Destinations · India
Rajasthan & the Golden Triangle
Palaces you can actually sleep in.
Delhi, Agra and Jaipur are the Golden Triangle, and then Rajasthan opens out — Udaipur on its lake, Jodhpur's blue city under the fort, Jaisalmer in the desert. What makes India extraordinary at every budget is that the palaces became hotels: you can stay inside the architecture rather than looking at it. India rewards a strong advisor more than almost any destination, because a private car and driver, a good guide in each city and a properly paced itinerary turn what could be overwhelming into the trip of a lifetime.
What a week actually costs
Indicative shapes, not quotes — an advisor verifies real prices for your exact dates before anything is offered.
Under $3,500 for the week
Two people, a private car and driver for the entire Golden Triangle, heritage haveli hotels, guides at the Taj Mahal and Amber Fort. The driver alone costs less than a week of taxis at home.
$14,000–32,000
A family in palace hotels in Udaipur and Jodhpur, private guides throughout, internal flights instead of long drives, a cooking session, a textile workshop, and a tiger safari at Ranthambore.
$85,000+
Palace suites, a luxury rail journey, a chartered aircraft, a wedding or milestone celebration with full production, and an Ayurvedic week in Kerala afterwards.
What to watch for
- Pace is everything. Three cities in five days is a miserable trip. Two nights minimum per place, and we will push back on an itinerary that is too fast.
- Delhi air quality in November and December is genuinely poor and matters for anyone with asthma or a respiratory condition. We plan around it and say so.
- Stick to bottled or filtered water, and be sensible about food in the first days. A travel clinic visit and a prescription to have in the bag is normal practice, not paranoia.
- Commission-driven shopping stops are standard in cheap tours. Ours have none and it is in the itinerary in writing.