Cultural North India Nepal Tour

You will be greeted and welcomed in traditional Indian way on arrival at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. Since most of the International flights land late in the night, you will be received and transferred to Delhi hotel for overnight stay. The check in at Delhi hotel will be facilitated by representative of Optima Travels.

Veritably, Cultural North India Nepal Tour commences today after breakfast. Proceed on a guided full day sightseeing tour of Delhi. From sightseeing perspective, Delhi can be segregated into two parts- Old Delhi & New Delhi. Though both the segments have a mix of both the worlds but Old Delhi predominantly showcases medieval era monuments and a bit of cultural lineage as well. On the contrary, New Delhi does possess several ancient monuments but overtly looks more cosmopolitan and modern city with skyscrapers. The Delhi sightseeing tour includes monuments and places like Red Fort, Jama Masjid, Chandni Chowk, India Gate, President House, Parliament building, Qutub Minar and Lotus Temple. Delhi tour guide will expatiate on every subtle aspect of the monuments being visited. After enjoying interesting but fatigue-some sightseeing tour of Delhi, return to Delhi hotel for overnight stay.

Departure from Delhi for Jaipur is scheduled immediately after breakfast. On arrival at Jaipur, you will be transferred to the hotel to relax a bit and have lunch. Post lunch, half day guided sightseeing and exploration of the market of Jaipur will take place. Jaipur, true representative of the culture of Rajasthan. Jaipur is capital city of Rajasthan, the desert state of India with glorious past and historical monuments. Hawa Mahal, City Palace and Jantar Mantar are three iconic monuments to be visited today. Hereinafter, explore local market known for its crafts products. Later in the evening, you will be taken to Govind Dev Ji Temple to attend magnanimous aarti. Return to Jaipur hotel to spend evening in leisure and have overnight stay.

After breakfast, move on for guided exploration of Jaipur. The monuments to be visited today will incorporate forts, museum, baori and temple. You are required to commence early Jaipur tour to have a firsthand experience of 'maharaja-like' ride on a caparisoned elephant from foothill to hilltop, where the main gateway of Amber Fort is located. Elephant ride at Amber Fort will be an exotic north India cultural experience.

Jaipur tour guide will keep pouring in lot of information and knowledge regarding Kachhwaha dynasty, history of Jaipur, art and architectural significance of Amber Fort, strategic role played by Amber Fort in protection of Jaipur etc. Next citadel, Jaigarh Fort, is perched even on a higher hillock and has excellent weapon museum, water harvesting system and world’s largest cannon, Jaivan. Then, return to city but on the way visit Panna Meena Ka Kund & Jal Mahal. Having lunch, visit Albert Hall (Central) Museum and Birla Temple. Having seen monuments of Jaipur, explore extremely lively, vibrant and colorful market of Jaipur. Relax in the evening and return to Jaipur hotel for overnight stay.

Depart for Agra after breakfast. Agra is a historical city and traces its history into Mahabharata times. It was then known as Agravana. It is located in the state of Uttar Pradesh. On the way to Agra, a short detour leads you to Fatehpur Sikri, a village town with isolated cluster of grand buildings. Built by Akbar, Fatehpur Sikri was the first attempt of any Mughal ruler to construct a planned township. There are several palaces, courtyards, religious places, gardens and towering gateways but all these couldn't help the town to its fullest capacity with uninterrupted continuum. The reason was the paucity of drinking water. But to your amazement, most of the architectural monuments are still in a very good state of preservation. Prime tourist attractions of Fatehpur Sikri are Buland Darwaza, Panch Mahal, Jodhabai Palace, Jama Masjid, Shrine of Salim Chishti etc.

After visiting Fatehpur Sikri, proceed on for Agra. On arrival at Agra, our representative will receive and take you to the pre-booked Agra hotel. Relax in the evening and have overnight stay in Agra hotel.

Full day guided sightseeing tour of Agra is special and destined to be memorable, as you will visit globally famous and one of the Seven Wonders of the World - The Taj Mahal. Taj Mahal is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Majority of visitors claim that Taj Mahal looks most beautiful at the time of sunrise. So, your visit to Taj Mahal has been scheduled in dawn hours. Agra tour guide will collect you from Agra hotel's lobby. A 'tonga' ride has been planned for you to take you to Taj Mahal and impart you exotic India travel experience. It is an exhilarating experience to visit Taj Mahal as its subtle beauty satiates soul with enriching information about it by guide. Built of white Makrana marble, Taj Mahal is often termed as an epitome of love. Taj Mahal is perhaps the most beautiful expression of love that resulted out of the anguish of death of Mumtaj Mahal, beloved wife of Shah Jahan.

After visiting Taj Mahal, return to Agra hotel for getting refreshed and relaxed. Have breakfast in Agra hotel and move for sightseeing tour of Agra which includes Agra Fort & Baby Taj (Tomb of It-Mad-Ud-Daula). At the time of sunset, you will be taken to Mehtab Bagh across River Yamuna to have beautiful sunset view of Taj Mahal – a photography enthusiast’s obvious choice. After sightseeing of Agra, explore local market which is famous for marble and handicraft products. Shopping in Agra will be a happy experience. Later on, return to Agra hotel for overnight stay.

After breakfast, drive for Agra railway station to board train for Jhansi. On arrival at Jhansi railway station, you will be received by our representative. You will be then driven to Khajuraho. On the way to Khajuraho, only about 15 kms from Jhansi, is a medieval era village town of Orchha, erstwhile capital of Bundela kingdom. You will be taken to visit Orchha-Fort-Palace-Temple-Complex. After visiting Orchha, have lunch in a nice restaurant on the banks of river Betwa. Post-lunch, proceed for Khajuraho. On arrival at Khajuraho, you will be transferred to hotel for smooth check in. After relaxing a bit, in the evening, watch a cultural show which will showcase traditional folk dances and folklores of Baghelkhand region or watch Sound & Light Show in the backdrop of world-renowned Khajuraho temples. Overnight will be at Khajuraho.

After breakfast, guided sightseeing tour of Khajuraho will take place. Ancient temples with intricate and beautiful carvings are prime attractions in Khajuraho. The guided tour of the famous temples of Khajuraho will mesmerize you, literally. Refined carving, grand temple architecture, explicitly erotic and sexually postured sculpture, historical past and rural ambience take you into the realm of glorious, lively and celebrated past. There are three prominent clusters of temples in Khajuraho- Western Group of Khajuraho Temples, Eastern Group of Khajuraho Temples and Southern Group of Khajuraho Temples. Out of these three clusters, Western Group of Khajuraho Temples is most representative of Khajuraho temples.

Having completed sightseeing of Khajuraho temples, you will be in-time transferred to Khajuraho airport to catch Varanasi-bound flight that reaches the cultural capital of India in the afternoon. On arrival at Varanasi, you will be transferred to hotel to be introduced with Varanasi guide to conduct Sarnath tour & Ganga Aarti tour. Sarnath is a famous ancient Buddhist site. It was in Sarnath where Lord Buddha delivered his first sermon and started 'Sangh'. From here, a soft socio-religious revolution took place and the whole world started chanting 'Buddham Sharanam Gachchhami, Sangham Sharanam Gachchhami, Dhammam Sharanam Gachchhami. Here, you will happen to see ancient Buddhist monastery in ravaged form. Dhamek & Dharmarajika stupas, Asokan Pillar and a great museum are worth watching.

After visiting Buddhist heritage, drive towards Dashaswamedh Ghat of Varanasi where grand and auspicious Ganga Aarti (Ganges Worship Ceremony) takes place every evening. Be witness to cultural and traditional rituals of Hindu religion which worships river Ganga as mother. Later in the evening, come back to Varanasi hotel for overnight stay.

The full day guided Varanasi sightseeing tour will unfold many hitherto exotic aspects of the cultural capital of India, Benares. Guided tour will commence early in the morning. Varanasi tour guide will take you for morning boat cruise along the ghats of the sacred river the Ganges to see the cremation ghats and witness the living traditions of one of the world's oldest and most important religions. After boat tour, you will be taken on a heritage walk of Varanasi.

Hereinafter, return to Varanasi hotel to relax and have breakfast. Thereafter check out from Varanasi hotel and proceed for Varanasi city and temple tour. Among the prominent temples and places to be visited are Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, Durga Temple, Vishwanath Temple, BHU & Bharat Mata Temple. After Varanasi city tour, move for Varanasi airport at Babatpur to board flight for New Delhi. On arrival at New Delhi, you will be transferred to New Delhi hotel for overnight stay.

After breakfast, you will be in-time transferred to International airport to catch Kathmandu-bound flight. Kathmandu is the capital city of Nepal, the only Hindu country in the world. On arrival, you will be received by our representative and taken to Kathmandu hotel. Today, guided sightseeing tour of Kathmandu will encompass Pashupatinath, Sayambhunath and Boudhnath are prime tourist attractions. Spend the evening in leisure and return to Kathmandu hotel for overnight stay.

After breakfast, proceed on a guided sightseeing tour of Patan and Bhaktpur, satellite cities around Kathmandu. Both of these cities rank high on tourism map of Nepal and house architectural monuments and cultural legacy of bygone era. Having visited Patan and Bhaktpur, return to Kathmandu. You will be directly transferred to Tribhuvan Airport to board flight for New Delhi. On arrival at New Delhi, board flight for your onward destination.