Combining India and the Maldives

Ten days of forts, cities and long drives across northern India, then four nights on a small island in the Indian Ocean. It is a sensible way to end a long trip, and one programme in our catalogue runs it end to end.

Can you combine India and the Maldives in one trip?

Yes. One ready-made itinerary covers both countries: India's facets & Maldives — 15 days, from EUR 3,140 per person. Ten days go overland from Delhi through Rajasthan to Mumbai. On day 11 you travel to Malé, take a speedboat out to Embudu Village Resort in South Malé Atoll, and spend four nights there in a Superior Beach Bungalow before flying home.

It is the highest-priced trip we list. The reason is arithmetic rather than glamour: the island leg adds a flight, boat transfers and resort rates on top of what is otherwise a standard Rajasthan circuit.

There is a second route to the same combination. Our five-day Maldives travel component, from EUR 700, attaches to any India itinerary. More on that below.

Both options are private, like everything we run: your own guide, your own driver, your own start date. We have no scheduled group departures, so there is no fixed calendar to fit around — and no group discount either.

What the ten days in India actually cover

Ten nights on the mainland, in the hotels the listing names:

• Delhi, 2 nights (Eros Nehru Place). Red Fort, Jama Masjid, the lanes of the old city, India Gate and the government quarter, the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara, and Lodhi Garden.
• Agra, 1 night (Clarks Shiraz). The Taj Mahal — closed on Fridays, so check it against your dates — plus Agra Fort, and a cooking session and dinner with a local family.
• Jaipur, 2 nights (Shahpura House). You arrive via Fatehpur Sikri and the Chand Baori stepwell at Abhaneri: a long driving day with two long stops. In Jaipur itself, Amber Fort, Jantar Mantar, the City Palace, Hawa Mahal, a rickshaw run through the bazaars, and a Bollywood film at the Raj Mandir cinema.
• Jodhpur, 1 night (Ratan Vilas). Mehrangarh Fort on its 130-metre hill above the blue city, and the Jaswant Thada marble mausoleum.
• Udaipur, 2 nights (Fateh Niwas). Reached via the Jain temple at Ranakpur and its 1,444 carved marble pillars. Then the Jagdish Temple, the City Palace, the Saheliyon Ki Bari gardens, and a boat on Lake Pichola if the water level allows.
• Mumbai, 2 nights (Hotel Fariyas). The Elephanta caves by ferry — they close on Mondays — the Gateway of India, the Dhobi Ghat at Mahalaxmi, Colaba, and Mani Bhavan, Gandhi's former Bombay house.

Two things worth knowing. This is northern India with a Mumbai finish: no Kerala, no backwaters, no tea country. If that is what you want ahead of a beach, it is South India and a different trip. And Mumbai is on the itinerary for a practical reason as much as a cultural one — it is the closest airport on this circuit to Malé.

The Maldives half: one island, four nights, breakfast

Embudu Village sits in South Malé Atoll, a speedboat ride from the airport. The room booked on this trip is a Superior Beach Bungalow — on the sand, not over the water.

Be clear about the standard. Our room grades run Standard, Deluxe, Superior and Executive. There is no five-star tier anywhere in our catalogue, and this trip does not quietly have one. If you are picturing an over-water villa with a private pool and a butler, another operator will serve you better, and we would rather say so now than after you have paid a deposit.

Two things to settle before you travel:

• Meals. The listing includes breakfast and no other meal. On a resort island you cannot walk out to a cheaper restaurant; every lunch, dinner and drink is bought on site. Ask for half-board and full-board prices alongside the quote and do the sums.
• Activities. Days 12 to 14 have nothing scheduled. Snorkelling gear, diving and boat excursions are the resort's own, most at extra cost. If snorkelling straight off the beach is the point of the trip for you, ask us about the house reef before you commit.

Get the flights in writing

What the listing names as included is short: hotel accommodation, breakfast, a guide, a bottle of water on arrival, and 24-hour availability throughout the trip. What it names as excluded is "any international flights". No flight of any kind appears on the included list — and Mumbai to Malé crosses a border.

So do not assume. When you enquire, ask for the quote to state in writing:

• whether the Mumbai–Malé sector sits inside the price or on top of it, and on what routing
• how you travel from Udaipur to Mumbai, and whether that sector is included
• the speedboat between Malé airport and the island, which the day-by-day describes but the inclusions list does not name
• airport and hotel transfers at both ends

A one-line answer by email now is cheaper than a surprise at Mumbai airport.

When to go, so both halves work

The two climates do not overlap perfectly, but they overlap well enough.

• December to February. Rajasthan is at its most comfortable: Delhi and Jaipur run roughly 20-24°C by day. But mornings drop to 6-9°C, and December and January fog around Delhi delays flights and slows the roads. The Maldives is dry and at its busiest, with a clear premium over Christmas and New Year.
• February and March. The best compromise of the year. Rajasthan warms up — Jaipur around 27-30°C in late February, Jodhpur into the mid-30s by mid-March — while the Maldives is in its driest, sunniest stretch. If you can only pick one window, pick this one.
• April. Good in the Maldives, punishing in Rajasthan. Jodhpur and Jaipur reach 38-40°C, and sightseeing becomes an early-morning and evening affair.
• July to September. Monsoon. Mumbai gets very heavy rain, and the Maldives is in its wet season too. We would point you at another month.

The Maldives itself barely moves: around 30-31°C on land and a sea temperature near 28°C, all year. For the Indian half in more detail, our month-by-month guide to India breaks it down region by region.

Cheaper ways to finish an India trip at the beach

These are all five-day components that attach to an India itinerary:

• Maldives — from EUR 700
• Andaman & Nicobar Islands — from EUR 410
• Marari, on the Kerala coast — from EUR 400
• Goa — from EUR 350

If what you want is warm sea, quiet sand and nothing on the schedule, Marari or Goa gives you that for a fraction of the price and without an international flight in the middle of your holiday. If it has to be the Maldives, there is also a Sri Lanka itinerary that ends there — 14 days, from EUR 1,220. A cheaper route to the same islands, from a country that is closer to them.

One thing UK and US travellers should ask about

Every tour in our catalogue lists a German-speaking guide as an inclusion. Our team in Delhi built these programmes for German-speaking travellers first, and the listings still read that way. English-speaking guiding is what most of our UK and US clients travel with — but ask for it to be confirmed on your quote, city by city, rather than assumed.

Before you enquire

Five answers to get in writing:

1. Which sectors are included and how — Udaipur to Mumbai, and Mumbai to Malé?
2. Are transfers included at both ends, including the speedboat to the island?
3. What does half board at Embudu cost for four nights?
4. Which guiding language is confirmed, for each city?
5. What are the cancellation terms on the Maldives leg specifically? Resort terms are usually stricter than hotel terms in India.

With those, you can compare our quote against anyone else's on the same basis. Browse the full trip list, or send us your dates and we will build the version of this that fits them.