Wildlife in West & Central India Tour Packages

This morning, you will be transferred to Agra by road. Agra the former capital of Hindustan is a city on the banks of the river Yamuna. Agra is a major tourist destination of India and a part of the Golden Triangle Tour along with Delhi and Jaipur. Agra also known as Akbarabad went through its peak during the time of Mughals and was the capital of under the Mughal rulers Akbar, Jahangir and Shahjehan. In the afternoon tour of Agra, you will be taken to Taj Mahal, one of the wonders of the world. This beautiful building is elegantly built with white marble by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan between the years 1631 to 1648 and it was built in the memory of his favorite beloved Queen Mumtaz Mahal. Standing majestically on banks of Yamuna River, this breathtaking, immensely beautiful monument is synonymous to romance and love.

Your next stop Agra Fort is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and known for its architectural structure and was built in the 16th century during the Mughal Empire. This place comprises of several fairy-tale palaces like Khas Mahal and Jahangir Palace. Over here you will also get a chance to see Diwan-e-Aam and Diwan-e-Khas, which are also known as private audience hall and public audience hall. Agra is famous for inlaid marble work and handicrafts made of marble, wood and metal. The transport is at your disposal with-in the city limits. TAJ MAHAL IS CLOSED ON FRIDAYS. Overnight is in Agra.

This morning you will be transferred by road from Agra to Bharatpur visiting Fatehpur Sikri enroute. Fatehpur Sikri built by Emperor Akbar in the 16th century holds exceptional testimony to Mughal civilization and is one of the well-known UNESCO World heritage site of India and has various historical monuments. You will visit the Jama Masjid, followed by the Tomb of Salim Chishti, the five storied Panch Mahal and Buland Darwaza, a graceful monument and stupendous piece of beautiful architecture. It is central portico with a total of three arched entrances and is locally known as Horseshoe gate. You will visit the other graceful buildings of this place such as Ibadat Khana, Mariam-uz-Zamani's palace, Naubat Khana and Birbal's house.

After the visit of Fatehpur Sikri, you will continue to Bharatpur, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and famous for its Keoladeo National Park, which is a paradise for the bird lovers. The name comes from a Shiva temple which is in the park. The park attracts more than hundreds of species of birds from all over the world. Actually more than 350 species of birds have been recorded here some of which are the Siberian Cranes, cormorants, white necked and black necked stork, darter, purple and grey heron, egrets, spoonbill, white ibis, etc. Some of the ducks and predatory birds are common teal, mallard, red crested pochard, imperial eagle, steppe and tawny eagle, spotted eagle etc. The animals found here are the Nilgai, Golden Jackal, Blackbuck, Wild Boar, etc along with reptiles like pythons. This world famous Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary in Bharatpur is featured in all the wild life packages in India. The transport is at your disposal with-in the city limits. Overnight is in Bharatpur.

In the morning you will continue with your visit of Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary. Later you will be transferred by road from Bharatpur to Jaipur. Jaipur, also known as 'the pink city' is the capital of Rajasthan. Many captivating palaces are present here having breathtaking design and architecture. In the 18th century Prince of Wales had visited Jaipur and the entire city was painted in pink color and due to these pink buildings the city is known as the pink city. Origin of Jaipur lie 260 year back. It was built by Maharaja Jai Singh and Jaipur got its name from this king. The rest of the day could be spent visiting the Jaipur bazaars or walking down the crowded colorful streets. The transport is at your disposal with-in the city limits. Overnight is in Jaipur.

The Jaipur city tour will ensure that your full day is busy visiting the Amer Palace and the city of Jaipur. The morning journey starts from Amer fort also known as Amer Palace, the earlier capital of Jaipur. This magnificent fort was constructed in red sand-stone and marble by Raja Man Singh and is divided into four sections each with a courtyard. The main entrance gate is Surajpol having a fascinating architecture. Near the Ganesh Gate, there is a temple dedicated to the Goddess Sila Devi. The Diwan-e-Aam - hall of public audience, Diwan-e-Khas - hall of private audience, Sheesh Mahal - palace of mirrors and Sukh Niwas are quite beautiful. At the Sukh Niwas, a pleasant climate is created by winds that blow over a water cascade. You could ascend the fort by walking up the steps or on an elephant's back or in jeeps.

In Jaipur you will be taken to Maharaja City Palace, a royal palace with seven storey as well as Jantar Mantar, the observatory. This wonderful observatory attracts mathematicians as well as astronomers from the whole world. City palace is perfect blend of all three excellent styles (Mughal, Rajput and European). Another palace, Hawa Mahal is popular all over world for it magnificent architecture. You will be taken through pink rose garden as well business centers of Jaipur. A tour of Jaipur is not complete without shopping. Jaipur is famous for clothes, carpets, precious and semi-precious stones and jewelry and various handicrafts made of wood, metals, etc. and also for silk paintings and miniatures. The transport is at your disposal with-in the city limits. Overnight is in Jaipur.

This day you will be transferred by road from Jaipur to Ranthambore National Park. Ranthambore National Park is a large national park and is famous for its tigers and is named after the Ranthambore fort, which is in the national park itself. The Ranthambore sanctuary has a large tiger population, which makes a tiger sighting easier than most of the other parks. The major animals in Ranthambore National Park are leopard, nilgai, wild boar, sambar, and spotted deer, etc. The park has many lakes and you could easily see a lot of crocodiles and monitor lizards basking in the sun. Evening game drive. Overnight is in Ranthambore National Park.

Your morning and evening will be spent viewing the wildlife in the sanctuary. Ranthambore Game Sanctuary has a large variety of trees, plants, birds and reptiles. It has more than 270 species of birds and 500 species of plants. Padam Talao is the largest lake in the park and India's second largest banyan tree is near the lake. Due to environmental issues, very few vehicles are allowed in the jungles of Ranthambore and you have to book in advance. The two options you could get are an open top canter vehicles with a capacity of 20 people or open top vans with a capacity of up to 6 people. You could visit the 10 the century AD Ranthambore Fort which is at a height of 700. The Fort houses temples of Ganesh, Shiva, Ramlalaji, Lord Sumatinath and Lord Sambhavanath. Overnight is in Ranthambore National Park.

This morning you will be transferred to from Ranthambore to Shivpuri. Your afternoon is free for visiting the Madhav National Park. Madhav National Park was the hunting grounds of the Mughal kings. You could easily sight the Indian gazelle, the spotted deer, langur, nilgai, sambar, the four-horned antelope and blackbuck. The lake Chandpatha in the park invites the migratory geese, pochard, pintail, teal, large pied wagtail, heron, kingfisher, cormorant, painted stork, ibis, falcon, sunbird, flycatcher, etc. The Park is open all year around and the trees found here are Khair, Salai, Kerdhai, Tendu, etc. Overnight is in Shivpuri.

This morning you will be transferred from Shivpuri to Khajuraho. On arrival in Khajuraho, you will check into your hotel. Khajuraho is known for its erotic and beautiful temples. These temples were constructed by the Chandelas during 950 AD to 1050 AD. After the period of Chandelas, these temples were forgotten and covered with dense palm-date trees. The name Khajuraho comes from the date trees known as Khajur trees in Hindi. In the year 1838, Capt. T.S. Burt and an engineer from British army re-discovered this place. The transport is at your disposal with-in the city limits. Overnight is in Khajuraho.

Your afternoon sight-seeing of Khajuraho will take you to the various temples like Chaunset Yogini Kali Temple, Bharatji or Chitragupta temple that is composed of magnificent 11 headed pictures of Lord Vishnu, Lakshmana Temple, Mahadev Temple, Nandi & Vishvanath Temples, Shiva's Visha Temple and Lakshmana Temple. The Parasvanath Temple of Khajuraho is the only Jain temple that still exists. The Javeri Temple is dedicated to the Hindu Lord Vishnu. The other temples you can visit are dedicated to Lord Brahma, Lord Adinath and Yamuna. The transport is at your disposal with-in the city limits. Overnight is in Khajuraho.

This morning you will drive from Khajuraho to Bandhavgarh. Bandhavgarh means "Brother's Fort" and gets the name from Ramayana. Legend goes that Rama told Lakshmana to keep a watch on their enemy in Lanka. There are 39 caves with the oldest one going back to the 1st century. Some of the caves have Brahmi script inscriptions, some have embossed figures of tigers, elephants, horsemen, etc. Badi gufa, which is the largest cave appears primitive. It is said that the fort is 2000 years old and the last inhabitants deserted the fort in 1935. Your evening will be in the jungles watching the wildlife. Overnight is in Bandhavgarh National Park.

Your morning & evening will be spent game viewing in the Bandhavgarh jungle. Bandhavgarh has a large population of tigers as well as leopards and different species of deer like sambar, barking deer, nilgai, spotted deer, wild boar, etc. The core zones of the Bandhavgarh National Park are Tala, Magdhi, Khitauli, and Panpatta. Bandhavgarh Animal Sanctuary has more than 35 species of mammals, 250 species of birds and a large number of butterflies and reptiles. The vegetation is mostly of Sal, Saja, Salai, Dhobin, dense bamboo thickets, etc. In 1951, the first white tiger was captured in this region. Overnight is in Bandhavgarh National Park.

This morning you will drive from Bandhavgarh to Kanha. The evening is free for game viewing in Kanha National Park. Kanha National Park with its lush green forests and meadows inspired Rudyard Kipling to write the "Jungle Book ". There are three gates to enter into Kanha Animal Sanctuary - Kisli, Mukki and Serai. Open grasslands have sprung up in the fields which were abandoned by the villagers to make way for the reserve. Kanha is a home for a huge species of animals, birds and also to more than a 1000 species of plants. In this ecological system, the different varieties of grass are important for the feeding of the different deer and gaurs. The water bodies provide water to the animals, birds, aquatic life and also the plants. Overnight is in Kanha National Park.

Your morning and evening will be spent watching the wild-life in the sanctuary. Kanha National Park is the largest National Park in Central India and boasts of a large number of animals like tigers, leopards, wild dog, wild cats, foxes, jackals, bear, swamp deer, gaur, spotted deer, sambar, barking deer, the four-horned deer, mouse deer, nilgai, wolf, hyena, langurs, wild boar, fox, porcupine, hares, etc. Some of the reptiles found here are like python, cobra, krait, rat snakes, vipers, grass snakes, etc. Many species of turtle are also found here. Overnight is in Kanha National Park.

In the morning you will be driven to Nagpur airport in time for your Mumbai flight. On arrival in Mumbai, you will be transferred to your hotel. Mumbai earlier called "Bombay" is the finance capital of India and consist of seven archipelago islands such as Colaba, Old Women's Island, Mazagaon, Parel, Matunga-Sion and Mahim. Mumbai influxes a huge number of tourists from across the world throughout the year for the purpose of pilgrimage, sightseeing or simply for an employment opportunity. It gets described as the city of peopling shrouded in wealth as well as people rolling in extremely poverty, where one can say highly posh area like Juhu and Cuffe parade along with Asia's biggest slum area like Dharavi. Overnight is in Mumbai.

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 and taken to Mani Bhawan, Prince of the Wales Museum, Gate of India and Dhobi-Ghat and will drive through Marine Drive, Flora Fountain and Crawford market. If you have time, you could take an optional tour of Elephanta Caves. The Caves on Elephanta Island located in the Arabian Sea, about 10 km from the Mumbai Harbor are a 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. Later you will be transferred to the airport in time for your return/onward flight.

End of the tour.