The cultural tours of India have a lot to offer in terms of historic monuments, spiritual establishments and recreational scenic beauty. With this in mind, Taj Tour brings an India Luxury Travel package that covers a trip to cities like Delhi, Shimla, Paragpur, Dharamshala, and Amritsar. The tour covers major Himalayan tourist destinations and a journey to the sacrosanct Golden Temple. The trip is well equipped with luxury travel and accommodation facilities.

Day 1 - Arrive Delhi

You will arrive at New Delhi’s International Airport. Following customs, immigration formalities and baggage collection, our representative will meet you as you EXIT the ARRIVALS TERMINAL building.

On arrival at Delhi airport, you will be met by our SITA representative who will transfer you to your hotel.

“I asked my soul what is Delhi?

It replied the world is the body; Delhi is its soul…is how a 19th century poet described this city that has ever been so many things to so many different people. To the weary travelers on the ancient silk route it was the first plain after having crossed the Himalayan Mountains with the promise of shelter, food and business opportunities. To the Afghan, Turk, Greek, Arab and Roman kings it was a vast and inexhaustible source of treasures of all kinds.

The British created their own Delhi with large well planned avenues and planted 10000 trees with 112 kms of hedges that it would be green round the year abundant with flowers a botanical paradise. The seat of the British Empire Delhi of 1911 was planned to resemble ‘an Englishman dressed for the climate’. Its planners and main architects decided that it would be neither Hindu, nor Muslim, nor Buddhist, nor English nor Roman but IMPERIAL a house for the Viceroy that resembled ‘a giant Indian bungalow, embattled Rajput fortress and Mughal tomb with shades of Buckingham Palace with English country house comforts.

On arrival proceed for check in hotel.

(Hotel check in time 1200 hrs)

Overnight at the hotel

Day 2 - Delhi

Buffet breakfast is at the hotel.

Later proceed for a guided combined city tour of Old & New Delhi.

Old Delhi – Happily Chaotic!

You will first visit Old Delhi. The tour will begin with a visit to Raj Ghat, a simple memorial to Mahatma Gandhi; Drive past the mighty Red Fort continuing to the Jama Masjid, one of Asia’s largest mosques. The magnificent Red Fort, overlooking the river Yamuna was built during the years 1638 - 48 when the Mughal Empire was at its peak. The tour continues to Jama Masjid, one of Asia’s largest mosques and which is viewed from the outside. People stream in and out of the mosque continuously and the presence of a nearby bazaar means that the area is rarely quiet.

New Delhi: A Touch of Faith, Philosophy and British India

After visiting Old Delhi, you will then be driven to New Delhi, which reflects the legacy the British left behind. The division between New and Old Delhi is the division between the capitals of the British and the Mughal respectively. The division in the walled city and New Delhi also marks the division in the life-styles. The walled city is all tradition where one will be able to glean a past life-style in all its facets, colours and spells. New Delhi in contrast, is a city trying to live up to the best of 21st century standards.

The tour also includes a drive past the imposing India Gate, the Parliament building and the Rashtrapati Bhawan, the President’s residence.

After Old Delhi sightseeing, you will proceed with New Delhi. The tour to Imperial Delhi will include a visit to the Qutab Minar, which is the tallest stone tower in India.  The Qutab Minar was started in 1199 AD by Qutub-ud-Din Aibak and completed by the sultan's successor and son-in-law, Iltutmish. The building is 72.5 m high and has 379 steps from the bottom to the top. The Minar is tapering with the diameter of the base is 14.3 m while at the top floor it is2.7 m.  The Qutab Minar is still the highest stone tower as well as one of the finest Islamic structures ever raised in India. Then visit Humayun’s tomb, built by the widow of the second Mughal Emperor, Humayun’s, it is an outstanding monument in the Indo-Persian style, a precursor of the Taj Mahal.

Overnight at the hotel

Day 3 - Delhi - Kalka - Shimla

Morning our representative will meet you at the hotel and transfer to railway station to board train for Kalka.

Depart Delhi                  at: 0740 hrs                  by: Kalka Shatabdi
Arrive Kalka                  at: 1145 hrs                 

Upon arrival in Kalka connect scenic ‘toy train’ to Shimla.

Depart Kalka                  at: 1210 hrs                  by: Himalayan Queen
Arrive Shimla                  at: 1720 hrs                 

Upon arrival in Shimla transfer to your hotel on arrival for a 3-night stay

The 96-km long Kalka-Shimla narrow gauge railway track combines antiquity and modernity with a cocktail of pilgrimage and glamour. The rail motor car of 1927 vintage which had the unique distinction of bringing Mahatma Gandhi in 1945 to Shimla for talks with Viceroy Wavell about British plans for leaving India, is still rail worthy and remains a tourist's delight. The Gothic-style Barog railway station has become a favourite jaunt of Bollywood stars.

Meandering on these trains is a galvanizing experience as one passes through the breathtaking landscapes of majestic Himalayas, tunnels/ bridges and lush green valleys embellished with pine, oak trees, leaving a long lasting memory of rhapsody and triumph. The train is one of the most unique railway tracks of the world. It is said that this railway line has been first sketched in November 1847, almost 50 years before, it was actually constructed.  If the Kalka-Shimla road is a triumph of engineering skill, the phrase can be applied with even greater truth to the Kalka-Shimla rail track. Going back to 1903, it is an engineering marvel, with 103 tunnels and over 700 non-girder bridges in a distance of only 96-km. The route's longest tunnel, midway at Barog, is 3,760 feet long. More than two- thirds of the entire track is on curves, some as sharp as 48 degrees.

Rest of the day is free.

Overnight at the hotel

Day 4 - Shimla

Take a heritage walk of Shimla and delve into the nostalgic past of the Summer Capital of the British Raj with its resplendent Viceregal Lodge, the Christ Church and other Raj buildings. Two days to relax and take in the beauty of your surroundings.

Situated in the northwest Himalayas, Shimla is the capital of Himachal Pradesh and the gateway to the Himalayas.  Spread across 12 kms along a ridge that overlooks terraced hillsides and cultivations, Shimla is magnificently robed in dense forests of oak and pine, fur and rhododendron, and it is best to travel here on the slow train from Kalka.

Overnight at the hotel

Day 5 - Shimla

Breakfast at the hotel.
Rest of the day at leisure.

Overnight at the hotel

Day 6 - Shimla - Paragpur

A long but scenic drive through the mountains today will bring you to Paragpur for a 2-night stay in a 300 year old ancestral home with 10 rooms, located in the mediaeval hamlet of Paragpur, at an elevation of 2000 feetin the Kangra Valley. Its ambience is reminiscent of the turn of the 20th Century.  The hotel is set in acres of orchards overlooking the splendid Dhauladhar Mountains. The orchards consist of mango, lychee, grape, plum, persimmon, citrus and exotic trees such as camphor, clove and cardamom.

Overnight at the hotel

Day 7 - Paragpur

Paragpur is the only listed ‘heritage’ village in India, where the local community is trying to promote village tourism by preserving their heritage.  The Paragpur village was founded about 3 centuries ago. It still retains the essence of an earlier era - unchanged shops, cobbled streets, ornamental village tank, mud plastered and slate roofed houses. It is the home of the famous Kangra school of painting and probably the world's - most certainly India's - oldest ruling lineage comes from here.  Prag in Sanskrit translates to pollen, and it aptly describes the area of Pragpur which in spring is afire with blossoms.

Spend the day exploring the village and its surroundings and interact with the locals.  Close by is Andretta - once the home of Sobha Singh, the great painter and artist, and of Mrs. Norah Richards, who, influenced by Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass", settled at Andretta to carry out her experiment in the art of simple living and solitude. 

Overnight at the hotel

Day 8 - Paragpur - Dharamshala

Drive a short distance to beautiful Palampur, with its orchards and tea gardens framed against the mighty Dauladhar mountain range. A picture of sylvan elegance, Palampur, nestling at 1269 metres in the magnificent shadow of the White Mountains - the mighty snow covered Dhauladhars - is also called Himachal's Valley of Flowers.  Stylish bungalows impart a refreshing character to Palampur; on the slopes around Palampur can be seen quaint Gaddi hamlets with their slate roofed homesteads and carved doors and windows. A trek to any one of the many hill villages around Palampur is rewarding. Water mills can be seen in action, as can the kilns where small tea growers dry their tea leaves. 

Enjoy lunch in Palampur (ON DIRECT PAYMENT) before taking a 2 hour drive will bring you to Dharamshala, at an elevation of 4500 feet (1500m) above sealevel, stopping on the way to visit Kangra Fort, which guarded the strategic route to the plains of upper India from the mountains of the North west.

The home of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the bustling and colourful town of Dharamshala offers everything from spirituality to outdoor adventure.  The sleepy town overlooking the Kangra Valley was irrevocably changed when the Dalai Lama claimed it as his residence-in-exile in 1959. Although the Tibetan influence is what has made the town famous, the colourful combination of cultures in this mountainside town is what makes it fascinating. Brilliantly smiling Tibetan refugees; a tribe of cholu clad nomadic shepherds known as gaddis and reputed to be descendants of Alexander the great; Hindus from all walks of life; chanting Buddhist monks in unsewn wine colored robes; and a fresh crop of international hippies make up the 17,000 people who inhabit this hill station. 
Enjoy a 2 night stay in Dharamshala, in a Country home hotel in a stunning location amidst a vast tea estate and surrounded by the beautiful Himalayan mountain range.

Overnight at the hotel

Day 9 - Dharamshala

Spend the day exploring the colourful town of Dharamshala with its Tibetan influence mingled with colonial monuments and Gothic churches.  Also visit the Tibetan village of Macleodganj, with its Buddhist temples and markets, and where the Dalai Lama resides. Worth a visit is the Norbulingka Institute, a major centre set up for Buddhist teaching and for preserving the cultural heritage of the Tibetan Buddhis. 

Day 10 - Dharamshala - Amritsar

Today you will descend the mountains on a long 200km 6-7 hour journey to Amritsar, which will take most of the day.  Enjoy a 2 night stay in Amritsar, in a small and charming 18th century colonial heritage mansion offering the first and only holistic spa resort in the northern plains of India.  This 250-year-old Nanak Shahi haveli of Rai Bahadur Rattan Chand’s lineage nestles on almost an acre on the prestigious Mall Road in Amritsar.

Overnight at the hotel

Day 11 - Amritsar

Amritsar (Pool of the Nectar of Immortality) is named after the sacred pool in the Golden Temple, the holiest of the Sikh shrines. The atmosphere is particularly powerful from before dawn to early light, when the surrounding glistening white marble pavement is still cold under the foot and the gold begins to shimmer on the lighting water.

Today you will visit The Golden Temple, and Jallianwala Bagh which is noted for the most notorious massacre under British rule. Later in the afternoon, witness the changing of the guards at Wagha Border (the Pakistan border) and the ceremonial lowering of the flags ceremony at sundown. 

Overnight at the hotel

Day 12 - Amritsar - Delhi - Departure

Amritsar (Pool of the Nectar of Immortality) is named after the sacred pool in the Golden Temple, the holiest of the Sikh shrines. The atmosphere is particularly powerful from before dawn to early light, when the surrounding glistening white marble pavement is still cold under the foot and the gold begins to shimmer on the lighting water.

Today you will visit The Golden Temple, and Jallianwala Bagh which is noted for the most notorious massacre under British rule. Later in the afternoon, witness the changing of the guards at Wagha Border (the Pakistan border) and the ceremonial lowering of the flags ceremony at sundown. 

Overnight at the hotel