Bollywood, Beaches & Caves 

On arrival in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India’s most cosmopolitan city, you are greeted with a traditional Indian welcome and escorted to hotel.

Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, is the capital of Maharashtra, and the commercial hub of India. It is the country’s most cosmopolitan city, an ancient port and trading center. This palm-fringed shore of the Arabian Sea was the British Empire’s entrance to its proudest “Crown Jewel.” A city of paradoxes, Mumbai is renowned as the country’s financial nerve center, and also an important center of theater, art, music, and classical dance. Although steeped in tradition is the premier city in India.

Overnight is at the hotel. After breakfast, our representative will take you on a cruise across the harbor to the island of Elephanta.

The island rises near its centre into two conical hills. Rock temples were hewn out of the hill sometimes toward the end of the Buddhist period in India, probably in the eighth century. Explore the caves consist of several interesting sculptures including some depicting the marriage of Shiva and Parvati, Ravana the demon king, and lesser male and female divinities.

Your afternoon tour of Mumbai includes the City of Bombay, a blend of East  and West.

Your tour of the city will include the British built arch "Gateway of India", Bombay's landmark, built in commemoration of the visit of King George the Vth and Queen Mary for the Delhi Durbar in 1911. See the Hanging Gardens, located on the crest of Malabar Hill, a welcome oasis of green and almost entirely concrete and cement. Visit the Prince of Wales Museum built between 1904 and 1914 which was used during World War I as a hospital. Also visit the affluent community of Malabar Hills, Dhobi Ghat, Marine Drive, the Gandhi Memorial Museum and Jain Temple.

Overnight is at the hotel.  After breakfast, our representative will organize a visit to a Film Studio, where you can witness the shooting of a feature film.

Popularly known as Bollywood- Indianised Hollywood. See the cellolid star perform in front of rolling cameras.

Later in the afternoon you will be transferred to the airport for our flight to Goa. Flying south to the former Portuguese enclave of Goa we enjoy some fun in the sun.

Goa is reknown for palm-fringed sandy beaches, exotic cuisine and heavy Portuguese influence in the form of white-washed, terracotta tile-clad architecture and Catholicism. Goa can be explored at ease with long sandy beaches in the south and Panaji - the old city in the north.

Overnight is at the hotel.

After breakfast you embark with our representative upon the old city sightseeing tour of Goa

The Convent and Church of St Francis of Assisi built in 1661 and the Basilica of Bom Jesus is famous throughout the Roman Catholic world, as it contains the mortal remains of St Francis Xavier who in 1541 spread Christianity among subjects of the Portuguese colonies in the east.

Afternoon is at leisure to laze on the golden beach of Goa.

Overnight is at the hotel. Breakfast is at the hotel, after which time is at leisure.

Late this afternoon, you board the exclusive Deccan Odyssey.

An opulent train comprising 10 luxurious carriages, each with approximately 4 themed cabins. There are lounge carriages, a dining carriage, bar, laundry and maid service, staffed to the highest standard to ensure you have the experience of a lifetime.

After dinner on the train you spend the night on board.
Enjoy breakfast as your wagon pulls into Pune, the industrial and IT capital of the Maharashtra state. Pune was chosen by the British in 1820 as an alternative headquarters for the Bombay Residency and many of the British buildings survive.

You will visit the Raja Kelkar Museum which houses an eclectic collection of artworks and curios and Shaniwar Wada - a 17th century ruined fortress-like palace. You return to Deccan Odessey for lunch and later visit the famous Rajneesh (Osho) ashram and Aga Khan’s Palace - the site where Gandhi and other leaders of India’s independence movement were detained for nearly two years. Late evening you board Deccan Odesey and leave for Aurangabad.

You have dinner and spend the overnight on board this luxury train.  After breakfast on train, you arrive at Aurangabad.

Much of the old city, seen today was built by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1682. Our morning is spent spend touring the majestic Fort Daulatabad built in 12th century emerging dramatically 600 ft above the Deccan plain. It is one of the world’s best preserved forts of medieval times and also one of the few impregnable forts in Maharashtra with excellent architecture. The city was named Daulatabad, ‘The city of fortune’, by Mohammed bin Tughluq, the sultan of Delhi.

You explore the Ellora caves, a World Heritage site, having 34 cave temples dedicated to three different religions - Hinduism, Buddhism & Jainism. We visit caves No 7 and 8.

Return to Deccan Odessey for lunch followed by a visit to Bibi-ka-Maqbara, a 17th century mausoleum dedicated to Aurangzeb’s wife, Rabia-ud-Daurani is an imitation of the Taj Mahal, though a grand piece of Mughal architecture all the same.

You return to the Deccan Odyssey to enjoy dinner & overnight on board.  After breakfast you head for the Ajanta Caves.

Older than the Ellora caves (200 BC to 650 AD) the UNESCO World Heritage Listed Buddhist caves of Ajanta are also cut from the volcanic lava.

They reside on the near-vertical, horse-shoe shaped ravine known as the ‘Deccan Trap’. Lost to the world after the 7th century it was discovered by accident in 1819, by a party of British officers on a hunting expedition. This morning we visit some of the 30 caves, boasting remarkably preserved frescoes created and painted using minerals, ochres and lime.

Returning to the Odyssey you are served lunch on board. As your wagon strikes west you arrive at Nasik.

Nasik located on the Godavari River, one of the holiest rivers of the Deccan. You visit the riverbanks, lined with temples and colourful bathing ghats witnessing the countless pilgrims, beggars, sadhus, traders and religious specialists performing their daily rituals. This evening marks our last night on board as we continue travelling westward traveling towards Mumbai.

You have dinner & spend another night on board train. After breakfast on board train, you bid goodbye to the courteous attendants of the train and are escorted to your hotel. Day is at leisure, perhaps a walk along Chowpatty Beach or a spot of shopping in the popular Kalbadevi and Bhuleshwar bazaars.

Overnight is at the hotel. After breakfast its time to pack up. We check out of our hotel at 12 noon and hit a theatre to see an Indian movie. We wrap up the evening by dinning at a local reasturant before you are transferred to the International airport for our onward flight.