Heritage Of India

Your iconic heritage tour of India begins with a grand welcome which is carried in accordance with Indian customs. Registration is carried out at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel (reporting time is 0930 hrs).

Guests are then escorted to Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus Railway Station, Mumbai, to board the Maharajas’ Express, India and arguably the world’s most luxurious train.

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Begin your day with an onboard breakfast.

Arrive in the City of Lakes, Udaipur, and embark upon a rejuvenating boat ride on the calm waters of Lake Pichola followed by a visit to the grandiose City Palace which also has a vast collection of ancient miniature paintings and Crystal Gallery. Guests can also peek into Indian artistry.

Later, enjoy a royal lunch at Satkar Hall of Fateh Prakash Palace on the premises of City Palace.

One can either choose to return to the train for a relaxed afternoon or may also opt for optional services like:

• Spa facilities at 5 Star hotel in Udaipur
• Private shopping tour
• Sound and Light show (if time permits).

Have a lavish dinner in either of the thematic restaurants-Rang Mahal and Mayur Mahal.

Maharajas’ Express then proceeds to Jodhpur. Guests will spend their night comfortably on board the Maharaja’s Express.

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Have a sumptuous breakfast on board. You may either spend the morning at leisure on board or one can choose to :

• Avail of the optional tour to Bishnoi village (if time permits)
• Enjoy Spa facilities at a 5-star hotel

Have your lunch on board. Post lunch, guests proceed to visit the archaic Mehrangarh Fort followed by a walking tour of the Old Clock Tower Market. Guests can then experience authentic local life in the city with a joy ride on a tuk-tuk.

Guests then proceed for an exclusive Royal Cocktail Dinner with a cultural puppet show performance at Hanwant Mahal, a highlight of our Heritage of India tour.

Guests then return to the comforts of the Maharaja’s Express which leaves for Bikaner.

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The next day our Heritage of India tour begins while having onboard breakfast which guests can enjoy with a quaint view of the countryside.

As guests arrive in Bikaner they can either choose to relax on-board or may also choose to visit either

• Lalgarh Museum – where you can witness the architectural marvel of Rajasthan
• Deshnok (Rat Temple) – About 600 years old and is known for its sacred rats

Guests have their lunch on board and proceed to visit Junagarh Fort.

Guests then proceed for sundowners cocktails, barbeque, and folk dances amidst the picturesque sand dunes, stopping off for a tea break at Gajner Palace en route.

Guests later return to the comforts of the Maharajas’ Express and the opulent train leaves for the Pink City, Jaipur.

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Begin your day with an onboard breakfast.

Arrive in Jaipur and begin your odyssey with a visit to the Amber Fort.

After that guests proceed to City Palace/Jai Mahal Palace where they can get a closer look at the cultural heritage of India and witness the sacred elephant up close.

Post-lunch guests can either return to the comfort of Maharajas’ Express or may choose from optional activities such as :

• Spa facilities at a 5-star hotel
• Private shopping tour
• Golfing at Rambagh Golf club
• Visit City Palace and The Observatory (Jantar Mantar)

Guests have their dinner on board.

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After another sumptuous breakfast on board, guests proceed for an exciting jeep safari in search of tigers and more in the Ranthambore National Park.

The Maharaja’s Express then departs for Fatehpur Sikri whilst guests have their lunch on board.

Arrive in the ancient Mughal capital, Fatehpur Sikri and visit the deserted Mughal city.

Guests later return to the comforts of Maharajas’ Express and enjoy an “Indian Evening”—another highlight—followed by dinner on board.

Guests spend their night on the Maharajas’ Express.

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The penultimate train stop on the Maharaja Express is Agra where we proceed to visit the monumental icon of love, the Taj Mahal. Enjoy a Champagne Breakfast feast atop Taj Khema with some of the best views of this Wonder of The World.

The Maharajas’ Express then proceeds to its last stop, the national capital—Delhi.

Relish the last lunch of the train tour on board before disembarking and bidding farewell to the Maharajas’ Express.

Transfer to Delhi Airport for the onward flight to your next next adventure in Kolkata!

Arrive at the Kolkata international airport and transfer to the hotel. Room at the hotel reserved from 14:00 hrs

Overnight at hotel The Oberoi Grand or similar.

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Breakfast at the hotel and proceed for a sightseeing tour of Kolkata, the “City of Joy”.

Morning visit of :

Flower Market, which is a feast for the eyes. Located below and adjacent to the Howrah Bridge that spans the sacred river Ganges, the market is bustling from the wee hours of the morning. Countless vendors and buyers exchange money for flowers and countless locals carry bales of flowers that are at least twice their weight.

Kumartuli (potters colony), a traditional potters’ quarter in northern Kolkata, specializes in clay idol making. This potter’s town supplies images to about 90 countries worldwide with new nations joining the list every year.

Jain Temple – It is a century-old temple and its building was renovated as per the plan of Mr. Brown the famous architect of Victoria Memorial in the year 1914. The main idol of Tirthankara Parswanath – the 23rd Tirthankara (877-777 B.C.) was installed in the year 1914. This artistic Nagar-style temple, with ornamental pillars and sculptures copied from the old Jain temples and caves, casting its shadow in the adjoining tank creates a picturesque scenery.

College Street Book Market – is a 1.5 km long street that derives its name from the presence of many colleges, and centers of intellectual activity especially the Indian Coffee House, a café that has attracted the city’s intelligentsia for decades. It is most famous for its small and big bookstores, which gives it the nickname Boi Para (Colony of Books). An article in the journal Smithsonian described College Street as …a half-mile of bookshops and bookstalls spilling over onto the pavement, carrying first editions, pamphlets, paperbacks in every Indian language, with more than a fair smattering of books in and out of print from France, Germany, Russia, and England.

Lunch at a local restaurant.

Afternoon visit of :

Metcalfe Hall is a heritage building situated at the junction of Strand Road and Hare Street in the heart of the city’s business district. The architecture is reflective of the British imperial architecture in the middle of the nineteenth century and is visually similar to ancient Greek temples. It was built between 1840 and 1844 according to the design prepared by the city magistrate, C.K. Robinson, and named after Sir Charles T. Metcalfe, the Governor General of India, in honor of his efforts towards a free press. Presently, the ground floor houses the Asiatic Society’s rare foreign journals and manuscripts while the first-floor houses exhibition galleries

Mother Teresa’s Home and Tomb – Mother Teresa started the Missionary of Charity in 1952, then lived and worked there until her death in 1997. The permanent exhibition includes a visit to her personal room, we learn her life story and see her charity that is still active. Optional: continue by foot a short distance to her orphanage, Sishu Bhawan (Children’s Home), where one of the sisters will lead us on a tour.

The Park Street Cemetery was one of the earliest non-church cemeteries in the world, and probably the largest Christian cemetery outside Europe in the 19th century. Opened in 1767 the cemetery was in use until about 1830 and is now a heritage site. The memorials are almost all architecturally imposing and replete with classical details and sculptures. Among the interesting professions mentioned in the epitaphs is a breeder of cattle, jail-keeper, silversmith, schoolteacher, architect, translator, livery, printer, head tide-waiter, park superintendent, cooper, postmaster, and surgeon. The tombs are a mix of Gothic and the rich flavor of the Indo-Saracenic style.

Panoramic Tour of Dalhousie Square – the Square was named in memory of Lord Dalhousie who was the Governor General of India from 1847 to 1856. The Dalhousie Square is surrounded by some of Kolkata’s most enduring Raj-era monuments like the magnificent GPO (General Post Office), the regal Raj Bhawan, the Gothic-style Writer’s Building, and the St. John’s Church. The St. John’s Church (closed on Sundays), is the oldest Anglican Church in Kolkata, built-in 1756. The tour features the oldest functioning pipe organ in India and several tombs of British Generals who died during the Siege of Kolkata by Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula in 1756. Victoria Memorial Museum is one of India’s most beautiful monuments built between 1906 and 1921 in white marble. The memorial was the inspiration of Lord Curzon, who in 1901, felt that his lately departed Queen Empress, required a suitable monument to her memory. It houses paintings, manuscripts, and other objects of historic value in its Museum and Art Gallery. (Closed on Monday & National Holidays. Photography is not allowed inside.)

Overnight at hotel The Oberoi Grand or similar.

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Breakfast at the hotel, check out and transfer from your hotel to embark the Kalaw Pandaw—your new home for the next six nights—and set sail at noon on your lower Ganges (Hooghly River) cruise to discover its sacred treasures.

Sail past the old Danish colony of Serampore to Barrackpore to land and take a walk through the cantonment – past the Semaphore Tower, Government House, the Temple of Fame, and Flagstaff House.

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After breakfast sail upstream and land at the country town of Kalna and take rickshaws to see a group of some of Bengal’s most attractive terracotta temples, as well as the unique Shiva temple with concentric rings made up of 108 lesser shrines. Sail on through the night to a mooring near Matiari.

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Visit the brass-working village of Matiari, a charming riverside village. Interact with the locals of Matiari and witness the whole primitive process of beating out brass water pots and other vessels.

Continue cruising upstream and time permitting visit the battlefield of Plassey where, in 1757, Robert Clive, the Commander-in-Chief of British India, defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, to change the course of Indian history. Moor close to Murshidabad for the night.

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This morning, walk to the Khushbagh, a peaceful Mughal-style garden that encloses the tombs of Siraj-ud-Daulah – the last independent Nawab of Bengal – and his family. Continue a little way upstream to where the great Hazarduari Palace dominates the waterfront. Built by an English architect in 1837, the palace hosts an extensive collection of pictures, china, weapons, and other objects.

Carry on to visit the great Katra Mosque and Nashipara Palace before driving out to see the Katgola Palace. Built-in classical Georgian style by rich local merchants, Katgola Palace represents the other side of the coin of the ‘White Mughal’ period when English and Indian cultures came close to fusion. Moor overnight on the riverbank across from town.

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Continue up the Hooghly which transforms into a charming waterway twisting and turning between banks lined with mustard fields and mango orchards.

Morning walks through the fields of the delightfully sleepy village of Baranagar to visit its three gorgeous miniature terracotta temples. This is rural India at its most idyllic. Visit the Jain temples at Azimganj and continue downstream.

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Explore the village of Mayapur, the headquarters of the ISKCON movement with a new temple comparable in size to the Vatican and largely funded by Alfred B. Ford, the great-grandson of car maker Henry Ford. Meet Krishna followers and walk through the pilgrims’ bazaar.

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Continue sailing downstream before landing to visit the imposing Imambara at Hooghly. With verses from the Koran written on its walls, the Imambara is an opportunity to step back in time and relive a slice of Islamic history in Bengal.

Sail past the old Dutch settlement of Chinsura to Chandernagore, a French possession until 1950. Visit the 18th-century church and Dupleix’s House, erstwhile Governor-General of French India. Sail into the night to a mooring near Kolkata.

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After breakfast, disembark and receive a group transfer to the disembarkation point hotel for your onward journey.

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