The Classic Circuit, 5 Nights

You are met at Delhi airport and the afternoon opens the imperial city: a drive down Rajpath past the ministries to India Gate, then south to Humayun’s Tomb, the garden mausoleum the Taj Mahal was modelled on, and the Qutub Minar in the last of the light. Dinner suggestion list in hand, evening free.

The morning belongs to Shahjahanabad: the steps and courtyard of Jama Masjid, then a cycle-rickshaw through Chandni Chowk’s spice and brocade lanes, and a pause at Raj Ghat, Gandhiji’s memorial. After lunch the Yamuna Expressway does Delhi to Agra in three hours, and if the day has been kind you catch your first sight of the Taj from Mehtab Bagh across the river at sunset.

The big day starts before dawn: through the east gate as it opens, an hour at the Taj while the marble turns from grey to white, with your guide and without the mid-morning crowds. Breakfast back at the hotel, then Agra Fort and the marble-inlay workshops. The afternoon drive to Jaipur breaks at Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar’s abandoned sandstone capital, and reaches the pink city by evening.

A photo stop at Hawa Mahal before the shutters of the old city open, then out to Amber Fort — up by shared jeep, through the Sheesh Mahal’s mirrored halls, down past Maota Lake. The afternoon covers the City Palace courtyards and the giant instruments of Jantar Mantar, and ends free in Johari and Bapu Bazaar with a bargaining cheat-sheet from your guide.

A slow morning: the Patrika Gate arches, the Albert Hall museum from the outside, or nothing at all but a thick kulhad lassi on MI Road. After an early lunch the car takes NH48 back to Delhi — about four and a half hours with a chai stop — checking you in near the airport for an easy morning departure.

Breakfast and a short transfer to Delhi airport for your flight home. If you fly in the evening, the car and driver stay with you for a bonus stop — Lotus Temple, Akshardham (closed Mondays) or a last unhurried lunch in Khan Market.