INDIA - THE PALACE ON WHEELS

The Palace on Wheels is a novel and thrilling concept of a railway cruise. We invite you to step back in time and enjoy the splendour of the past. It transports you into a bygone era of princes, palaces and medieval fortresses as you travel through the heart of colourful Rajasthan. The fully air conditioned train is a legend on wheels, dazzling in the aura of gleaming brass with ceilings of painted silk and walls adorned with old paintings aglow with the warmth of yesteryear. The exclusive Palace on Wheels has luxurious cabins, wall-to-wall carpeting, a well stocked bar, two dining cars, and personalised service. Indeed it invites the traveller to experience a Royal journey into the past of the Maharajahs.

Tours depart Delhi every Wednesday - space is limited and we strongly recommend booking early to avoid disappointment

I thought I would just drop you a note to say that we had a fantastic time on the PoW, due in no small part to the efficiency & courtesy of your agents in Delhi, who ensured that everything ran smoothly.

"That you are able to offer this trip substantially cheaper than e.g. Kuoni, VJV, Great Rail Journeys only added to our enjoyment!

Again, many thanks, & I hope we can travel with you in the future." Mr McBain 2007

Day 1 Tuesday - Delhi. Flights arrive late Tuesday evening or in the early hours of Wednesday morning. You will be met at the airport by your tour manager and transferred to the 5 star Park Hotel or similar. Individual hotel preferences can be arranged subject to availability.

Day 2 Wednesday - Delhi
A half day tour of Old and New Delhi to include the Raj Ghat Memorial, the site where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated and the two structures that dominate the old part of the city - the Red Fort, palace of the Mughal Empire, and Jama Mosque, the largest in India.

RED FORT. This imposing monument to the rule of Shah Jahan was begun in 1639 and completed in 1648, taking its name from the red sandstone used in its construction. It is said to have cost 10 million rupees to build, much of it spent on the opulent marble royal palaces within. Here the Emperor exercised his divine authority in the Halls of Public and Private Audience - seated in the latter on the fabulous gold-canopied Peacock Throne that was inlaid with a vast number of sapphires, rubies, emeralds and diamonds.

JAMA MOSQUE. This last great architectural work of Shah Jahan was intended to dwarf all other mosques that had gone before it, symbolising the aspirations of its maker and the gulf that existed between monarch and subject. Each Friday, the Emperor and his male retinue would travel the short distance from the Red Fort to attend midday prayers.. Join the Palace on Wheels at 1600 for a Royal welcome with dinner on board. Dep 1745.

Day 3 Thursday - Jaipur
Arrive at 00.00 in Jaipur the Pink City, known for it's colourful and fascinating Architecture. Your tour begins at the Hawa Mahal or the Palace of Winds, followed by a visit to the Amber Fort, riding on canopied elephants in the royal style of ancient maharajas. After some shopping time at Rajasthali, the State's Handicrafts emporium for souvenirs and crafts, a sumptuous lunch awaits you at the majestic Rambagh Palace. The City Palace is now a museum, full of royal splendor and the amazing Jantar Mantar - Astronomical Observatory, can be explored at leisure. In the evening after a cultural program of dance and music, dinner is taken at the exotic Jai Mahal Palace. The train departs from the Pink City at 17.30 hrs.

Jaipur became the capital of the Kachchwaha dynasty when they shifted here from their hilltop fort of Amber. It was built according to the principles laid down in the ancient Architectural Treatises, but with all the opulence deserving to a royal city. At its center rose the seven-tiered palace of the royal family, and around it came up gardens and temples, its Astronomical Observatory and the myriads of mansions and business houses. Jaipur also provides a great shopping experience since the city is the country's capital as far as handicrafts go - and they include a very extensive range - as well as a major international center for the cutting and polishing of gems and stones. It also has a large number of palace hotels, and both Rambagh and Jai Mahal, which are the venues for lunch and dinner, are intimately linked with the history of this former princely state. Rambagh, in fact, was the last palace in which the former maharaja and his glamorous Maharani, and now Rajmata or Queen Mother of Jaipur, the popular Gayatri Devi, resided. The palace not only has most of the original furnishings and artifacts, but its famous Polo Bar also has pictures of the last maharaja with English Aristocracy and other important guests.

Day 4 Friday - Jaisalmer
Arrive at 06.15 hrs at Jaisalmer. Spend the day in this isolated, but architecturally, one of the greatest Royal Bastions of the World. After a safari dinner served under the stars you come back to the train to resume your journey. Departure is at 23.30 hrs.

Jaisalmer was the stronghold for the Bhatti Rajputs, and a hardier race never lived. Their earlier settlement was marked by bandits, as they looted caravans at will, stealing horses, and inviting the wrath of the West Asian invaders. Over time they began to settle, and the 12th century fort with its ninety-nine bristling bastions was established on top of Trikuta hill, exactly as prophesied for these descendants of Krishna. Isolated Jaisalmer may have been, but the caravans that passed through its territories enriched the coffers of the treasury. It also kept Jaisalmer in touch with the world, for such caravans carried not merely goods but also artisans and master-craftsmen. The Maharawalas of Jaisalmer thought little of making use of their services to build the magnificent, sandstone architecture for which it has become known around the world.
However, even more magnificent, along the cobbled stone pathways of the fort, arose the havelis, the mansions of the Jain merchants who were as powerful in court, as they were adept in business. Not only is Jaisalmer's Architecture magnificent, it's meandering lanes, the many homes within the ramparts and the resounding rhythms of the Langa and Manganiyar musicians have frozen this citadel into a medieval time-warp. Escape from here to the desert sands around the fort, and see them drift in the breeze, or take a camel ride, or simply enjoy the dances of its folk performers.

Day 5, Saturday - Jodhpur

Its time for you to visit another desert kingdom, Jodhpur, where you arrive at 08.00hrs. You can spend the morning at Mehrangarh Fort that towers over the city like an eagle's eyrie and then come downhill to lunch at Umaid Bhawan Palace, the largest art-deco residence in the world and now home to the head of the royal family, museum and luxury hotel. Departure, after unwinding and relaxing at the palace, is at 15.30 hrs.
The 500 year old history of Jodhpur, the bastion of the Rathore Rajputs, bristles with conflicts and sieges, so it is difficult to believe that they found the time to not only build the invincible looking Mehrangarh Fort, but also its lavish and delicately embellished palaces. Within the Fort, reached by a steep path with huge guarding at its turns to prevent elephants from storming them, are a large number of apartments where the maharajas retainers now serve as guides. Within, the apartments are painted and gilded and have windows and balconies to allow them an uninterrupted view of the desert around it. The vintage battle arms of the royal past are well presented - swords and daggers and spears and matchlock guns; a battle tent seized from Emperor Jehangir; howdahs and chariots and carriages; cribs and beds; the royal, octagonal throne; musical instruments, large drums, even a collection of turbans.

From the ramparts of the fort, where the cannons are still mounted, the sweeping view also takes in a huge palace located on top of another lower hill. This is Umaid Bhavan, the palace the Maharajas built as a famine relief project, but also ambitiously as the World's largest private residence. It was intended to rival the Presidential palace in Delhi. Built by a British Architect; the planning has incorporated the elements of the Rajput lifestyle (large county yards, for example, or a zenana wing), there is a formal western sense of symmetry and restrained sense of ornamentation. Only in the royal suites does exuberance take over, since a Polish artist, then travelling in India, was given the permission to create huge paintings to suit the art-deco theme of the architecture and furniture in the palace. The grounds of the palace are huge and towards the back, there is a bougainvillea garden, perhaps the only of its kind in the world, and at the end, a Baradari, a pillared pavilion where the maharajas held Mehfils, entertainment courts.

Day 6, Sunday - Sawai Madhopur
Arrive at 04.00 hrs, steam into Sawai Madhopur, to spend the day in the wilds of Ranthambhore National Park home to the Royal Bengal Tiger, the most majestic of the big cats.

Ranthambhore is also very picturesque. A number of lakes from the shallow lands where tiger sightings are quite common, and where herds of deer can be seen foraging, while crocodiles bask in the sun. The lofty hills ring the park, and in the distance, the ramparts of Ranthambhore fort create a dramatic silhouette. Once this was the scene for fierce battles but all that is of the past now, though former hunting lodges such as Jogi Mahal, close to the lakes, still retains its former grandeur and glory.
Ranthambhore is particularly well known for its tiger sightings because the undisturbed ambiance and the spreading, shallow lakes provide them the surroundings best suited to their needs, and therefore sightings during the day are quite common. Various conservationists and wildlife photographers have worked at length here to document the life cycle of the tigresses of Ranthambhore, even giving them names, so that they are now a part of the regional lore.

Since the best time to visit the park is early morning, the train arrives at 04.00 hrs, and leaves for its destination, Chittaurgarh at 11.00 hrs. Arrival at Chittaurgarh at 15.30 hrs. Chittaurgarh is India's most valorous fort, its history an unending saga of passion, chivalry and romance. Within its sprawling ramparts were beautiful palaces, but few of them remain, the fort having been sacked by invaders. Lunch and dinner are served on board the train.

Day 7, Monday - Chittaurgarh and Udaipur
Arrive at 07.30 hrs, Chittaurgarh and Udaipur, the capitals of the Sisodia Maharanas, enjoy pre-eminence among the Rajput clans of Rajasthan. You will spend the day sight seeing at Udaipur. Lunch is at Lake Palace, the beautiful island palace built as a summer resort by the royal family, and now converted into one of the world's finest hotels. The train departs again at 20.00 hrs, and dinner will be served on board.

Maharana Udai Singh, laid the foundation for a new kingdom-Udaipur-situated by Lake Pichola, where the impressive City Palace was lavished with imaginative works of art and miniature paintings. Subsequently, the princes built the seemingly floating Island Palace, the royal summer retreat, offering a spectacular view of the lake and surrounding mountains. Besides the Lake Palace, there are other such retreats that have been converted into modern hotels, one of them, Shiv Niwas, being run by the current head of the family.

Day 08, Tuesday - Bharatpur and Agra
Arrive at 06.00 hrs at a royal kingdom where the Jats, rather than the Rajputs, ruled. Bharatpur's Jat history is not too old, with Suraj Mal establishing a firm stronghold in a region contested by both the Rajputs and the Mughals. Suraj Mal's exploits are legendary, and the fort, Lohargarh, or Iron Fort, has a history that recounts it with pride. The only fort in the state to have bastions of mud, these proved to be very effective as they simply swallowed up the cannon shells, not allowing them to impact.
The Keoladeo Ghana National Park was developed by royal edict when dykes were created so that water could be canalized for a hunting preserve of the maharaja of Bharatpur. In the early decade of this century, Bharatpur became famous among visiting British royalty and aristocracy for the amount of game the visitors bagged. These days, thankfully, only shooting by cameras is permitted in this sanctuary with over three hundred species of birds, many of them migrant species that come from parts as distant as Siberia and China.

After visiting the sanctuary in the morning, visitors travel by coach to Fatehpur Sikri, the red sandstone city build by Emperor Akbar on a lavish scale, but which he had to abandon soon after because of shortage of water. Lunch is taken at the Welcome Group Mughal Sheraton in Agra before visiting the world's most well-known monument - the Taj Mahal. Built in the memory of his beloved empress by Emperor Shah Jahan, this marble mausoleum is the greatest gesture of love known to mankind, and is breathtakingly beautiful. Land for the building of the Taj Mahal in Agra came from the maharaja of Jaipur and the marble used in its construction was from the mines of Makrana, also in Rajasthan. The precious stones used in its inlay, and the craftsmen employed for the twenty-two years of its construction came not only from India, but from all over the World.

Day 09, Wednesday - Delhi
Wednesday, and you're back in Delhi as early as 06.00 hrs where, after breakfast on board the train, you will be met and transferred back to your hotel.

Most flights leave Delhi late in the evening or early morning of the next day and we have arranged for you to have use of a hotel room until it is time to depart for the airport.

Price

Land only excluding international flights

£2195 for departures 1 Oct to Mar 09

Single supplement £750

What the price includes:
- services of tour manager in Delhi
- services of one local English speaking guide during tours
- transfers, tours + entrance fees by air conditioned Ambassador car and luxury coach from the Palace on Wheels

- 4/5 star accommodation in Delhi on bed & breakfast (if you do not require accommodation in Delhi please contact us for a tour price reduction)
- all meals on the Palace on Wheels - please note venues for lunch and dinner are subject to change as per RTDC/POW management's decision, without prior notice.

What the price does not include:
- India visa £30
- Personal expenses
- Porterage at hotels and airport
- Monument entrance fees on Delhi tour
- Insurance
- Meals other than breakfast except Palace on Wheels which is full board

How to book

Contact sales@goldenhilltravel.co.uk for further information and a booking form. Please note a deposit of £500 per person is required to confirm reservations on the Palace on Wheels and the balance is due 8 weeks prior to departure.

Our price excludes international flights so you can match the holiday with your preferred choice of airline and departure airport. Tel 015395 52281 or email sales@goldenhilltravel.co.uk to discuss your flight requirements and for a competitive quote

Should you wish to read articles on the Palace on Wheels a couple of sites have interesting first hand descriptions and photos

The Palace on Wheels - the adventure

Indias great romantic trains