Carefully designed to take in the very best that Northern India has to offer, the ‘Darjeeling Mail’ tour covers everything from India’s most important cities to spectacular UNESCO-listed sights such as the Taj Mahal, the ‘ghost city’ of Fatehpur Sikri and the unique Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.

Your tour starts in Kolkata, considered to be the cultural capital of India. Journey to Darjeeling, where you may explore the local area with its tiger sanctuary, tranquil streets and magnificent views of the world’s highest mountains. Snow-capped Kanchenjunga, the third-highest, is most prominent but on clear days from Tiger Hill you can even see the peak of Everest some 200 miles away. One of the highlights of this very special tour will be the time spent in the Himalayas where you will zig-zag and loop between the mountains via the steam-powered ‘Toy Train’ of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway – one of only two UNESCO-listed railways in the world. This portion of your journey takes around eight hours to ascend briefly from Darjeeling to Ghum at 7,400ft at descend from there to Siliguri.

Board the Deccan Odyssey private luxury train, which will be your home for the next seven nights as you travel south-west through India. Visit the holy city of Varanasi (formerly Benares), perched on the banks of the River Ganges where you will take a private cruise, as well a walk along the city’s famous 'ghats.' Arrive in India's modern capital of Delhi, visit the "Pink City" of Jaipur with its incredible Amber Fort and spend a full day in Agra, home of the magnificent Taj Mahal. Continue on to the train's final destination, Mumbai, stopping in the peaceful "City of Lakes," Udaipur, en route. End your journey in Mumbai, home to the 'Gateway of India' where you will disembark the train and spend two nights at a luxury hotel to round off your journey which will remain in your memory forever.