Gujarat and Rajasthan Textile India Itinerary

Namaste and welcome to India!

Arrive Mumbai, and after immigration, baggage, and customs, exit the arrival halls. A Geringer Global Travel representative will greet you with a placard bearing your name.

You will be assisted and transferred to your hotel.

Mumbai is as much about the historic sites as it is about the people and their distinct cultures. The Five Senses Tour engages in five different immersive experiences and pays homage to Mumbai city in its entirety. This experience will surely tingle all your senses, one experience at a time!

Dinner is at Table Restaurant that provides a true farm to table experience.

Wake up at the crack of dawn for the Mumbai by Dawn Tour to have an exclusive peek into the underbelly of the city and to gain insights into what makes this magnificent city tick.

Return to the hotel for breakfast.

Lunch is at the hotel.

After lunch, head to the Kala Ghoda area. This is Mumbai’s trendy art district, full of funky galleries, exquisite boutiques, and fun cafes. It’s a neighborhood that’s bursting with culture and has so much history behind it that you could spend an entire day doing nothing but exploring.

Dinner is at Trishna Restaurant which is best known for its prized seafood cooked in South Indian coastal flavors.

After breakfast, assisted transfer to the airport for the flight to Bhuj. Arrive Bhuj, headquarters of the Kutch District, and transfer to the hotel. Bhuj is famous for its wide variety of textiles, which include Kutchi embroidery with mirror work, Bandhani (tie and dye), block printing, and weaving.

Lunch is at the hotel.

After lunch, visit AA Wazir and see his personal collection. The Wazirs have been collecting rare textiles from all over the Indian sub-continent for over half a century. AA Wazir, the family patriarch, is an encyclopedia on the various textile traditions of Gujarat and the Indian subcontinent. He will discuss various textiles.

Dinner is at the hotel.

After breakfast, visit Aina Mahal, an 18th – century palace, designed in a mixed Indo-European style, and Prag Mahal, a 19th – century palace in Italian Gothic style.

Visit Bharatiya Sanskruti Darshan, which was built by Mr. Ramsinhji K. Rathod, who established this museum and is a scholar of the folk art of Kutch. Bharatiya Sanskruti Darshan is both a museum and cultural center that showcases unique and rare pieces of crafts and folk arts of the Kutch region.

Visit Kutch Museum, the oldest museum in Gujarat, founded in 1877. A section of the museum is devoted to tribal cultures, with many examples of ancient artefacts, folk art, and crafts, and information about tribal people.

Lunch is at a vegetarian local restaurant.

After lunch, drive to Bhujodi, where people are skilled in traditional Bandhani (tie and dye), block printing, and weaving. Watch live demonstrations.

Dinner is at the hotel.

After breakfast, meet the famous Rogan artist, Gafour khatari, who is a Padmashree and national award winner. Their family is 8th generation Rogan painting artisans who have been doing this for almost 300 years. One of his Rogan paintings was gifted by Mr. Modi to Mr. Obama.

Explore the Banni region. The grasslands of Banni are scattered with villages of semi-nomadic pastoral groups. As the women of these groups do embroidery for their personal use and as a secondary income, the area has a very high concentration of crafts people.

Lunch is at Shaam-E-Sharhad Village Resort.

Dinner is at the hotel.

After breakfast, drive to Muli (approximately 6 hours). En route, enjoy a vegetarian lunch at a local restaurant.

Stop at both Ajrakhpur Village to observe block printing, and the Living and Learning Design Centre (LLDC) to visit the crafts museum.

Arrive Muli and check into the hotel.

Dinner is overnight at the hotel.

After breakfast, discover the textiles and crafts around Muli.

Lunch is at a local restaurant.

Visit the Patola weavers (also referred to Ikat weavers) of Somasar known for their design motifs.

Dinner is at the hotel.

After breakfast, drive to Bajana (approximately 2 hours). En route, visit the walled city of Wadhwan which is famous for its tie and dye textiles and brassware.

Arrive Royal Safari Camp, check in and enjoy lunch.

In the afternoon, visit local tribes to observe their weaving and hand embroidery.

Dinner is at the camp.

After breakfast, proceed for a jeep safari to the Little Rann of Kutch, also known as the Little Desert of Kutch to see the endangered two-toned chestnut-colored Asiatic wild ass. Stretching over 4,950 square kilometers, the terrain is characterized by a medley of barren salt flats, scrubland, desert grassland, marshes, and lakes. The Little Rann of Kutch boasts a rich biodiversity. Little Rann of Kutch is also home to an interesting ethnic community known as the Rabaris. Once a nomadic race, they still have an interesting lifestyle and age-old customs.

All meals are at the Royal Safari Camp.

After breakfast, drive to Ahmedabad (approx. 5 – 6 hours).

Visit the 11th century Sun Temple, a Hindu temple, dedicated to the solar deity Surya, in the village of Modhera. Next, visit Rani Ki Vav Stepwell, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, followed by a visit to Patan which is a town of Jain Temples with carved wooden houses.

Enjoy a vegetarian lunch at a local restaurant.

Arrive Ahmedabad and check into the family-owned heritage hotel, The House of MG. Built in 1924 as a home for a wealthy textile magnate, Mangaldas Girdhardas, this is a stately property with an ornamental Baroque-influenced façade, Italian mosaic marble flooring, stained glass windows, and numerous courtyards and passages.

Dinner is at the hotel.

After breakfast, visit the Calico Museum of Textiles. Its collection of Indian textiles is one the largest in the world.

Lunch is at the hotel.

After lunch, visit the Gandhi Ashram and Memorial Museum at Sabarmati.

Afterwards, visit Shreyas Folk Museum that displays collections of traditional folk art of many of the Gujarati rural communities.

Dinner is at the hotel.

After dinner, stroll through the old city and visit restored havelis (mansions) and walk by Jain temples, traditional bazaars, the old stock exchange and end at the King’s mausoleum to witness a 600-year-old ritual.

After breakfast, transfer to the airport for the flight to Jaipur. Fringed by the rugged Aravali Hills, Jaipur is the capital and largest city in India’s northern state of Rajasthan. This city is famed for being India’s first planned city. It features a multitude of pink terracotta buildings within the walled historic center earning it the nickname, ‘The Pink City’.

Upon arrival, drive straight to the Amer Fort. This fort with its amazing architecture combines Mughal and Hindu styles. Explore its high ramparts, many gates, cobbled paths, and splendid views.

After the visit, check into the hotel.

Lunch is at the Palace Cafe located in a courtyard of the City Palace.

Visit the City Palace to see the exclusive collection of textiles in one of the galleries.

Dinner is at Cinnamon Restaurant at Jai Mahal Palace which is a Pan Indian restaurant that blends traditional and contemporary Indian cuisine.

After breakfast, drive to Bagru to enjoy a workshop on block printing using wooden carved blocks and natural dyes. Create a block print souvenir to take home.

Return to Jaipur for lunch at Samode Haveli.

Visit the Anokhi Museum that showcases the art and heritage of wood block printing.

The evening is reserved for a special cooking lesson/dinner with Thakur Durga Singh, the current custodian of Dera Mandawa.

After breakfast, drive to Delhi and en route, visit Samode Palace for lunch.

For those who do not have the time to visit the Shekhavati district renowned for its havelis painted with vibrant murals and frescos, a visit to the palace and village of Samode is an excellent stop to admire the art styles prevailing in the region. Aesthetically beautiful, this is the former home of a wealthy landowner.

After lunch, continue the drive to Delhi, the capital city. (approx. 5 hours)

On arrival, check into the hotel.

Dinner is at Indian Accent Restaurant that showcases inventive Indian cuisine by complementing the flavors and traditions of India with global ingredients.

After breakfast, visit the Crafts Museum which is divided into various galleries. The main galleries are Courtly Crafts, Tribal and Rural Craft Gallery, Textile Gallery, and the Gallery of Popular Culture. Some of the rare articles are more than 300 years old. Several craftsmen can be seen in the village area of the crafts museum making crafts.

Lunch is at Café Lota at the National Crafts Museum.

Dinner is at Kwality restaurant, one of the oldest and most iconic restaurants in Delhi.

Room is held until 6 pm. After dinner, assisted transfer to the International airport to board the flight for home.