swords and shields, the royal costumes, and the two enormous silver urns in the Diwan-i-Khas, made to carry Ganges water for a Maharaja's journey to England in 1902. In the Pritam Niwas Chowk, look for the four painted gateways, one with a peacock. Or simply rest at the pool.

For a last evening in Jaipur, try a simple dinner of dal baati, baked wheat balls with lentils, or ask your hotel about a folk music and puppet show.

• MorningBlock-printing workshop in Sanganer
• AfternoonCity Palace, or rest
• EveningOptional puppet show

OvernightJaipur.

Fly to the beach

Fly from Jaipur to Goa, nonstop on the days it runs or otherwise via Mumbai or Delhi. Pack swimsuits, sun cream and a change of clothes in your hand luggage so that the beach can start the moment you arrive. Goa has two airports, Dabolim in the south-centre and the newer Mopa in the north, and we choose the one closest to your resort.

Your driver meets you and takes you to your beach resort, 30 to 90 minutes away depending on the beach. The drive passes paddy fields, coconut palms, whitewashed churches and old Portuguese-style houses with tiled roofs and wide verandas, a very different India from Rajasthan.

Check in, have a swim and watch the sun go down over the Arabian Sea. Goan food is famous for seafood; for children, fried fish with chips or rice, or a mild prawn curry, usually go down well. Dinner by the sea and an early night after the flight.

• DayFlight to Goa
• AfternoonTransfer to your beach resort
• EveningSunset swim and dinner

OvernightGoa, 3 nights, at a beach resort with a pool and kids' club.

A free beach day

A whole day for the beach and the pool. The sea is calmest for swimming from November to March. Swim only where lifeguards are on duty, between their flags, and keep a close eye on children, as waves and currents can change quickly. The sun is strong from late morning, so beach time is best early and late in the day, with a long lunch and the pool in between. Pack hats, rash vests and plenty of water.

Many resorts run kids' clubs, so parents can have a quiet hour or a spa treatment. If you would like a little adventure, a morning boat trip to look for dolphins runs from several beaches and is short enough for younger children; your driver can take you to the jetty. Or build sandcastles, hunt for shells and watch fishermen bring in their nets.

For dinner, try Goan specialities: fish curry rice, the everyday Goan meal, and bebinca, a rich layered coconut dessert that children love.

• MorningBeach, or an optional dolphin-spotting boat trip
• MiddayLunch and pool
• AfternoonKids' club or the beach
• EveningGoan dinner

OvernightGoa.

Spice farm and Old Goa

Take a gentle half-day trip to a spice plantation in the hills, where children can smell and taste pepper, cardamom, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon straight from the plant, see cashew and betel-nut trees, and learn how pepper climbs up the trunks of other trees. A guide walks you through the shady gardens, and the visit ends with a Goan buffet lunch on the farm, usually served on banana leaves or plates of woven leaves.

On the way back, stop at the churches of Old Goa, the former Portuguese capital and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Basilica of Bom Jesus, completed in 1605, holds the remains of St Francis Xavier in a silver casket, and the huge Se Cathedral across the road is one of the largest churches in Asia. Shoulders and knees should be covered inside.

Back at the resort for a sunset swim. If the family still has energy, walk the lanes of Fontainhas in Panjim, the old Latin quarter, with its brightly painted houses.

• MorningSpice plantation and lunch
• AfternoonChurches of Old Goa
• EveningSunset swim

OvernightGoa.

Fly home

Enjoy a last swim and a slow breakfast if your flight allows, and pack snacks, games and a change of clothes for the journey home. If your flight leaves late, ask us about a late check-out so that the children can rest before the trip.

Your driver transfers you to Goa airport for your flight home, usually via Mumbai, Delhi or a Gulf hub. Aim to arrive about three hours before an international departure, and two hours before a domestic one.

• MorningLast swim and packing
• DepartureTransfer to Goa airport