Golden Triangle & Ranthambore – 9 Days of Palaces, the Taj Mahal & Wild Tigers

Once you have cleared immigration and collected your luggage at Indira Gandhi International Airport, your Sevira representative is waiting in the arrivals hall to welcome you and escort you by private car to your hotel.

Delhi has been the seat of power for dynasty after dynasty, and today it is really seven historic cities layered into one. The old walled city still keeps its bazaars, mosques and traditions; New Delhi, laid out by the British, moves at the pace of the twenty-first century. The rest of the day is yours to rest and adjust.

Overnight: Delhi, handpicked four-star hotel

A full day of private touring with your guide begins in Old Delhi, the 17th-century walled city of Shahjahanabad, built when the emperor Shah Jahan moved his capital here from Agra. Climb aboard a cycle rickshaw for a ride through Chandni Chowk, a 300-year-old maze of lanes selling everything from silver and spices to wedding saris and sizzling street food. You pass the Jama Masjid, one of the largest mosques in India, and the towering red sandstone walls of the Red Fort, once the most opulent palace in the Mughal Empire, before a quiet stop at Raj Ghat, the simple and moving memorial where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated.

In the afternoon, New Delhi. The Qutub Minar, a soaring tower of red sandstone and marble begun around 1199, remains the tallest brick minaret in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Humayun's Tomb, the garden mausoleum of the second Mughal emperor, is the building that inspired the Taj Mahal – and many visitors find it every bit as beautiful. The day ends with a drive along Kartavya Path, past India Gate, Rashtrapati Bhavan (the former Viceroy's residence, now the presidential palace) and the government buildings on Raisina Hill.

Please note: the Red Fort is closed on Mondays.

Overnight: Delhi, handpicked four-star hotel, breakfast included

This morning you drive south by expressway to Agra (around 210 km, roughly 3.5 to 4 hours), set on the banks of the Yamuna River. Agra was the capital of the Mughal Empire at its height, and the city is still defined by the monuments the emperors left behind. Check in and take a little time to relax.

In the afternoon, explore Agra Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site whose red sandstone walls rise more than 20 metres and run for over 2.5 km. Inside is an astonishing collection of palaces, audience halls and mosques, many completed under Shah Jahan – who, in one of history's most poignant twists, spent his final years imprisoned here by his own son, gazing across the river at the Taj Mahal.

Overnight: Agra, handpicked four-star hotel, breakfast included

Rise early for the moment many travellers wait a lifetime for: the Taj Mahal at sunrise. Built by Shah Jahan between 1632 and 1653 in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, it is celebrated for its perfect symmetry, graceful domes, carved marble screens and some of the finest stone inlay ever made. In the early light the marble shifts from grey to rose to gold. Afterwards, return to your hotel for a leisurely breakfast.

Late morning, continue to Fatehpur Sikri, the red sandstone royal city built by the emperor Akbar in the 16th century as his capital, then abandoned only years later – a beautifully preserved ghost city and UNESCO World Heritage Site. From there, drive on to the village of Abhaneri to see the Chand Baori, a 9th-century stepwell that plunges around 30 metres underground in thirteen levels of perfectly symmetrical steps – one of the deepest and most photographed stepwells in India.

You arrive this evening in Jaipur, the colourful capital of Rajasthan known as the Pink City (around 260 km in total today, with stops along the way).

Please note: the Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays, and your Sevira travel designer plans your dates around this.

Overnight: Jaipur, handpicked four-star hotel, breakfast included

This morning you visit the magnificent Amber Fort, part of the Hill Forts of Rajasthan UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built from pale yellow and pink sandstone and white marble, the palace rises in four great courtyards. You enter through Jaleb Chowk, where returning armies once displayed their spoils of war, before exploring the dazzling Sheesh Mahal (Palace of Mirrors) and the Hall of Public Audience.

Next, the city of Jaipur itself, a UNESCO World Heritage City. Pause before the Hawa Mahal, the Palace of the Winds, whose honeycomb façade of 953 small latticed windows allowed the royal women to watch street processions unseen. Then visit the Jantar Mantar, an 18th-century astronomical observatory built by Jaipur's founder, Sawai Jai Singh II, and home to the world's largest stone sundial. The afternoon ends at the City Palace, still partly a royal residence, with its fine armoury and textile and costume galleries.

This evening is something truly personal. You are welcomed into the home of a local Jaipur family for a cooking demonstration of Rajasthani dishes, followed by dinner together around their table – the kind of evening that stays with you long after the photographs fade.

Overnight: Jaipur, handpicked four-star hotel, breakfast and dinner included

Set out before sunrise for an exclusive jeep safari in the Jhalana Leopard Reserve, a pocket of dry forest on the edge of Jaipur and one of the few places in the world where wild leopards live this close to a city. Return to your hotel for breakfast.

Then drive south-east to Sawai Madhopur (around 180 km, roughly 3.5 to 4 hours) and check in to your lodge near Ranthambore National Park. Once the hunting grounds of the Maharajas of Jaipur, Ranthambore is one of the largest and most celebrated tiger reserves in northern India, its forests, lakes and ruins watched over by the 10th-century Ranthambore Fort. Settle in and enjoy the quiet of the jungle at dusk.

Overnight: Ranthambore, four-star jungle lodge, full board

Today belongs to the wild. You head into Ranthambore National Park on a morning safari by shared open jeep, when the forest is cool and the animals most active, and return for a second game drive in the afternoon.

Tigers here are truly wild, so sightings can never be guaranteed – which is exactly what makes the moment so electric when it comes. Your chances are generally best in the dry months of March to May, when tigers move to the waterholes, and every extra safari improves the odds; ask your Sevira travel designer about adding more drives or upgrading to a private jeep. Beyond tigers, look for leopard, sloth bear, striped hyena, sambar and spotted deer, nilgai antelope, marsh crocodiles and more than 270 species of birds, from crested serpent eagles to kingfishers and hornbills.

Please note: park zones close on a weekly rotation, and the core zones close for the monsoon from July to September. We plan your safari dates around these closures.

Overnight: Ranthambore, four-star jungle lodge, full board

An early transfer takes you to Sawai Madhopur station to board an express train in air-conditioned chair class for the journey back to Delhi (currently departing around 07:20 and arriving around 12:10; rail schedules are subject to change). Watching rural Rajasthan roll past the window is a fitting farewell to the countryside.

You are met at Delhi station and transferred to your hotel near the airport. The afternoon is free – for last-minute shopping, a spa treatment, or simply a slow evening to reflect on everything you have seen.

Overnight: Delhi (near the airport), handpicked four-star hotel, breakfast included

After breakfast, a private transfer takes you to Indira Gandhi International Airport for your flight home. You leave with saffron and marble, tiger tracks and temple bells, and the stories you will be telling for years. The world stays with you.

Breakfast included