Treasures of India
Delhi → Delhi
The Treasures of India is the Maharajas' Express's signature short journey — a perfectly curated four-day arc through India's most iconic monuments, spanning Delhi, Agra, Ranthambore, and Jaipur before returning to Delhi. In just three nights, guests move through five UNESCO World Heritage Sites without once unpacking their suitcase, carried in palatial comfort aboard one of the world's most celebrated luxury trains.
This is the Golden Triangle reimagined as a royal expedition. Champagne at sunset beside the Taj Mahal, a jeep safari at dawn into Ranthambore's tiger country, and an elephant-accompanied ascent to the amber battlements of Rajasthan — every experience is curated, every meal aboard is an event, and every view from the panoramic windows is a moving portrait of imperial India.
Ideal for first-time visitors to India who refuse to compromise on comfort, and for seasoned travellers who simply want to experience the subcontinent's greatest hits without the logistical friction, the Treasures of India journey distils a lifetime of Indian travel into an unforgettable four-day passage.
- ✦Five UNESCO World Heritage Sites in four days
- ✦Sunrise private viewing of the Taj Mahal
- ✦Bengal tiger jeep safari in Ranthambore National Park
- ✦Champagne sunset at Taj Khema overlooking the Taj Mahal
- ✦Elephant or jeep ascent to Amber Fort's Sheesh Mahal
- ✦Exclusive Rajputana dinner experience in Jaipur
- ✦Golden Triangle route with no hotel check-ins — the train is your palace
Day-by-Day Itinerary
Day 1 — Delhi to Agra
Guests assemble at Safdarjung Railway Station in New Delhi, where a traditional Indian welcome — garlands, the beat of tabla, and the warmth of a tilak — marks the start of the journey. After registration formalities and cabin orientation, brunch is served on board as the train glides south-east through the plains of Uttar Pradesh. Arrival in Agra is followed by a guided excursion to the Agra Fort, the magnificent red-sandstone citadel begun by Emperor Akbar in 1565 and completed under his grandson Shah Jahan. Guests pass through the Amar Singh Gate into a complex of audience halls, private apartments, and pavilions — including the famous Musamman Burj tower, where Shah Jahan spent his final years gazing across the river toward the monument he had built for his wife. As evening descends, the train travels to a special vantage point and champagne is served at Taj Khema, with the Taj Mahal glowing in the golden hour light across the Yamuna. Dinner is served on board as the train rests at Agra.
Day 2 — Agra and Ranthambore
Before the city stirs, guests are transferred to the Taj Mahal for an early-morning private viewing — the cooler air, the soft morning light catching the white marble, and the relative quiet make this the finest hour at one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Built between 1632 and 1653 by Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his beloved empress Mumtaz Mahal, the Taj Mahal is a masterpiece of Mughal architecture, inlaid with semi-precious stones and framed by formal Persian gardens and reflecting pools. Luncheon is served on board as the train heads south-west toward Sawai Madhopur. On arrival, guests board open-top jeeps for an afternoon game drive into Ranthambore National Park — once the private hunting ground of the Maharajas of Jaipur and today one of India's premier tiger reserves, home to more than 70 Bengal tigers. The park's dramatic landscape of dry deciduous forest, ancient ruins, and shimmering lakes provides a thrilling backdrop for wildlife spotting. Deer, crocodiles, sloth bears, and leopards share the terrain with the resident tigers. Guests return to the train for dinner as it departs overnight toward Jaipur.
Day 3 — Jaipur
The train arrives in the Pink City of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, where a full day of exploration awaits. The morning centerpiece is a visit to Amber Fort — a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the finest examples of Rajput military architecture, commanding a ridge above Maota Lake some 11 kilometres from the city. Built from pale yellow sandstone and white marble, its halls are adorned with intricate mirror-work, frescoes, and carved screens. The journey up to the gate may be made in the traditional manner, by decorated elephant or jeep, before guests explore the Diwan-i-Aam (Hall of Public Audience) and the dazzling Sheesh Mahal (Mirror Palace). Lunch is served on board at leisure. The afternoon is free for personal pursuits: guests may visit the City Palace — still the seat of the former royal family and home to a world-class museum of textiles, weapons, and royal artefacts — or the Jantar Mantar, the UNESCO-listed astronomical observatory of 1724 containing the world's largest stone sundial, accurate to two seconds. Jaipur's bazaars are legendary for block-printed textiles, blue pottery, and precious gemstones, and the train's concierge can arrange a shopping excursion or an afternoon at the onboard spa. Dinner is served at an exclusive venue ashore, showcasing the finest Rajputana hospitality, before the train departs overnight for Delhi.
Day 4 — Delhi (Disembarkation)
A farewell breakfast is served on board as the train completes its return journey to Safdarjung Station, New Delhi. After check-out formalities, guests disembark — carrying memories of five UNESCO World Heritage Sites, a royal tiger safari, and four days of effortless, five-star travel across northern India's most iconic landscape.
Destinations & Highlights
Agra — City of the Taj
Agra was the Mughal Empire's capital during its golden age, and the concentration of monuments here is extraordinary. The Taj Mahal (1632–1653), Shah Jahan's white marble elegy to his empress Mumtaz Mahal, is the undisputed jewel: 20,000 artisans worked over two decades to produce a structure of perfect bilateral symmetry, inlaid with carnelian, jasper, jade, and lapis lazuli. At sunrise it blushes pale pink; at noon it blazes white; at dusk it turns to burnished gold. The Agra Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983, is a city within a city — 94 acres of red sandstone walls enclosing palaces, mosques, and courtyards that span the reigns of Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan. Together, the two monuments make Agra the single most compelling day in Indian tourism.
Ranthambore — India's Tiger Country
Ranthambore National Park in eastern Rajasthan is one of India's most famous tiger reserves, covering 1,334 square kilometres of dry deciduous forest, grassland, and rocky ridgelines. Once the exclusive shikar (hunting) grounds of the Maharajas of Jaipur, it became a Project Tiger reserve in 1973. Today more than 70 Bengal tigers roam the park, and Ranthambore is considered among the best places in the world to observe wild tigers in daylight. The park is also notable for the 10th-century Ranthambore Fort — itself a UNESCO heritage site — which rises dramatically from the forest floor. Sambar deer, chital, nilgai, marsh crocodiles, sloth bears, and leopards share the habitat.
Jaipur — The Pink City
Founded in 1727 by Maharaja Jai Singh II and planned on a grid using ancient Vedic architectural principles, Jaipur became a UNESCO World Heritage City in 2019 — the first planned city in India to receive the designation. Its rose-pink sandstone streetscapes are punctuated by extraordinary monuments. Amber Fort, the pre-Jaipur seat of the Kachwaha Rajputs, is a labyrinth of courtyards, temples, and painted chambers perched above a lake and reachable by elephant or jeep. The City Palace remains the residence of the former royal family and houses a magnificent museum of royal costumes, weapons, and carpets. Jantar Mantar, built in 1724 by Jai Singh II himself, is the largest of five observatories he constructed and a UNESCO World Heritage Site — its nineteen instruments, built to measure time and track celestial bodies, were accurate to the second. The bazaars of the old walled city overflow with blue pottery, lac bangles, block-printed cloth, and Rajasthani miniature paintings.