This extensive, fascinating journey for two includes: flights and transfers in India,
sightseeing tours, specialist experiences and much more - read on for more enlightenment...

• Now for something truly enlightening: 9 nights discovering India and exploring the Footsteps of Buddhism at the same time, with comprehensive and educative sightseeing tours including Varanasi, Bodhgaya and Lucknow, among others.
   
• This exceptional tour will take two of you right around India, taking in the extraordinarily diverse cultures and sights from Delhi to Lucknow via Varanasi, Patna, Lumbini and more, while learning about Buddhism in that may just prove to be a life-altering getaway that you'll certainly never forget.
  
  …What better way can there be to really get to know a country than by experiencing the culture and soaking up the atmosphere? 

 

• Throughout the tour you will be met and greeted by expert drivers and guides from top India operators TWX - and enjoy the comforts of a selection of excellent hotels in the Taj Group, as well as a selection of some of India's most exclusive hotels along the way.
   
• Arriving in Delhi, you will be taken to your first hotel, the exquisite Taj Palace. Amidst the bustling metropolis of fast spiralling skyscrapers, the remnants of a bygone time remain evident in a plethora of historic monuments serving as silent reminders of the region's ancient legacy... 

 

• So it's a good job that, once checked in, the rest of the day is at your leisure. For those that want to relax after a long journey, there is no better place to lay your head than in your Deluxe Room at the Taj Palace - but, for those that don't, we suggest you get out and explore the highlights of Old and New Delhi.
   
• The following morning, you'll board a domestic flight from Delhi to Varanasi, where your tour really gets underway... 

 

• Varanasi, a city dating back to 1,000 years BC is located on the sacred Ganges River, making it a a revered site of Hindu pilgrimage and the most fitting environment to begin your footsteps of Buddhism tour..
   
• Among the bustling lanes of the bazaar, you'll join today's pilgrims bargaining for stunning silks, perfumes and hand-beaten brass - before taking in a guided tour of Buddhist centre Sarnath.  

 

• In the evening, you'll be taken to the Ghats to the see the illuminated Ganga Aarti ceremony. The spectacular Ganga Aarti attracts hundreds of people holding plates of flaming ghee as the sun begins to set, plating the Ganges River gold as bells, gongs and chants fill the air. Beautiful offerings of lamps and flowers are made immediately afterwards in a moving sight befitting of this special tour.
   
• On day three, you'll be taken on a visit to the Ghats to witness the Hindu pilgrims perform rituals on a boat cruise of the Ganges River. Then, after your Varanasi sightseeing, it's off to Bodhgaya for the next leg of your journey. 

 

• After a relaxing night in the Royale Residency, a full-day tour of Bodhgaya awaits, visiting the Mahabodhi Temple, Niranjana River, Rajgir, Gridhakuta Hill and Nalanda - accompanied, of course, by one of TWX's expert guides to answer any and every question you have (and knowing you as the discerning traveller you are, we're assured there may be many).
   
• Next stop: Patna, to visit the Patna museum - the state museum of Bihar - where you can learn more about Buddhism and soak up the building's beautiful architecture and displays, including archaeological objects, coins, art, paintings, instruments, sculptures and more, before heading for the picturesque Mahavir Temple. 

 

• On day 6, having driven from Patna to Kushinagar - stopping at Vaishali en route - and enjoyed an evening in the Royal Residency, your next jaunt is a sightseeing tour of the hugely culturally significant region of Kushinagar.
   
• You'll visit the Nirvana Temple - one of the most important Buddhist shrines, near which Lord Buddha died and featuring and home to a reclining statue celebrating Buddha's final moments.
   
• There is time to visit Buddhist pilgrimage Lumbini and Balrampur on days 7 and 8, before travelling to your final destination, Lucknow, via Buddhist shrines in Maheth and Saheth (if you've not already sussed, we should warn it's an action-packed itinerary), where you will enjoy one last full-day's sightseeing of Lucknow City. 

 

• On the tour of Lucknow, you'll visit:
   
  • British Residency and museum, draped in history and housing an impressive collection of firearms, lithographs and paintings.
     
  • The Hussainabad Imambara, or Chota Imambara, also known as the Palace of Lights and built by Mughal Emperor Muhammad Ali Shah in 1837.
     
  • The Bara Imambara - a famine relief project built in 1784 by Asaf-ud-Daula.
     
  • Rumi Darwaza, located beside the Baram Imambara and also built by Asaf-ud-Daula, the huge, finely-designed darwaza is a replica of the one in Istanbul
     
  • La Martiniere on the banks of the Gomti River 

 

• To top it all off, your last evening is spent in a Superior Charm Room at Vivanta by Taj Gomti Nagar, perfectly rounding off your footsteps of Buddhism voyage through India's many and varied cultural delights, before your onward journey. 

Bid now for this truly enlightening Indian adventure!

Top