Delhi Excursions
AGRATaj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri. The visit to India’s most famous World Heritage Site can be done in a single day or as an overnight trip. The exquisite white marble mausoleum built by Emperor Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz, is anicon of Indian heritage. A couple of kilometers away is the enormous Agra Fort built by Akbar, Shah Jahan’s father, while about 35 km away is the red sandstone city of Fetehpur –Sikri, meant to be the base of Akbar’s enlightened rule.
JAIPUR
The beautiful Pink City built by Raja Jai Singh in the eighteenth century is a one-stop destination to sample Rajasthani culture and heritage and a convenient four drive from Delhi.
Within the city are the City Palace Museum, the Hawa Mahal or Palace of the Winds, the white marble Lakshmi Narayan Temple, the Jantar Mantar and the many forts that dot this border state, which faced the constant onslaught of foreign invaders. Jaipur is also a shopper’s paradise, offering a vast choice of ethnic textiles, garments, jewellery and artifacts.
BHARATPUR AND DEEGH
India’s most well known bird sanctuary is the Keoladeo Ghana National Park in Bharatpur, about 185 km from Delhi and four hours by road. Once the hunting grounds of maharajah, this 29 sq km patch of marshy land attracts over 375 species of birds, both migratory and local. North of Bharatpur is the Deegh Water Palace, the eighteenth century summer retreat of the Jat kings of Bharapur. Built around a huge manmade reservoir, this palace enjoyed a unique cooling system based on an intricate network of underground canals.CORBETT NATIONAL PARK
Named after the famous hunter- turned –conservationist Jim Corbett, this national park is home to the endangered tiger , the Asiatic elephant and many species of deer. It is about 265 km away from Delhi and can be reached by train or road. Visitors can stay at the government rest houses within the park, or at private resorts on the fringes, and catch a fascinating glimpse of wildlife driving in jeeps or on elephant back.
