From Delhi: 6-Day Private Golden Triangle Tour with Varanasi

Three Mughal cities, then the oldest one

Delhi, Agra and Jaipur are forts, tombs and palaces of the last five hundred years. Varanasi is a different order of old, and the train east on day four is where this itinerary becomes worth six days.

Delhi

Qutub Minar and the iron pillar. Humayun's Tomb, the 1560s garden tomb the Taj was modelled on. India Gate. And Old Delhi — Jama Masjid and a rickshaw through Chandni Chowk.

Agra

The Taj Mahal, best at sunrise, and Agra Fort with the Musamman Burj where Shah Jahan died imprisoned by his son, the Taj in sight along the river. Fatehpur Sikri on the road west.

Jaipur

Amber Fort above Maota Lake, the City Palace, Jantar Mantar and the Hawa Mahal.

Varanasi

The train east — included in every option — and then a city that claims three thousand years of continuous life.

A dawn boat along the ghats is the central experience: the entire waterfront turns to face the sunrise while thousands of people bathe, wash, pray and do yoga on the steps at once.

At dusk, the Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedh: tiered brass lamps, bells and conch shells, performed by priests moving in exact unison in front of thousands on the steps and in boats.

At Manikarnika, the cremation fires have burned without interruption for centuries, because Hindus hold that dying here ends the cycle of rebirth. Photography there is forbidden — that is absolute, and your guide will tell you where the line is.

Sarnath, eleven kilometres out, is where the Buddha gave his first sermon; the Ashokan lion capital in its museum is the original of India's national emblem.

Three options

Car, driver, guide and train tickets; or the same with three-star or four-star hotels.