9-Day Golden Triangle with Varanasi

SALE: From US$1299 1199/p (2pax with 4-star hotel)

Tour route: Delhi - Varanasi - Agra - Jaipur - Delhi

Tour code: ODY-IN-004C

Tour style: Tailor-made tour

Highlights: Ganges River・Taj Mahal・Old Delhi・Amber Fort

Book by: Aug 31, 2018

Travel date: Jan 8 - Dec 20, 2019

Except Nov 17 - 25, 2019 during Dev Deepawali in Varanasi

Special offers: Complimentary dinners・Hotel room upgrade・Daily hamper service・Free WiFi
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Travellers rating

4.9 of 5 stars

Based on 1126 reviews

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Itinerary

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Day 1

Welcome to Enchanting New Delhi, India

Upon arrival at India Gandhi International Airport, you are greeted by our representative and escorted to the hotel. After a brief introduction of your India tour, you will check in to have some free time on your own to adjust to the new time zone.
Accommodation: The Suryaa (4 star), Deluxe Room
Day 2

One of a Kind Old Delhi Experience

After breakfast, start your tour today with the visit to Old Delhi to see Jama Masjid and then a unique glance at local life by an exploration to the bustling local bazaar of Chandni Chowk on rickshaw.
Pass by Red Fort before driving to New Delhi for Qutub Minar. Continue with Raj Ghat, drive along the city landmarks of India Gate, President's House, Parliament House & Government Secretariat Buildings and stop for photo opportunity there. Finish today with an insight into the local religion at a colorful Hindu Temple - Laxmi Narayan Temple.
Accommodation: The Suryaa (4 star), Deluxe Room
Meal: Breakfast
Day 3

The Senses & Soul of the Ganges

After a breakfast drive to Delhi airport to board flight to Varanasi. Arrive in Varanasi, and our representative in Varanasi will greet you at airport and help you settle down at hotel. Evening witness the thousand-year-old Aarti Ceremony during which worshippers pray near the water by the light of candles and lanterns.
Accommodation: Hotel Madin (4 star), Deluxe Room
Meal: Breakfast
Day 4

Holy River Ganges, Varanasi

Wake up earlier for a sunrise boat cruise on the Ganges River, vivid picture of devoted Hindus bathe in the river offering the prayers against morning sunlight make the journey quite rewarding. Return to the hotel for breakfast followed by a brief city tour to Banaras Hindu University, Golden Temple and Bharat Mata Temple which is dedicated to Mother India. Afternoon continue your adventure to Sarnath (The Deer Park) where the Buddha preached his first sermon and Sarnath Museum (closed on Fridays).
Accommodation: Hotel Madin (4 star), Deluxe Room
Meal: Breakfast
Day 5

Turning to Agra

Morning after breakfast, check out of hotel and be escorted to Varanasi airport for your flight to Delhi. Be picked up at the Delhi airport exit and your private driver will drive you to Agra (approx. 4.5 hours). Check in to your Agra hotel upon arrival. Rest of the day is at leisure.
Accommodation: Crystal Sarovar Premiere (4 star), Premium Room (Taj Facing)
Meal: Breakfast
Day 6

Timeless Taj Mahal

Rise early for a visit to the Taj Mahal in all its glory as the sun is rising, which is the best time to see this world-famous manmade wonder, not only to capture the photo the best Taj Mahal sunrise view, but also to avoid the heat and crowds at the Taj Mahal later in the daytime. Afternoon continue to explore the ancient Mogul capital by a visit to Agra Fort. Later enjoy high tea with Brilliant Taj Backdrop, which will be unforgettable experience for your India trip.
Accommodation: Crystal Sarovar Premiere (4 star), Premium Room (Taj Facing)
Meal: Breakfast
Day 7

Agra - Jaipur

After hotel checkout, head west to Jaipur (approx. 5 hours) stopping en route to visit Fatehpur Sikri, the former royal city and capital of Emperor of Akbar, boasting one of the finest examples of Mughal architectural splendor at its height. This evening, enjoy a complimentary dinner at your hotel in Jaipur.
Accommodation: Fortune Select Metropolitan (4 star), Standard Room
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 8

Historical Beauty of Jaipur

Today you have a full day private tour of Amer Fort and Jaipur city. The morning journey starts with a jeep ride ascend to the entrance of Hillside Amer Fort, located in Amer, a town 11 km away from Jaipur city. Inside also visit the fabulous Sheesh Mahal (Palace of Mirrors).
Return to Jaipur city you will be taken to Maharaja City Palace, a royal palace with seven storeys as well as Jantar Mantar, the observatory. This wonderful observatory is attracted by mathematician as well as astronomers of whole world. City palace is perfect blend of all three excellent styles (Mughal, Rajput and European). Another palace, Hawa Mahal is popular all over world for it magnificent architecture. You will be taken through pink rose garden as well as business centers of Jaipur. In the evening, enjoy a complimentary dinner at your hotel.
Accommodation: Fortune Select Metropolitan (4 star), Standard Room
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 9

Flying to Delhi, Departure

After breakfast, check out of hotel and return to Delhi by private A/C vehicle. On arrival, you could go to some markets for last minute shopping before heading to Delhi airport. In time, be escorted to airport for your flight to your onward destination.
Meal: Breakfast

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Reviews about This Tour

Heather2707

We always wanted to go to India but were overwhelmed at the thought of organising a trip to such a foreign place ourselves. I also work in the tourism industry so had very high expectations on what I wanted from a consultant and how I wanted the trip to be. I researched various tour companies and came across My Odyssey Tours and saw that their reviews were excellent (and now I know why!). I contacted the company with my enquiry and Monica Mo emailed me back almost immediately. Dealing with Monica was a dream! She worked tirelessly with me to develop the most incredible trip, coordinating everything seamlessly and always responding back very quickly to my emails.

I was travelling with another female and we were both nervous about what we were undertaking so it was reassuring knowing that we were being met and escorted when we arrived. The drivers and guides were fabulous – they were knowledgeable, friendly, enthusiastic, always very protective and caring of us and our needs and very easy to get along with. Our main driver was Vajinder and we very quickly developed a good friendship with him, he was always happy and obliging with our requests and he was always fun to be around.

Our trip with My Odyssey Tours was honestly completely faultless. We were amazed at how professional and well run the entire operation is. Monica maintained contact with us throughout the trip to ensure our well-being which we were also very grateful for.

Thanks to My Odyssey Tours, Monica, Vajinder and all of our other drivers and guides we have the most wonderful, happy memories of our India trip and look forward to working again with Monica on our next adventure!

January 2018

Lindsay C

We have never used a tour company before but for our first trip to India we decided it made sense because we had a lot of things we wanted to do and a lot of ground to cover.

From the very start our experience with Odyssey tours was incredible. Our planner Queenie Yang was amazing and helped us create a custom tour that included everything we wanted to do. Her expertise helped us navigate around monsoon season and her recommendations were spot on. Queenie was so responsive and even when we got to India she continued to check in to make sure everything was going as planned.

Our time in India was one of our best travel experiences we've ever had. Our driver Rajesh was outstanding. He constantly gave us advice on where to eat and what to do as well as entertaining us with facts and stories about India as we drove city to city - he was such a wealth of knowledge and was so nice that we felt at the end of ten days we had made a new friend. Extra props to him as we did not get food sick and we truly believe it was his advice that prevented that.

The local guides that Odyssey arranges at each location were also a highlight. Every guide was local to where we were and you could tell their passion for their city was only matched by their knowledge of it. We thoroughly enjoyed our one on one time with each guide so we could ask any questions we had. From history to day to day life, our guides we happy to answer our questions and always engaged in our conversations.

Every hotel we stayed at was over and above what we expected and the quality of programing throughout our entire tour was exceptional.

We cannot recommend Odyssey tours India enough. They even thought to send flowers and a cake when they heard that it was our honeymoon vacation. We will 100% book with them again and recommend our family and friends to do so as well.

Thank you especially to Queenie and Rajesh for making our time in India so memorable!

January 2018

Amelia Wu

I worked with Owen Zhou to plan a 2-week, first-time trip to India for my family of five. As a busy woman with a full-time job, three children, and a husband, I was dreading the planning process because I thought it would take a lot of my time, which is already in short supply. However, Owen and Odyssey made it very simple, easy, and cost-effective. We had very specific dates that we were available and certain places that we wanted to see, so I provided that basic outline and they made arrangements for airport pickups/dropoffs/transfers, car and driver, internal flights, and English-speaking tour guides. Tickets for all sites visited were also covered, as were all breakfasts and some dinners, and a sightseeing agenda for each city. We haven't yet finished the trip, but so far, everything has been very smooth. The daily tour guides in each city have been very good, our driver has been excellent, and it's been very convenient having a private car/van for the five of us to take us wherever we need to go. Odyssey's local manager in India has checked in with us along the way, and we've enjoyed the wonderful hotels and restaurant recommendations. I would recommend Owen Zhou and Odyssey as a tour company for their high quality staff and good customer service. They were also very reasonably priced--I asked several friends to recommend tour companies for India, and Odyssey was highly competitive.

December 2017

Nicola Nicholson

Myself and my husband went on a private tour to India (visiting Delhi, Jaipur and Agra) and Nepal (Kathmandu). Queenie was very helpful with arranging all the trip details for us plus keeping regular contact by email or phone to make sure we were happy with the holiday. Our driver Virginda was very good to us and made driving around India comfortable for us. All our tour guides in India and Nepal were excellent and had lots of knowledge about the local area... our favorites were the tour guides in Jaipur and Kathmandu (sorry I've forgotten their names). All of the hotels were great to stay in. The Florence hotel and staff in Dehli was very good. Our favourite hotel for the whole trip and staff were at the one in Nepal (The Tibet hotel). The staff were lovely and we loved all the colours/pictures in the hotel.
The only things we would change is the hotel in Jaipur (Leisure Inn Grand Chanakya)... nothing wrong with the hotel itself but a lot of the staff could not speak English and when we asked questions we felt we were being a nuisance to them because they seemed so uncomfortable talking to us. If I could make a suggestion, perhaps 'The Fern' in Jaipur would be a better option. We liked 'The Fern' in Agra the most in India out of all the hotels we stayed in and saw on their leaflet that they have another hotel in Jaipur and wished we could have stayed there also if we knew how good 'The Fern' would be, their staff and facilities.
Also the Visa on arrival situation for Nepal was annoying as there is a sign above the counter saying they accept card payments but when we got to the counter they said they only accept cash and accept USD or GBP only and would not accept Nepali currency. The only ATM machine available accepted mastercard only which we did not have. Luckily we were able to change the Nepali currency back to GBP and had exactly £40 to pay the Visa fees or else I'm not sure whether we would have been able to be granted access into the country. Please Queenie if you could advise future customers about this so they have enough cash in hand to pay the visa fee and have less hassle then that would be helpful.
But overall there was absolutely nothing wrong with the trip itself. We enjoyed the tour, were well looked after and would recommend My Odyssey Tours to future customers! 5/5 stars for their service and I would not hesitate to book another holiday with them again!

December 2017

Jean Courtney

Our six week trip is fast approaching and the planning process has been made super easy by Eric Kong, Odyssey Tour consultant extraordinaire...regardless of our question, his response was prompt and helpful. Many thanks Eric....awesome service.

December 2017

Private Tour Service

Accommodation
Enjoy comfortable stay at competitive rates and with insider bonus of our partnership with international hotel chains and local ones. Most of the options are recommended based on our field inspection to ensure quality. Kindly note that hospitality service in remote area can hardly maintain the same standard as those in the city.

Meals
Meals provided will be clearly outlined in the confirmed itinerary. Odyssey strikes the best balance for your meals on tour. In most cases, breakfast is served in hotel. To make the trip go smooth, lunch is recommended to be included for set menu or a la carte, local flavor or western style, depending on your liking. Restaurants are selected according to positive feedback with your diet requirements in mind. Dinner is the time when you are free to explore the destination’s hidden delights, but we are always happy to give recommendation or offer assistance. In remote area, meals are likely to be arranged in tourist restaurant or a local family due to limited options.

Tour Guide & Transfer
Every tour comes with English-speaking guides (or other languages on request) and private transfer in each city. The licensed, professional tour guides are from local and will be a friendly, knowledgeable company to travel with. When it comes to your personal driver or chauffeur guide, they are experienced and service-minded, all driving well-maintained, air-conditioned vehicles.