Destinations: Delhi – Mandawa – Jaipur – Ranthambore – Bharatpur – Agra – Delhi
Duration: 08 Nights/09 Days
Day 1 : Arrival in Delhi
On arrival, you will be greeted by Destinasia Tours representative who will transfer you to your pre booked hotel. Delhi is a city that is tied to its past from end while the other end strives hard to create a new prosperous future. Besides being the capital of the Indian subcontinent, it is also one of the most developed metropolitan of the country.
Overnight stay will be at the hotel.
Day 2 : City Tour of Delhi
Gorge into a lip-smacking Mughlai breakfast as you have a busy day ahead. India’s capital has been a seat of economic and political power for centuries. The city-state of Delhi is a proud survivor of rise and fall of many dynasties and changes. Though it seems to be all new money currently, the past lives on through its splendid Mughal architecture as well as British era constructions.
As you traipse through the streets of Old Delhi, visiting Jama Masjid and Red Fort (built by Emperor Shah Jahan), it is like a step back in time. Don’t miss the sound and light show there. Then you go onward to pay respect to the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, at Gandhi Samadhi Memorial. You will drive past the Rashtrapati Bhavan, another Lutyen gem and also stop at the UNESCO-listed sites, Qutab Minar and Humayun’s Mausoleum.
Come back to the hotel for overnight stay.
Day 3 : Drive from Delhi to Mandawa
After an enjoyable Rajasthani breakfast, you will be led to Mandawa, which is around 260 km drive from Delhi. Once you reach Mandawa, you can check in at your pre-reserved accommodation. Mandawa is the first city in Rajasthan you are going to explore as part of your Rajasthan Culture and Wildlife Tour.
A well-earned rest can get you ready to enjoy the sightseeing tour in Mandawa which is popular for its Havelis and fortresses with murals on them. Exquisite artwork greet you in every crevice of this charming town and it has rightly earned the sobriquet ‘Open art gallery’.
Built in 18th century, the picturesque town of Mandawa was occupied by the prosperous merchant folks belonging to the Shekhawati Rajput clan. The fortresses and Havelis of Mandawa mirror an image of changing times. In earlier days, themes of murals and frescoes were predominantly from Indian mythology. But this trend slowly diminished with the beginning of British Rule.
Overnight stay will be at hotel in Mandawa.
Day 4 : Mandawa – Jaipur – Chokhi Dhani
Have an early breakfast before heading to India’s desert capital, Jaipur, which is around 4 hours’ drive from Mandawa. Once you reach there, check in at your pre-reserved hotel room and while away some blissful moments. They say that a Jaipur trip is incomplete without an expedition to the vibrant Chokhi Dhani Village Resort that offers you a giant helping of Rajasthani folk culture and local cuisine in its true form. With premium services, you will be exposed to the lifestyle of rustic Rajasthan.
Overnight stay will be at Jaipur hotel.
Day 5 : Explore Jaipur – the Pink City of India
After tucking into a hearty Rajasthani breakfast at the hotel, you will head out for a thrilling sightseeing expedition of the pink city, Jaipur.
Stop by the olden capital of Amber to glimpse the magnificent Amber Fortress. Mughal Emperor Akbar’s most popular General, Maharaja Mansingh commenced building this fort in the 17th century. Prior to the construction of the City Palace, Amber was the unrivalled seat of power. Ringed by barricades, it casts shadow over the Maotha Lake.
On the way to Amber you will visit the well-known `Hawa Mahal’ (Palace of Winds). It is quite an intricate frontage behind which the women of the court used to watch the daily goings on in the street below. It is extremely intricate in its pink granite carving. The calm wind wafts through its facade of gaps and windows and framed screens through which the queens observed the goings-on in the city streets.
You will pause for a hurried lunch and proceed to the City Palace, which is an irresistible complex of superb palaces, gardens and squares, ornate art and engraved entrances. The palace museum is home to collections of unusual documents, olden weapons, traditional costumes, rugs and tiny paintings. Santer to the neighboring Jantar Mantar or Astronomical Observatory, the brainchild of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh and makes perfect estimates even today.
In the evening, you can do a spot of shopping in the effervescent bazaar of Jaipur and get yourself some exceptional and exquisite handicrafts, clothes and trinkets.
Overnight stay will be at the hotel
Day 6 : Drive from Jaipur to Ranthambore (145 km)
Enjoy your breakfast at the hotel before driving off to Ranthambore where the illustrious Ranthambore National Park is. Famed for its ‘Big Wild Cats’ (tigers) and other endangered species of fauna and flora, it offers an idyllic experience in the wild. After reaching, check in at your pre-booked jungle resort. Unwind and ebb your tiredness away in your comfy room before heading out for an exciting wildlife excursion.
Post lunch, enjoy a jeep safari trip in Ranthambore National Park. In the evening, you will be back to the resort before dark.
Overnight at the resort.
Day 7 : Ranthambore
Post breakfast, prepare yourself for a stimulating experience as you get a whole day game viewing inside the jungle.
Legendary for its tigers, Ranthambore National Park is also blessed with different species of Chinkara, Leopards, Indian Wild Boar, Striped Hyenas, Jackals, Indian Flying Foxes, Indian Foxes, Sloth Bears, Chital, Sambar Deer, Nilgai, Macaques, Small Indian Civets and Common Mongoose.
The reptiles there entail Snub Nosed Marsh Crocodiles, Desert Monitor Lizards, Tortoise, Banded Kraits, Cobras, Common Kraits, Ganga Soft Shelled Turtles, Indian Pythons, North Indian Flap Shelled Turtles, Rat Snakes, Russel’s Vipers, Saw-scaled Vipers and the Indian Chamaeleon.
Don’t forget to stop at Ranthambore Fort, an imposing structure right in the middle of the park. It was erected in 8th century by the valorous Chauhans and has abundant lures in store for you.
Overnight at the hotel.
Day 8 : Ranthambore-Agra via Bharatpur and Fatehpur Sikri (294 km)
At Destinasia Tours, our main priority is to make your brief spell in India as deliciously memorable and hence we have added Agra, the city of eternal romance in your Rajasthan Culture and Wildlife Tour itinerary.
After an early and quick breakfast at the hotel, you will be driven to Agra. En route, you will stop at Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, a paradise for birders. Also called as Keoladeo Ghana National Park, the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary is home to more than 230 avifauna species. After a spot of birding, you will continue to the UNESCO-listed Fatehpur Sikhri, the forsaken red sandstone city, made by the Great Mughal Emperor Akbar as his capital. It is comprehensive with forts and mosques and used to be a settlement bigger than London when it was initially created. Currently it is an amazing spot to roam around with its edifices, still in perfect state.
Post lunch, you will reach Agra, still related with its Mughal Era glory. The Mughals in addition to being prodigious rulers also had a great eye for aesthetics and they conserved their best architectural gems for Agra. It has numerous delightful memorials and Taj Mahal, the most renowned of them all, is a real stroke of genius of Mughal architecture. On arrival check in at your pre-reserved hotel room.
Relax doing what you like as you have an eventful day ahead.
Day 9 : Agra – Delhi (204 km) – Onward Destination
Enjoy a delicious breakfast at the hotel before proceeding to explore Agra, the archetypical romantic destination. Nothing what you have read or heard about Taj Mahal can do justice to the staggering beauty of Taj Mahal. Constructed by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in fond memory of his late wife, Mumtaz, this 17th century edifice is most worthy to make it to the list of World’s Seven Wonders. It looks perfectly synchronized from every angle. And when you look closely, you will be floored by the delicate marble art, which is really incredible.
Next sites on the line are Agra Fort and Itimad –Ud-Daulah. Agra Fort, hugging the eastern Yamuna banks, is an incomparable gem of Mughal architecture, which was the seat of Mughal Empire and the current design owes its origins to Akbar who made it a reality. Shah Jahan enhanced it with remarkable residences and the mosque while Aurangzeb added the external fortifications. Itimad-ud-Daulah, the pristine mausoleum of Mirza Ghiyath Beg was the first to be made of pure marble in Mughal India. This double-storey tomb is tiny but flawlessly finished, with luminous stones studded into its barriers and ornamentation work giving it a gentle finish.
Late in the afternoon, you will be driven back to Delhi. On reaching, our staff will meet you and take you to Delhi International Airport to catch a flight home or to next destination.