Dinner on the Gangaur
At Taj Lake Palace, a candlelit dinner aboard the 150-year-old, hand-oared personal barge of the Maharanas of Udaipur.
North India by Private Jet
Mumbai to Varanasi by private plane, with Rajasthan's palaces and tigers between.
- 13 nights
- Six stays
- India
- Palaces, wildlife, culture, private jet
13 nights from the Arabian Sea to the Ganges, flying privately between stops. Dinner by candlelight on the Maharanas' 150-year-old hand-oared barge on Lake Pichola, a ride from the Maharaja's own Marwar stables in Jodhpur, tigers in Ranthambhore, the Taj Mahal at sunset, and Kathak dancers in a marble pavilion in Varanasi.
- Length
- 13 nights
- Pace
- Six stays
- Style
- Palaces, wildlife, culture, private jet
- Route
- Mumbai to Udaipur to Jodhpur to Jaipur to Ranthambhore to Agra and Varanasi
- MumbaiTwo nights
- UdaipurTwo nights
- JodhpurTwo nights
- JaipurTwo nights
- RanthambhoreTwo nights
- Agra and VaranasiThree nights
01
Days 1 to 3 · two nights
Mumbai
Met on arrival. A private guide leads you through the Prince of Wales Museum and Victoria Terminus, the railway station listed by UNESCO. A walk can be arranged among some of the city's more than 200 Art Deco buildings, part of an ensemble listed by UNESCO. At the hotel, a heritage walk through the grounds and the stories of its famous guests, and a cocktail-making session at the Harbour Bar, which has poured drinks since 1933.
Where you stay
The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai
The Taj Mahal Palace has looked out over the Gateway of India and the Arabian Sea from Apollo Bunder since 1903. It has 243 rooms and 42 suites, seven restaurants including Loya, Wasabi by Morimoto and Golden Dragon, and the Harbour Bar.
02
Days 3 to 5 · two nights
Udaipur
A private plane to Udaipur, arriving by boat. The City Palace and the lakes, a heritage walk with one of the Lake Palace's historians, a day trip to the Jain temple at Ranakpur, and one evening dinner by candlelight aboard the Gangaur, the 150-year-old hand-oared barge of the Maharanas.
Where you stay
Taj Lake Palace
Taj Lake Palace sits on Lake Pichola in Jag Niwas, built between 1743 and 1746 by Maharana Jagat Singh II and opened as a hotel in 1963. There are 65 rooms and 18 suites, guests arrive by boat, and Neel Kamal serves Rajasthani cooking.
03
Days 5 to 7 · two nights
Jodhpur
A short flight to Jodhpur for Mehrangarh Fort, where a private tour of the museum collection with its curator, behind the scenes, can be arranged, and an evening of Rajasthani dance. At the palace, still home to the royal family, the Palace Museum and the family's collection of vintage cars, and an early ride on Marwar horses from the Maharaja's private stable.
Where you stay
Umaid Bhawan Palace
Umaid Bhawan Palace is still a royal residence, with members of the family living in their own wing, and stands in 26 acres of gardens. It has 71 rooms and suites and a lobby dome 45 metres high, and there are indoor, outdoor and heated pools.
04
Days 7 to 9 · two nights
Jaipur
A flight to Jaipur. A hot air balloon at dawn, the City Palace Museum, Tripolia Bazaar, a puja ceremony and a visit to an elephant camp at Amer. The hotel's heritage walk climbs to Amber Fort, through Amer town to Panna Meena Ka Kund, an ancient water-conservation tank, and ends with a demonstration of block printing.
Where you stay
Raffles Jaipur
Raffles Jaipur is a modern recreation of a zenana, the women's quarters of a Mughal palace, carved in white marble by local artisans at Kukas near Amer. Its 50 rooms and suites are handcrafted, Arkaa serves progressive North Indian food, and the spa has hot and cold mineral pools.
05
Days 9 to 11 · two nights
Ranthambhore
A light aircraft or helicopter to the edge of the national park, for game drives with an expert guide twice a day in search of tigers, birdwatching, and an open jeep through the old city. One evening, dinner served privately in the jungle.
Where you stay
Aman-i-Khás
Aman-i-Khás is a tented camp on the threshold of Ranthambhore National Park, with safaris into the reserve twice a day. Each tented pavilion has 108 square metres of space with a soaring bedroom and a free-standing bath, and spa treatments draw on Ayurveda.
06
Days 11 to 14 · three nights
Agra and Varanasi
A private jet to Agra for Fatehpur Sikri and the Taj Mahal at sunset, with one night at The Oberoi Amarvilas. Then on via the temples of Khajuraho to Varanasi for two nights, with Ramnagar Fort, Bharat Kala Bhavan and the Ganges. In Varanasi, walks on foot can be arranged to lesser-known temples, old markets and museums, with a boat on the river to sites few visitors see, and a walk through the lanes into the homes and courtyards where weavers make Banarasi silk and brocade saris, a craft dating from the 17th century. At Taj Nadesar Palace, dinner in the marble baradari with Kathak dancers and singers of Varanasi, and a morning in the village of Kapsethi, where women weave carpets from natural yarns.
Where you stay
Taj Nadesar Palace
Taj Nadesar Palace was built in 1782 and keeps some of the Maharaja's own furniture, among mango orchards, jasmine and roaming peacocks, five kilometres from the Ganges. It has 14 rooms and suites, a royal horse carriage for the grounds, and a J Wellness Circle spa.
Arranged on request
The Maharaja's stables
At Umaid Bhawan Palace, a ride on Marwar horses from the Maharaja's private stable, and a tour of the royal family's vintage cars.
Kathak in the baradari
At Taj Nadesar Palace, dinner in the marble baradari pavilion with Kathak dancers and vocalists of the Varanasi tradition.
The carpet weavers of Kapsethi
A visit to the village outside Varanasi where women weave carpets from natural yarns, with the chance to support the artisans' training programmes.
A block printer at Amer
Raffles Jaipur's heritage walk through Amber Fort, Amer town and the ancient Panna Meena Ka Kund ends with a demonstration of block printing.
Mehrangarh with its curator
A private tour behind the scenes of the museum collection at Mehrangarh Fort, led by the museum's curator, with the stories behind the exhibits, by arrangement.
Subject to availability.
Ways to make it yours
- A day from Udaipur at Kumbhalgarh, 64 kilometres away in the Aravalli hills, inside a 36-kilometre wall wide enough for eight horses abreast, with palaces and more than 300 temples.
- Time the journey for the Pushkar Camel Fair, around the start of November, between Jodhpur and Jaipur, when herders and nomads in traditional dress trade camels and livestock beside the sacred lake and one of the few Brahma temples in the world.
- A night in the Thar at Camp Osian from Jodhpur, or a guided walk through Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park below the fort.
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.
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