Your holiday starts at the hotel in Delhi and a group transfer from Delhi Airport is provided. The neat and tidy group hotel is in a busy market street close to Connaught Place, the bustling heart of New Delhi. Afternoon at leisure and in the evening your guide will take dinner with you and will provide an informal briefing about the days ahead.

After breakfast at the hotel, we will go out to explore the old part of Delhi. We will visit the great Jama Masjid, the principal mosque of Old Delhi. Built in the year 1656 AD by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, it is the largest and best-known mosque in India. The courtyard of the mosque can hold up to twenty five thousand worshippers. We can then take an exciting rickshaw ride through the nearby colourful old bazaar of Chandni Chowk and see (but not visit) the Red Fort, which has the same Mughal architecture and structure as Agra Fort (which we will visit later in the tour). Also on our list today is the Hindu Temple Complex of Akshardham, built on the banks of the Yamuna River and boasting 234 ornate pillars, 20,000 statues and numerous arches. We spend a second night at our central hotel.

We have an early wake up and breakfast before going to the nearby New Delhi Railway Station to catch the 0600 train to Varanasi. This is the new Vande Bharat express train service and for the eight hours of the journey we will be treated to the best of the Indian railway experience as we watch the fascinating kaleidoscope of the Indian landscape pass by. Arriving in Varanasi in the early afternoon, we will transfer to our hotel in the city and have time for lunch before taking a motorised rickshaw (tuk-tuk) ride to the banks of the Ganges. Here, we will have a short guided tour of alleyways and temples and have some time to take in the atmosphere of this spiritual place before boarding a boat which provide the best viewpoint for the aarti ceremony. Taking place on the wide stone steps known as ghats, where pilgrims take the waters and perform their pujas, the aarti ceremony involves seven priests who carry butter lamps and chant and sing in praise of Mother Ganga. As a part of the ceremony, thousands of small floating butter lamps are prepared, each one representing the hopes and prayers of the individuals who push them out into the gentle current. We return to our hotel by tuk-tuk.

Leaving the hotel in the early morning pre-dawn darkness we make our way by bus through the quiet city streets back to the ghats where our boat is waiting. Afloat on the river we can enjoy the sun rise over the Ganges and the ghats. We are rowed slowly along the river, watching the activity of the ghats as the devotees come down to the waters; all aspects of life are on display as people make their offerings and prayers, wash themselves and their clothes and even cremate their loved ones on the banks of the most important river in Hinduism. From the river, the patchwork arrangement of temples and houses have a magical quality. Returning to our hotel for breakfast we have some free time to rest or to shop for souvenirs including silk goods for which Varanasi is famous. In the late morning, we will visit the museum of Bharat Kala Bhavan which houses a vast collection of paintings, Hindu and Buddhist sculptures and other materials of archeological importance. After lunch we will visit the Buddhist site of Sarnath with its impressive stone stupa, temples and museums. Overnight in Varanasi.

It's a drive of around five hours today to the site of the 2025 Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj (previously known as Allahabad) but we will break the journey to pay a visit to the very impressive Chunar Fort which rises above the Ganges just about half an hour south of Varanasi. Built of local red sandstone and rebuilt several times, the fort has a long and fascinating history; supposedly established by Vikramaditya of Ujjah (56 BC) and successively occupied by prominent historical figures including Sher Shah Suri, the Emperor Akbar, Aurangzeb, the Nawabs of Avadh and, in 1764, the British Raj. After our visit to the fort we continue our journey westwards to Prayagraj where we check in at our comfortable, private fixed camp accommodation at the heart of the Kumbh Mela site.

Now properly called Prayagraj, this city has been the site of religious fairs for centuries and these have taken place annually at Triveni Sangam at the confluence of the Yamuna and Ganges rivers. A third mythical river, the Saraswati, joins the other two rivers at this point. Since the 19th Century, this site has been one of the four venues of the Kumbh Mela. The full (Maha) Kumbh Mela takes place on a 12-year cycle and the last time this took place at Prayagraj in 2013 some 30 million people attended; the largest peaceful gathering in the world. The festival is marked by a ritual dip in the Ganges on several auspicious days, determined according to the Hindu lunar-solar calendar. The festival is also a celebration of community and commerce with markets and preachings, charitable food handouts and spectacularly colourful entertainment. Options to explore with our guide include the Hanuman Temple, Akshya Vat and Allahabad Fort. We will spend the day at the festival with lunch and dinner at the camp.

After breakfast at the camp, we will head out again to experience the Mela. Today is the first of the 'royal bathing' days, known as Makar Sankranti and, if you are aiming to take a holy dip at Triveni Sangam, today is the day to do it. Hindu mythology suggests that water of the Ganges turns to nectar on this day and a ritual bathing will take away all sin and ensure salvation. We will also visit the camps of some of the usually fourteen separate 'Akharas' (groups of sadhus and other religious persons, followers of different Hindu deities; Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma and others). We spend a third night at our fixed camp accommodation.

After breakfast we will say goodbye to the River Ganges and head north across country to Ayodhya, a drive of around four hours. Situated on the banks of Sarayu River, Ayodhya is one of the most sacred places in India for Hindus and was called Saket in ancient times. This place is mentioned in several legends and stories including the 24,000 verse Sanskrit epic, the Ramayana. We will have a sightseeing tour after lunch in Ayodhya and visit the newly built Ram Janmabhoomi Temple. According to the Ramayana, Prince Rama, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, grew up beside the Sarayu River. We will also visit the 10th Century Hanuman Garhi Temple, dedicated to the 'monkey god' Hanuman. Overnight in Ayodhya.

After breakfast we will have a three-hour drive to Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh and a place often referred to as the 'City of Nawabs'. Lucknow is one of the most pristine and multicultural cities of India and flourished during the 18th and the 19th centuries as an artistic and cultural centre under the reign of the Nawabs of Awadh. Arriving in the city at lunchtime, we will check in at the excellent group hotel and the remainder of the day is at leisure. The city does have various architectural and historical highlights and for those who are keen to explore a short sightseeing tour on foot can be arranged.

Lucknow is known for its Nawabi heritage and outstanding architecture, but it's also a total foodie's paradise. From royal relishes to kebabs, paans and biryanis, you never know what culinary gems you'll find tucked within Lucknow's narrow alleyways. Our full day tour will include visits to several of the city's impressive 'imambaras' which are places of Muslim worship built by the Nawabs in the 18th and 19th Centuries. Muslim people from all over the region come to the imambaras each year to celebrate the religious festival of Muharram. Tombs and temples, domed and gilded in silver and gold, with ornate interiors featuring floral designs and chandeliers are all part of today's richness. We will also see The Residency, home to officials of the British Raj at the start of the 19th century, the imposing gateway of Rumi Darwaza, the villa and garden of Sikandar Bagh and the stately gardens and monument of Ambedkar Park. Overnight in Lucknow.

There's no great rush this morning, so we can enjoy a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, before boarding our vehicle for the five-hour drive westwards to Agra. Arriving in Agra we check in at our hotel and have some free time. The earliest reference to Agra can be found in the epic Mahabharata where it is referred to as the Agravana. It was in the medieval period, however, that Agra rose to prominence as the capital of the Mughals when the city was beautified with gardens, water falls, bathhouses and canals. Today, the bustling streets of Agra boast a thriving carpet industry, leather workers and of course marble and sandstone sculptors, some of who claim to be descendants of the craftsmen who helped build the great Taj Mahal.

Yet another highlight of the tour, this morning at sunrise, we visit the Taj Mahal - one of the man-made 'seven wonders' of the world which took 20,000 people 22 years to build. Its dazzling white walls and dome are inlaid with 28 different types of precious and semi-precious stones, some of which pick out verses from the Koran in highly decorative script. The Taj Mahal itself is a mausoleum for Mumtaz the wife of its builder Shah Jahan and is set in tranquil gardens. After our visit, we return to our hotel for a late breakfast and a wash and brush up, before heading out to see the Agra Fort, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. Commanding gates, fashioned in red stone, as well as an excellent view of the Taj Mahal, just two and a half kilometres away, are highlights of this impressive site. We will return to Delhi on the late afternoon Gatiman Express train and spend our final night of the holiday at our airport-accessible hotel.

Your holiday ends after breakfast. A group transfer to Delhi airport is provided.