India – on Kipling’s Path

/
/
India – on Kipling’s Path

Highlights

  • Experience India – on Kipling’s Path Private Tour
  • Meeting naturalists in Pench, Kanha & Bandhavgarh
  • 3x Jeep Tiger Safaris in Pench and Kanha
  • 2x Jeep Tiger Safari in Bandhavgarh
  • Rickshaw ride in Old Delhi, India
  • Delhi City Tour: Jama Mosque, Drive Past Red Fort, Raj Ghat, Qutub Minar, Humayun’s Tomb, Rail Museum, India Gate President House)
  • Agra – UNESCO World Heritage Site – Taj Mahal – Agra Fort & Fatehpur Sikri
  • Khajuraho: Temple Tour
  • Mumbai City Tour – Marine Drive, Gateway of India, Victoria Terminus Station, Dhobi Ghat & Prince of Wales Museum
  • and much more…

Today you will arrive at Mumbai International Airport. After customs, immigration formalities and baggage claim have been completed, you will be met by our representative. Afterwards you will be taken to the hotel. Upon arrival, check into the hotel and recover from your long flight.

Mumbai is city of dreams – the glamor of the film worldthe imposing skyscrapers on the mainland of the harbor, the  people of different ethnicities with different cultural  backgrounds and their endless spirit  for success give Mumbai its splendor.

 

Accommodation: Trident Nariman Point (4*), Superior Room, Mumbai, including breakfast

Today after breakfast you will be expected for your private city tour of Mumbai. You’ll begin  your tour with a visit  to the  JJ School of Art , where you ‘ll see the famous wood- and -stone bungalow on campus that was Rudyard Kipling’s birthplace

In the afternoon you will visit the Prince of Wales Museum ( closed on Monday ), then drive along Marine Drive, Mumbai’s most popular seafront promenade, along Kamla Nehru Park and the slopes of the Malabar Hills, where you will have a wonderful view of the ocean and the Chowpatty.

Afterwards visit  the Jain Temple Mani Bhawan , where Mahatma Gandhi used to live and Dhobi Ghatthe laundry.  Your tour continues past the Flora Fountain, the colorful Crawford Market and the Victoria Terminus train station.      

 

Accommodation: Trident Nariman Point (4*), Superior Room, Mumbai, including breakfast

After your  breakfast  you will be driven to the airport for your onward flight to Nagpur. Upon arrival in Nagpuryour chauffeur will be waiting for you to drive you into the jungle of Pench.  

After your arrival, you will have some time to rest and discover your jungle resort. In the evening you will meet a local folklorist who will tell you more about Rudyard Kipling local tribes and their life around the jungle. Then you will  also know where Kipling ’s inspiration  for his  stories  about Mowgli and The  Jungle Book come from.
 

Accommodation: Pench Jungle Camp, Deluxe Cottage, Pench, including full board

Today you can look forward to your first opportunity to spot tigers.

To avoid the midday heat (when the wild animals also relax hidden and out of sight in the shade) and get a great chance of spotting as many wild animals as possible, go on a jeep safari in the morning and afternoon.

Pench National Park is one of the lesser – known reserves in central India and is located in the Seoni and Chhindwara districts of Madhya Pradesh . Even though the tiger is the main attraction in the national park, the park impresses with its rich biodiversity of different mammal and bird species and the main actors from the Jungle Book.

 

Accommodation: Pench Jungle Camp, Deluxe Cottage, Pench, including full board

After breakfast, your adventure continues to Kanha. After about a three-hour drive, you can check into your lodge.

The huge grasslands known as the “virgins” and bordered by the protrusions of the spherical Maikal ditch in the south serve as a paradisiacal source of food for the large herds of cattle of the local village communities. This has earned the area around Kanha the nickname “N’Gorongoro of India”. The huge herds of cattle are also a welcome source of food for large predators. In the evening, you will spend some time with an in-house naturalist who will tell you all about tigers and their behavior, as well as the law of the jungle.

 

Accommodation: Chitwan Jungle Lodge, Jal Cottage, Kanha, including full board 

Today we go on safari early to see as many wild animals as possible before retreating into the cool shade from the midday heat. To cool off, there are some watering holes that large predators also like to visit to cool off. To increase your chances, you will go on a jeep safari again in the afternoon. 

 

Accommodation: Chitwan Jungle Lodge, Jal Cottage, Kanha, including full board 

After breakfast your adventure continues to Bandhavgarh. After about 5 hours of driving, you can check in at your lodge. Bandhavgarh National Park stretches across the Vindhya Hills in Madhya Pradesh. In the  evening  we have organized a special lesson with a professional  naturalist who will  not only tell you all about tigers, but will focus more on leopards and other wild animals. 

 

Accommodation: Bandhav Vilas, Standard Room, Bandhavgarh, including full board 

Today you can look forward to another full day of safari. This is only interrupted to escape the midday heat and enjoy your lunch in the shade.

 

Accommodation: Bandhav Vilas, Standard Room, Bandhavgarh, including full board 

Today your tour takes you out of the species-rich wilderness to some of India’s most beautiful cultural treasures and UNESCO world culture – to the beautiful temple complexes in Khajuraho. 

 

Accommodation: Radisson, Deluxe Room, Khajuraho, including breakfast 

​Today after breakfast, take a half-day tour of the western temple groups of Khajuraho. The most famous is the Kandariya Mahadev Temple, 32 metres high with a fantastic range of sculptures, including sensual themes.

After the tour, return to the hotel where you check out before being driven to Jhansi railway station for your onward journey to Agra (Shatabdi express @ 18.40/21.10 hrs – A/C chair class, daily). On arrival in Agra, check into your hotel and rest from today’s tour.

Agra – Once a small village on the banks of the Yamuna, it was transformed in the 16th and 17th centuries by two great Mughal monarchs, Akbar and his grandson Shah Jehan, into the second capital of the Mughal Empire – Darul-Khilafat, or “Seat of the Emperor”.

 

Accommodation: Trident Agra, Deluxe Garden View, Agra, breakfast included

Early in the morning, you will be picked up by your guide who will take you on a sunrise tour of the world-famous Taj Mahal (closed on Fridays).

On the interior walls, jewel-like stones create the fantastic design in combination with white marble. The Mughals perfected the art of embedding semi-precious stones in marble and the Taj is the best example of this special process called pietra dura. It starts with a slab of marble that varies in size. Then the jewels are thinly sliced ​​and set into the marble so that the joints are invisible to the naked eye.

After the visit, return to your hotel for breakfast. Later, visit the massive Agra Fort, originally started by Emperor Akbar in 1565 and later enhanced with valuable artistic elements by his son Jahangir and grandson, Shah Jahan.

 

Accommodation: Trident Agra, Deluxe Garden View, Agra, breakfast included

After breakfast you leave Agra and head to the capital of modern India – Delhi.

After checking in at the hotel, you have the rest of the day at your leisure.

 

Accommodation: Maidens, Heritage Room, Delhi, including breakfast

After breakfast, you will set off on a full-day city tour of Old and New Delhi.

You will start with a visit to the 17th century Jama Masjid and enjoy a rickshaw ride through the narrow, winding streets of the colourful and busy Chandni Chowk.

You will make a photo stop at the most opulent fortress of the Mughal Empire, the Red Fort. Later, you will visit Raj Ghat, where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated.

In the afternoon, continue to New Delhi to the Presidential Palace, the former imperial residence of the British Viceroys, the India Gate (a memorial erected in honour of the Indian soldiers who died during the Afghanistan War) on the Rajpath past the Parliament House and Secretariat building.

Another tour highlight – visit the Railway Museum (closed on Mondays). This unique museum has a fascinating and exotic collection of over 100 exhibits from the Indian Railways.

Afterwards, visit Qutab Minar, the 12th-century victory tower built by a slave king and the prototype of all minars (towers) in India. Also visit the 16th-century Humayun’s Tomb, a precursor to the Taj Mahal.

 

Accommodation: Maidens, Heritage Room, Delhi, including breakfast

Today you have the morning at your leisure before it is time to say goodbye and you will be taken to the airport in Delhi for your return flight. Or you can extend your stay with us for further adventures on the colorful Indian continent…

 

We would be happy to adapt this travel example to your individual wishes and ideas…

  • 2 nights in: Trident Nariman Point (4*), Superior Room, Delhi, including breakfast
  • 2 nights in: Pench Jungle Camp (4*), Deluxe Cottage, Pench, including full board
  • 2 nights in: Chitwan Jungle Lodge (4*), Jal Cottage, Kanha, including full board
  • 2 nights in: Bandhav Vilas (4*), Standard Room, Bandhavgarh, including full board
  • 1 night in: Radisson (4*), Deluxe Room, Khajuraho, including breakfast
  • 2 nights in: Trident Agra (4*), Deluxe Garden View, Agra, including breakfast 
  • 2 nights in: Maidens (4*), Heritage Room, Delhi, including breakfast 
  • Full board in Bench, Kanha and Bandhavgarh
  • All overnight stays as described in the itinerary (or in at least an equivalent hotel if overbooked)
  • Private reception and pick-up from/to the airport
  • Private transfer in an air-conditioned car (e.g. Toyota Innova for 2 travelers) with driver (including all expenses for driver and car)
  • Domestic flight with Air India (Economy): Mumbai – Nagpur, Flight 6E 482 (08:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.)
  • Train: Jhansi – Agra – Shatabdi Express (AC Chair Car) (6:40 p.m. – 9:10 p.m.)
  • All entrance fees and national park fees
  • English speaking local guides
  • 2 bottles of mineral water per person per day in the car

All activities/excursions as described in the itinerary:

  • Visit to Kipling’s Home in Mumbai
  • Visit with a naturalist in Pench, Kanha & Bandhavgarh
  • 3x Jeep Safaris in Pench and Kanha (closed on Wednesdays)
  • 2x Jeep Safari in Bandhavgarh (closed on Wednesdays)
  • Train Ticket: Jhansi – Agra by Shatabdi Express in A/C Chair Class
  • Rickshaw ride in Old Delhi
  • Delhi: Jama Mosque, Drive Past Red Fort, Raj Ghat, Qutub Minar, Humayun’s Tomb, Rail Museum, India Gate President House and Government buildings
  • Agra: Taj Mahal (closed on Fridays), Agra Fort & Fatehpur Sikri 
  • Khajuraho: Temple Tour
  • Mumbai: Marine Drive, Gateway of India, Victoria Terminus Station, Dhobi Ghat & Prince of Wales Museum (Closed on Mondays)
  • Visa fees
  • International and domestic flights, as well as airport taxes
  • Additional meals 
  • Personal travel insurance
  • Tips, donations or other expenses
  • Optional activities (can be booked in advance)
  • Additional costs for high season or public holidays

The itinerary may change depending on weather conditions or other unforeseen influences. In any case, the responsible guide has the right to redesign the tour so that our customers can enjoy their tour safely, comfortably and happily. All national parks in Madhya Pradesh are closed for jeep safaris on Wednesday afternoon.

Play Video
From $3,000

India – on Kipling’s Path

Ready to book your next adventure? Contact us now via WhatsApp for a seamless booking experience!

Tour Recommendations