Luxury Golden Triangle Tour 5 Days – 5 Star Hotels

As you step off the aircraft at Indira Gandhi International Airport, a meet-and-assist representative from Payless Tours India is on hand to guide you through immigration and baggage claim, before you are handed to your chauffeur at the terminal exit. Fresh towels and chilled water wait in the car for the drive to your hotel, which will be a property in the class of The Oberoi New Delhi, The Leela Palace or the Taj Mahal Hotel on Mansingh Road. Check-in is arranged in advance, so formalities are kept short, and if you land early in the day we request an early check-in so you can rest properly after the long flight.

Once refreshed, your senior guide meets you in the hotel lobby for a gentle afternoon introduction to the capital. You begin at Humayun's Tomb, the sixteenth-century garden mausoleum whose double dome and red sandstone arches inspired the design of the Taj Mahal decades later. The late-afternoon light makes the stone glow, and your guide explains the Persian ideas behind the four-part garden, known as a charbagh. From there you drive past India Gate and along Kartavya Path to see Rashtrapati Bhavan and the North and South Block buildings, the grand government quarter that architect Edwin Lutyens designed for the British Raj in the 1920s and 1930s.

As the day cools, the guide can take you on a private evening walk into Old Delhi, starting at the steps of Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque, and continuing on foot into the narrow lanes around Chandni Chowk. Here he points out the food stalls that have been in the same families for generations, from paper-thin jalebis to slow-cooked kebabs, and you can taste as much or as little as you like, with clean, well-known places chosen carefully. Alternatively, the evening can be spent at the hotel spa or at one of its signature restaurants, where our team can reserve a table for you. Overnight stay in Delhi.

After a leisurely breakfast, your guide accompanies you to Qutub Minar in South Delhi, a five-storey tower of carved red and buff sandstone that rises 73 metres above the ruins of the city's first mosque. Begun in 1199, it marks the start of Muslim rule in North India, and the bands of calligraphy around each level are still remarkably crisp. Close by stands the famous iron pillar, cast in the Gupta period around 1,600 years ago, which has resisted rust ever since. If the Red Fort is open, as it is every day except Monday, a short stop at its Lahori Gate can be included before you leave the city behind.

By late morning your chauffeur heads south on the Yamuna Expressway, a smooth six-lane road that brings you to Agra in around three and a half to four hours. On arrival, rather than a roadside restaurant, lunch is arranged at a restored haveli or a fine Mughlai dining room, where dishes such as dal makhani, slow-cooked lamb and saffron rice are served the way they were in the old court kitchens. You then check in at a hotel in the class of The Oberoi Amarvilas or the ITC Mughal, where many rooms look directly towards the Taj Mahal. A butler or guest-relations manager will show you the room and explain the hotel's facilities.

In the late afternoon, your guide takes you across the Yamuna River to Mehtab Bagh, the Moonlight Garden laid out by Emperor Babur and later aligned with the Taj Mahal on the far bank. Very few large groups come here, and the riverside lawn offers a calm, uncrowded view of the tomb as the sun goes down. Your guide tells the story of the legendary "Black Taj", which some believe Shah Jahan planned for this spot, and explains what the excavations here have actually found. You then return to the hotel for a quiet evening, perhaps with dinner on the terrace while the Taj Mahal is lit softly in the dark. Overnight stay in Agra.

Your guide meets you in the lobby before first light, and since the luxury hotels of Agra sit only a few hundred metres from the east gate, you are at the entrance in minutes. Arriving at the first entry slot means you walk through the great red sandstone gateway as the gardens are still quiet, and the white marble slowly turns from grey to blush pink. Your guide explains the symbolism of the paradise garden, the calligraphy that appears to stay the same size from top to bottom, and the pietra dura flowers made of semi-precious stone. Please note that the Taj Mahal is closed every Friday, so we plan your dates around it.

You return to the hotel for a long breakfast and some time to relax before check-out. Your next visit is Agra Fort, the massive red sandstone citadel begun by Emperor Akbar in 1565 and later softened by Shah Jahan with white marble pavilions. Your guide leads you through the Diwan-i-Am, the hall of public audience, to the delicate Khas Mahal and the Musamman Burj, the octagonal tower from which the imprisoned Shah Jahan gazed at the Taj Mahal during his last years. Along the way, you will learn about palace life, the role of the royal women and the politics that turned a son against his father.

Around midday your chauffeur begins the drive to Jaipur, a journey of four and a half to five hours through the farmland of Uttar Pradesh and eastern Rajasthan. For a lighter day, the route stays direct, with a comfortable stop at a quality highway restaurant. You arrive in the Pink City in the early evening and check in at a palace hotel such as the Rambagh Palace, once the home of the Maharaja of Jaipur, or a property in the style of The Oberoi Rajvilas or ITC Rajputana. Many of these hotels hold a short evening ceremony for arriving guests, with flower garlands and traditional music, and a butler will help with unpacking. Overnight stay in Jaipur.

After breakfast, your chauffeur drives you eleven kilometres north to Amber Fort, set high on a ridge above Maota Lake. Rather than walking up the steep ramp, you ride to the main courtyard by jeep and save your energy for the palace itself. Your guide explains how the Kachhwaha rulers built the fort in stages from 1592, and leads you to the Diwan-i-Khas, also known as the Sheesh Mahal, where thousands of tiny mirrors set into the plaster reflect any flicker of light around the room. You will also see the Sukh Niwas, where a channel of running water once cooled the air, and the latticed Zenana quarters where the queens lived.

Returning to the city, you stop for photographs of Hawa Mahal, the five-storey Palace of Winds with its 953 small windows, before a private tour of the City Palace, still home to the former royal family of Jaipur. Your guide shows you the Mubarak Mahal textile gallery, the armoury and the two giant silver urns that once carried Ganges water to London for the Maharaja's journey in 1902. Next door is Jantar Mantar, the eighteenth-century astronomical observatory of Sawai Jai Singh II, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Afterwards you have time to rest at the hotel, take a spa treatment or browse the high-end jewellery and textile stores your guide recommends.

In the late afternoon, you are welcomed into the home of a Jaipur family for a private cookery session, where you learn to make a few classic Rajasthani dishes such as dal, spiced vegetables and fresh rotis, and then sit down to eat what you have helped prepare. As the sun sets, your chauffeur drives you up to a hilltop fort above the city, such as Nahargarh, where a candlelit table is set on the rampart with a private dinner, subject to permission and weather. Below you, the lights of Jaipur spread across the valley. It is a quiet, personal way to end the Golden Triangle on your final full day. Overnight stay in Jaipur.

After a relaxed breakfast and late check-out where possible, your chauffeur drives you back to Delhi on the national highway, a journey of around five to six hours. You can be dropped at a Delhi hotel or directly at Indira Gandhi International Airport, where our representative will help you through to the departure terminal. If you prefer, a short Jaipur to Delhi flight can be booked instead of the drive at extra cost.