The Palace On Wheels Tour

Arrive Delhi Cantonment Station between 1530 and 1600hrs. Departure 1830hrs Dinner will be served on board the train.

Jaipur. Arrival 08.30.Breakfast on board. Sightseeing trip round town followed by lunch in hotel. Cultural show and dinner at Nahargarh Citadel, a former royal fort, or in Man-Singh Hotel. Jaipur, the first stopping place, was built at the beginning of the 18th century by the Maharajah Jai Singh II. The “pink” city is surrounded by a town wall with 8 gates. The town palace and the Sawai-Man-Singh Museum directly beside it are well worth looking at. The Jantar-Mantar Observatory still astonishes with the precision of its layout. The jewel of Jaipur is the Palace of the Winds, a stone facade with an immense number of finely sculptured lattice panels. The festival Palace of Amber lies 12 km (7.5 miles) from Jaipur and is visited on the backs of elephants. Amber’s rooms are famous for the variety of their decoration and the beautiful Hall of Mirrors.

Arrival Jaisalmer at 0615. Breakfast on board, followed by sightseeing in town. Lunch on train or in tourist bungalow. Visit to the cenotaphs of famous heroes and rulers which are beautifully decorated with fine stonemasons work. Camel rides to experience the real desert. Dinner at the Moomal Tourist Bungalow, then on with the train to Jodhpur. Jaisalmer, a fairy-tale town in the Thar desert was founded about 800 years ago by Rajah Jaisal. The town is surrounded by mighty walls which seem to grow up out of sunbleached desert sands. In the town centre the buildings provide evidence of the Indian stonemasons unsurpassed art. In narrow, twisting streets you can visit havelis, the houses of rich merchants with their finely carved filigree facades.

Jodhpur. Arrival 08.00. Breakfast on board. Sightseeing in town. Lunch at Umaid Bhawan Palace Hotel, originally the Royal Palace of the Maharajas of Jodhpur. Evening tea and dinner on board. Jodhpur, the southernmost of the legendary cities of the desert, was built by Rao Jodha in 1459 on the advice of a hermit. The high walls of the massive Mehrangarh Fort form a delightful contrast to the elegant sandstone facades with their fine carvings inside the palace. Opposite the fort lies Jaswant Thada, a memorial made of white marble which was errected in 1899 to the memory of Jaswant Singh I. Departure 17.00.

Arrival in Sawai Madhopur at 0400. Travel to Ranthambor (14 km – 9 miles) to the well-known game park with its tigers and leopards. With any luck you might see a tiger in its natural surroundings. Many other animals such as crocodiles, deer, gazelles, nilgais and hyenas live here. Depart at 12.00. Ranthambor lies 132 km (82 miles) from Jaipur. The area is 392 sq. km (150 sq. miles) and lies between the Aravali and Vindhya mountains. The best time for seeing many animals is between October and April. Departure for Chittaurgarh at 11.00 hrs. Lunch on Board at 13.00.

Arrival Chittaurgarh at 15.30 hrs. Sightseeing of Chittorgarh Fort. Chittorgarh Fort on a 180 m high hill, was the strongest of the Rajput forts. The tall and finely chiseled Victory Tower and the Tower of Fame are undamaged and reach up into the sky from the surrounding ruins. Dinner on Board 20.00 hrs.

Chittorgarh/Udaipur. Arrival 07.30. Breakfast on board. Drive by bus journey to Udaipur to the Lake Palace Hotel on Lake Pichola, originally the summer palace of the Maharana of Udaipur. Boot trip followed by lunch at the Lake Palace Hotel. Sightseeing in Udaipur. Evening meal on board train. Udaipur was founded in 1559 on the banks of Lake Pichola by the Maharana Udai Singh. The town palace is raised high above the lake and contains among others a hall of mirrors, a roof garden with a pond and a peacock court, named after its peacock mosaic. Sahelion-Ki-bari is a pleasant park with 4 fountains and colorful flower beds.

Bharatpur – Fatehpur Sikri – Agra.
Arrival 06.00. Breakfast in Bharatpur bird sanctuary and boat trip. By coach to Fatehpur Sikri and Agra. Lunch at hotel. Sightseeing in Agra and tea at Taj Restaurant, Agra or on board. Dinner on board.Bharatpur is an enormous bird sanctuary. The flat marshes attract resident and migratory birds in their thousands. More than 500,000 birds of 325 species have been counted in winter. It is possible to travel by boat to the low trees where the birds assemble. From Bharatpur it is 22 km (14 miles) to Fatehpur Sikri. The town is still completely preserved. It was built by the Mogul emperor Akbar in the 16th century but abandoned a short time later because of an acute lack of water. It is still possible to see spacious courtyards, an audience hall and the palace complex, which is made up of apartments.

Delhi. Breakfast on train and end of journey. Arrive Delhi 7.30.