I will be honest. India was never high on my travel wish list. But as my aunt and I started looking for our 2026 iteration of our annual trip together – always a guided tour through a company that doesn’t have a single supplement so we have some space from each other – this one jumped out. Neither of us has been to India. Going on my own seemed a bit overwhelming. So maybe?
I spoke with a number of people I knew who had been to India, and the consensus was remarkable. Like me, most had not had the huge country on their bucket lists. But all – literally, all – said they loved the experience of visiting.
So here we are, with the trip just days away from starting, and I’m pretty darn excited. Yes, I’m a bit nervous. Will the crowded cities be overwhelming? Will the pollution be unbearable? Will the long bus rides between cities be terrible? Will either of us get violently ill from the food and water? But even those concerns seem pretty minor.
India is huge. So any trip really only covers a small portion of the country. This one will focus on the “Golden Triangle” of Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur, along with a couple of tails from that, one to Ranthambore and one to Varanasi. (If you don’t know what and where those are, first off, neither did I prior to choosing this trip, and secondly, you’ll get a bit more explanation in the itinerary below.)
As this is a guided tour, most of the basic itinerary is set. But even then, things happen and situations change and sites close and any number of other happenstances occur. So please don’t hold all of this as 100% certain. Now, then, here is the itinerary.
Day One – Los Angeles to Delhi
This is rather more than a day, necessitating two long flights and a ton of time change. At some point, my body will arrive in Delhi, and my hope is that my brain catches up after a night of sleep.
Days Two through Five – Delhi
We have two days on our own in Delhi before the following two full days are with the tour. I have contracted with a private guide for those two days, and one each will be spent basically doing TRT writer Sam’s itineraries for Old Delhi and New Delhi. It was hard deciding what to do, and I’m sad at some of the things – like the Qutub Minar – that I’ll have to miss due to lack of time and Delhi being so expansive.
And then the tour begins, with hopefully no major repeats of sights. One of the things I’m really excited for during these couple of days is a long visit at a Sikh temple, learning about that religion.
My plan is to write about Delhi from the establishment of the Mughal Empire in the 16th century to the creation of modern India. It will probably take the form of four articles, each from a major touristic site to use as the foil for telling that history, one I didn’t know much about until doing my research.
Day Six – Delhi to Jaipur
The first long bus ride takes us to Jaipur. Depending on timing, I’ll either visit City Palace this afternoon or tomorrow, as there is some free time each day.
Day Seven – Jaipur
The Amber (or Amer) Fort is the highlight today, what I believe will be my fourth or fifth UNESCO World Heritage Site in just these first few days.
Day Eight – Jaipur to Ranthambore
Today we leave the major metro areas behind and head to Ranthambore National Park, where we will do an evening safari to hopefully see a bengal tiger. There are more here per square mile than anywhere in the world!
Day Nine – Ranthambore
Today we head to a local village for the day, meeting with a local women’s collective to talk about some of the issues women face in India, from child marriage (technically illegal but still practiced) to workplace discrimination, lack of domestic rights, and more.
Day Ten – Ranthambore to Wellness Camp
One more chance to see a tiger this morning at dawn, and then we are off to a wellness camp for some yoga and meditation classes. When in India, right?
Day Eleven – Wellness Camp to Agra
It’s another long drive, but one broken up by a visit to the Abhaneri stepwell, which looks awesome.
Day Twelve – Agra
The morning is the Taj Mahal, considered to be the most beautiful building in the world, from which we will talk about the Mughal architectural style. Then we visit Agra Fort for a glimpse into pre-Mughal times, since while this was the Mughal seat for the early empire, the fort and city predate the empire by centuries.
Day Thirteen – Agra to Lucknow
This is the longest drive (I think) of the trip. I hope it’s pretty!
Day Fourteen – Lucknow
I’ll be honest; Lucknow is a blank for me. I’d never heard of it, and even after reading the tour description I can’t really tell what it is known for. But I’ll let you all know after!
Day Fifteen – Lucknow to Varanasi
The last long bus ride takes us to the Hindu holy city of Varanasi on the Ganges, where we will witness the sacred light ceremony.
Day Sixteen – Varanasi
Today is Buddhism day (oddly in Varanasi), at the center at Sarnath. (This is the fourth major religion we will be experiencing on the trip!)
Day Seventeen – Varanasi to Delhi
We fly back to Delhi, but I’m not sure what time the flight is to know if I’ll have free time on one end or the other.
Day Eighteen – Delhi to Los Angeles
Two more long flights and my body and brain will return home tired but with stories to tell.
So yeah, it’s a cool trip! While I am never 100% sure what will inspire my writing, my basic outline consists of sixteen or so articles. Might that adjust? Of course. But I’ll keep you posted. They won’t be published until spring 2027, so if you want more real time info and photos, follow me on Bluesky.
For those who like maps, to see where the places all are, we have those below. One shows India as a whole, and the other zooms in on the area I’ll visit.
The flag furthest to the north is Delhi. To the southwest (down and left of Delhi) is Jaipur, with the Wellness Camp and Ranthambore being to its southwest and southeast, respectively. To Delhi’s southeast (down and right) is Agra, and then Lucknow and Varanasi extend to the southeast from there.