Signature India North: Taj Mahal with Goa and Mumbai
9 days / Valid from April 01 - September 30, 2012

Culture, Culinary, Wildlife, and Landscape

Delhi - Agra - Delhi - Mumbai - Goa - Mumbai

DAY 01: ARRIVE DELHI
BY: INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT
Arrive at New Delhi’s International Airport. Following customs, immigration formalities and baggage collection, a TCI representative will meet you as you EXIT the ARRIVALS TERMINAL building after which you would be transferred to your hotel.

Upon arrival at the hotel, proceed for check-in at the hotel. Overnight at the hotel

DAY 02: DELHI

After buffet breakfast at the hotel & morning free for leisure After Lunch you will proceed for a half-day city tour of New Delhi.

The tour to Imperial Delhi will include a visit to the Qutub Minar, the tallest stone tower in India. Qutub-ud-din Aibak started it in 1199. Pulling down 27 Hindu and Jain temples and using their columns erected the attached Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque also built by him. Then visit Humayun’s tomb, built by the widow of the second Mughal Emperor, Humayun, it is an outstanding monument in the Indo-Persian style, a precursor of the Taj Mahal. The tour also includes a drive past the imposing India Gate, the Parliament building and the Rastrapathi Bhawan, the President’s residence.

Return to your hotel after the visit. Welcome dinner at Local restaurant Overnight at the hotel.

DAY 03: DELHI - AGRA
BY: SURFACE

After buffet breakfast at the hotel, you will be driven from Delhi to Agra (203 KMS/ 4.30 Hours). Upon arrival, proceed for check-in at your hotel.

Agra in terms of ambiance is still associated with its Mughal period. The Mughals besides being great rulers were also great builders and they preserved their best architectural wonders for Agra & its neighborhood.

Continue to visit Agra Fort, an outstanding example of Mughal architecture. Agra Fort - the seat and the stronghold of the Mughal Empire under successive generations. This was the seat of Mughal rule and administration and the present structure owes its origins to Akbar who erected the walls and gates and the first buildings on the eastern banks of Yamuna River. Shah Jehan added the impressive quarters and the mosque while Aurangzeb added the outer ramparts. Visit its Hall of Public Audience and its Royal Pavilions.
Overnight at the hotel.

DAY 04: AGRA - FATHEPUR SIKRI - DELHI
BY: FLIGHT

Early morning sunrise visit of Taj Mahal (closed on Fridays). 

The Taj Mahal is everything that has been said about it and more. Taking 22 years and 20,000 men to build, the white marble was quarried 200 miles away and was transported to the site by a fleet of 1000 elephants. Built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as an expression of his love for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, in mid 17th century, the Taj Mahal is truly one of the wonders of the world. Though the Taj appears to be amazingly perfect from almost any angle, it is the close-up marble inlay work, which is really astounding. You will have ample time to view and be mesmerized by this outstanding piece of architecture.

Later back to Hotel for buffet breakfast at hotel, & check out form hotel

You will be driven to Fatehpur Sikri, the deserted red sandstone city, built by the Great Mughal Emperor Akbar as his capital and palace in the late 16th century.  It was abandoned soon after it was built when the local wells went dry and it remains today in much the same condition that it was over 300 years ago.  It is complete with palaces and mosques and used to be a town larger than London when it was originally constructed. Now it is an extraordinary place to wander around with its buildings in near perfect condition.

After your visit, lunch en-route continues your drive to Delhi and upon arrival, proceeds for check-in at your hotel. Overnight stay at hotel (Lunch & Dinner)

DAY 05: DELHI - MUMBAI
BY: FLIGHT

Tour starts with visit to Old Delhi - Old Delhi is a world all in its own. As you meander through the bustling streets of this Mughal nerve-centre of old, is difficult to imagine that way back in 1648, Emperor Shah Jahan’s daughter Jahanara built up the area only to pander to her father’s fetish for grandiose processions, Here you will see the Jama Masjid, built in 1650 AD, and one of the largest mosques in India. Drive through the fabled Chandni Chowk (literally, 'Silver Street'), once the most opulent perfume market of India, but now a bustling market, good for hunting down old and new silver and gold from jewelers whose forefathers served the emperors. Tour the Red Fort (closed on Mondays), dating back as far as 1639-48 AD, and built by Emperor Shah Jahan, who also built the Taj Mahal. Visit Raj Ghat where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated following his assassination in 1948. Continue visit to India Gate.

Later a TCI representative will transfer to airport to connect the flight for Mumbai

Departure: Delhi      at: 1540 Hours          By: IT 336 (kingfisher airline)

Arrival: Mumbai        at: 1745 Hours

Upon arrival at Mumbai, a TCI representative will meet and transfer you to the hotel, where you will proceed for check-in.

Mumbai - It is young, it’s lively and a confluence of varied cultural currents and cross currents has given Mumbai a unique position of the most multi-ethnic city of India. The capital city of Maharashtra State, formerly known as Bombay lies in the southwestern part of India. Oozing with the cocksure self-confidence of a maverick moneymaker and "Bindass" (carefree) attitude, Mumbai is also country's financial and commercial hub and has a principal port on the Arabian Sea. Mumbai is the hub of Indian film industry, which has played a pivoted role in the development of cinematography. "Bollywood", as it is called, produces the second most number of pictures in the world every year, next only to Hollywood, U.S.A. Mumbai claims to be the world's largest production centre for films. Overnight stay at hotel (Dinner)

DAY 06: MUMBAI

Morning breakfast at hotel & you will, visit the Prince of Wales Museum - Barely a stone's throw from the Gateway of India is the Prince of Wales Museum, a magnificent, but somewhat strange structure, built in a confluence of Gothic and Moorish styles, and crowned by a sparkling white dome. It boasts a good collection of ancient Indus Valley artifacts dating back to 2000 BC, plus some priceless Tibetan and Nepali Art. There is an entire gallery devoted to Buddhist tankha scrolls and another to Tibetan bronzes, but the chief attraction here is the collection of over 2000 miniature paintings from the various art schools of India. Next to the Museum is the Bombay Natural History Society, which has an extensive collection of local flora and fauna.

Return to your hotel after the visit. Later, proceed for sightseeing tour of Mumbai.

The tour starts from the Gateway of India. Gateway of India is the landmark of Bombay, which, was before the advent of air travel, the only gateway to India. It was built to commemorate the visit of King George and Queen Mary to India in 1911. You will be then driven along Marine Drive, the sea - Front Boulevard. It is also known as the Queen’s Necklace as in the evening, the breeze from the Arabian Sea comes over Marine Drive and as the streetlights on this U-shaped road light up, the view from south Bombay’s skyscrapers or from the exclusive residential area, is that of a Queen’s Necklace. Your first stop will be the Jain Temples, built of marble and dedicated to the first Jain Tirthankara. From the temples you will be driven along Malabar Hill via the Tower of Silence - a round stone construction on which Parsis place their dead to be eaten by the vultures and Hanging Gardens which is built over Bombay’s reservoir. From here one can get a panoramic view of picturesque Marine Drive. From Malabar Hill you will be driven to the Dhobi Ghats a huge open-air laundry, which makes an interesting viewing. Continue to Mani Bhawan (Gandhi Memorial), the house where the Father of the Nation stayed on his early visits to the city. The room, in which Gandhi stayed, preserved as it was, and the scenes of Gandhi’s life in photographs and models are of special interest.

Return to your hotel after the tour. Overnight at the hotel (Dinner)

DAY 07: MUMBAI - GOA
BY: FLIGHT

After buffet breakfast, you will be proceed straight to Gateway to India to board motorboat for the tour of Elephanta Caves.

Elephanta Island (closed on Mondays) was known in ancient times as "Gharapuri" or The Place of Caves. The Portuguese took possession of the island and named it Elephanta after the great statue, which they found on the seashore. There are seven caves of which the most important is the Mahesha-Murti Cave. The main body of the cave, excluding the porticoes on the three open sides and the back aisle, is 27 m square and is supported by rows of six columns. The gigantic figures of Dvarapalas, or doorkeepers are very impressive. The Rashtrakuta Kings who ruled the area between AD 757-973 excavated the cave temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva, some time in the 8th century. Elephanta closely follows the pattern of the Dumar Lena cave in Ellora.

After the visit return to Gateway of India by motorboat a TCI representative will transfer to airport to connect the flight for Goa

Departure: Mumbai at: 1500 Hours By: IC 163 (Indian airline) 
Arrival: Goa at: 1600 Hours

Upon arrival at Goa, a TCI representative will meet and transfer you to the hotel, where you will proceed for check-in. Overnight stay at hotel (Dinner)

DAY 08: GOA

After a leisurely breakfast at the hotel proceed for a half-day city tour of Goa. Visit the 2 churches in Old Goa, first the SE Cathedral dedicated to St Catherine and Second the Basilica of Bom Jesus, built by the Jesuits in the 16th century is one of the most important churches in Goa. Later drive through Panjim. Visit the local market as well as the fish & flower market offer a glimpse of the daily lives of the people.

Rest of the day at leisure and Overnight at the hotel. Overnight at hotel (Lunch & Dinner)

DAY 09: GOA - MUMBAI - OUT
BY: FLIGHT

After buffet breakfast at the hotel morning free for leisure

Lunch at hotel & afternoon a TCI representative will transfer to airport to connect the flight for Mumbai

Departure: Goa at: 1645 Hours By: IC 164 (Indian airline)
Arrival: Mumbai at: 1740 Hours

Upon arrival in Mumbai, a TCI representative will meet you and transfer you to International airport to board your flight back home.