Private journeys in seven lands · a planner replies within one working day
Try "Udaipur", "tiger", "honeymoon", "Ladakh in July"
Eight nights with the makers of Uttar Pradesh: marble inlayers and zardozi embroiderers in Agra, chikankari workshops and the attar distillers of Kannauj from Lucknow, and the silk weavers, wooden toy makers and carpet knotters around Varanasi, with the Taj Mahal and the ghats along the way.
Uttar Pradesh is one of India's great craft states. Agra's stone inlayers still use the technique of the Taj Mahal; Lucknow's chikankari is stitched by hand in homes across the city; Varanasi's handlooms weave silk with gold and silver thread; and towns between them specialise in perfume, carpets and lacquered toys. Many of these crafts carry Geographical Indication tags.
This journey visits workshops rather than showrooms, arranged in advance so makers expect you and have time to explain their work. Our guides take no commission, so you are free to buy or not. The great sights are included too: the Taj at sunrise, the imambaras of Lucknow and the ghats of Varanasi. Shipping of larger purchases is arranged with insured carriers.
Highlights
Day by day
Your driver meets you at Delhi airport for the drive to Agra on the Yamuna Expressway. Check in at ITC Mughal. In the late afternoon, visit Itmad-ud-Daulah, the tomb that first used inlaid stone on white marble in Mughal Agra, to see the craft at its origin, then cross to Mehtab Bagh for sunset over the Taj Mahal.
Enter the Taj Mahal at sunrise and look closely at the inlay on the cenotaph screens with your guide. After breakfast, spend the late morning in a family workshop of pietra dura craftsmen, watching semi-precious stones shaped on a grinding wheel and set into marble. In the afternoon, visit zardozi embroiderers, who stitch metallic thread and beads onto velvet and silk, a craft with roots in the Mughal court.
Drive east on the Agra–Lucknow Expressway, leaving early. Detour to Kannauj, India's old perfume town, where distillers still make attar by steaming flowers such as rose and jasmine in copper stills and capturing the oil in sandalwood oil, using methods centuries old. After lunch, continue to Lucknow and check in at Taj Mahal Lucknow.
A full morning with chikankari makers. Watch a block printer stamp designs onto muslin with carved wooden blocks, sit with embroiderers working stitches such as bakhiya, phanda and jali, and see the washing that removes the ink. Lunch in the old city. In the afternoon, shop in Chowk and Hazratganj with your guide, who helps you judge quality. Evening Awadhi food walk in Aminabad.
Morning at the Bara Imambara and its rooftop maze, the Rumi Darwaza and the Chota Imambara, whose calligraphy and chandeliers show the court's taste for fine work. Afternoon free to return to workshops or shops, or to rest. In the evening, a private Awadhi dinner with a family cook.
Drive or take a morning train to Varanasi, arriving in the afternoon. Check in at Taj Nadesar Palace. At dusk, a private boat carries you to a position facing Dashashwamedh Ghat for the Ganga aarti, with its brass lamps, conch shells and bells.
A dawn rowing boat along the ghats, then breakfast. Late morning with a family of Banarasi silk weavers in their workshop, where jacquard looms clatter and a complex sari can take weeks. After lunch, visit lacquered wooden toy makers, a GI-tagged Varanasi craft, turning and painting toys on simple lathes. End at a trusted silk showroom.
Drive to Bhadohi, India's carpet town, to watch hand-knotted carpets made on tall vertical looms, from dyed wool to the final clipping and washing. Return to Varanasi for lunch. In the late afternoon, visit Sarnath, where the Buddha gave his first sermon, for the Dhamek Stupa and evening chanting. The Sarnath Museum is closed on Fridays.
After breakfast, we confirm any shipping arrangements for your purchases, then transfer to Varanasi airport for your onward flight. In December and January we prefer midday flights because of fog.
Included
Not included
Where you sleep
A large luxury hotel set in Mughal-style gardens a short drive from the Taj Mahal, with a long pool, the Kaya Kalp spa and plenty of …
Lucknow's leading luxury hotel, in Gomti Nagar near the river, with spacious rooms, a pool and a kitchen known for Awadhi cooking. It is a calm …
A small former royal guest house of the maharajas of Benares, set in large gardens in the Varanasi cantonment. With only a handful of suites, it …
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Questions travellers ask
No. We arrange visits to working workshops, tell makers in advance that guests are there to learn, and our guides take no commission. You are welcome to buy directly from makers, which puts money in their hands, but there is no expectation.
Marble inlay and zardozi embroidery in Agra, attar perfume at Kannauj, chikankari embroidery in Lucknow, Banarasi silk weaving and lacquered wooden toys in Varanasi, and hand-knotted carpets at Bhadohi. Several of these carry Geographical Indication tags. Each visit is arranged in advance so the makers expect you.
Yes. We arrange insured shipping by air or sea with carriers we trust, and ask workshops for written descriptions of materials. Sea freight can take two to three months. Small items such as stoles, attar and boxes travel easily in luggage.
Look at the reverse: handloom shows floats and small irregularities, while powerloom is perfectly uniform. Handloom saris often have a small unwoven fringe. Look for the GI and handloom marks. Your guide checks pieces with you before you buy. Real zari also tarnishes slightly with age.
Attar is a natural perfume made by steam-distilling flowers, herbs or earth in copper stills and capturing the oil in a base, traditionally sandalwood oil. Kannauj has made attar for centuries. Rose, jasmine and mitti, a scent of rain on earth, are classics.
Yes. It covers three of India's finest textile traditions: chikankari, Banarasi brocade and zardozi. We can add meetings with designers, revivalists or collectors, and visits to the Bharat Kala Bhavan museum at Banaras Hindu University for historic textiles. Tell us your interests so we can choose the right workshops.
Most work six days a week. Many Muslim weaving and embroidery families take Friday off, and some workshops close on Sundays. We plan the order of visits around these days. Festivals can also close workshops, so we confirm in advance.
October to March, when the weather suits walking between workshops. Workshops are often busiest before Diwali and the wedding season, from October to February, which is when you see the most work on the looms. From April the heat makes walking between workshops harder.
Yes. Firozabad, known for glass bangles, is near Agra, and Moradabad, known for brassware, can be reached on a longer route. In the other direction, the Buddhist circuit or the Magh Mela at Prayagraj follow naturally from Varanasi. We plan extensions around your interests and dates.
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