From Delhi to Haridwar: A Journey Through Spiritual India

When you arrive, you’ll be privately transferred to your accommodation where you’ll be staying for the next two nights. Relax and unwind in this ornate and beautiful setting before sitting down to a meal at one of your hotel’s several restaurants.

Today, you’ll take a tour of the lively streets of Old Delhi, the capital’s traditional district. Along the way, you’ll stop at Sisganj Gurudwara, one of the city’s holiest Sikh temples, and the Sunehri Masjid Mosque. Your walk will continue past Ballimaran’s many bakeries and chai shops before stopping at Kanwarji's Confectioners, a real institution in Old Delhi. The tour ends at Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in the country. This evening, you’ll experience Old Delhi’s special atmosphere as you lose yourself in the vibrant Chandni Chowk market, teeming with motorbikes, cows, ox carts and zigzagging rickshaws. Its colourful aisles are crowded with stalls selling mouthwatering street food, spices and clothing until the early hours.

This morning, you’ll leave the capital behind and fly directly to Amritsar, which takes just over an hour. When you land, you’ll be privately transferred to your accommodation for the next two nights, a beautifully restored colonial building set in a manicured garden. After your journey, indulge in an Ayurvedic treatment at the intimate spa before sampling some of the hotel’s nourishing traditional cuisine. You’ll also meet your private driver today, who will accompany you on the next ten days of your journey through India.

This evening, you’ll visit the holiest shrine in the Sikh religion: the Golden Temple. This glowing golden structure is visited every day by pilgrims, devotees and curious travellers, but it is perhaps most enchanting during Palki Sahib, an atmospheric event that you’ll experience during your visit. Every evening following chanting and a procession, the holy book, The Guru Granth Sahib, is brought back to the Akal Takhat for the night. At dawn, it is brought back into the heart of the temple.

You have today to spend relaxing in your hotel gardens and making the most of the Ayurvedic treatments on offer – you are in India, after all. This evening, we’ll arrange for you to witness a curious yet captivating spectacle: the border closing ceremony between India and Pakistan. Every day just before sunset, uniformed guards on each side of the Attari-Wagah border parade up and down before simultaneously lowering the flags of the two countries. The ceremony ends when the guards shake hands and close the gates. This harmless and impressive display is a visual reminder of the ancestral rivalry between the two nations.

Today, your private driver will escort you to Dharamshala, which takes around five hours. You’ll spend the next three nights in the heart of the city in a small yet beautiful hotel. After you arrive, you have the rest of your day to spend at your leisure, whether that means going for a wander or simply relaxing ahead of your day of exploring tomorrow.

We’ll organise a tour of Dharamshala today, a city in the Himalayan foothills that sits at an altitude of 5,900ft. Under the British Empire, it was a favourite holiday spot for serving officers thanks to its cooler temperatures, but today it serves an important function as a refuge for the Tibetan exiled community. Following the Chinese military invasion and subsequent Tibetan uprising in 1959, the Dalai Lama and 80,000 of his followers settled here and established the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile. During your tour, you’ll visit McLeodganj, a suburb of the city that’s now home to the Dalai Lama and his seat of government, along with the Norbulingka Institute, an organisation he founded that’s dedicated to preserving Tibetan art and culture. The Academy of Tibetan Culture is also on the programme, an offshoot of the Norbulingka Institute that educates young Tibetan scholars and artists about their culture. Your day will end with a visit to the Jamyang Choling Institute and its convent, where you’ll get a glimpse of the daily lives led by the 130 nuns that live here.

Today is an opportunity to explore the stunning Himalayan countryside. From McLeodganj, you’ll hike through forests and rice fields to the Galu Devi temple, situated 6,890ft above sea level. You’ll then continue on to the village of Naddi, where you’ll get a superb view of the Dhauladhar range. The route finally leads you to a community that works for the education of exiled children, orphans or children whose families are still in Tibet.

You’ll drive on to Rishikesh today. It’s a long journey, but when you arrive at your hotel on the banks of the Ganges, you’ll be rewarded by ultimate tranquillity. This beautiful setting is yours to enjoy for three nights, whether that means recharging your batteries at the spa, enjoying a drink on the terrace or splashing around in the swimming pool surrounded by mountains.

Built in the Himalayan foothills, this city is spread over both sides of the valley and linked by two suspended footbridges. Rishikesh is deeply spiritual place; according to Hindu mythology, it is here that the road to paradise is located. On a private tour today, you’ll explore this special city that’s renowned as a centre for the study of yoga and meditation and frequented by pilgrims, ascetics and those seeking spiritual guidance. It even proved an inspirational place for the Fab Four: it was here in the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi ashram that The Beatles wrote the White Album. As your afternoon draws to a close, you’ll head to the banks of the Ganges to attend a puja ceremony. Every day at dusk, this ceremony attracts devotees who pray before the waters of the great river and address songs, hymns and prayers to the goddess Ganga while priests lay candles and flowers on the water.

Rishikesh is home to many retreats and places of spiritual community, known as ashrams. You’ll visit three of them today: Swargasharam, one of the oldest in northern India; Sivananda Ashram, the headquarters of a global organisation called The Divine Life Society; and Parmarth Niketan Ashram, the largest in the city. At the end of the day, you’ll experience another Hindu ceremony known as Ganga Aarti. This involves songs and prayers followed by a purification ritual performed around a sacred fire. If you’re seeking a bit of a thrill after so much tranquillity, we can also arrange for you to spend the day rafting on the Ganges.

Your driver will take you on to Haridwar today, around a 45-minute drive away, to spend the night in the peaceful district of Khankal. Your hotel on the banks of the Ganges promises a peaceful and meditative atmosphere. Spend the day soaking it up from the rooftop terrace or on a massage table with a view of the river. This evening, you’ll attend another puja on the Ganges. The spiritual energy flows along the riverbanks where hundreds of devotees pray, light fires, chant and sing.

For your last full day in India, we’ve arranged for you to take a private tour of Haridwar. This is one of the seven holy pilgrimage sites of Hinduism (Sapta Puri) and the starting point for pilgrimages to the sources of the Ganges. In the spirit of a truly authentic India, Haridwar’s ghats (steps leading down to the water) are crowded with devotees, sadhus, merchants and cows. Accompanied by your guide, you’ll take in this atmospheric hubbub as well as visiting Pawan Dham (also known as the ‘Glass Temple’, the Shantikunj Ashram, and Maya Devi Temple). At the end of the afternoon, you’ll be escorted right to your seat on the train to Delhi. When you arrive back in the capital, you’ll be welcomed at the station with a private transfer to your contemporary airport hotel. Spend the evening relaxing with a swim in the pool, a treatment at the spa or a final drink in the bar to toast to your fabulous adventure.