Ganges, Delhi & Agra - Pandaw

Enjoy a luxury river cruise on the Lower Ganges in India aboard the boutique river cruiser RV Pandaw Orient.

Prior to your cruise, enjoy the highlights of northern India with 3 nights in Delhi and a night in Agra to see the Taj Mahal before flying south to Calcutta.

Embarking from Calcutta, begin a journey along the lower reaches of one of the world's great rivers. There can be no river in the world as sacred as the Ganges and an expedition on the Lower Ganges or Hooghly is one of the prettiest river journeys imaginable.

The river wends its way through the lush countryside of West Bengal with its culturally significant towns crammed with temples and palaces.

Your cruise vessel for this remarkable journey will be the RV Pandaw, a boutique river cruiser built in 2012, with 30 staterooms on two decks, all with private veranda space.

The journey ends with twonights at the luxurious Oberoi Grand Hotel in Calcutta with a full day tour to experience the cultural capital of West Bengal.

All of our Ganges River Cruise holidays are totally tailor made around the cruise itinerary and can be tailored to your interests, with pre and post cruise accommodation, touring or other extensions added to your requirements.

Day 1: Depart the UK

Fly from UK to Delhi.

Day 2: Delhi

On arrival in Delhi you will be met and transferred to your chosen hotel. The rest of the day is at leisure.

Overnight Delhi. Breakfast included.

Day 3: Delhi

Today’s tour includes heritage rich Old and New Delhi including a Heritage Walk inside India’s largest Mosque ‘Jama Masjid’.

Explore the real life of Old Delhi through the maze-like streets of the iconic Ancient Bazaar ‘Chandni Chowk’ and Asia’s largest Spice Market.

Experience colonial-era India including the Mahatma Gandhi Museum and the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara where you may volunteer to assist in preparing food for pilgrims, the poor and the homeless.

View Lutyens’ finest works including Colonial Government Buildings, India Gate and the President and Parliament House.

Overnight Delhi. Breakfast included.

Day 4: Agra

Today you will be driven to Agra. After check in at your hotel visit the Red Fort, with the chance to visit marble workshops if there is sufficient time.

Overnight Agra. Breakfast included.

Day 5: Agra - Taj Mahal - Calcutta

Enjoy a sunrise visit to the Taj Mahal, one of the world's iconic buildings, before heading back to Delhi for your flight south to Calcutta, where you will be met and transferred to your chosen hotel, with the rest of the day at leisure.

Overnight Calcutta. Breakfast included.

Day 6: Calcutta - Cruise

Transfer from your hotel to embark and sail at noon.

Sail past the old Danish colony of Serampore to Barrackpore to land and take a walk through the cantonment – past the Semaphore Tower, Government House, the Temple of Fame and Flagstaff House.

Overnight On Board. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner included.

Day 7: Chandernagore

Sail up to Chandernagore, a French possession until 1950.

Visit the 18th century church and Dupleix’s House, the erstwhile Governor-General of French India.

Sail upstream past the old Dutch settlement of Chinsura before landing to visit the imposing Imambara at Hooghly.

With verses from the Koran written on its walls, the Imambara is an opportunity to step back in time and relive a slice of Islamic history in Bengal. Sail into the night to a mooring near Kalna.

Overnight on board. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner included.

Day 8: Kalna

Sail upstream and, after breakfast, land at the country town of Kalna and take cycle rickshaws to see a group of some of Bengal’s most attractive terracotta temples, as well as the unique Shiva temple with concentric rings made up of 108 lesser shrines.

Continue on through the countryside to Mayapur to visit the vast new ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) temple which dominates the skyline.

As the headquarters of ISKCON or the Hare Krishna movement, the temple receives over a million singing and dancing devotees a year from around the world. Sail on through the night to a mooring near Matiari.

Overnight on board. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner included.

Day 9: Mayapur

Explore the village of Mayapur, the headquarters of the ISKCON movement with a new temple comparable in size to the Vatican and largely funded by Alfred B. Ford, the great grandson of car maker Henry Ford. 

Life on Board Pandaw

Life on board a river cruise is quite different from ocean cruising. Things are very much more informal, with no ‘Captain’s Table' or dressing up for dinner.

Unlike ocean cruising, all excursions and most other things are included in the price, such as drinks and tips for the crew.

With one member of crew per two passengers, the service on board is incredibly high and very personal.

Things are very relaxed on board a Pandaw River Cruise - with no unnecessary and wearisome PA announcements and no disturbing TV’s from neighbouring cabins.

Pandaw Club Members

Cruised with Pandaw before?

Then make sure you sign up as a Pandaw Club Member with us to receive further discounts and benefits on your next Pandaw Cruise holiday with Jasmine Holidays.

Benefits include:

• Exclusive Members Club Cruise Discount
• Unlimited in-house wine package worth up to $220
• Free Laundry Service worth $50
• Pre-post Expedition Discount

Remember that we guarantee a better price than booking direct and your holiday can be completely tailor made and will always be ATOL Protected if your holiday is flight inclusive.

Is this a Private Tour or a Group Tour?

All of our tours are private tailor made itineraries, customised for you - we can amend things to entirely suit you.

You will have your own private car, driver and guide on excursions and for transfers around India.

Vehicles are modern and air-conditioned and bottled water is provided.

What are the departure dates?

Let us know your preferred dates of travel and we will find the best and most suitable flights to fit your itinerary.

As this is a private tour, there are no set departure dates.

Which Airlines do you use?

We work with all the major airlines flying to India.

Typically for India, British Airways, Virgin, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Air India and Jet Airways are the airlines we most often use.

However, just let us know your preferred airline if you have one. We can organise flights from any regional destination in the UK.

There are currently direct flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Goa and Ahmedabad.

Which Hotels do you use?

We're careful with our choice of hotels in India, but we're guided by our customers also. If you have some preferred hotels, just let us know.

We specialise in boutique hotels and so we will often suggest some of our favourite smaller hotels where we think these will be suitable.

We keep on top of hotel developments in India through our own inspection trips and also through the expertise of our local partners. We also keep tabs on feedback online and from our customers.

India has a really great choice of heritage hotels in Rajasthan in particular - usually former royal palaces or lodges converted into boutique hotels - often very luxurious, usually very atmospheric.

There are also many great boutique hotel options in destinations such as Kerala which we try to utilise. The bigger cities have some outstanding luxury hotels and an increasing number of smaller, more interesting options too.