13 Day North India Itinerary
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This blog post is in collaboration with The Dragon Trip, however all thoughts and opinions are solely my own. This blog is based on my experience in joining one of their tours, the 13 Day North India Tour.
Since returning from my trip to India, i’ve been asked endlessly what the country is like. While there are endless ways to describe it, the word that seems to pops out of my mouth first is always “chaotic”.
India is totally, utterly, and completely chaotic, but in the best way possible. You have the vibrant streets filled with excited vendors, monkeys scaling the buildings above your head, the smell of street food wafting through the air (and yes, sometimes a few more.. err, unpleasant aromas also haha), a constant buzz of horns honking, and a blur of rickshaws, motorcycles, and cars whizzing past you. It’s at times overwhelming, but if you can see the beauty amidst the chaos, you’ll fall in love with the country before you know what hit you.
I spent the final two weeks of October touring through Northern India with The Dragon Trip, and together we visited 8 cities over the course of 13 days. In this blog i’m going to give you a breakdown on our exact route through North India, so i’m sorry (kind of) if your bucket list gets quite a bit longer now!
Here is a link to the exact tour I did - The 13 Day North India Tour - and if you’re looking for more information on what a group tour is like, what to eat, what to pack, and more, then read my blog, The Dragon Trip India Review: Accommodation, Transport, Costs, & Travel Tips
So, without further ado, if you’re keen to know more about my Northern India itinerary, then read on!
Itinerary Breakdown: 13 Day North India Tour
Delhi
Delhi was the first stop of the tour, so our hostel was the the initial meeting point to get to know the rest of the group. After *attempting* to learn all 22 names over a family dinner on the rooftop of our hostel, we all jumped in rickshaws and whizzed our way over to Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, Delhi’s largest Sikh Temple.
Accommodation: Himalayan Hostel
Varanasi
Being totally honest, Varanasi was quite overwhelming for me, yet beautiful in its own way. A little background: Varanasi is a city known for being the spiritual capital of India, and the river that flows through it is incredibly sacred for its holy water. Each day, the city holds hundreds of Hindu burning ceremonies along the river banks (sometimes 500+ per day), where they burn the bodies of the dead and then scatter the ashes into the river Ganges.
On our first night in Varanasi, we walked down to the river as a group, hopped into a huge boat, and had the chance to witness these burning ceremonies from the water. The experience itself is hard to find the words for. There was definitely the culture shock of “woah, those are actual bodies in that fire”, but also comes with the realization that the ceremony is seen as a celebration of life, rather than mourning of the dead, which is how I think funerals should be. And the experience of being out on the water was incredibly peaceful compared to the bustling city streets, so it seemed crazy to find such calm amidst the chaos.
The next morning we did a sunrise boat tour along the Ganges where we got to witness the city waking up, and ended the morning by taste-testing some of the city’s famous lassi.
Varanasi Activities:
Evening boat trip to see the burning ceremonies
Morning boat trip to watch the sunrise from the river Ganges
Drinking Lassi
Overnight train to Agra
Accommodation: Zostel
Agra
On Day 4 of the tour, we arrived in the city of Agra, most famously known for being home to the Taj Mahal. While most people go to Agra *specifically* for a few hours at the Taj, there’s way more to experience in Agra than just the World Wonder!
Agra Fort
A 20 minute rickshaw ride from our hostel brought us to the beautifully designed Agra Fort, which is a complex of red sandstone buildings constructed in the 1500’s. It’s often overshadowed by the Taj Mahal, but Agra Fort is iconic in its own ways. Impressive archways, lush landscaped gardens, giant palaces, and teeny tiny Indian squirrels are just a few of the draws of this place, and if that doesn’t float your boat, there is also the view of the Taj Mahal in the distance that will get you seriously pumped for your visit.
Later that evening we set our alarms for the rather harsh hour of 4:30am, and got ready for one of those bucket list, ‘oh my god is this really happening’ sort of days that ensued!
Taj Mahal
Although we beat the sun, we did not manage to beat the crowds! I think that’s pretty standard for the Taj Mahal though, because after all, it’s one of the 7 new wonders of the world. But with how big the complex actually turned out to be, I was able to easily find some peaceful corners to watch the sunrise from. If you’re keen on getting some amazing photos, my best recommendation is to head straight to the Mosque in the back left corner of the complex. From there, you can find the iconic archways which make for beautiful photo-ops, and if you keep walking towards the river you’ll find some calm, quiet spots to hang out at!
A few more tips:
If you book your ticket online, you can skip the long line and get through security way faster. Security can take 30 minutes otherwise, and it’s always longer for the female line because we have to be frisked (oh, the joys of being a girl).
Don’t bother bringing your fancy camera gear. No tripods, drones, gimbals, selfie sticks, laptops, or video equipment. Phones and cameras (including DSLR’s) are ok, but if you are found with anything professional-level, you won’t be allowed to enter with it.
There is no set dress code, but consider wearing culturally appropriate clothes (cover your knees, bring a scarf for your shoulders, no shorts, etc.)
You aren’t allowed to bring large bags or backpacks inside the Taj Mahal due to safety reasons, so leave them behind. Small camera bags and purses with your essentials are ok.
You can’t consume any food on the premises, nor can you smoke.
Agra Activities:
Agra Fort
Taj Mahal
Accommodation: Zostel
Jaipur
Jaipur is one of the cities I was most looking forward to, partly because I saw the phrase “monkey temple” on the itinerary, but also mostly because I LOOOOVE colourful cities. If I see a colourful wall, my camera will be out and clicking before you can even blink. While there are countless beautiful places to visit in Jaipur, i’ll keep the list short and give you the low down on my favourite things.
Hawa Mahal
It’s sometimes known as the Palace of Winds, and also sometimes referred to as “that crazy weird pink building", but the Hawa Mahal was a building I had been aching to see ever since discovering it on Pinterest back in the day. I thought I would have to battle some fellow tourists to snap a selfie in front of the building, but low and behold, our group ended up having a rooftop family dinner at the Tattoo Cafe & Lounge, which happened to be located directly across the road from the Hawa Mahal (with the most epic views!). It was so beautiful that I ended up returning the following day for a good old Masala Chai, and to of course get my long-awaited pink palace selfie.
City Palace
If you like elaborately decorated doorways, pink everything, and jaw-dropping opulence, then the City Palace is the place to be. As I said, I’m a sucker for the colors, so when we had free time to do what we wanted for the day, I jumped at the chance to see the City Palace. It cost 700 rupees to enter, and if you want to see “the best of the best” rooms (that you’ve likely seen all over the ‘gram these days), then you’ll have to pay a whopping 2500 rupees to enter the Chandra Mahal. Since the cheap life runs in my veins, I opted for the basic option, which still turned out to be anything but basic!
Jaipur Activities:
Henna at the hostel
Amber Fort
Nahargarh Fort
Monkey Temple
Free Day: Spent at the City Palace and the Hawa Mahal
Street food tour
Overnight train to Jaisalmer
Accommodation: Zostel
Jaisalmer / Thar Desert
On Day 9 of The Dragon Trip tour, our group arrived in Jaisalmer, otherwise known as the “Golden City”. Because all the buildings are made from the same yellow sandstone, it means the whole city appears to have a golden glow about it (hence the name). We dropped our backpacks off at a local hostel, had a quick shower, and headed into the desert for one of my all-time favourite memories from the trip.
The Thar Desert, otherwise known as the Great Indian Desert, is located about 40km from the city of Jaisalmer and forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan.
I don’t know about you, but when I imagined India, I definitely didn’t picture rolling sand dunes and camels, so the whole experience was quite surreal. Our group arrived at the sand dunes just as the sun was setting, so we raced around taking photos of the burning red sunset, cracked open a few beers, had some seriously deep conversations about life, and settled into our beds for the night!
I’ll let the photos do the talking for me, but let me just say that sleeping beneath the stars sans-tent in the desert is easily the coolest travel memory I have from this year.
Thar Desert Activities:
Camel Trek (optional): if you’re not comfortable with riding a camel, you can hop in one of the 4x4’s and cruise the dunes to the overnight camp like Dom and I opted to do.
Overnight desert trip: includes a vegetarian dinner & breakfast!
Bus to Jodhpur
Accommodation: beneath the stars!
Jodhpur (& Diwali)
The morning after our overnight desert adventure, we had a quick sunrise breakfast, and then traveled the 5 hours to Jodhpur by bus.
Admittedly, I knew nothing of Jodhpur before arriving in India, but after spending just 48 hours touring the “Blue City”, I was SO happy it was on the itinerary. Not just because the buildings were all splashed with shades of aqua, blue, and turquoise colors, but also because of the views and vibes there.
It just so happened that our group arrived in Jodhpur on the very first day of Diwali, so the streets were alive with celebration. Diwali is the Hindu Festival of Lights in India, and is celebrated on October 27 each year, with the festivities lasting a few days (or seemingly until the fireworks run out, LOL!). We decided to celebrate the holiday at our hostel, where they held painting, prayers, sparklers, and some crazy roadside fireworks, and it’s an experience I won’t soon forget.
Jodhpur Activities:
Cooking class
Walking tour of the city: we hopped in a rickshaw and made our way to the blue city, up to the viewpoint overlooking the city, and ended the day at a rooftop cafe for coffee overlooking the famous step well.
Accommodation: Moustache Jodhpur
Udaipur
The last main stop on the tour was a quick 24 hours in Udaipur, also known as the city of lakes. Our bus arrived in the city just in time for sunset, so we hurriedly made our way down to Lake Pichola for a boat tour to see the city from the water. Fun fact: the lake was artificially created in 1362 AD, making it one of India’s oldest! The following day we were given the choice of a few different activities, so I opted to spend the morning at Animal Aid, a shelter for the sick, injured, and abandoned street animals of India.
As a huge animal-lover, there have been parts of India that were extremely sad for me. Cows in the streets eating plastic packaging… dogs sleeping amongst piles of rubbish… donkeys lugging around heavy carts. It all weighed on my heart pretty heavily, and the sad thing is, it’s seen as a normal part of life.
With the conditions being what they are, you can imagine there are a lot of animals who end up sick or hurt, and that’s where Animal Aid comes in. They work to rescue, rehabilitate, and essentially save animals who desperately need help, and do it all with the help of volunteers and donations.
At any given time, they have hundreds of animals in their care, and have separate areas for puppies, disabled dogs, orphaned cows, injured farm animals, and even a hydrotherapy area. We spent the morning feeding and loving on the orphaned baby cows, and then were given a tour of the facilities by one of the volunteers. If you spend any time in Udaipur yourself, I really, really hope you take the time to visit Animal Aid. What they do is nothing short of amazing, and it restores your faith in humanity to see people coming together to save the helpless street animals.
P.S. they do have an online shop selling bracelets, earrings, and other cute jewelry, so if you’re looking for a Christmas gift, consider getting something from Animal Aid because any sales go towards an incredible cause!
Udaipur Activities:
Sunset boat trip
Visiting Animal Aid
Yoga Class
Overnight train to Mumbai
Accommodation: Zostel
Mumbai
Our last day of the tour was spent in Mumbai, although it was more of a final goodbye type-of-day as the group slowly trickled out to catch their flights home. We grabbed a group lunch, went around the table and recalled our favourite moments of the tour, and said a few teary goodbyes to one another!
Accommodation: Panda Colaba
Overall, my two weeks in India was nothing short of incredible, and although the itinerary was full to the brim, it gave me the best taste of India possible. If you’re thinking of adding India to your travel plans this year and are considering a group trip yourself, then read my blog here about what traveling with a group in India is really like!
You can view & book the 13 Day North India Tour here, and view all other tour destinations here.
