Awaken your senses in India

India is a land of striking contrasts: chaotic cities, hectic traffic, riotous sounds and stark poverty are inextricably intertwined with the country’s striking natural beauty, genuinely warm people, fragrant foods, and impressive ancient monuments. As the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, and yoga, India is the ultimate destination for spiritual exploration, as well as boasting an extraordinary cultural heritage - home to 36 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. India’s unique blend makes this vivid country top of many a travel bucket list - a destination that is so totally at contrast with everyday life here in the UK. An Escorted Tour is the ideal choice for a first visit to India, offering the structure of a planned itinerary, along with the reassurance of experienced local guides. Joanne, Travel Consultant at our Westbourne shop, was excited to join an 8-day tour of the North of India’s highlights with Mercury Holidays, who have been offering great value tours to the region for over 40 years.

“Before we left, Mercury had provided us with all the details we needed for visas and entry cards, and our direct flight from Heathrow to Delhi with Virgin was faultless. It was hot and raining when we arrived, but we were met by Bijuu and Jaswant with our lovely, air-conditioned coach which would be ours for the whole tour. We were offered cold drinks, which were very welcome after the long flight.

Our hotel in New Delhi was the Metropolitan. We were greeted at the entrance with a welcome drink and a lei of beautiful flowers. The hotel was very modern and clean, with all the amenities you would expect from a 5* hotel, and it was a lovely base for exploring the city. Both breakfast and dinner were buffet style, with a variety of options both Indian and western. They offered eggs to order and although dinner was mainly curry and traditional Indian foods, the restaurant was more than happy to assist you with other options or make dishes milder if you wished. As a vegetarian I found it very easy to eat in India, and there were generally more veggie options than meat, which made for a nice change!

Our first full day was action packed, starting with a Rickshaw ride around the streets of Delhi, such a great way to take in the wonderful vibrant sights and sounds of this bustling city. We visited the Mahatma Gandi Memorial - the last place that he stayed, and where he was killed. It was deeply moving walking in his footsteps around the garden and reading about his life. Next, we had a fascinating trip to the UNESCO listed Qutub Minar, India’s earliest surviving Mosque, featuring the world’s tallest brick tower (minaret). The site, with so much history and different archaeological ruins, was really interesting. I loved the monkeys and chipmunks running around the walls as they added to the atmosphere. The guide was so knowledgeable, answered all our questions and we were never rushed. He had a great, dry sense of humour and loved a joke.

We ended the first day of touring with a trip to a Sikh temple, where we had to remove our shoes and cover our heads to enter. It was very beautiful inside, with a large pool area where Sikhs were taking a holy dip. The most interesting part was seeing the huge area where they feed people several times a day with food donated by the congregation. Sikhs believe in the equality of all humanity, and that it's important to share one’s blessing with those less fortunate - we had a walk through the kitchens, where they were making huge vats of dahl and thousands of chapatis.

The following day we travelled to Agra. After settling into our hotel and having lunch, we took a trip to the beautiful red sandstone Agra Fort, with its intricate carved arches and marble details, and lovely views over the river. I even got my first glimpse of the Taj Mahal in the distance. Our hotel was the Saura Hotel by Club Mahindra in Agra, and here we were warmly welcomed again, this time with a silk scarf and a bindi on our foreheads. The room was huge and despite being next to a main road, once inside it was very quiet with a lovely roof top pool - great for relaxing between tours. The food here was generally milder and had a wider selection of western foods on the buffet.

We had an early night, ready for an early wake up call to see the Taj Mahal at sunrise. Unfortunately, the sky wasn’t as spectacular as I’d hoped, but going early meant we beat a lot of the crowds and avoided the hottest parts of the day. This was a bucket list moment - it was quite magical seeing it appear as we walked through the grand gateway, and walking through the surrounding gardens and being able to enter one of the rooms really was very special.

We then had a long drive to Ranthambore, but I really enjoyed seeing the sights of India as we passed through towns and the countryside. Our hotel here was The Ranthambore Regency, and this was my favourite, although it wasn’t as big or as modern as the others – it really embraced the theme of tigers, and I felt like I was immersed in the jungle. My room had dark wood furnishings, all accommodation was on the lower level, surrounding a lovely pool, and there was a bar area where you could relax on the grass seating areas before dinner. The food was again mainly Indian, mostly buffet and delicious. They also offered traditional massages, which if I had more time would have loved to try. The only possible downside for some was that this hotel did have quite a lot of wildlife around, a naughty monkey in a mango tree, many lizards, frogs and some bugs, which some may not like but I really enjoyed, and I felt it added to the atmosphere!  

The following day we had another early start and headed off on the first of 2 jungle safaris. It really felt like we were on a Jungle Book film set, bouncing along in an open top truck. We were so blessed to see a few tigers strutting through the trees, which was a big highlight as this is definitely not guaranteed. We also spotted other animals such as deer, crocodiles, monkeys and a cute family of wild boar, as well as lots of monkeys and peacocks. Our safari guide Kenny was fantastic at spotting animal tracks and finding the wildlife - pointing out tiger prints to us and small animals and birds we otherwise wouldn’t have noticed.

We had a lovely lunch at Mercury’s alternative hotel in Ranthambore, Bagh Palace. This hotel has been recently renovated and some of the rooms had stunning views of the mountains, whilst others had private plunge pools. I didn’t feel it had as much character, however it was more luxurious - I wouldn’t be disappointed with either if I was to return!

Our next destination was Jaipur, and our first stop was Jantar Mantar, an ancient astronomical observatory, including the largest stone sundial. It really was all very clever. Then we went on to explore City Palace, home of Jaipur’s royal family. This was followed by a jeep tour of the city, heading up into the hills to see the spectacular views and watch the sunset. We ended the day seeing Jaipur at night from our jeep, with dinner on the roof top terrace of a local restaurant.

Our Jaipur hotel was The Lemon Tree, right in the city centre with excellent views and a great base to get around. Although this hotel was the most minimalistic, it had everything needed and was very clean and comfortable. The main restaurant served a good variety of food with a great selection of pastries for breakfast, which were very welcome after having mostly curry for a week. They also had a very cool contemporary bar at the top of the hotel, with spectacular views to enjoying with a Kingfisher beer or two.

Our second day in Jaipur started with the Amber Fort, with its glorious ramparts and courtyards with views of Jal Mahal (The Water Palace). We saw elephants arriving, ridden by tourists, a snake charmer and a traditional band played music. We then stopped at a handicraft workshop and were shown traditional methods of making hand knotted carpets and printing fabric - I had a go myself and ended up getting some pyjamas handmade to measure, which were delivered to the hotel just 6 hours later that I really love! After lunch we did some shopping and bartering in the local bazaar, picking up some gifts to take home, aided by our guide so we were not overwhelmed too much by the chaotic city! Being our last full night in India we ended the day with some very tasty cocktails on the roof top bar.

On our final day in India, we travelled back to Delhi, stopping at a Hindu temple enroute. As with much of the tour, we were the centre of attention and many locals asked to have photos taken with us. At first I had found this a bit awkward, but I then relaxed into it, as foreigners are a rare sight for many of them. We had time at the hotel to relax and freshen up before our night flight home.  

The whole tour and all excursions are included in the holiday price, and we crammed so much in - it’s amazing how much we got to see in a relatively short space of time, yet still not ever feeling rushed.  This itinerary was an abbreviated version of Mercury’s 10-night Essence of North India tour, and clients would have a little more free time with those 2 extra days, which would be lovely, making more of the hotels’ facilities like the spas, and being able to explore independently. There are also longer India trips to consider, right up to a 28-day Grand Tour. The holiday is Full Board, and the food was all a good standard. I loved trying so many amazing vegetarian options - Butter Paneer was a personal favourite. We were all worried about the famous Delhi Belly, but the whole group was totally fine. As a precaution I took probiotics before travel and during the trip. I didn’t have any ice and only drank bottled water. The food and hygiene standards of every hotel and restaurant were all very good, and we were provided with bottled water on the coach and at hotels, with the coach driver giving us hand sanitizer every time we got on. The whole group was fine, so I’d just advise being careful.

This trip was amazing - for those that want everything taken care of, then this tour is ideal and offers excellent value for money. My obvious highlights were seeing the Taj Mahal and Bengal Tigers, but I really just loved the experience of seeing India - all of its sights, colours, smells, and sounds. It’s such a beautiful and diverse country, and the people were so friendly. I would love to go back and see more.”