Luxury India Tour for Senior Travelers

Long-haul flights are tiring at any age, so your arrival at Indira Gandhi International Airport is handled with extra care. If you have asked for it, an airport wheelchair and attendant meet you at the aircraft door and stay with you through immigration and baggage reclaim. Outside the arrival hall, our representative calls out your name with a smile, pushes the luggage trolley himself and leads you out to the car, where the chauffeur has cold water and moist towels ready. The drive to The Oberoi, our usual choice in Delhi, takes around forty minutes in normal traffic, and early check-in is requested on your behalf so you can lie down soon after landing.

Your afternoon is left completely open. Over a cup of tea in the lobby, your representative runs through the printed itinerary, the names of each city guide and a single phone number for our Jaipur office that answers around the clock. Any medicines you need, a power adaptor or a local SIM card can be arranged on the spot. The hotel overlooks the green expanse of the Delhi Golf Course, and the quiet pool deck is a pleasant place to sit as the light fades. Dinner can be taken in your room or at 360°, the all-day restaurant, where the chefs are used to preparing mild, low-salt dishes on request. Overnight stay in Delhi.

Breakfast is unhurried, and your guide arrives at about half past nine, after the morning rush has eased. The first stop is Lodhi Garden, a large public park where joggers and retired civil servants share paths lined with flowering trees. Scattered across the lawns stand the domed resting places of fifteenth-century Sayyid and Lodi rulers, built five hundred years before the city around them. Benches are plentiful, the paths are level, and your guide will choose a short loop that passes the Bara Gumbad and the octagonal tomb of Mohammed Shah without asking for more than twenty minutes of walking at a time.

From there the car takes you past the sandstone ministries of Raisina Hill and down Kartavya Path to India Gate, where you can stay seated for photographs. After lunch, Gandhi Smriti on Tees January Marg tells a quieter story. This was the house where Gandhi lived for his last 144 days, and a line of sculpted footsteps leads over the grass to the spot where he was shot on his way to evening prayers. The rooms are on one level and easily managed. Return to the hotel by mid-afternoon for rest, and after dark the chauffeur is happy to run you over to Dilli Haat for an hour of craft stalls and regional snacks if you feel energetic. Overnight stay in Delhi.

Old Delhi is crowded and uneven underfoot, so this morning is arranged to show you its character without the strain. Your chauffeur drives slowly along Netaji Subhash Marg, beside the red sandstone walls of the Red Fort (closed on Mondays), and stops near Gate No. 3 of Jama Masjid, where a short level approach leads to the vast courtyard. Shoes are left with an attendant and cloth covers protect your feet from the warm stone. Your guide explains how Shah Jahan's architects aligned the prayer hall towards Mecca and points out the twin minarets from a shaded corner where you can sit and watch the pigeons wheel overhead.

On the way back, a stop at Raj Ghat lets you pause beside the black marble platform marking the place of Gandhi's cremation, set in a calm garden with wide, flat walkways. Lunch is at the hotel or, if you would like a taste of Delhi's best-known cooking, at Bukhara in the ITC Maurya, famous for its dal Bukhara and tandoori breads eaten by hand. The afternoon is entirely free. Many guests book a spa treatment, others nap or read, and those still curious can visit the National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum at Pragati Maidan, which is compact and also closed on Mondays. Overnight stay in Delhi.

There is no early start today. After breakfast you leave Delhi at around ten o'clock, once the commuter traffic has cleared, and join the Yamuna Expressway, whose wide, even surface makes this among the gentlest long drives in the north of the country. Your chauffeur stops at a clean food plaza roughly halfway so you can stretch your legs, use the restrooms and order a cup of masala chai. The car carries a small cool box, cushions and a blanket for the air conditioning, and you are welcome to ask for more breaks whenever you like. You reach Agra in time for a late lunch at the hotel.

Our usual choice in Agra is The Oberoi Amarvilas, subject to availability, chosen because every room looks directly at the Taj Mahal, about six hundred metres away. For seniors this is a real gift: you can watch the marble change colour from your balcony without leaving the hotel. Later in the afternoon, a short drive to Sikandra brings you to the tomb of Emperor Akbar, a grand red sandstone gateway inlaid with white marble patterns. The lawns are level and blackbuck deer often graze near the paths. Your guide keeps the visit to around an hour before returning you for dinner at Esphahan. Overnight stay in Agra.

Gates at the Taj open roughly thirty minutes ahead of dawn, and the monument stays shut on Fridays, so this day is fixed accordingly. Your guide meets you in the lobby with tickets already in hand, and a hotel buggy takes you the short distance to the East Gate. Battery shuttles run from the parking area for anyone who prefers not to walk the final stretch. Inside, the main path from the Great Gate to the mausoleum is level and paved, and there are marble benches along the water channels where you can sit while your guide explains the calligraphy, the pietra dura flowers and the optical tricks of the minarets.

Climbing onto the main platform involves a flight of steps, and your guide will offer an arm or suggest viewing from the garden instead. Back at the hotel by nine, you can enjoy a full breakfast and rest through the heat of the day. In the late afternoon, Agra Fort is visited by car to the Amar Singh Gate, with a guided walk through the Jahangiri Mahal and the white marble Diwan-i-Khas, keeping to the flatter courtyards. The view across the river to the Taj from the Musamman Burj terraces is gentle and well worth the walk. Overnight stay in Agra.

oday's drive follows the Agra–Jaipur highway through the farmland of eastern Rajasthan, mustard yellow in winter and dusty gold by spring. Departure is after a leisurely breakfast, and your chauffeur plans comfort stops every ninety minutes or so, including a lunch break at a heritage roadside hotel near Mahua where the toilets are clean and the dal and rotis are freshly made. Rather than adding the long walk around Fatehpur Sikri, which suits younger legs better, the day keeps sightseeing light so you arrive refreshed. Your chauffeur will point out roadside camel carts, village wells and the occasional wedding procession as you pass.

By mid-afternoon the car pulls under the porch of Rambagh Palace, our usual choice and subject to availability. The former residence of the Maharaja of Jaipur sits in landscaped gardens where peacocks strut across the lawns, and the long corridors are fitted with lifts. A palace walk with the hotel's historian is often available in the early evening, and it is entirely at ground level. An evening meal beneath the gilded ceiling of Suvarna Mahal, once the palace dining hall, is a fitting first meal in the Pink City, and the kitchen will gladly tone down the chilli. Overnight stay in Jaipur.

Amber Fort sits on a ridge eleven kilometres north of the city, and the usual approach involves either a steep walking ramp or a crowded jeep ride. For you, the car drives up the rear road to the parking area near the upper courtyard, so you enter the palace almost at the level of the main halls. Your guide leads you through the Ganesh Pol, a gateway painted with delicate frescoes, and into the Sheesh Mahal, where thousands of tiny mirrors set into plaster make a single candle glitter across the whole ceiling. Seats are found wherever there is shade, and the visit is paced for comfort.

Coming down, your chauffeur pulls over by the lakeside promenade so you can photograph the Water Palace without leaving the shade. After lunch and an afternoon rest, a short drive takes you into the walled city to the City Palace, where the courtyards are flat and the Mubarak Mahal displays royal costumes, including the robes of a Maharaja said to have weighed about 250 kilograms. To see Hawa Mahal without standing in traffic, your guide takes you up to the Wind View Café across the road, where you can sit with a coffee and gaze at its honeycomb of windows. Overnight stay in Jaipur.

Today is lightly scheduled on purpose. After two full days of sightseeing, most seniors welcome a slow morning, a walk in the palace gardens or simply a long breakfast on the verandah. Around eleven, your chauffeur drives you back towards Amber, this time to the old village below the fort, where the Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing occupies a carefully restored haveli. Inside, small rooms explain how carved teak blocks and natural dyes are used to print fabric, and a craftsman often demonstrates the technique at a low table. Because the museum shuts its doors on Mondays, we swap this day with another when the calendar demands it.

In the afternoon you can rest or make an unhurried visit to Johari Bazaar, the jewellers' street of the old city, where your guide steers you to long-established shops with seating and fixed prices. Gem Palace on MI Road, run by the same family for many generations, is another calm place to browse. After dinner, the palace staff can stage a private puppet performance in the courtyard, a Rajasthani tradition that delights grandparents and makes good stories for the grandchildren back home. Dinner is at your leisure, perhaps on the terrace with the palace lit up behind you. Overnight stay in Jaipur.

A late-morning flight takes you from Jaipur to Udaipur in about an hour, replacing a road journey of more than seven hours. Your chauffeur drives you to Jaipur airport, helps you with check-in and hands you over to the wheelchair attendant if you have requested one. Porters handle the luggage at both ends. On arrival at Maharana Pratap Airport, a fresh vehicle and driver are waiting, and the forty-minute drive into Udaipur passes small farms and the low, rocky Aravalli hills that ring the city. Your guide for the next three days meets you at the hotel and agrees tomorrow's start time with you.

Our usual choice in Udaipur is The Oberoi Udaivilas, subject to availability, set on the banks of Lake Pichola with domes, courtyards and long walkways shaded from the sun. Buggies take guests between the lobby and the rooms, which is a real help in a property this spacious. The rest of the day is free. At sunset, you might sit on the lawn as the hotel's boat takes guests across the water, or simply watch the City Palace turn amber on the opposite shore. Dinner at Udaimahal, with its Rajasthani thali of gatte ki sabzi and bajra rotis, is a lovely introduction to Mewar cooking. Overnight stay in Udaipur.

Udaipur's City Palace stretches along the lake for the better part of a kilometre, and parts of it involve narrow staircases. Your guide therefore chooses a route through the more accessible halls, beginning at the Tripolia gate and continuing to the Mor Chowk courtyard with its famous peacock mosaics in blue glass. Upstairs in Fateh Prakash, a lift brings you to the Crystal Gallery, where even the beds and chairs are made of cut glass from Birmingham. Throughout the visit there are seats in the shaded corridors, and the guide will happily wait while you rest. Wear soft-soled shoes, as some floors are polished stone and can be slippery after cleaning.

After lunch and a rest, a hotel launch picks you up at the water's edge for a gentle cruise on Lake Pichola. You glide past the white walls of the Taj Lake Palace, along the bathing ghats where women still wash clothes on stone steps, and out to Jag Mandir, an island garden pavilion which gave refuge to Prince Khurram, the future Shah Jahan, during a quarrel with his father. A short, flat walk among the stone elephants and frangipani trees is all that is needed before the boat returns you to Udaivilas as the evening lights come on across the lake. Overnight stay in Udaipur.

A relaxed morning begins with a fifteen-minute ride to Saheliyon ki Bari, a pleasure garden made for the queen and her companions in the eighteenth century. Lotus ponds, a ring of marble elephants and fountains that still work without pumps, drawing pressure from the lake above, create a cool, green space with flat paths and plenty of benches. Afterwards the car heads to the Maharana's old motor garage beside the Garden Hotel, now a vintage car museum,, where the Maharana's Rolls-Royces, a 1934 Cadillac and a Ford Model A stand in a former garage. Car enthusiasts usually linger here, and there is a small restaurant on site for an early lunch.

After an afternoon rest, the car winds up the hill to Sajjangarh, the Monsoon Palace, built by Maharana Sajjan Singh as a vantage point for watching rain clouds gather. Vehicles drive almost to the entrance, and the terraces offer a sweeping view over the lakes and the city as the sun sets behind the hills. On the way down, you can stop at the old courtyard of Bagore ki Haveli beside the lake for the nightly Dharohar programme of folk dances, an hour of Rajasthani dances including the bhavai, where a dancer moves across the floor with up to nine brass pitchers stacked above her head. Chairs are provided in the courtyard. Overnight stay in Udaipur.

Your morning is free to enjoy the hotel or take a final walk along the lake. After lunch, the chauffeur drives you to Udaipur airport for the direct flight to Mumbai, which takes roughly an hour and a half. Airport assistance is arranged at both ends, and a representative meets you in the arrival hall at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. The change from desert hills to the sea is striking. The road into South Mumbai swings out over the water on the Bandra–Worli Sea Link, its tall pylons and fanned cables carrying you across Mahim Bay, and the journey to the hotel takes around an hour in average traffic, sometimes a little more at peak times.

Our usual choice in Mumbai is The Taj Mahal Palace at Apollo Bunder, subject to availability, which opened its doors in 1903 and looks straight onto the Gateway arch. Rooms in the original Palace Wing are reached by lift from the grand staircase hall, and the corridors are lined with paintings and antiques from the hotel's long history. After checking in, rest and then enjoy an evening stroll of just a few steps to the Gateway itself, where families gather and the boats bob at the harbour steps. Dinner at Wasabi or the Sea Lounge is a short walk from your room. Overnight stay in Mumbai.

Mumbai's humidity can tire visitors quickly, so this morning's tour is largely seen from the comfort of the car, with short stops at the most rewarding places. Your guide begins in the Fort district, pointing out the University of Mumbai's Rajabai Clock Tower and the Bombay High Court, both Gothic Revival buildings that would not look out of place in Victorian England. You pause outside Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the grand railway station once called Victoria Terminus, to watch commuters pour through its arches, and then drive past Flora Fountain and Horniman Circle with its shady garden, a calm spot for a ten-minute sit beneath the old rain trees.

After lunch at the hotel and a rest, the evening takes you along Marine Drive, the curving seafront promenade known as the Queen's Necklace for the string of streetlights that glow along its length after dark. Your chauffeur stops near the Art Deco apartment blocks facing the sea, and if you feel like it, a short walk on the wide pavement brings you alongside Mumbai residents enjoying the breeze. Continue to Chowpatty Beach for a look at the evening crowds, and finish with dinner at Trishna in Kala Ghoda, celebrated for its butter garlic crab and Koliwada prawns. Overnight stay in Mumbai.

Malabar Hill rises above the western shore of South Mumbai, and on its slopes hides one of the city's oldest places: Banganga Tank, a rectangular pool surrounded by stone steps and small temples, said to have been created when the god Rama shot an arrow into the ground. The car stops close to the tank, and you can sit on a low step watching ducks and local residents while your guide explains its history. Nearby, the Hanging Gardens and Kamala Nehru Park offer a pleasant level walk with views over the bay. From the park's viewing point, the whole curve of Marine Drive and the towers of Nariman Point spread out below, an easy panorama that needs no climbing at all.

In the afternoon, Mani Bhavan on Laburnum Road completes the Gandhi thread that began in Delhi. This modest house served as his Mumbai base for many years, and its rooms display letters, photographs and a series of small dioramas telling his life story. The building has stairs, but the ground-floor library and photo exhibit are easily reached. Return to the hotel for a farewell afternoon tea at the Sea Lounge, where tall windows look out onto the Gateway and the harbour, and sandwiches arrive with sweet chai and Parsi-style mawa cakes. Your last evening is free for packing and rest. Overnight stay in Mumbai.

Most international flights leave Mumbai either late at night or in the early hours, and your schedule today follows your flight time rather than a fixed itinerary. A late checkout is requested where possible, so you can keep your room through the afternoon, enjoy a final lunch and pack at your own pace. If time allows, your chauffeur can take you for a short drive to Colaba Causeway for last gifts or to the Kala Ghoda neighbourhood for a coffee in one of its old Irani cafés. There is no need to tire yourself, and simply sitting in the hotel lounge is an equally good farewell.

At the agreed hour, your chauffeur and a representative collect you from the lobby, load the luggage and head north to the international terminal at Sahar, a run that usually takes an hour or a little more. Wheelchair assistance and porters are booked to meet you at the departure kerb if you have requested them, and the representative stays with you until you reach the check-in counters. Before leaving, our team will ask how your fifteen days have gone, because feedback from senior guests shapes how we arrange future tours for travellers of every age. We wish you a safe and comfortable flight home.