05 Days-Private Luxury Golden Triangle Tour with Ranthambore in Delhi

Five days, private throughout, with a safari in the middle

The car, the driver and the guide are yours, which on an itinerary that includes a national park matters: safari timings are fixed by the forest department, and a private vehicle means the rest of the day bends around them rather than the reverse.

Day 1: Delhi

Met at the airport or your hotel. Old Delhi first — Jama Masjid, the Red Fort from outside, and a cycle rickshaw through Chandni Chowk, which is the only sane way to travel that street.

Raj Ghat, the black marble platform where Gandhi was cremated, with a flame that has burned since 1948.

Then New Delhi: India Gate, the drive past Rashtrapati Bhavan, Humayun's Tomb — the 1560s Mughal garden tomb that the Taj descends from — and Qutub Minar.

Day 2: Agra

The Taj Mahal at sunrise, and Agra Fort with the Musamman Burj where Aurangzeb imprisoned his father for eight years with the Taj in view along the river.

Day 3: Ranthambore, via Fatehpur Sikri

Akbar's abandoned capital on the road, then south to the park.

Day 4: the safari

Open gypsy or canter, in a zone allocated by the forest department. Ranthambore holds around seventy tigers across 1,300 square kilometres of dry forest, below a tenth-century hill fort that stands inside the reserve.

Sightings here are among the best in India because the tigers are habituated to vehicles — but it is wildlife, and nobody can promise you one. Sambar, chital, nilgai, crocodiles at the lakes and a great deal of birdlife are certain.

Day 5: Jaipur, then Delhi

Amber Fort, the City Palace, Jantar Mantar, the Hawa Mahal, and the drive back.

Three options

Car, driver and guide; or with three-star or four-star hotels.

Practical

Ranthambore closes 1 July to 30 September. Permits are limited — book early. The Taj is closed on Fridays.