The Taj Tour

 Fly overnight from London Heathrow, via Delhi, to Amritsar, its labyrinthine lanes, colonial avenues, and contemporary malls combining to create a showpiece of Punjab.

On arrival, transfer to the city’s best hotel, the 5-star Taj Swarna, for a two-night stay.  Enjoy an optional introduction to local culture with a Palki ceremony at the Golden Temple (£22, bookable locally).
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 Visit the Golden Temple, gleaming with hundreds of kilos of gold leaf. The most sacred place of pilgrimage, in the holiest city of the Sikh religion, it stands as an island of serenity amid the melee of the medieval ‘old town’. Continue to visit the ‘world’s largest’ community kitchen, where thousands of volunteers feed tens of thousands of people every day; and the garden memorial to those killed in the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Early evening drive to the Indo-Pakistan ‘Wagah Border’ village, to see the Changing of the Guard ceremony.
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Drive (5hrs) to Chandigarh, a very modern city, the dream of India’s first Prime Minister, Nehru, planned and realised by French architect, Le Corbusier, and considered among the best of 20th -century experiments of urban planning. Free time to explore the piazzas, parks and gardens. Visit to the Zakir Rose Garden (subject to seasonal periods in bloom). Overnight at the 5-star Taj Chandigarh.
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Visit Le Corbusiers Capitol Complex, encompassing the High Court, Secretariat, and Legislative Assembly, and, at its core, the huge, steel Open Hand Monument, signifying the city’s ethos, "open to give, open to receive". Drive (6hrs) into the Himalayan foothills, toward the Queen of Hill Stations, Shimla. A happy mix of cool colonial charm and colourful Himachal character, the old British ‘summer capital’ covers a long ridge at the end of the line for the narrow-gauge, ‘Toy Train’ railway. Two nights at the 5-star Hotel Taj Theog, in a dramatic mountain setting (1½hrs drive from Shimla).
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A tour of Shimla includes the very grand Viceregal Lodge (now named Rashtrapati Niwas), its majestic façade matched by manicured gardens at the summit of Observatory Hill; Shimla’s neo-gothic Christ Church, with five stained-glass windows depicting the Virtues; and the Gaiety Theatre, opened in 1887, now with recent additions of an art gallery and exhibition hall.  Afternoon at leisure in Shimla, perhaps to enjoy its two very different shopping experiences, The Mall’s broad pedestrian avenue and the tumble of twisting lanes in the bazaar.
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Board the Toy Train for its spectacularly scenic journey (5hrs), crossing bridges and cutting through countless tunnels on its route to Kalka, where we switch to the Shatabdi train for Delhi (4hrs), with a light dinner aboard. Two nights at the 5-star Taj Mahal Hotel, one of Delhi’s most distinguished addresses.
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This morning enjoy an amazing 'Five Senses' tour of Delhi; marvel at the sight of sandstone and marble of the Mughal's era, take a rickshaw ride to Chandni Chowk and smell the aroma of ittar (essential oil) and mix your own, taste iconic foods of Delhi and stop at a community shelter. This afternoon drive past India Gate, the Red Fort, the parliament building and Viceroy's House and visit the Raj Ghat memorial to Mahatma Gandhi.
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Take the Gatimaan Express train to Agra. Visit the 16th-century Agra Red Fort, a UNESCO listed and lavishly opulent palace, set beside the Yamuna River and encompassing the perfect and peaceful Pearl Mosque. Make a sunset visit to one of the new Seven Wonders of the World, the exquisite Taj Mahal, and enjoy a cocktail at the INFINI Skylounge & Bar, with a view of the romantic icon. Overnight at the 5-star Taj Hotel & Convention Centre.
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Visit the ‘baby Taj’, Itmad-ud-Daulah, a forerunner of its more famous monument, and the first mausoleum to be built in white marble; and view the Taj Mahal from the Mughal Garden. Travel (5hrs) to Jaipur, stopping enroute at the magnificent, red sandstone city of Fatehpur Sikri, a unique 16^th-century enclave, with lunch at Bharatpur. Three nights at the Jai Mahal Palace, a Taj heritage hotel.
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Visit Jaipur’s pink-walled City Palace, its temples and pavilions spread between courtyards and gardens; and the 18^th-century Jantar Mantar Observatory, UNESCO listed as India’s most significant site for observation of astronomical positions. Optional evening Sound & Light at Amber Fort (£25, bookable locally).
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Take to the air to see the Pink City and its surrounds on an optional balloon ride this morning (£225, bookable locally, dependent on weather). Drive to nearby Amer to visit the Amber Fort, known for its huge, gated ramparts and Hindu design; visit the beautiful Birla Mandir Hindu Temple, and the Albert Hall Museum of Rajasthan, the striking Indo-Saracen structure set outside the city wall; and view the Hawa Mahal (Palace of Winds) with its wall of windows, from which the women could observe unseen. Enjoy a cocktail in the Polo Bar and dinner at Rambagh Palace.
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Fly to Mumbai, where a city tour includes the Marine Drive promenade, curving around the natural bay to the British-built Gateway of India at its southern tip; the UNESCO listed, Raj era, Victoria Terminus railway station; the Dhobi Ghat, billed as the biggest open-air laundry in the world, and handling half a million items a day; and the Prince of Wales Museum, the stately building housing collections of ancient artworks and artefacts. Overnight at the 5-star Taj Mahal Palace, with a sea-view room in the Tower Wing, overlooking the ‘Gateway’ arch.
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Transfer to the airport for the flight to London.
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