Secret India

Fly overnight from London Heathrow direct, or from your chosen airport, to Bangalore.

 Morning arrival, wash and change facilities available. After breakfast, a tour of the city visits the lavish Tipu Sultan’s Palace, known as the Abode of Happiness; the Chitrakala Parishath visual arts complex, its galleries featuring rare paintings and sculptures; and the 16^th-century Bull Temple, focused on an enormous statue of the sacred bull, Nandi. Overnight stay at the 5-star ITC Windsor Hotel.
(B)

Travel (4hrs) to Mysore. Visit the railway museum to view the locomotives of yesteryear; and the historic, must-see, Devaraja market, its 800 shops and stalls spread over three acres. This evening, see Mysore Palace illumination, the building adorned with 97,000 lights. Two nights at the 5-star Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel.
(B, D)

Visit the lavish, UNESCO listed palace, still the Maharaja’s residence; the 19^th-century Jaganmohan Art Palace gallery; and, outside the city, Chamundi Hills, crowned by the Chamundeshwari Temple. After lunch at the Italianate palazzo hotel, Lalitha Mahal Palace, visit the town of Srirangapatna, set on a river island, and the Tipu Sultan’s grand summer palace, now a museum.
(B, L)

Drive (5hrs) up to the hazy ‘Blue Mountains’ greenery surrounding the hill station town of Ooty, and enjoy lunch in the sumptuous former palace, now heritage hotel, Fernhills Royal Palace. Visit one of Ooty’s fourteen churches, enjoy the atmosphere of a local market, and stroll in the floral, pond-dotted acres of the Government Botanical Gardens. Two nights at the 4-star Fortune Sullivan Court.
(B, L)

Travel (1hr) to picturesque Coonoor on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway ‘Toy Train’, continuing its historic and scenic journey since 1899, and awarded UNESCO status. Visit local villages, enjoy lunch at a tea plantation, and explore the botanical retreat of Sim’s Park, 1,780m above sea level, founded in 1874, and filled with exquisite flora.
(B, L)

Travel to Bandipur, perhaps the most beautiful of India’s national parks, luxuriant with fruiting trees and flowering shrubs, and boasting the largest elephant habitat in south Asia. Discover the park on an afternoon jungle safari. Overnight at the 3-star Windflower Resort & Spa.
(B, L, D)

On a morning safari in Bandipur, look out for langurs, sloth bears, guars, four-horned antelope, and some of the park’s 200 species of birds. Drive (5hrs) to the Coorg region, a super-scenic area of mists and myths, Shiva shrines and spicy food. Two nights at the 4-star Amritara Ambatty Greens Resort.
(B, D)

Visit a coffee plantation and enjoy a spice walk; in the regional capital, Madikeri, explore the 19^th-century fort and, within its enclave, the Government Museum, housed in the Church of St Mark and holding exhibits including Hindu and Jain images, swords, and folklore objects; and take High Tea in a Coorgi home.
(B)

 Drive (5hrs) to Hassan, stopping enroute to visit the Sravanbelagola Temple, with its sacred, soaring statue of Lord Bahubali, a thousand years old. Two nights at the 3-star Hoysala Village, Hassan.
(B, D)

Enjoying its glory days during the 11^th–13^th century Hoysalas era, Hassan sits amid a treasure trove of the distinctive, extravagantly sculpted Hoysala architecture. Visit the 12^th-century temples of Belur, complete with 645 elephant carvings; and Hoysaleswara, the largest monument in Halebidu.
(B)

 Drive (7hrs) to the Hampi area, where the haunting remains of the 15^th-century city stand proud in a landscape littered with thousands of boulders, large and small. Three nights at the 4-star Heritage Resort near Hampi. Enjoy sunset views overlooking the ancient town.

Travel (3hrs) to Badami to see the stunningly crafted cave temples and carvings; visit the 6^th- 12^th-century temple complexes of Aihole, known as ‘the cradle of Hindu Rock architecture’; and the feast of Hindu and Jain temples at Pattadakal, some dating back to the 4^th century.
(B, L)

A full day visit to Hampi includes the striking, 7^th-century Virupaksha Hindu temple, and the huge, carved Stone Chariot fronting the vast Vijaya Vittala temple complex; the Sasivekalu Ganesha, with its 8ft tall statue of Ganesha; the eleven-domed Elephant Stables, one of few buildings undamaged by Mughal attacks; and the royal Zenana enclosure, encompassing the Queen’s Palace Water Pavilion, and Hampi’s most iconic landmark, the distinctively shaped Lotus Mahal. Return to the 21^st century for dinner at the Hotel Malligi.
(B, L, D)

Travel (9hrs) into the lesser-known Telangana region to its capital, Hyderabad, a huge city of countless lakes and ponds, for two nights at the 4-star ITC Kakatiya Hotel.
(B, D)

The 16^th-century old town hems the bank of the Musi River with alleys, bazaars, mosques and palaces. A tour of the city passes the High Court buildings, and the heart-shaped Hussain Sagar lake, centred by a statue of the Gautama Buddha; and visits the ruins of the massive Golconda Fort; the Telangana Archaeological Museum, preserving the unique heritage of the region; and the Nizam’s Museum, created by the seventh (and last) Nizam of Hyderabad and housing princely mementos and silver miniatures of the city’s landmark monuments. Enjoy High Tea and a heritage tour at the opulent Falaknuma Palace, perched high above the city.
(B)

Transfer to Hyderabad airport for the return direct flight to London Heathrow, or via Dubai to your chosen airport.
(B)