A Taste of India - Overland Trip

Itineraries

Arrive and transfer to hotel. Afternoon tour of New Delhi.

We board our early morning express train to Agra, home to one of the most famous buildings in the world, the Taj Mahal. Afternoon visit to The Taj Mahal. Tonight we stay with a local family, where the lady of the house will give us a private cooking demonstration, as she prepares some classic Indian dishes.  (BD)

After visiting the abandoned Moghul capital of Fatehpur Sikri, we carry on to Pachewar, where we stay in the 300 year old Fort. (B)

Full day to explore the village and relax in the serene garden. We will visit a local home where we can see the preperation of simple village food and later we enjoy a cookery demonstration at our hotel as our dinner is prepared. (BD)

After breakfast  we leave Pachewar for Jaipur, the captivating Pink City. We visit the fabulous Amber Fort, situated just north of the town, and walk the steep paths leading to a magnificent complex of palaces, halls, pavilions, gardens and temples built over a period of 125 years by successive rulers (B)

The pink city of Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan, and cars, scooters, rickshaws, camels and bullock carts all jostle for space on the streets. In the morning, we visit some of Jaipur’s palaces, observatories and parks. Tonight, we eat in a typical Rajasthani restaurant, designed to resemble a traditional village. The vegetarian food is served to us as if we were the guests at a traditional wedding feast. (BD)

Jaipur is a great place to shop for jewellery, carpets, and local craftwork. Today we have a full day to explore the markets before we board our overnight sleeper train to Udaipur.  (B)

We arrive in Udaipur, the most romantic city Rajasthan, with beautiful lakeside palaces and mansions. This evening we can dine at Ambrai, a restaurant with fabulous views over the lake and the famous Lake Palace hotel.

We visit the City Palace, carved out of yellow sandstone on the banks of  the Lake  Pichola. The main part of the City Palace is now preserved as a museum and houses a large and varied collection of mosaics, glass and porcelain figures, miniatures and paintings. The rest of the day can be spent wandering the city’s bazaars, a maze of narrow streets. (B)

Continue to Ahmedabad, the cultural centre of the state of Gujarat. A culinary tour of India would not be complete without tasting a famous Gujarati thali, the traditional meal in which you use your hands and pieces of chapati to eat curry and vegetable dishes from small bowls set around a large metal plate. (BD)

Continue to Mumbai by early morning train. Mumbai is the thriving financial centre of India, and people from all over the country have settled around the city. In order to feed its growing population, Mumbai has its own distinct street food culture. We will see Pao Bhaji (a spicy stew of mashed vegetables, eaten with hot buttered bread), Sev Puri and Bhel Puri (crisp gram flour discs eaten with cut onions, coriander and a mixture of chutneys).

A free day to explore the city. Later, we visit a restaurant that serves ‘original’ Bombay food. The first residents of Mumbai, the local fishing community, were followed by settlers from other coastal parts of Maharashtra, and their delicious traditional cuisine consists of a mixture of sea food and meat dishes. This evening we take an overnight train to Goa, on the scenic Konkan railway. 

The former Portuguese colony of Goa boasts amazing scenery, with some of the world's most beautiful beaches, lush paddy fields, mango groves and white washed villas. The people are famous for their easy going nature and traditional hospitality. Our hotel is located close to Candolim beach.

We visit the home of a typical Goan family and learn to make prawn balchao, a pickled prawn/shrimp dish that is both sweet and hot. Then we experience a vindaloo curry, in all its spicy glory. Our dessert will be a coconut pancake, the perfect combination of western and Indian cuisines. (L)

Time to relax on the beach or explore some more of Goa’s many restaurants. This area has attracted many international restaurateurs, with establishments that serve a variety of different cuisines. 

Tour ends