Welcome to Delhi, where ancient dynasties and modern India meet. After a smooth arrival transfer to your centrally located hotel, the remainder of the day is entirely at leisure to rest and reset after your flight. Let the city’s first impressions unfold gently — tree-shaded boulevards, temple bells drifting on the air, and the lively rumble of bazaars beyond the green avenues.

Keep things unhurried: enjoy a quiet stroll in a nearby park, sip a fragrant masala chai, or take a brief wander to get your bearings. This soft landing helps you adjust to the time zone and climate before tomorrow’s deeper dive into the capital’s heritage landmarks and neighbourhood colour.

Leave Delhi at first light aboard an early service to Haridwar (approx. 5 hours). As the city loosens its grip, fields and mustard bloom take over, the foothills gather on the horizon, and tea sellers step through the carriage with cardamom-scented chai. Haridwar, one of the seven sacred cities of Hindu pilgrimage, marks the point where the River Ganges spills from the Himalaya onto the plains, drawing pilgrims to bathe in its glacial, fast-moving water.

On arrival, transfer upriver to Rishikesh for a two-night stay. With forested slopes, ashrams and suspension bridges draped with prayer flags, this riverside town balances spirituality with mountain calm. Settle in, breathe the pine-tinged air, and let the pace drop to river tempo ahead of tonight’s ceremony.

As dusk softens, gather at Triveni Ghat for the Aarti — the ceremony of lights offered to the Ganga. Priests circle brass lamps in rising arcs; mantras roll across the steps; conch shells sound; and small leaf bowls drift downstream bearing flickering flames and marigold petals. It’s a luminous, communal moment — devotion, river and twilight folding into one hypnotic ritual.

At first light, set out for a jeep safari in Rajaji National Park, a vast mosaic of sal forest, riverine grasslands and shingle riverbeds along the Himalayan foothills. Crossings of the Ganges and Song Rivers carve sandbars where Indian elephant herds often graze; keep watch, too, for spotted deer, sambar, goral, langur, jackal and vibrant birdlife — kingfishers, hornbills, bee-eaters flickering between branches. Though designated a tiger reserve, sightings of big cats are rare; the deeper magic here is the quiet drama of tracks, calls and fresh prints written into the morning dust.

Later, return towards Rishikesh, widely known as the Yoga Capital of the World. Visit Shantikunj, a living ashram and spiritual academy focused on self-discipline, service and Vedic study. Walk the precinct respectfully as devotees move between shrines, meditation halls and banyan shade; the atmosphere is welcoming and contemplative, with prayer bells and soft chanting threading the paths.

Continue to the legendary span of Laxman Jhula, a 137-metre suspension bridge arcing over the jade-green Ganga, framed by hillside temples and colourful ghats. From the riverside, take in classic views of pilgrims, saffron-robed sadhus and chattering macaques, with evening light catching the water as it races south. Return to your hotel to unwind, the day’s palette still vivid — forest greens, temple vermilions and the river’s quicksilver flow.

Set out this morning for the cool air of Mussoorie, the classic Himalayan hill station perched above the shimmering sweep of the Doon Valley (drive time ~4 hours, road conditions permitting). As the road climbs through sal forests and terraced villages, the horizon opens to snow-capped peaks on a clear day, while rhododendron and deodar frame hairpin bends and tea stalls curl steam into the mountain light.

On arrival, check in at a heritage hill-palace set amid cedar and pine. The town unfurls in promenades and viewpoints: the ridge-top Sir George Everest estate surveys wave after wave of ranges; the graceful curve of Camel’s Back Road invites an easy stroll at sunset; and the colonial-era Mall Road hums with cafés, bakeries and bookshops that hint at Mussoorie’s literary leanings. With the afternoon at leisure, breathe in the crisp mountain air and let your pace fall in step with the slopes.

This morning, slip over the ridge to Landour, a small, peaceful town whose lanes and cottages feel little changed in decades. Deodar and oak shade the switchbacks; prayer flags wink between rooftops; and the quiet, old-world cadence contrasts beautifully with Mussoorie’s busier promenades.

Pause in Sisters Bazaar to browse cosy book nooks and cafés perfumed with fresh bakes and cinnamon. The walk continues along stone paths and contouring roads towards Lal Tibba — the area’s classic viewpoint and highest local peak. On clear days the panorama sweeps across wave after wave of the Garhwal Himalaya, with far-off hill villages pricked out in sun and shadow. Linger with binoculars at the telescopes, trace ridgelines and river-cut valleys, and let the mountain air reset your senses.

Return at an easy pace for an afternoon at leisure. Take a gentle amble along Camel’s Back, settle with a pot of masala chai, or simply watch cloud-drift from a quiet terrace — mountain time, unhurried and restorative.

Depart the hills and descend to the plains on today’s overland journey to Chandigarh (approx. 8 hours, road conditions permitting). Conceived by India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and planned by Le Corbusier, Chandigarh is a rare modernist city where geometry, greenery and civic ideals were stitched together into a bold post-independence vision.

This afternoon, step into the monumental order of the Capitol Complex — a UNESCO-recognised ensemble that gathers the High Court, Secretariat and Legislative Assembly around dramatic plazas and reflecting pools. Brise-soleil facades cast striped shade; massive pilotis lift volumes clear of the ground; and axial views pull your eye to the vast, steel Open Hand Monument, Le Corbusier’s emblem of the city’s ethos: “open to give, open to receive.”

Between sectors, tree-lined boulevards and sculpted roundabouts reveal Chandigarh’s other signature: landscaped gardens and generous green belts that soften the grid and frame the Shivalik foothills beyond. As evening draws in, settle into your centrally located base and enjoy time at leisure.

Begin amid colour and perfume at the Zakir Hussain Rose Garden, a 30-acre botanical enclave famed for around 1,600 rose varieties. Pathways loop past sculpted beds, pergolas and fountains; nameplates reveal heritage cultivars and experimental hybrids, while seasonal blooms splash the lawns with ruby, coral and blush. It’s a gentle, sensory prelude before the mountains call.

Travel by road to Kandaghat (approx. 3 hours) through the Shivalik foothills, then board the narrow-gauge ‘Toy Train’ for the classic ascent to Shimla. This UNESCO-celebrated route threads pine forests, stone-arched bridges and countless tunnels, curving along ridgelines where villages cling to terraced slopes and distant peaks haze blue on the horizon. The pace is unhurried; windows frame postcards at every bend — tin-roofed halts, tea sellers on tiny platforms, and the sweep of valleys falling away into shadow.

Arrive in Shimla, a picture-perfect retreat where British-era boulevards and half-timbered facades blend with Himachal colour and café culture. Hill breezes, cedar silhouettes and long views set the mood for two restorative nights at Oberoi Cecil, Shimla, your heritage base above the valley lights.

Ease into the day with a guided stroll along Mall Road, Shimla’s breezy promenade of half-timbered façades, bookshops and cafés. Hill views open between cedar silhouettes as the route climbs gently towards Observatory Hill, where the former Viceregal Lodge — now Rashtrapati Niwas — commands the ridge. Its Scots-baronial towers and stone arcades recall the high noon of the Raj, while manicured gardens frame sweeping panoramas of valleys and distant ranges.

Continue to the Shimla Museum, whose galleries chart the town’s transformation from quiet hill hamlet to summer capital. Period photographs, maps and everyday objects sketch a vivid social history — from timber-lined clubs and theatrical societies to the railway that stitched these peaks to the plains. It’s a compact, insightful primer to the personalities and politics that shaped the hill station’s golden era.

The morning concludes at Christ Church, a pale-yellow landmark on The Ridge. Step inside to see the famed stained-glass windows embodying the Five Virtues — Faith, Hope, Charity, Fortitude and Patience — spilling colour across polished pews. Outside, bells carry on the mountain air and colonnades throw cool shade: classic Shimla in a single tableau.

Leave Shimla’s ridges for the river-sculpted town of Mandi (approx. 4 hours). Begin at the stately Victoria Bridge (1877), a filigree of iron spanning jade-green water with hills rising steep behind it — a photogenic relic of the high colonial road that once threaded these valleys. Then lace up for Mandi’s famed Temple Walk: lanes and ghats stitched with some 81 stone shrines, their slate roofs and carved lintels devoted to Shiva, Vishnu and local deities. Incense curls, bells chime, and sculpted river cobbles shine underfoot; it’s a compact pilgrimage through time-worn masonry and living faith.

Continue by road (approx. 4 hours) as the landscape opens into the Kullu Valley, long hailed as the Valley of Gods. Here, every village keeps its own deity’s palanquin; slopes are quilted with apple orchards, terraces and stands of fragrant deodar cedar; and the Beas River flashes silver between boulders. Settle into your boutique retreat in Karjan village — a quiet base wrapped in orchard air and mountain views — for a restorative three-night stay.

Begin the morning in Seol village, where stone paths thread between orchards and slate-roofed houses. Follow a shepherd’s track through deodar forest to a tumbling Himalayan stream; glacial water flashes over boulders, and the air carries pine and woodsmoke. Continue on foot to the time-honoured village of Dashal, home to an 11th-century Shiva temple whose weathered woodwork and sanctum lamps speak of centuries of local devotion.

After a relaxed pause, drive to Naggar, once the capital of the Kullu Valley. Step into the hillside home of painter and explorer Nicholas Roerich, now the Roerich Art Gallery, where luminous Himalayan landscapes and rare works are displayed in intimate rooms overlooking terraces and orchards. The setting—studio, verandas, old photographs—adds a finely preserved sense of the artist’s life in the mountains.

Round out the afternoon with a walk up to Naggar Castle, a medieval complex of timber and stone commanding long views over the Beas valley. Courtyards ring with the tap of a caretaker’s broom; balconies stack above buttressed walls; and temple bells carry on the wind. It’s an atmospheric close to a day layered with village life, forest trails and Himalayan art.

Ease into the morning with a village walk in Karjan. Stone lanes thread between apple orchards and cedar shade; slate-roofed homes sit behind devotional flags and wood-carved balconies. Pause at the Karjan temple, its sanctum lamps flickering as locals offer marigolds and rice—an intimate glimpse of the Valley of Gods in daily rhythm.

The afternoon is at leisure. If you fancy a short outing, follow a forest track to Sajla Waterfall, where a cool veil of water tumbles into a rocky pool ringed by moss and ferns—ideal for photographs and a quiet sit beneath deodar boughs. Return through terraced fields with long views to ridgelines scalloped in blue.

Later, head towards the hot springs at Vashisht Baths, long favoured for their mineral-rich water. Pilgrims step into steaming pools beneath temple eaves while the river flashes below—an atmosphere at once practical and devotional. Continue to Old Manali, where the cedar-framed, pagoda-roofed Hadimba Devi Temple rises from a clearing like a storybook shrine, its intricately carved portals and guardian deities steeped in local legend. Nearby stands the revered Manu Temple, associated with the sage Manu and celebrated in local lore; together, these sanctuaries anchor the town’s timeless spiritual cadence amid cafés and cobbled lanes.

Set out on a scenic drive (approx. 6 hours) through winding foothill roads to Paprola, gateway to the historic Kangra Valley Railway. Here you board the narrow-gauge ‘Toy Train’ for a leisurely glide beneath the snow-tipped Dhauladhar Range, past terraced fields, stone hamlets and riverbeds plaid with shingle. Windows frame a rolling album of everyday mountain life — women threshing grain, schoolchildren waving from crossings, tea bushes stitched across the slopes in neat green fans.

The line threads girder bridges and low tunnels, hugging hillsides where hoopoes and drongos flicker between acacias. As altitude eases and the light tilts, the railway tips you into Palampur, famed for its tea gardens, crisp air and brilliant birdlife. Settle in for a restorative three-night stay at Rakkh Palampur, your base amid orchards and village lanes, perfectly placed for slow mornings and exploratory walks.

Travel by road into the cedar-clad slopes of Dharamsala, spiritual seat of the Dalai Lama and a meeting place of Himalayan cultures. Terraced fields step down to tea gardens, prayer flags flicker over bends, and snowy shoulders of the Dhauladhar range rise in the near distance as the air turns cool and resin-scented.

Your first stop is the tranquil Norbulingka Institute, established to support the Tibetan community in exile and to preserve traditional arts and crafts. Stroll through landscaped courtyards, koi-filled ponds and prayer wheels to workshops where artisans practice thangka painting, wood carving, appliqué and metalwork. Galleries and small temples add quiet moments of reflection amid the sound of chisels, looms and soft chanting.

Continue to the hilltop temple complex associated with the Dalai Lama (Tsuglagkhang), its prayer halls alive with butter lamps, spinning mani wheels and the low murmur of mantras. Monks drift between colonnades in maroon robes; murals blaze with bright iconography; and the scent of juniper hangs in the air — an evocative immersion in living Tibetan Buddhism.

Round off the day with a gentle Naddi Village walk. From this ridge, broad views sweep across valleys and tea slopes to serrated peaks that sharpen in the evening light. It’s the perfect vantage to watch cloud-shadows travel the mountains and to feel the slower rhythm of high-country life before returning to your base.

Greet the day with a gentle village walk through terraced fields and orchard lanes, the Dhauladhar peaks sketched in pale morning light. Stone paths thread past slate-roofed homes and prayer flags; the scent of deodar lifts on a cool breeze while bulbuls and drongos chatter in hedgerows. Pause at a stream for classic valley views and snapshots of everyday life — milk pails on verandas, woodsmoke curling from kitchens, and saffron marigolds bright against mud-plastered walls.

Return to your hotel for breakfast, then head into tea country for a guided tea tasting. Learn how bud-and-two-leaf shoots become delicate whole-leaf teas: withering, rolling, oxidation and firing. Compare cups across first- and second-flush styles — brisk greens with meadowy notes; gentle whites with hay and honeysuckle; nuanced blacks with hints of malt, apricot and pine. Your host will demonstrate proper cupping technique, aroma evaluation and water temperature control for a perfect brew back home.

After lunch at your hotel, the afternoon is free to explore at your own pace — a short ridge walk, a book and mountain views, or a browse for local handicrafts. As evening settles, gather for a cultural programme: live folk music and the rhythmic steps of regional dance (often Nati), bright costumes swirling as drums and shehnai trace age-old tempos. It’s an atmospheric finale to a day steeped in terroir, tradition and high-country hospitality.

Roll south across tea slopes and mango groves to the mighty Kangra Fort, a cliff-top citadel overlooking the confluence of the Banganga and Manjhi rivers. With ramparts stepping up a razorback ridge and gateways in succession, the complex traces its origins to ancient Trigarta rulers and is regarded as one of India’s oldest forts. As you climb, stone passages open to terraces with far views of the Dhauladhar snow line; shrines and bastions reveal layers of Rajput, Mughal and Sikh control, all written into battered walls and surviving temples.

Continue to Pragpur, a designated heritage village where conservation is ongoing and time seems agreeably unhurried. Cobbled lanes are hemmed by painted, mud-rendered houses and modest havelis with carved doors and wooden balconies; courtyards brim with tulsi and bougainvillea; the bazaar strings bright fabrics and copperware beneath slatted shade. It’s a gentle, walkable tableau of vernacular architecture and village rhythm, perfect for slow exploration and photographs in the late-afternoon light.

Settle into your heritage country manor for the night — a gracious estate built for a colonial-era judge — and savour the hush of orchards, verandas and long verandah shadows before dinner. Under starry skies, Pragpur’s lanes fall quiet save for crickets and the occasional temple bell.

Depart the hills and strike west across Punjab’s fertile plains to Amritsar (approx. 4 hours), where mustard fields, brick kilns and tractor convoys storyboard rural life. On arrival, transfer to the boutique Ranjit Vilas, a characterful base infused with traditional Punjabi design elements, and settle in for a two-night stay.

As evening cools the city, make your way to the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib) for the moving Palki Sahib ceremony. Lanterns glint on the Amrit Sarovar (sacred pool) as hymns float across the water; a gilded palanquin arrives beneath fluttering standards; and the Guru Granth Sahib (holy scripture) is borne with reverence from the sanctum to its night chamber. Drums, kirtan and the soft footfall of devotees create a luminous hush — a profoundly spiritual ritual that lingers long after you leave the marble parikrama.

At dawn, return to the shimmering Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib), its sanctum glowing with hundreds of kilos of gold leaf reflected in the Amrit Sarovar. Circumambulate the marble parikrama as hymns drift over the water; watch pilgrims pause, pray and bow — a luminous tableau of Sikh devotion in the softest light.

Step into the famed langar, often called the world’s largest free community kitchen. Here, thousands of volunteers chop, knead and stir in choreographed generosity, serving simple, nourishing meals to tens of thousands of visitors daily — all faiths, all backgrounds, seated shoulder to shoulder. It’s a humbling window onto the Sikh principles of seva (service) and equality in action.

Continue to the garden memorial at Jallianwala Bagh, a solemn space commemorating the tragedy of 1919. Paths lead past preserved bullet marks and memorial sculpture; the stillness invites reflection before the city’s bustle resumes. The remainder of the afternoon is at leisure — perhaps weave through spice-scented lanes and vibrant bazaars for textiles, phulkari embroidery and street-side sweets.

As evening nears, drive to the Wagah–Attari Border for the rousing Changing of the Guard ceremony. Grandstands fill, flags ripple, and precision drills unfold in mirrored symmetry as officers from both nations perform high-stepping salutes before the synchronized flag-lowering. The atmosphere blends stadium energy with ritual choreography — an unforgettable finale to a day rich in spirit and story.

Travel west (approx. 4 hours) to Anandpur Sahib, the Sikh “City of Spiritual Bliss”, set against the Shivalik foothills. This is one of Sikhism’s most revered places, where Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa in 1699. On arrival, begin a gentle town tour: white domes and flag-topped towers rise above bazaars scented with ghee and cardamom, and the cadence of kirtan drifts from courtyards as pilgrims move between shrines.

Visit the principal Gurudwara complex — including Keshgarh Sahib, one of Sikhism’s five Takhts (seats of authority). Walk the marble parikrama, spin a prayer wheel, and pause before the sanctum as hymns and hand-drums fill the air. Your guide shares the story of the Panj Pyare, the initiation of the Khalsa, and the traditions that shape Sikh devotion today.

Later, continue to The Kikar Lodge, a serene forest hideaway where evenings are stitched with crickets and starlight. With acacia and kikar trees all around, unwind by lantern glow, listen for nightjars over the scrub, and savour a relaxed dinner before turning in. It’s a restorative pause in nature after a day rich in history and faith.

Begin at the striking Virasat-e-Khalsa heritage museum, whose soaring forms echo the Shivalik hills around Anandpur Sahib. Inside, immersive galleries illuminate the origins of Sikhism over the last five centuries — from the life and teachings of the Gurus to the forging of the Khalsa, community traditions, and the faith’s living values of service and equality. Expect vivid storytelling, contemplative spaces, and thoughtful curation that brings scripture, history and culture into sharp, memorable focus.

In the afternoon, board India’s modern semi–high-speed Vande Bharat Express for the sleek run to Delhi (approx. 4½ hours). Large windows frame fields and small towns scrolling by; a smooth ride and reserved seats make for an unhurried return to the capital. On arrival, transfer to your centrally located hotel for an overnight stay, with the evening at leisure.

Your Himalayan-to-plains journey draws to a close in Delhi. After a relaxed morning and checkout, meet your driver for a comfortable airport transfer. As the city’s boulevards give way to runways and skyline, carry with you the hush of cedar forests, temple bells over river ghats, and the gold-lit serenity of Amritsar’s sacred pool.

Board your homebound flight with a camera roll of peaks and palaces, village walks and prayer flags — a vivid thread of North India to revisit long after landing.