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Royal Palaces of India
from $27,900 pp

  • Duration: 15 Days
  • Destinations: India
Majesty and Luxury Abounding

India’s grand and gorgeous architectural masterworks have enchanted the West for scores of centuries. Lord Curzon, India’s most astute Viceroy, praised its temples, tombs, and palaces as “the greatest galaxy of monuments in the world.”

On this two-week journey to India’s northern heartland, we immerse ourselves in that stellar firmament, visiting the grandest of the subcontinent’s monuments—with an enthralling emphasis on its old and its new palaces, in which, enveloped in luxurious hospitality, we’re happy to say we stay. At: Delhi’s Leela Palace; the fabulous Oberoi Amarvilas in Agra, where every window looks out at the nearby Taj Mahal; at the exquisite Rambagh Palace, home of Jaipur’s last reigning maharajah; at Udaipur’s lyric Oberoi Udaivilas; and the Taj Group’s majestic Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur.

Highlights
  • Lodgings fit for—and often built for—royalty: the noble Rambagh Palace in Jaipur; Agra’s showcase Amarvilas; the serene and fantastical Udaivilas in Udaipur; and perhaps the grandest palace hotel on the planet: the Umaid Bhawan in Jodhpur.
  • Intimate encounters with the “gem of man’s creation,” the Taj Mahal.
  • Services of a Micato Travel Director from touchdown to takeoff—and 24-hours-a-day backup from our Concierge Service.
  • The Pink City of Jaipur, an ongoing festival of swirling colour and splendid palaces; gently enchanting Udaipur; the grandeur of Delhi; and the forts and lovely countryside of Jodhpur.
  • Rare access to palatial apartments and rooms, and insider’s access to bright Indian personalities and specialists of all kinds.
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Additional Information

Day 1 En route to endlessly astounding India Days 2 to 4 Delhi’s imperial splendours After a leisurely morning we’ll have an orientation lunch with our Micato Travel Director. Now we’ll delve into swirlingly colourful Old Delhi, rickshawing over to Jama Masjid, one of India’s largest and most impressive mosques (it’s one of the last monuments built by Shah Jahan, whose world-crowning glory, the Taj Mahal, we’ll soon see). We’ll visit Humayan’s Tomb (said to have inspired the eagerly inspirable Jahan), pay our respects at the Gandhi Museum, explore the British Raj’s imposing New Delhi edifices, and mingle with happy pilgrims at giant Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, a bustling Sikh temple.

The first of our Indian palaces, the Leela, is set in the capital’s Diplomatic Enclave, and beckons with quietude, unabashed luxury, and India’s unceasingly gracious hospitality.

Days 5 & 6 The soul-stirring Taj Mahal A modern toll road takes us to Agra for a couple of days in the sweetly hypnotic aura of the Taj Mahal. Our base is the Oberoi Amarvilas, a scintillating Oberoi jewel. Every window in Amarvilas looks out at the Taj, less than two thousand feet away, giving us ever-changing views of humanity’s greatest artifact from our beautifully decorated, balconied rooms and from the hotel’s restaurants and expansive verandahs.

We’ll make early morning and evening visits to the Taj, wandering in its gardens and under its white-cloud archways. We’ll amble in fascinating Agra Fort (where Shah Jahan was imprisoned for the last years of his life, peering dolefully out at his masterpiece). We’ll visit a marble inlay studio (after seeing the exquisite Taj inlays, we’ll want to know how this marble magic works), returning to the Amarvilas for a swim in its lovely pool, dinner at its top-flight restaurant, making sure to catch a few minutes or hours to contemplate the Taj.

Days 7 to 9 Vibrant Jaipur, the beloved Pink City A countryside drive takes us to the fabled Pink City of Jaipur. For more than half a millennium Jaipur’s Rajput maharajahs were renowned for their regal disdain for rupee-pinching. They spent, played, and built extravagantly; witness our palace, the Rambagh, home of the last of Jaipur’s rulers, Sawai Man Singh II. The Rambagh Palace, now a Taj Group property, regularly lands high on lists of the World’s Best Hotels, for its frank splendour, its traditionally noble but state-of-the-art comfy rooms, its cool marble corridors, its fountain-misted gardens, its fine dining, and, in the Taj Group custom, its flawlessly alert and cheery service.

There is much to see and enjoy in the Pink City, and with our Micato Travel Director at our side, we’ll do our best to take it all in, visiting the vast and fabulously ornate City Palace; hot air ballooning in the early morning as Jaipur awakens; rambling in the Doctor Seussian (but strikingly accurate), 280 year-old Jantar Mantar Observatory; and admiring the whimsical Hawa Mahal, or Palace of the Winds. We’ll wander in the mirrored mini-palaces of massive Amber Fort, lunch at the serene Samode Palace a little way out of town, and spend a late afternoon helping bathe lovingly-cared-for elephants at a private estate, followed by a festively al fresco dinner.

Days 10 & 11 Serene and graceful Udiapur A morning flight takes us to lakeside Udaipur, beloved of Indians and internationals for its beauty and serenity, its intriguing temples, and its chromatic history—which we’ll experience in the flamboyant City Palace, hilltop home of Udaipur’s Mewar maharanas, who, like their Mughal suzerains, gracefully avoided all things frugal.

Udaipur has a Venetian feel, with homes and palaces built by the shores of Lake Pichola, and we’ll take a sunset boatride across the lake to our lodgings, the sublime Oberoi Udaivilas, recently ranked the planet’s second best hotel by Condé Nast Traveler, and the number one Indian resort hotel by Travel+Leisure. We luxuriate in Udaivilas’ sparkling pools, domed public rooms, in its artwork, fragrant gardens and spa, reveling in a modern palace in which India’s maharajahs, maharanas, nizams, and assorted nawabs would feel right at regal home.

Days 12 to 14 Umaid Bhawan, the world’s grandest palace hotel We drive northwest towards Jodhpur, stopping for a quiet lunch en route s and a visit to the Jain temple complex at Ranakpur before motoring up to the doors of the Umaid Bhawan Palace, fittingly the last and the largest of India’s great palaces.

Umaid Bhawan sits among 26 garden acres atop Chittar Hill, overlooking the Sun City of Jodhpur. The vast palace—once the world’s largest private residence— now serves as a museum, as the home of the old ruling family, and as a uniquely stately hotel, expertly operated, as always, by the Taj Group. Our palace rooms are decorated with Art Deco themes and feature all the luxuries, amenities, and grace notes we’ve come expect from a Taj hotel. The Umaid Bhawan is, as they say, a destination in itself, but so is Jodhpur; we’ll wander in the Old City, visit monolithic Mehrangarh Fort and the glowing marble cenotaph of Jaswant Thada, and we’ll take a jeep safari through Bishnoi villages (the Bishnoi are a religious group rooted in deep respect for nature), followed by a beautifully catered picnic lunch and a return to the inimitable Umaid Bhawan.

Day 15 Return to Delhi and onward After flying back to Delhi, we’ll have day rooms,—and night rooms, if necessary for late flights—at the palatial Oberoi Gurgaon, near Delhi’s airport.

Day 16 Arrive home

Departure Dates
Start: January 1, 2025
End: December 14, 2025
Price: $24,750 pp
| Land Only

Price My Trip
Start: December 15, 2025
End: December 31, 2025
Price: $28,550 pp
| Land Only

Price My Trip
Start: January 1, 2026
End: December 14, 2026
Price: $27,900 pp
| Land Only

Price My Trip
Start: December 15, 2026
End: December 31, 2026
Price: $32,400 pp
| Land Only

Price My Trip
Price My Trip
Product Code: ppo-micatosafaris-457988

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AccommodationsFirst-class hotel accommodations based on twin-bedded rooms with private bath or showersthe categories assigned to hotels reflect the opinion of Micato Safaris.MealsThree meals daily per the itinerary, based on evening arrivals on Day 2. Regional wines, beer and bottled water are included with meals.Air TransportationYour travel agent should arrange international flights. Internal African flights on safari must be purchased through Micato.LuggageMicato provides a safari bag that guests are urged to travel with. On certain flights within Africa, strict luggage restrictions apply; details are provided in tour documentation. Luggage and personal effects are at "owner's risk" throughout the tour unless insured.Wi-Fi and LaundryWhere available, Wi-Fi and laundry service are included in the Tour rates.TaxesThe tour program includes hotel taxes as imposed by city and state governments, entrance fees to National Parks and Game Reserves, and airport taxes for intra-country flights. International airport taxes are not included.Not Included in Quoted Tour Rates:Cost of obtaining passports, visas, travel insurance, excess baggage charges, items of a personal nature such as communication (calls, faxes, emails, etc.), international airport departure tax (to be paid in U.S. dollars or acceptable foreign currencies), deviations from the tour and anything else not specifically included.RegistrationA deposit of 30% is required at the time of booking. The balance or final payment is due 120 days prior to departure.CancellationsCancellations received by Micato 120 days or more prior to departure are subject to a cancellation fee of 20% of the total retail tour rate; 119- 60 days prior to departure is 50% of the tour rate; Cancellations received 59 days or less are subject to a 100% cancellation fee. Trip cancellation insurance is strongly recommended. Different cancellation terms apply for Custom, Private Classic journeys, or Extensions.ArrangementsQuoted tour rates include planning, handling and operational charges, based on the current rate of exchange and tariff as of October 2024. In the event of an increase in foreign exchange or tariff rates, energy or fuel surcharges, or other increases, etc., except for increased governmental taxes which can be assessed at any time, rates are subject to revision up to the time of your final payment to us.Guaranteed DeparturesMicato guarantees departure of all group programs once a deposit is paid excepting only cases of force majeure. This includes any event that adversely affects international travel patterns such as epidemics, acts of God or government, terrorism as well as any other circumstance beyond Micato's control.Please Note: If a minimum number of travelers is not reached, Micato may provide local guides in each location in place of a Micato travel or safari director. Extensions are locally guided.