Delhi - Jaipur - Agra – Delhi (8 DAYS)
India is the land of cultural exuberance and composite tradition passed down from generation to generation. This is clearly evident in the creations of her master craftsmen. While the creators extraordinaire have inherited and honed ancestral skills to perfection, these skills co-exist in perfect harmony with a touch of modernity.  Brassware, handicraft, textiles, leather, silver & gold jewelry are among some of the main trademark handicrafts.   Delhi, Jaipur and Agra (the famous Golden Triangle) offer a wonderful introduction to traditional and modern day art and culture.  This trip offers shopping at designer stores & outlets, local specialty bazaars and well known art & craft emporia.
In addition to the shopping, enjoy a guided tour in each city including Old Delhi & Lutyen’s New Delhi, sunrise visit to the Taj Mahal, an elephant ride uphill to the Amber Fort Palace in Jaipur.

Day 1 – Arrive Delhi
Meet & greet on arrival followed by transfer to hotel.
DELHI: The capital city of modern India has behind it centuries of history which has enriched its culture.  Nowhere has tradition blended with modernity on a scale as evident in Delhi  where age-old monuments stand alongside ultra modern high-rise buildings.  Delhi has been the seat of power for centuries.  Today, old and new city combine to present a harmonious side, offering the traveler elegant shops, broad laburnum-lined avenues, sun warmed elegant forts and mosques that were once the stronghold of Mughal powers and colorful bazaars.

Interestingly, by virtue of its varied history, the city has been the melting pot of many cultures. It is today a place where you find a wide choice of items which showcase all parts of the country. Among Delhi’s potpourri of shopping choices are vivacious garments, textiles, metalwork, furniture, brass, silver, copper, gold, jewelry, silks and brocades, leather goods, rugs……

Check-in at the hotel. Rest of the time at leisure

Overnight: HOTEL – DELHI

Day 2 – In Delhi
Breakfast at hotel.
Morning: sightseeing of New Delhi. Drive past the India Gate (the war memorial dedicated to the martyr’s of World War I, The President's Palace - formerly the Viceroy's Palace, Parliament House and the Secretariat buildings - an interesting blend of the Victorian and 20th century architecture. Visit  Humayun’s Tomb, the precursor of Taj Mahal.
Lunch at the hotel or a local restaurant (on direct payment)

Afternoon: visit the famous shops  in the elite Khan market.
Khan Market, much favoured by the elite for ample choice of products, from premium designer houses featuring designers of national and international repute and of-course the mouth watering eateries.
The best addresses here are - Anokhi, Amrapalli, Fabindia and the Neemrana shop.

Anokhi - showcasing products in specialised areas such as appliqué, embroidery, patchwork and bead work together with garments - Indian and Western in design.  Home textiles, sarongs and accessories also available.

Fabindia - established in 1960 by John Bissell, today it is a successful retail textile business offering a variety of natural fibres and home products including furniture, lights and lamps, stationery, home accessories, pottery and cutlery

Amrapalli – this establishment belongs to a well known Indian designer famous for hand crafted silver & gold jewellery and is in business since 1978.

Neemrana shop – is run by Neemrana Hotels, a reputed chain of heritage hotels in India.  The shop stocks merchandise ranging from linen, fashion accessories, candles, pottery, silver plate and porcelain tableware, tea sets, candle stands, trays and objects all crafted in a heritage or contemporary lifestyle design

Return back to the hotel.

Overnight: HOTEL – DELHI

Day 3 – In Delhi
Breakfast at hotel.

Morning: visit Gandhi Smriti – Mahatma Gandhi’s Delhi home where he had lived from 9 September 1947 to 30 January 1948. The hallowed house treasures many memories of the last 144 days of his life and of his assassination. It has now been turned into multimedia museum offering a fascinating glimpse into the life of the Leader of the Nation and the father of India’s independence.

Continue to a leading art gallery or the National Museum of Delhi

OR

Morning:  Visit the 12th century Qutab Minar, gracefully hand-carved for its entire height of 234ft, this iron pillar has withstood the ravages of time and not rusted even after 1,500 years.
Visit Cottage Industries Emporium – the epitome of handicrafts and handlooms in the Indian art & craft scenario for over 50 years.  It has the largest store of exotic and authentic Indian crafts. The crafts reflect a 5000 year old rich heritage of India. Over the last 50 years, the Emporium has attracted well-known personalities like Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Farah of Iran, Jacqueline Kennedy and a host of dignitaries from across the world.

Lunch at hotel or at a local restaurant (on direct payment)

Afternoon: visit Sunder Nagar Market - this enclave specialises in jewellery, fine Pashminas, gold, silver, antiques  and Indian & Nepali handicrafts.

Continue on to visit Goodearth - a complete lifestyle experience at the Select City Walk Mall

At Goodearth, the focus is on living areas of the house, with a range of stylish and exclusively designed products for dining & entertaining, bed linen, cushions and home décor.  The latest addition in the product line is 'Amritam' - meaning rejuvenating nectar. Based on the Indian science – Ayurveda, this new product line is all about creating a personal home spa and offering a range of oils, hydrosols, and soaps of the highest purity levels.

Drive to Dilli Haatfor an authentic experience of art & handicrafts and cuisines from different states of India.
Dilli Haat constantly seeks to create an environment in which traditional textiles and handicrafts have their place and value to build a symbiotic relationship between the market and the design product, between skill and tradition.

OPTIONAL - Late evening: visit the local restaurant Veda for dinner.
Veda is a concept restaurant with its ambience and cuisine marrying the traditional with the contemporary. One can see the elements of craftsmanship and skills of our bygone era, rightfully celebrating all that is wonderful, special and magical about India.

Overnight: HOTEL – DELHI

Day 4 – Drive from Delhi to Jaipur (260 km, 5 hr)
Breakfast at hotel.
Morning: leave for Jaipur by private car with photo stops en route.
JAIPUR, the capital of Rajasthan built by Sawai Jai Singh, is among the first of India’s planned cities. The ancient heart of the Pink City still beats in its fairy tale palaces, rugged fortresses perched on barren hills and broad avenues. Beautifully laid out gardens and parks, attractive monuments and marvellous heritage hotels, once the residence of Maharajas, make the visit a memorable one.
Jaipur has a timeless appeal in its colourful bazaars and are a source of endless fascination. The traditional art of tie-dye textiles by dexterously knotting the material and dipping it in colour to form delicate bandhenj and lahariya patterns, are found in abundance adding colour to the streets.
On arrival, check-in at hotel.
Lunch at hotel (on direct payment)
Late afternoon: visit Hot Pink and hand made paper (Xylem) OR textile block printing units.
Hot Pink - the first concept store in Rajasthan offering exclusively Indian manufactured accessories, ready to wear and home wear items.  Hot Pink chosen designers create chic and contemporary pieces still respecting and faithful to Indian traditional techniques
Also, visit the hand made paper or textile block printing units outside Jaipur.
Textile Block printing - Carved wooden blocks soaked in different colours are pasted on the fabric. Hand-block printing is perhaps the most popular kind of textile decoration as it allows the printer to produce a wide range of fabrics in bright colours and attractive designs to be made into saris, bedcovers and tablecloths.

Overnight: HOTEL – JAIPUR
Day 5 – In  Jaipur
Breakfast at hotel.

Morning: visit of Amber Fort, a classic, romantic Rajasthani Fort Palace. Precious stones and mirrors are embedded into the plaster. Inside the fort visit the Jag Mandir –the famed room with all the four walls and ceiling completely embedded with glittering mirror pieces, which were specially imported from Belgium during that period.
En-route to Amber Fort, you will have a brief photography stop at Hawa Mahal - the Palace of Winds.
The stone carvers of Rajasthan are noted for their latticework (jali) carvings.
Most ancient palatial buildings of Rajasthan, showcase jali work on their doors and windows. The jali screens, sculpted from both sandstone and marble were frequently used in the windows of the women's quarters (zenanas) enabling the women in purdah to view the events of the courts without being seen. The screens also offered protection from the elements while allowing the passage of fresh air through the intricate geometric patterns. Rajasthan continues to be one of major centres of stone carving in the country.  The city is in fact the centre of marble carving in Rajasthan. Here one can see artisans creating marble images of the deities as well as domestic utensils such as bowls for grinding spices and kneading dough.
Return to hotel for lunch or dine at a local restaurant.
Afternoon: City tour of Jaipur which begins with a visit to the Maharaja's City Palace, a modern 18th century palace built by the ruler of Amber state in the style of a fortified campus is still the residence of the Royal family of Jaipur. Part of the palace is converted into the Sawai Man Singh II museum. Afterwards visit the Jantar Mantar which is the largest stone and marble crafted Observatory in the world. Situated near the gate of the City Palace, the observatory has 17 large instruments, many of them still in working condition.
Later visit the various specialty bazaars known for gems & jewellery, textiles, spices, enamelling and for wood sculptures.
Gems & jewellery -in India, ornaments are made practically for every part of the body. Such a variety of ornaments bears the testimony to the excellent skills of the jewellers in India. The range of jewellery varies from religious pieces to purely aesthetic ones. Jewellery was crafted not just for humans but also for the gods, ceremonial elephants and horses.  The craft of jewellery making was given a royal patronage right since ancient times. The rajas and maharajas vied with each other to possess the most exquisite and the most magnificent pieces of jewellery. Temple complexes supported many different styles of jewellery-scented sandalwood bead necklaces, the prayer bead or the rudraksh (berry of the elaocarpus canitrus) necklace, multicoloured silk and gold thread necklaces.

Wood Lacquering & Sculptures: Lacquering on wood products adds colour, sparkle and smoothness thereby imparting lustrous finesse.  India is well known for ornamental lacquering involving intricate patterns like zigzag and dana work, atishi, abri or cloud and nakashi.
Enameling:  Enameling is the art of colouring and ornamenting the surface of the metal by infusing it with various mineral substances. The beauty of the article depends on the skill and resources of the worker and the excellence of the material employed. The range of the colours obtained on gold is much greater than that on silver, copper and brass. Three forms of enamelling are known to exist. Jaipur specialises in enamelled trays and trinket boxes.

Overnight: HOTEL – JAIPUR
Day 6 – Drive from Jaipur to Agra (250 km, 6 hr)
Breakfast at hotel.
Morning: leave for Agra by private car with photo stops en route.

Visit Fatehpur Sikri en route - situated around 40 km from Agra, the city is an extraordinary place to wander around its buildings which are in near perfect condition even after more than 400 yrs. Built by Emperior Akbar in 1569, it remained the capital of the Mughal emperor between 1570 to 1586 but was abandoned due to scarcity of water. The sprawling structure is made of red sandstone and combines both Hindu and Muslim architecture. The main entrance to this walled city is through the 175 feet Buland Darwaza.
CONTINUE drive to Agra.
AGRA: On the right bank of the river Yamuna, Agra boasts a glorious past created by warriors as skilled in art and architecture as they were on the battlefield. To the lover of art and to the traveller seeking the wonders of India, Agra’s Taj Mahal and Agra Fort will not disappoint.
Agra has its share of interesting shopping with a wide range of local arts and crafts. It is especially noted for its leather footwear, marble inlay work and gold thread embroidery "zari work", the city jewellers offer attractive jewellery of Mughal designs.
Shopping for leather in India is a real pleasure because you can buy high quality leather at a fraction of the normal price. Most leather is exported out of India to high fashion boutiques in the fashion capitals of the world.
On arrival, check-in at hotel.
OPTIONAL –a wonderful show called Mohabbat-the-Taj: first of its kind in Agra, the show depicts an engrossing saga of love of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, his devotion to love with his wife Mumtaz Mahal that lead to the building of the magnificent TAJ MAHAL – a memoir of their love and the Wonder of the World.   The hour and a half dance-drama combines the wonders of technology with the beauty of classical dancing. Artists in traditional Mughal attire take the audience into the Mughal courts and the Emperor’s love story with their beautifully executed dance performance.

Overnight: HOTEL - AGRA

Day 7 – Drive Agra to Delhi ( 220 km, 4.5 hr )
Sunrise: visit Taj Mahal  -the seventh wonder of world built by Shah Jahan as a memorial to his wife Mumtaz Mahal by the banks  river Yamuna. After her untimely death, Shah Jahan had her mortal remains buried in this mausoleum. And after his own demise he was placed to rest next to his beloved queen in the same mausoleum The Taj has been called the most extravagant monument ever built out of love. The great monument took almost 22 years to build and was completed in 1653.
Breakfast at hotel
Later in morning, visit the Agra Fort -the seat and the stronghold of the Mughal Empire for many generations. Foundation of the fort was laid by Emperor Akbar in 1565 and continued for many years.
Visit a marble inlay factory to see the art of “pietra dura” made famous by the Taj Mahal..

Elaborate marble inlay designs are created by master craftsman or Ustad.  The designs are exclusively handcrafted by a team of workers. The skill is handed down as family lore from father to son, a practice still prevalent in Agra. The classical tradition of marble inlay is closely linked with architecture.
Thereafter see original Mughal Zardosi embroidery – The art of embroidering with Silk thread and cord.
Afternoon: Drive to Delhi by private chauffeured car.
On arrival, check-in at hotel.

Overnight: HOTEL – DELHI

Day 8 – Depart Delhi
Transfer to international airport for onward flight back home.

END OF PROGRAM

Price : From Euro 1200

PRICE INCLUDES :

• Meeting & assistance at airports
• Seven nights hotel accommodation as mentioned above on bed & breakfast basis
• All ground transportation including airport transfers exactly as per the itinerary.
• Visits to the shopping outlets exactly as suggested in the programme with an English speaking escort
• Sightseeing tours with an English speaking guide and including entrance fee to the monuments,  exactly as per the itinerary
• Sunrise visit to Taj Mahal
• Elephant ride at Amber Fort
• Currently applicable taxes

EXCLUSIONS :

• Visa charges and international/domestic airfares
• Christmas and New Year supplements
• Extras or personal expenses like table drinks, telephone calls, table/hotel tips, tips to the driver/guide, laundry  or any other expenses of personal  nature
• Still or video camera fee at the monuments
• Services other than the ones mentioned above

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