Your chauffeur meets you at Delhi (DEL) and transfers you to your hotel, with a gentle first orientation to the city and the trip ahead.

If jet lag permits, an easy evening drive past the illuminated India Gate sets the scene without over-tiring you.

A full day covers Old and New Delhi: the Red Fort, Jama Masjid and Chandni Chowk's lanes, then Humayun's Tomb, the Qutub Minar and the ceremonial avenues of Lutyens' Delhi.

As evening falls, a guided street-food walk introduces chaat, kebabs and jalebi from the stalls locals trust.

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

In the afternoon you visit the Taj Mahal with your guide, who unpacks its love story and Mughal symmetry as the marble warms toward evening light.

You begin at the red-sandstone Agra Fort in the soft early light, where Shah Jahan spent his final years gazing at the Taj across the Yamuna.

You then drive to Jaipur via UNESCO-listed Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar's abandoned sandstone capital, reaching the Pink City by evening.

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

The City Palace, Jantar Mantar observatory and the Hawa Mahal facade fill the rest of the day, with time to browse the Pink City bazaars.

After breakfast your chauffeur delivers you to Jaipur airport for the flight to Kochi, trading Rajasthan's desert palette for Kerala's palm-fringed green.

You check in at a Fort Kochi heritage hotel, with the evening free to wander the atmospheric old quarter of colonial-era streets and cafes.

You drive up into the Western Ghats to Munnar, climbing through waterfalls and hairpin bends as the air cools and endless tea gardens carpet the slopes.

The scenic ascent is part of the experience, with photo stops along the way; you settle into a hill resort by evening.

A working tea estate and the Tata Tea Museum show how the leaf is grown, plucked and processed in these hills, finishing with a tasting.

You then visit Eravikulam National Park, home to the endangered Nilgiri tahr and, seasonally, the rare blue Neelakurinji bloom, set beneath Anamudi, South India's highest peak.

You descend to Thekkady, the gateway to the Periyar reserve and Kerala's cardamom-scented spice country.

A guided spice plantation walk explains cardamom, pepper and clove, and you can add an elephant interaction and jungle activities before your evening stay.

A morning boat cruise on Periyar Lake, inside the tiger reserve, is your best chance to spot wild elephants, sambar deer, gaur and birdlife along the shoreline.

A guided forest trek or nature walk with a local ranger deepens the wildlife experience on foot.

You drive down to Alleppey and board a private luxury houseboat, a converted rice barge with an en-suite cabin, deck and onboard cook.

The rest of the day drifts through the palm-lined backwater canals, with a fresh Keralan lunch and dinner served aboard as village life slides by.

The morning continues cruising the quieter narrow canals, where the houseboat gives way to a smaller shikara for the tightest waterways.

A guided village walk ashore shows coir-making, toddy-tapping and paddy farming, the everyday rhythm of backwater Kerala, before you check into a lakeside hotel.

You return to Kochi and explore Fort Kochi's historic waterfront, where the cantilevered Chinese fishing nets have worked the tide-line for centuries.

Nearby stand St Francis Church, the Dutch-era Mattancherry Palace and the lanes of Jew Town, layers of Portuguese, Dutch and trading history to close the trip.

After a relaxed breakfast you're transferred to Kochi (COK) airport in good time for your onward or international flight.

The journey closes having spanned North India's forts and South India's tea, wildlife and water in a single arc.