Golden Triangle Yoga and Wellness Tour with Rishikesh

Long flights leave the body stiff and the mind foggy, so the first day asks nothing of you. Your chauffeur meets you at the arrivals exit of Indira Gandhi International Airport with a name board and a bottle of cold water, then drives you to a calm hotel, often one with a garden or spa, in about forty-five minutes. On the way he will mention the schedule for the following morning and the location of tomorrow's yoga session, which begins early to catch the cool air. If you have a preference for a male or female teacher, or any injury the teacher should know about, now is a good time to share it.

After check-in, a warm shower and a light meal are the best medicine. We suggest a bowl of moong dal khichdi, a gentle, easily digested dish of rice and yellow lentils that is the classic Ayurvedic reset food. Keep caffeine low tonight and drink plenty of water to help with jet lag. If you are wide awake in the evening, a slow walk in the hotel grounds or a few simple stretches in your room ease the travel tension. Your tour specialist calls to welcome you and answer any questions about the next ten days, including clothing for temple visits. Overnight stay in Delhi.

Wake early for a sunrise yoga session in Lodhi Garden, ninety acres of lawns, flowering trees and fifteenth-century tombs in the middle of New Delhi. Your teacher unrolls the mats on a quiet lawn near the Bara Gumbad, and the class moves through sun salutations, standing poses and a closing relaxation while parakeets chatter overhead and local walkers pass on the path. After the session, return to the hotel for breakfast. Late in the morning, visit Humayun's Tomb, whose gardens of water channels and shaded walkways make a peaceful place for a slow wander and a short guided introduction to Mughal architecture.

In the afternoon, head to the Lotus Temple, a Bahá'í house of worship shaped like a half-open flower with twenty-seven marble petals. People of every faith are welcome to sit inside in silence, and even ten minutes in that hushed hall can feel deeply restful. The temple is closed on Mondays, so your guide may switch the order of days. As the light softens, walk the path around Hauz Khas lake, where ducks paddle below the ruins of a medieval madrasa and the deer park lies just beyond. Dinner can be at one of the neighbourhood's health-food cafes. Overnight stay in Delhi.

Begin with a short breathing practice in your room, then drive to Agra on the Yamuna Expressway, a smooth road that makes the four-hour transfer easy on the back. Your chauffeur will stop every ninety minutes or so for a stretch and a fresh coconut water from a roadside vendor. Arrive in Agra, check in and enjoy a vegetarian lunch with fresh rotis and seasonal sabzi. Rest in the early afternoon, when the plains are at their hottest, so that you have energy for the visit ahead and for a very early start tomorrow. A short nap or a few minutes of legs-up-the-wall pose works wonders.

Late in the afternoon, your guide leads you through Agra Fort, a massive red sandstone citadel on a bend of the Yamuna. Inside lie the Anguri Bagh, a geometric garden once laid out with grapevines, the Jahangiri Mahal and the white marble Khas Mahal. Shah Jahan was confined here by his son Aurangzeb and spent his final years gazing across the river at the Taj, a story your guide tells well. Return to the hotel for an early dinner and a restorative evening. A gentle yin yoga or restorative stretching video, provided by your teacher, prepares the body for a good night's sleep. Overnight stay in Agra.

Rise before dawn for a quiet visit to the Taj Mahal, which opens about half an hour before sunrise and is closed every Friday. Rather than rushing for photographs, this visit is about presence and slowing down. Walk slowly along the central water channel as the sky turns from grey to rose, then find a bench in the side gardens and sit for a few minutes of guided mindfulness, simply watching the marble change colour. Your guide shares the story of Mumtaz Mahal and the twenty years of work that went into the tomb, then leaves you space to take it in at your own pace.

After breakfast back at the hotel, set out on the drive west to Jaipur. The road crosses the farmland of eastern Rajasthan, with camel carts, roadside temples and villages of mud and stone. Your chauffeur arranges a lunch break at a clean highway restaurant serving simple vegetarian food. Reach Jaipur in the afternoon and check in to a hotel with a garden or pool where you can unwind. In the evening, the hotel spa or a nearby Ayurvedic centre offers a short foot massage with warm herbal oil to ease the miles from your tired legs and feet. Overnight stay in Jaipur.

Start the day with a yoga and pranayama class on the hotel lawn or terrace, followed by a nourishing breakfast. Then drive up to Amber Fort, the hilltop palace of the Kachwaha kings. A jeep ride takes you to the top, where you walk through the Diwan-i-Aam, the Ganesh Pol and the Sukh Niwas, a hall once cooled by water flowing through marble channels. On the way back, pause for a look at Jal Mahal floating in Man Sagar Lake. Lunch is at a restaurant serving a lighter, less oily Rajasthani menu, with the kitchen briefed on your preferences in advance.

In the afternoon, visit a well-regarded Ayurvedic centre for a traditional Abhyanga massage, a full-body treatment with warm herbal oils matched to your constitution, often followed by a steam session. Allow two hours, and keep the rest of the afternoon free of anything strenuous. In the early evening, visit the City Palace and then walk to Govind Dev Ji temple in the palace grounds for the evening aarti, when hundreds of devotees sing devotional songs to Lord Krishna. The atmosphere is joyful rather than solemn, and it is deeply moving to witness up close. A light dinner and early night prepare you for tomorrow's flight. Overnight stay in Jaipur.

After breakfast, your chauffeur takes you to Jaipur International Airport for the domestic flight to Dehradun, which takes about an hour and a half. You land at Jolly Grant Airport, set among forested hills, and the air is noticeably fresher than on the plains. A second chauffeur and private car meet you on arrival for the short drive to Rishikesh, which follows the edge of the Rajaji forest. Check in at your riverside wellness retreat or ashram-style hotel, where the next four nights are spent within the sound of the Ganges. Your room faces the hills or the water, and the staff will brief you on class times.

Spend the afternoon settling in. Walk down to the river and dip your feet in the cold, green water on a sandy stretch of ghat, then stroll across Ram Jhula, the suspension bridge lined with monkeys, cows and saffron-robed sadhus. The older Lakshman Jhula bridge upstream is closed to walkers, so your guide uses the newer crossings. At sunset, join the Ganga aarti at Parmarth Niketan, where young students in yellow robes chant Sanskrit hymns and lamps are waved over the water as devotees float leaf boats of marigolds downstream. Dinner is a sattvic vegetarian meal. Overnight stay in Rishikesh.

Mornings in Rishikesh begin early. A bell or a soft knock calls you to a hatha yoga session at 7 am in the retreat's shala, led by a certified teacher who adapts each pose to your body. The ninety-minute class blends asanas, breathwork and a closing meditation. After a wholesome breakfast of seasonal fruit, porridge and herbal tea, meet an Ayurvedic doctor for a private consultation. Using pulse reading and a few questions about sleep, digestion and energy, the doctor identifies your dosha balance and suggests simple changes to daily habits and diet that you can carry home. Written notes are emailed to you the same day.

In the afternoon, walk to Chaurasi Kutia, the abandoned ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi where the Beatles stayed in 1968 and wrote many songs for the White Album. The forest has reclaimed much of it, and the meditation huts with their stone domes, along with the walls covered in murals by visiting artists, make a peaceful hour's wander. Return for an evening session of yoga nidra, a guided deep-relaxation practice performed lying down that many guests rate as the highlight of the week. Dinner is served early in the retreat dining hall, and phones are best left in the room. Overnight stay in Rishikesh.

After the morning yoga class and breakfast, drive about twenty-five kilometres upstream along the Badrinath road to Vashishta Gufa, a cave where the sage Vashishta is said to have meditated. Visitors are welcome to sit inside the cool, dark chamber for silent meditation, and the sandy riverbank below is one of the most tranquil spots on the Ganges. Your guide explains how pilgrims and hermits have used the caves along this stretch of river for centuries. Return towards town for lunch at a cafe overlooking the river, with fresh salads, dal and brown rice on the menu, and ginger-lemon-honey tea to finish.

In the afternoon, take an easy trail to Neer Garh waterfall, a series of cascades and pools set in a wooded gorge about a kilometre from the road. The walk is uphill but gentle, with plenty of resting places. Come back to the retreat for a pranayama workshop focused on alternate nostril breathing and the cooling sheetali breath, both useful tools for stress at home. The evening is free. Some guests enjoy a sound-healing session with Tibetan singing bowls, which the retreat can arrange, while others prefer a book on the terrace and an early night. Overnight stay in Rishikesh.

An early drive of about an hour takes you up to Kunjapuri Devi temple, perched on a ridge at around 1,600 metres. On clear mornings, typically from October to March, the sunrise lights up a long line of snow-capped Himalayan peaks, including the Chaukhamba massif and the Gangotri range. Climb the 300 or so steps to the temple, sit quietly as the sky brightens, then drive back down for breakfast and a final morning yoga class at the retreat. Take time after lunch to rest and pack, since tomorrow is a long travel day back to Delhi and the airport.

In the late afternoon, drive to Haridwar, one of the seven holiest cities in Hinduism, where the Ganges leaves the mountains for the plains. Walk through the narrow bazaars near Har Ki Pauri, then find a place on the ghat steps for the evening Ganga aarti. As darkness falls, priests swing large brass lamps blazing with fire, bells ring and thousands of small floating lamps drift down the river. The scene is louder and more crowded than at Parmarth Niketan, and it makes a powerful contrast. Your guide keeps you together in the crowd before the drive back. Overnight stay in Rishikesh.

Take a final morning practice by the river, perhaps a short sun salutation sequence on your own, as a way to carry the routine home. After breakfast, check out and meet your chauffeur for the drive to Delhi. The road runs south through Haridwar, Roorkee and Muzaffarnagar, with stops for tea and a vegetarian lunch at a reliable highway restaurant. The journey takes around six hours, sometimes longer near Delhi, so departure is timed carefully around your flight. For an early evening flight, an alternative is a short domestic flight from Dehradun to Delhi, which your specialist can arrange in advance.

Use the hours on the road to note down what helped you most, whether a breathing technique, a morning habit or a favourite dish from the retreat kitchen. Your yoga teacher will have shared a simple daily sequence by email, and the Ayurvedic doctor's dietary notes travel with you too. On arrival in Delhi, the chauffeur drops you at the departures terminal of Indira Gandhi International Airport and helps with the bags. Our team stays reachable until your flight takes off, and we hope the calm of the river stays with you long after you land safely at home. Namaste, and safe travels.