India's Tiger Parks

Nine nights in search of the Bengal tiger, between October and May, flying privately between two national parks. Delhi first, among more than 5,500 Indo-European works of art on the hotel's own walls; then Ranthambhore's dry forest, clifftop forts and the gharials of the Chambal; then four days at Bandhavgarh, with drives by morning, afternoon and night led by naturalists.

Length: Nine nights
Pace: Three stays
Style: Wildlife, safari, private jet, October to May
Route: Delhi to Ranthambhore to Bandhavgarh

DelhiTwo nights
RanthambhoreThree nights
BandhavgarhFour nights

The fluted sandstone tower of the Qutb Minar rising above green lawns under a cloud-streaked sky.

Days 1 to 3 · two nights

Delhi

Met at the airport. The Red Fort, the Jama Masjid and Chandni Chowk, contemporary galleries, Humayun's Tomb and the Qutb Minar. At Humayun's Tomb, the site museum, sunk low like a stepwell, tells how the Mughals built, with live demonstrations of stonework and plaster. Back at the hotel, works of the late 17th and 18th centuries hang through the halls and rooms, from a collection of more than 5,500 pieces.

Where you stay

The Imperial New Delhi

The Imperial on Janpath was conceived by Blomfield and opened by Lord Willingdon in 1936, on an eight-acre estate where 24 royal palms line the drive. It holds more than 5,000 original artworks from the 17th and 18th centuries, and its restaurants include The Spice Route, 1911 and San Gimignano.

An aerial view of the white canvas tents set in a grid among trees. — Photo: Aman

Days 3 to 6 · three nights

Ranthambhore

A private jet to Ranthambhore, for game drives in the national park twice a day in an open vehicle with a wildlife guide, birding and a visit to the old fort, a World Heritage Site inside the park. A day upstream on the Chambal with a naturalist for gharials, water turtles and river birds, or the steep walk to the clifftop ruins of Khandar Fort, with lunch at the top.

Where you stay

Aman-i-Khás

Aman-i-Khás is a camp of 13 Mughal-inspired tents on the threshold of Ranthambhore National Park, with safaris into the reserve twice a day. Spa treatments draw on Ayurveda, and the cooking is Indian, with private dining outdoors.

Two tigers, one lying and one standing, on a grassy forest track.

Days 6 to 10 · four nights

Bandhavgarh

A private jet to central India for Bandhavgarh, for game drives, the walk up to the plateau fort inside the park, past the reclining Vishnu, rock-cut tanks, 11th-century temple ruins and 1st-century inscribed caves, the Baghel Museum and the view from Climber's Point. Morning, afternoon and night drives are led by the resort's naturalists and are booked at least 120 days ahead; between October and March, dinner can be by a bonfire at the lake. Between drives, a walk with a lodge naturalist through the fields to a village, for a class on the farming year and on living alongside wild animals. Then a private jet back to Delhi.

Where you stay

The Oberoi Vindhyavilas Wildlife Resort, Bandhavgarh

The Oberoi Vindhyavilas sits on the edge of Bandhavgarh National Park, with 19 tents and two villas, each with a large private garden and the villas with their own pool. Naturalists lead the morning, afternoon and night safaris, and there is a lakeside infinity pool 18 metres long.

Arranged on request

The Imperial's art collection

The hotel holds what it describes as the largest private collection of Indo-European art in the world, more than 5,500 pieces of the late 17th and 18th centuries, hung through its public rooms and suites.

The Humayun's Tomb site museum

A low, sunken museum built with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture beside the tomb, on Mughal building craft, with live demonstrations of stonework and plaster.

The Chambal by boat

From Aman-i-Khás, a cruise upstream with a naturalist to watch for gharials, water turtles and birds, ending at a lookout with lunch.

Khandar Fort on foot

A narrow, steep climb to the clifftop ruins of Khandar Fort, its dwellings, temples and stepwells, with lunch served at the top.

Night drives at Bandhavgarh

Morning, afternoon and night safaris led by naturalists in a four-wheel-drive, booked at least 120 days ahead.

A village between drives

Between game drives at Bandhavgarh, a walk with a lodge naturalist through the fields to a village, where villagers explain the farming year and how they live alongside wild animals; the crops depend on the season.

Subject to availability.

Ways to make it yours

A horse safari from Aman-i-Khás on rare Marwari horses.
A day at the Taj Mahal in Agra on the way back to Delhi.
Three nights at Kanha, home to the rare barasingha deer, between the two parks.

This is a sample. The hotels, the pace and the order are where we start, not where we finish: every journey is designed around the people taking it.

Made around you

Most travel is bought. This is designed.

Before anything is booked, we talk: who is travelling, how you like to spend a morning, and the hotel preferences below the obvious, from the kind of bath you like to the time you wake and how much daylight you need in a room. You see options where options matter and clean recommendations where they don't.

The same person remains your point of contact from the first reply to the trip after next. No handovers. No team.