Experience South India Tour by Train Tour Packages

This morning you will be visiting this Bollywood city. Your morning city tour of Mumbai will take you to the Hanging Gardens located on the beautiful slopes of the Malabar Hills as well as Kamla Nehru Park offering a marvelous and panoramic view of the Chowpatty Beach as well as the Marine Drive. You will continue your tour to Mani Bhawan, Prince of the Wales Museum, Gateway of India and Dhobi-Ghat and will drive through Marine Drive, Flora Fountain and Crawford market. Check-out time from the hotel is at 1200 hrs. Afternoon is at leisure.

You could take an optional tour of Elephanta Caves. The Caves on Elephanta Island located in the Arabian Sea are about 10 kms from Mumbai Harbor and are an UNESCO World Heritage Site. The caves dating back to the 5th to the 8th century AD are divided into five Hindu caves dedicated to Shiva and two Buddhist caves. The caves are closed on Monday and can be reached by boat from Gateway of India. Late evening you will be transferred to rail station in time for your Aurangabad night train. Overnight is on board train.

This morning on your arrival in Aurangabad you will be transferred to your hotel. Aurangabad built in 1610 AD by Malik Ambar was named after the Emperor Aurangzeb. Today you will be visiting the Ajanta Caves. The Ajanta sight-seeing takes you to the Buddhist Chaityas and Viharas with carvings and fantastic wall paintings. The paintings show Buddha's life and rituals of the Mahayana Buddhism period. The Mural paintings prove that the ancient Indians had mastered a fluent style. The paintings show in detail the life of a wealthy court. The ceilings are painted with detailed decorative motifs and some of them represent the Jataka tales showing the previous lives of Buddha as a ruler. Ajanta Caves are closed on Mondays. Overnight is in Aurangabad.

This morning, you will be visiting the Ellora Caves dating back from 5th century to 11the century. The excursion takes you to the monasteries & temples excavated out of the vertical face of a rock. These 34 caves of Ellora have Buddhist monasteries, Hindu temples and Jain temples. The amazing and wonderful Kailasa Temple is the largest monolithic structure in the world. Ellora caves are closed on Tuesdays. After the visits, you will be returning to Aurangabad. Rest of your day is at leisure to discover nearby places in Aurangabad. Some of the places of interest in Aurangabad are Bibi Ka Maqbara, Panchakki, Kali Masjid, Jumma Masjid, Quila-E-Ark, Aurangabad Caves, etc. Bibi Ka Maqbara built in 1678 is the tomb of Aurangzeb's wife Dilras Banu Begum and is called the Baby Taj as it has a similar design as Taj Mahal.

The Panchakki from the 17th-century is a water mill. The Quila-E-Ark from the 17th century is a palace. Aurangabad Caves are 12 Buddhist caves from 3 AD. Kali Masjid and Jumma Masjid are mosques built by Malik Ambar in the 17th century. Aurangabad is known as the City of Gates due to its 52 gates. Aurangabad is famous for being in the proximity of the world famous caves of Ajanta and Ellora which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Ajanta dates back to 100 B.C. while Ellora dates from 5th to 11th century AD. The Ajanta caves have been carved out of solid rock with hammers and chisels by Buddhist monks. The lost caves of Ajanta were re-discovered in the 19th century by British soldiers. Overnight is in Aurangabad.

You have a full day free in Aurangabad for discovering Aurangabad and nearby places. Checkout time is at 1200 hrs. An optional tour of Daulatabad is suggested. Daulatabad, which means abode of wealth was a fort city. Muhammad bin Tughluq shifted his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad and moved the entire population of Delhi here but had to abandon it later due to shortage of water. The outer wall - 4.43 kms in circumference once enclosed the city and had three lines of defenses. The fort has been built quite strongly and the only mean of access to the top is through a narrow bridge, with a small passage. The gallery has steep stairs and is covered by a grating. Half way, there is a cave entrance which was to confuse the enemies. In the evening, you will be taken to the railway station in time for your Hyderabad night train. Night on board.

This morning on your arrival in Hyderabad, you will be transferred to your hotel. Hyderabad or the "Lion City" was established by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah in 1591. The world famous Kohinoor diamond was mined in Golconda. A stroll in the old city through the different bazaars is quite fascinating. Hyderabad historically is a pearl and diamond trading centre and is also called the City of Pearls and its bazaars - Laad Bazaar, Begum Bazaar and Sultan Bazaar are quite busy even today. Do not forget to taste the delicious Hyderabadi biryani.

The afternoon Hyderabad tour includes visits to Char Minar, Mecca Masjid and Salarjung Museum. The Charminar (four minarets) an icon of the city is located in the olden part of Hyderabad and is a square structure with four grand arches and four minarets. The Mecca Masjid is one of the oldest and largest Mosques and is in the old part of the city. The Salarjung Museum established in 1951 is one of the largest museums of India and houses the largest one-man collection of antiques and has a good collection of sculptures, paintings, textiles, manuscripts, etc. collected from all over the world. Overnight is in Hyderabad.

You have free time for discovering more of Hyderabad. One of the important tourist spots in Hyderabad is Golconda. Golkonda was the capital of Golconda Sultanate and the original fort was built by the Kakatiyas in 1143. The fort is on a granite hill and is surrounded by large ramparts. The fort is designed in a perfect system by which a hand clap at the fort's main gates is heard at the top - 300 ft height. The Fort contains the tombs of the Qutub Shahi kings. Golkonda was famous for its fabled diamonds and some of the world famous diamonds mined here are Kohinoor, Darya-e Nur, The Hope, Nur-Ul-Ain, Princie, Regent, etc. Check-out time from your hotel is at 1200 hrs. Later in the evening you will be transferred to railway station for Chennai night train. Overnight is on board of the train.

This morning on your arrival in Chennai earlier known as Madras, you will be transferred to your hotel. The name Chennai was derived from Chennaipattanam, built by the English in 1639. The earlier name- Madras was a short form of Madraspattinam, a fishing village. Chennai is the capital of Tamil Nadu and is the largest industrial and commercial center of South India and also an important centre for Carnatic music. The city is also famous for the Tamil movies and known as Tollywood. Chennai came into prominence because of the British who defended the town against several attacks from the French and converted it to a major naval port.

This afternoon, you will be taken around Chennai for visiting the various places of interest. The Government Museum of 1857 is one of the oldest museums of India and has 46 galleries and different sections for Archaeology, Zoology, Geology, Bronze, etc. The Museum is closed on Fridays and other public holidays. The Bronze Gallery with its beautiful statues going back to a thousand years is worth visiting. San Thome Basilica from the 16th century was built by the Portuguese and later in the 19th century was rebuilt by the British as a church. Drive through the Flower and Fruit market, High court, Marina Beach, and other places of interest. Overnight is in Chennai.

You will have a full day excursion to Mamallapuram and Kanchipuram. Kanchipuram was the ancient capital of the Pallavas and was the town of a 1000 temples. Kanchipuram sight-seeing takes you through some of the known temples such as Siva temple from the 7th century, Ekambareswara temple, Sri Kailasanathar Temple from the 8th century, the Sri Vardaraja Perumal Temple, the Sri Kamakshiamman Temple, etc. Kanchipuram is a paradise for the shoppers as it offers the world famous Kanchipuram silk and saris.

Mamallapuram is also known as Mahabalipuram or Mamallapattana. This is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and a historic town and seaport. It was also known by the ancient mariners as the city of "Seven Pagodas". Out of the Seven Pagodas, only the Shore Temple survives. Mamallapuram was a bustling seaport and the traders went to countries of South East Asia from here. It was an important port for the Pallavas and most of the monuments portray events from the Mahabharata and date back from the 7th to the 9th century. In an ancient text, this place was noted as Sea Mountain where ships rode at anchor bent to the point of breaking laden with goods.

The tour of Mahabalipuram takes you through the cave temples and mandapams cut in the rocks showing depiction of incidents from Hindu legends, epics and mythology. The temples were built during the rule of Narasimhavarman and Rajasimhavarman. The city was mostly developed by Narasimhavarman. The bas relief Arjuna's Penance with life-size images carved on the rock wall is the largest Bas-relief in the world. The five chariots are carved out of a single rock. The twin structure of the Shore Temple is one of the oldest in South India and is worth visiting. The Shore Temple built from dressed stone has bas reliefs, one 100 ft long and 45 ft. high, carved out of granite. Overnight is in Chennai.

This morning transfer to rail station in time for your Mysore train. On your arrival in Mysore, you will be transferred to your hotel. Mysore also known as Mysooru served as the capital city of the Mysore Princely Kingdom from nearly the 14th century to 1947. Mysore is known as the city of palaces and is quite famous for its Dussehra festival. Mysore was ruled by the Wadiyars except for some time in the 18th century when Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan ruled this place. The Wadiyars were great patrons of art and culture which benefited the cultural growth of the city, due to which Mysore is called the Cultural capital of Karnataka.

The afternoon city tour of Mysore will take you to the Mysore palace that was originally built by the Maharaja of Mysore in the year 1911-1912. The palace is of harmonious synthesis of the Hindu and Saracenic styles of architecture having archways, domes, turrets, colonnades and sculptures. Visit the art gallery. Drive to the Chamundi hill to visit the Chamundeshwari Temple. From the hill itself you will get a panoramic view of the city of Mysore. On your way back to Mysore, visit the Nandi bull. Optionally you could visit the Krishnarajasagar dam and the Brindavan Gardens in the evening. Mysore is a good place for buying the famous "Mysore silk". Overnight is in Mysore.

Your full day excursion of Halebid, Belur and Sravanbelgola will take you to the ancient beautiful temples. Belur was the capital of Hoysala Empire and has one of the finest examples of Hoysala architecture - the Chennakesava Vishnu Temple which was built by king Vishnuvardhana in celebration of his victory over the Cholas in the 12th century. It took 103 years to complete the temple and sculptures include elephants, lions, horses, stories from the Indian legends and dancers.

Halebid or Halibeedu meaning the Old City was also known as Dwarasamudra and was the capital of the Hoysala Empire in the 12th century. In front of the Hoysaleshawara and Kedareshwara temples there is a big lake - Dwara Samudhra which means entrance of the ocean and the city derives its name from this lake. The walls of the temple are covered with depictions of Hindu mythology, animals, birds and dancing damsels. The sculptures of the temple are different from each other and there is a museum in the complex. Even after 86 years of work, the Nandi Bull was incomplete. The nearby Jain temples are also quite beautiful.

Sravanbelgola is an important pilgrimage centre for the Jains. The Gommateshvara Bahubali statue of this city is renowned, popular and an important pilgrimage spot for the Jains. This statue is very huge and can be seen from the distance of around 25 km. It gets bath with honey and milk as a ritual once in every 12 years. At this time, it attracts thousands and thousands of worshippers from all over the world. After the visit of Sravanbelgola, you will proceed back. Overnight is in Mysore.

This morning you will be transferred to Bengaluru also known as Bangalore. Bangalore is 'the Silicon Valley of India' and is one of the top preferred entrepreneurial locations in the world. The story goes that a 12th century king lost his way and met a poor woman who offered him boiled beans. The grateful king named the place "benda-kaal-uru" which means town of boiled beans. The Karaga Shaktyotsava an important festival dedicated to Goddess Draupadi is celebrated annually over a period of nine days in March or April. Bangalore is also an important place for classical music and dance.

This afternoon you will be enjoying a tour of Bangalore. The tourist spots in Bangalore are Lal Bagh, Maharaja's Palace, Temples etc. You could also include the various temples in the Bangalore sight-seeing. Bangalore is also known as the "Garden City of India". The Lal Bagh started by Hyder Ali and finished by his son Tipu Sultan has India's largest collection of tropical plants - over a 1000 species of flora and also trees over 100 years old. The construction of the Bangalore Palace was started in 1862 and completed in 1944 and looks similar to the Windsor Castle in England. Drive past different Government buildings. Overnight is in Bangalore.

This day you will be transferred to airport in time for your Mumbai flight where you will connect to your return flight/onwards flight. Hotel accommodation is not included for this night.

END OF YOUR WEST INDIA + SOUTH INDIA RAIL TOUR.