Golden Triangle Holi Festival Tour in Jaipur

Touch down at Indira Gandhi International Airport, collect your bags and walk out to meet our representative, who will be waiting with your name card at the arrivals exit. Your chauffeur, who stays with you all week, drives you to your hotel in about forty minutes. On the way, he will hand over a small Holi kit we prepare for every guest: a cotton kurta to wear on colour day, a pair of cheap sunglasses to protect your eyes, and a bottle of coconut oil. Rubbing coconut oil into your hair and skin before playing Holi makes the colour wash off far more easily afterward, a tip every Indian grandmother will give you.

Spend the afternoon resting after your flight. If you feel up to it, a short evening walk around Lodhi Garden is the perfect gentle start. In March, the bougainvillea and flowering trees are in bloom, and Delhi residents come out to jog, do yoga and walk their dogs between fifteenth-century tombs. Shops in markets such as Lajpat Nagar and Sarojini Nagar are already stacked with heaps of coloured powder, water pistols called pichkari and white clothes for the festival, which gives you a first taste of the excitement building across the city. Dinner is at your own choice, and our team is happy to suggest places nearby. Overnight stay in Delhi.

Start the day at Qutub Minar in the south of the city, a 73-metre tower begun in 1193 by Qutb-ud-din Aibak to mark the start of Muslim rule in Delhi. Your guide explains the bands of Quranic carving on each storey and shows you the Iron Pillar in the courtyard, a fourth-century column that has barely rusted in sixteen hundred years. The Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque nearby was built using stones from older temples, and carved Hindu and Jain motifs can still be seen on its columns. Then drive past the embassies of Chanakyapuri to Lodhi Garden for a guided stroll among the tombs of Mohammed Shah and Sikandar Lodi.

After lunch, your guide takes you to Agrasen ki Baoli, a stepwell of 108 steps tucked behind the high-rise buildings near Connaught Place. It is a surprising pocket of calm and a good introduction to the stepwells you will see in Rajasthan. Continue to Humayun's Tomb, a red sandstone and marble garden tomb set in a classic char bagh layout, and then drive along Kartavya Path for a look at India Gate. In the late afternoon, stop at Dilli Haat, an open-air craft market where stalls from every Indian state sell textiles, pottery and regional snacks. Overnight stay in Delhi.

After breakfast, set off for Agra on the Yamuna Expressway, arriving by early afternoon. Your first stop on the edge of the city is Sikandra, the tomb of Emperor Akbar, which he began during his lifetime and his son Jahangir completed. Its southern gateway is decorated with bold geometric inlay in white, black and yellow marble, and the five-storey tomb mixes Hindu, Islamic, Christian and Jain motifs, reflecting Akbar's open-minded court. Blackbuck and spotted deer graze on the lawns, and peacocks wander along the walls. It is rarely crowded and makes a peaceful start to your time in Agra. Keep your camera ready, as the Sikandra lawns are excellent for wildlife photographs.

Later, check in to your hotel and head out with your guide to Chini ka Rauza, a small, little-visited tomb on the eastern bank of the Yamuna, once covered in glazed Persian-style tiles in blue, green and yellow. Patches of the tiles survive, and they show a side of Mughal decoration that is easy to miss. Continue to the riverside for a sunset view, then return to your hotel. In Agra, as across North India, wood is already being piled in public squares for the Holika Dahan bonfire, and you may see families collecting dung cakes and sugar cane stalks for it. Overnight stay in Agra.

Rise early for the Taj Mahal, which opens at sunrise every day except Friday. Arrive while the sky is still pale and walk with your guide through the great gate to see the tomb appear above its reflecting pools. Learn how Shah Jahan built it for his wife Mumtaz Mahal after she died in 1631, why the cenotaphs inside are false and the real graves lie below, and how the inlaid flowers seem to glow when a torch is held against them. Then visit Agra Fort with its Diwan-i-Khas and the Mussaman Burj, from where the captive emperor could see the Taj across the river.

Return to the hotel for a late breakfast, then drive into Rajasthan along the Agra–Jaipur highway. Around three hours later, turn off to the village of Abhaneri to see Chand Baori, one of the deepest stepwells in India, with roughly 3,500 steps arranged in perfect zigzag flights down thirteen levels. Next to it is the Harshat Mata Temple, an eighth-century shrine with finely carved sculptures. Continue to Jaipur and check in to your hotel by early evening. Our team will brief you on the next two festival days and confirm the exact timings of the Holika Dahan and the colour party. Overnight stay in Jaipur.

After breakfast, drive out to Amber Fort, the hilltop palace of the Kachwaha Rajput kings. Your guide leads you through the Suraj Pol and Ganesh Pol gates, the Diwan-i-Aam with its double row of columns, and the Sukh Niwas, where water once flowed through channels to cool the rooms. Afterward, stop at the Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing in Amber village to watch artisans carve wooden blocks and print cotton by hand. Back in Jaipur, visit the Albert Hall Museum, an Indo-Saracenic building packed with miniature paintings, armour and an Egyptian mummy, then walk into Maniharon ka Rasta, where lac bangle makers heat and shape coloured lac over small charcoal stoves.

This is where Jaipur's famous gulal gota are made: thin, hollow balls of lac filled with dry gulal powder that burst softly when thrown. You can buy a few for tomorrow. In the late afternoon, watch the sunset from Nahargarh Fort above the city. Then, after dark, join the Holika Dahan ceremony at your hotel or a nearby neighbourhood square. Women walk around the bonfire tying cotton thread, people offer coconuts and green chickpeas, and the fire is lit to remember how Prahlad survived the flames while the demoness Holika burned. Keep a few roasted chickpeas from the fire, as locals believe they bring good health. Overnight stay in Jaipur.

Put on your white kurta, rub on that coconut oil, wrap your phone in a sealed plastic pouch and step out for Holi. Morning is when the colours fly. You join a private celebration at a heritage hotel or haveli, where staff, local families and other guests gather around a dhol drummer. Herbal gulal is used, and there are bowls of colour for everyone to throw. Expect to be greeted with "Happy Holi!" and a smear of pink on both cheeks. Cool glasses of thandai, a milky drink made with almonds, fennel and rose, are passed around along with gujiya, sweet fried pastries filled with khoya and dry fruit.

The play normally winds down around noon, and the whole city then goes home to wash. Shops and most monuments stay closed until the afternoon, so this is a day to relax. After a long shower and lunch, take a gentle evening drive with your chauffeur. If timings work, stop at Govind Dev Ji Temple, where devotees around the festival period celebrate with flower petals rather than powder and sing Krishna bhajans. Later, enjoy a farewell Rajasthani dinner, perhaps laal maas or gatte ki sabzi with bajra roti, at a rooftop restaurant overlooking the Hawa Mahal. Overnight stay in Jaipur.

Enjoy a slow breakfast on your last morning in the Pink City. If you still have traces of colour on your skin, don't worry; that is the sign of a Holi played well, and it usually fades within a day or two. If time allows before you leave, your guide can take you for a brief look at the City Palace, with its Mubarak Mahal textile gallery and the giant silver urns in the Diwan-i-Khas, or to Jantar Mantar to see the huge sundial. Then check out, load your bags and start the drive back to Delhi with your chauffeur.

The road journey takes five to six hours on the NH48, with a lunch stop at a highway restaurant around Shahpura or Kotputli. Your chauffeur will drop you directly at Indira Gandhi International Airport in good time for your evening or night flight home. If you are flying out the following day, we are happy to book a hotel close to the airport. Please keep your coloured kurta in a separate plastic bag in your suitcase, as Holi powder has a way of reaching everything. Thank you for celebrating spring with us in India. Most hotels will happily wash it for you before you leave.