Rajasthan Itinerary

Arrival in Delhi

Spend a couple of hours with with the resident curator to appreciate etchings and landscapes that chart Delhi’s history, and absorb the architecture of one of Delhi’s best-loved hotels. Our guides are Delhiites are keen to share their passions be it food, textiles or history. With your own driver and car, spend a day that starts with a drive around the wide avenues of New Delhi, planned by the British in the 1920s and designed by Lutyens to be monumental. The drive includes India Gate to the parliament buildings, past the Central Secretariat and the President’s House. The tour goes on to stop at Humayun’sTomb, the first of the grand dynastic mausoleums of the Mughuls, and the first garden-tomb in the sub-continent, inspired by the description of paradise in the holy Koran. Onto Connaught Place for lunch, where there is lovely shopping to be had at the Cottage Emporium close by.

Historians write about the Seven Cities of Delhi, who wears her history well, and nowhere is this more obvious than the difference between the clean lines of New Delhi and the tangle of medieval lanes that is Old Delhi, with Chandi Chowk at its heart. This contrast is obvious when you end your day with with an evening walk of Chandi Chowk, walking through the old lanes, stopping for samosas, and shopping with the locals.

In the early morning experience a local boat ride along the Yamuna River, as the mist rises off the water and cows stop for a drink. As the sun rises, the Taj Mahal appears to float, described by Rabrindranath Tagore as a ‘..teardrop on the face of eternity’.

A visit to the Agra Fort is well worth the effort, with its imposing double walls and huge gates and elephant-proof layout to keep its 94 acre site safe from attack. The Mughal styles and architecture here are considered important examples of architectural history. Visit the Taj in the mid afternoon to feel its cool marble in the heat of the day.

Leaving the cities behind, you head for the Aravali and Vindhya Hill Ranges and Ranthambhore National Park in eastern Rajasthan. Settle into your camp on the edge of the forest.

While here you have two game drives. These are focused on the flora and fauna of the region, and in particular, the tiger population. You may want to arrange a walking tour through the 12-acre landscape of Khem Vilas, or a river safari along the Chambal River, with a possible sighting of the rare Gharial river crocodile

Explore the Amber Fort in the morning. The local Anokhi Museum is always a welcome quiet stop after the huge scale of the Amber Fort, and you can wander through Amer to the stepwell on paths less visited.

Lunch somewhere fun like the Anokhi Café in town, then spend the afternoon at both the City Museum and the Jantar Mantar. This is a wonderful collection of astrological instruments made out of marble in 1750, and accurate to seconds.

The birdlife on the lake has a healthy biodiversity of over 250 species, and sitting on your private balcony with a sundowner, you may well be joined by a pelican floating past or a heron on its way to roost. Chhatra Sagar offers fantastic birding safaris by boat, or trips out to the wetlands to bird with their trained naturalists. You can pick from a range of excellent activities including farm visits and kayaking.

The fort has an outside courtyard restaurant, with a lift up through the fortified walls, and brilliant waiters who point out Jodphur by night. Enjoy a morning’s walk through with the Rao Jodha Desert Rock Garden walk, guided by local heritage guides, and end up having chai in the Blue City with the Brahmin families that still live in traditional blue houses hundreds of years old.

You could go on a leopard safari, enjoy a stepwell dinner, take a walk around the local village. Or just relax in the hotel.

Rawla Narlai is a fabulous hotel, traditional in style and hospitality. Known for its charm and typical Rajastani décor, this is a wonderful spot in the beautiful Aravalli Hills.

On the way to Udaipur is Ranakpur, famous for its Jain temples, of which the Chaumukha Temple complex is absolutely stunning. Interesting excursion include a water taxi to the Lake Palace for a morning coffee, and an afternoon’s trip to the Ahar Museum with its cenotaphs, or up to the Monsoon Palace on the Bansdara Hills for a late afternoon view of the city.