Colours of Devotion, Holi

Met at the airport and driven to your hotel. Your room is booked from the night before, so it is ready whenever your flight lands.

After a rest, Old Delhi: the Red Fort, the red sandstone fortress Shah Jahan built, home to the Mughal emperors for nearly two hundred years; the Jama Masjid, one of the largest mosques in India; the lanes of Chandni Chowk for spices, textiles, jewellery and street food; and Raj Ghat, where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated in 1948. Dress modestly for the mosque, and expect crowds and traffic — it is part of the city’s charm.

The visit is returned. Nandgaon is where Krishna spent his childhood, and in the legend Radha and her friends came here to take their revenge in colour. Women do not traditionally make the journey, so men and transgender people from Barsana come dressed as the gopis, and are welcomed with water and gulal.

The heart of it is the temple courtyard, where the two villages sit facing each other, singing, dancing and teasing under a sky of colour. Back to Vrindavan for the night.

After breakfast, the short drive to Agra and your hotel. The rest of the day is free — rest after three days of Holi, or walk down to the bazaars for marble inlay and Mughlai food.

An early transfer to Agra station for the train east to Varanasi. Met on arrival and taken to your hotel.

In the evening, the Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat: fire lamps raised in unison by the priests, bells, chanting, and the crowd on the steps and in the boats — a ceremony held on this spot every evening.

After breakfast, a tour of Varanasi, then Sarnath, one of the most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites in the world: here the Buddha gave his first sermon after his enlightenment. The Dhamek Stupa marks the place, among the ruins of the monasteries of a great centre of Buddhist learning.

Later, to Varanasi airport for the flight to Delhi, and your hotel.