Your chauffeur meets you at Delhi (DEL) arrivals and, once you've settled in, you begin a full day across the capital's layers of history.

Old Delhi brings the Mughal-era Red Fort, the vast Jama Masjid and a cycle-rickshaw ride through Chandni Chowk; New Delhi adds India Gate, Humayun's Tomb and the towering Qutub Minar, the architectural prelude to the Taj you'll see tomorrow.

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, the white-marble mausoleum Shah Jahan raised for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, as the light softens and the day-trippers thin; your guide unpacks its history and its famously perfect symmetry.

You start early at the red-sandstone Agra Fort, the walled Mughal city where Shah Jahan spent his final years gazing at the Taj across the river, best seen before the day heats up.

You then drive south to Ranthambore, checking into your jungle lodge near Sawai Madhopur in the afternoon with time to settle before the next morning's safari.

Before dawn you enter Ranthambore National Park by open safari vehicle in search of its wild Bengal tigers, moving through a dramatic landscape of dry forest, lakes and the crumbling 10th-century Ranthambore Fort.

Alongside tigers the park shelters leopard, sloth bear, sambar deer, marsh crocodile and hundreds of bird species. The afternoon offers a guided nature walk or a second exploration of the buffer zone.

A final sunrise safari gives you another chance at a tiger sighting in the soft early light, often the most active and rewarding part of the day in the park.

After breakfast you drive north to Jaipur, reaching the Pink City by early afternoon for check-in and a relaxed evening.

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

Above it sits Jaigarh Fort, connected by ramparts and home to Jaivana, once the world's largest wheeled cannon, with sweeping views over the Aravalli hills and the city below.

You explore the City Palace, still the residence of Jaipur's royal family, and photograph the five-storey pink facade of the Hawa Mahal, the 'Palace of Winds'.

The afternoon is an artisan walk through the old city, block-printers, blue-pottery workshops and gem-cutters, where Jaipur's centuries-old crafts are still made by hand.

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

We can arrange a lunch stop or a final Delhi sight en route depending on your departure, before your driver delivers you to the airport.