Less Discovered Northern India

Arrive in Delhi and transfer to your hotel in the heart of New Delhi. Later you’ll be picked up by tuk-tuk for an introduction to New Delhi, taking in the key sites. You will be accompanied by a guide who will be happy to recommend a restaurant to you for dinner.

A full-day tour will start with the Salaam Baalak Trust’s guides and former street kids taking you around old Delhi, recounting eye-popping stories, and giving you a fantastic insight into another side of Delhi. The revenue from this tour goes directly to the trust’s work to help other street children. Lunch will be at the famous Khan market, where you can choose an eatery of your choice.

Later you’ll visit Humayun’s tomb and Jama Masjid, one of the largest mosques in India, and then take a cycle rickshaw through Old Delhi.  There’ll be opportunities to sample street food as you explore the noisy labyrinthine lanes of Chawri Bazaar and Chandni Chowk.

After breakfast at the hotel, you will be met by your driver and driven to Corbett National Park, your base for the next few days. The journey takes around 6 hours, with stops along the way.

This region, which extends over 1,300sq km, is made up of lush green grassland and forests, bisected by the Ramganga River. The park protects wild elephants, tigers and sloth bears, nearly 600 domestic and transitory birds, and rare reptiles. There are plenty of opportunities over the next few days to explore the park by jeep, as well as a trek through the buffer zone and along the Jim Corbett heritage trail.

For those particularly interested in birding, why not add a night or two in Pangot, three hours east in the foothills of the Himalayas with over 250 species of bird and great for local walks.

This morning you will set on off a long journey of around 9 hours to the remote Dudhwa national park near the border with Nepal. You will be based here for the next three nights, with varied opportunities to enjoy the wildlife and village life around the property.

Dudhwa national park is a vast expanse and was made a ‘Project Tiger’ reserve in 1988. It has a spectacular array of wildlife including leopards, black bears, rhinoceros and around half the world’s Barasinghas (12-antler deer).

While staying in the region of Dudhwa, you can explore the local area around the hotel with a farm and a village visit to see massive sugar cane plantations and probably see crocodiles in the forest swamps. You’ll spend the morning and afternoon on game drives in the tall grasslands and forested areas; also you’ll take a boat trip into the Katarniaghat wildlife sanctuary, exploring around dense swamps and steaming wetlands.

Extending your stay here is no bad thing – simply relaxing in beautiful surroundings is worth it, and with longer here, you can explore more of the three parks and local village life.

Today you’ll journey (around 5-6 hours) to one of the lesser-explored Indian cities of Lucknow, which is coming into its own for incredible food experiences.

You’ll have two days getting under the skin of the city, seeing the famous sites, and experiencing some of the best food northern India has to offer. Highlights include Awadhi cuisine, a delicious mix of Mughal, Kashmiri, and Hyderabadi cooking styles in the bazaars of Aminabad.

A full-day tour takes you first to the Residency, the British campus that witnessed nearly 3,000 deaths during the uprising of Indian troops against their British officers in 1857. Then to the Bara Imambara, built as a relief measure after a devastating famine to employ in the 1780s. In the afternoon you’ll walk through the famous shopping area of Hazratganj, where you’ll receive a special invitation to see inside one of Lucknow’s beautiful old houses.

Today you’ll drive to the most famous area of Uttar Pradesh, Agra.  The drive will take between 4-5 hours, so once you arrive, you’ll have the rest of the day at leisure to relax.

The next day you’ll rise early to visit the Taj Mahal, the premier iconic site in the whole of India and deservedly so.  Late morning, you’ll board a train to Delhi, which usually takes around 2.5 hours. A well-deserved afternoon off awaits after your adventure through remote northern India.