DESTINATIONS INDIA ESCORTED TOURS


250% in recent years, leading the operator to add three new tours in the country for 2018. That means there’s never been a better time to sell it.


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Charlotte French, Hays Travel


I was totally blown away by the sights, sounds and smells of India. There is always something going on and it gave me a real buzz. I have also never come across such kind, caring and friendly people, and I still have to pinch myself to believe I actually stood in front of the Taj Mahal.


◗ DELHI It was in the city of Delhi – home to some 18 million people – that our tour began, and I was pleasantly surprised. Bar the blocks of stand-still, seven-lane traffic, New Delhi – built by the British in 1911 – is strikingly modern and clean, the result of an effort in recent years to tidy up the city’s image. Here streets are lined with towering


banyan trees and dotted with ornate buildings such as the Presidential Palace, a cluster of red sandstone domes whose reflections bounce off a pool of shimmering water below. India’s more traditional side is still


present, of course. For clients who want to see it, suggest a rickshaw ride round the bumpy, narrow backstreets of Old Delhi, where bulls wander alongside dusty, boarded-up shops and thick grey electricity wires dangle down above locals selling colourful fruit and vegetables. Yet even this part of the city has


quieter spots like Raj Ghat, a peaceful stretch of green where Gandhi’s memorial site is found, and Jama Masjid, one of India’s largest mosques. Sprawled out across a giant plaza, this iconic structure was built by


Desert roads, mountain landscapes and tiny villages offer unexpected swathes of peace and tranquillity


Shah Jahan – the same Mughal emperor behind the Taj Mahal – and, from its level of detail and sheer, colossal size, it shows.


RIGHT:


Rickshaw ride in Old Delhi


BELOW: Red Fort, Agra


◗ AGRA AND THE TAJ MAHAL Nothing could quite prepare me for the Taj Mahal itself, however. Built 140 miles away in the city of Agra, where the Mughal capital was shifted from Delhi in the 16th century, the marble masterpiece was commissioned by Jahan in 1632 as a mausoleum for his late wife, following a pledge he made on her deathbed. It took 22 years and more than


20,000 workers to build, and it’s not hard to see why. It’s every bit as spectacular as the pictures suggest, so perfectly symmetrical and clean cut it looks like it’s been Photoshopped – all shiny white marble glimmering gold under the light of dusk and surrounded by well-kept, lush green gardens. It’s not the only site worth seeing in


Anna Mackay, Beaver Travel I’ve always seen Newmarket Holidays as a budget option, but was really surprised and impressed with the standard of accommodation, the level of service and the knowledge of our guide. India isn’t for everyone, but having seen it I think it would appeal to more people than I’d previously thought – myself included!


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the area. Nearby lies the Red Fort, a walled, sandstone fort city and Unesco World Heritage Site built to house imperial rulers in the 16th century. Shah Jahan was later imprisoned here by his son for eight years, and it’s well worth a look in today, if only to see the room where the disempowered emperor sat watching his beloved Taj being built in the distance.


◗ RANTHAMBORE NATIONAL PARK It’s not only culture that lures visitors. A five-hour drive away is Ranthambore National Park. The 650sq mile stretch of arid, desert-like plains was once a hunting ground for maharajas and is now one of about 50 protected reserves in the country, created under Project Tiger in 1973.


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