Your chauffeur meets you at Delhi (DEL) arrivals and transfers you to your hotel. The afternoon takes in some of the capital's places of worship, the serene Lotus Temple, the Sikh Gurudwara Bangla Sahib with its sacred tank, or the marble Birla Mandir, depending on your arrival time.

It is a gentle, reflective opening that sets the spiritual tone of the days ahead.

You drive north from Delhi to Haridwar, where the Ganges leaves the Himalayan foothills and enters the plains, one of the seven holiest cities in Hinduism.

At dusk you take your place among the pilgrims on the ghats of Har Ki Pauri for the Ganga Aarti: hundreds of oil lamps set adrift on the river, chanting and bells, and the current carrying a flotilla of flickering flames downstream. It is one of North India's most moving spectacles.

In the morning you ride the cable car up to the hilltop Mansa Devi temple, the 'wish-fulfilling' shrine overlooking the town and the river, followed by an unhurried walk through the ashrams and ghats that line the Ganges.

In the late afternoon you drive back to Delhi for an overnight stay, positioning you for the morning run to Agra.

A morning run down the Yamuna Expressway brings you to Agra by lunchtime and your hotel check-in.

In the late afternoon you visit the Taj Mahal at sunset, when the white marble warms to amber and gold and the crowds thin, a softer, quieter way to first meet Shah Jahan's monument to love, with your guide tracing its history and symmetry.

You begin at the red-sandstone Agra Fort, the Mughal seat of power where Shah Jahan spent his final years gazing at the Taj across the Yamuna.

You then drive to Jaipur, breaking the journey at Abhaneri to see the Chand Baori, one of India's deepest and most geometric stepwells, its thousands of symmetrical steps plunging thirteen storeys underground.

You reach the Pink City by evening for check-in.

The morning belongs to the honey-coloured Amber Fort above Maota Lake, with its Sheesh Mahal mirror hall and grand hilltop courtyards (jeep ascent included).

Back in the old city you photograph the five-storey pink facade of the Hawa Mahal, the 'Palace of Winds', and can browse the surrounding bazaars for textiles, blue pottery and gemstones.

After breakfast your chauffeur drives you back to Delhi along the highway, timed to your onward flight.

Depending on your departure time we can add a lunch stop or a final Delhi sight en route, before your driver delivers you to the airport.