Flavours of India: Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai and Kerala
Overview
- Duration: 12 days / 11 nights
- Departures: Private, any date
- Group size: Private, from 2 travellers
- Accommodation: Comfortable 3–4★ hotels and heritage properties, with a private houseboat in Kerala
- Country: India
A food lover’s route through India: Old Delhi’s street stalls, Rajasthani home cooking in Jaipur, Mumbai’s snacks by the sea and the spice trade and seafood of Kerala.
This twelve-day route follows food across India, from the wheat breads and rich curries of the north to the coconut, fish and pepper of the south. It suits curious eaters, home cooks and anyone who likes to understand a country through its kitchens and markets.
You begin in Delhi with a street-food walk through Old Delhi, the spice sacks of Khari Baoli and your first home cooking class. In Jaipur you taste desert cooking in the bazaars and learn Rajasthani dishes in a family kitchen, between visits to Amber Fort and the old city. A flight takes you to Mumbai for beach snacks at Chowpatty, Irani cafés and the dabbawalas. You finish in Kochi and the Kerala backwaters, with the old spice warehouses, a Kerala cooking class and a night on a houseboat.
The trip balances food with sightseeing, so it never feels like one long meal. Street-food walks are paced for tasting, not feasting, and there is free time to rest your stomach.
A few honest notes. Many days include walking in crowded markets in the heat, so wear comfortable shoes and carry water. The drive from Delhi to Jaipur takes most of a morning. Your guides choose stalls with care, but bring any medicines you usually need and take it slowly at first. We name no restaurants here, because the best choices change, and your guides know where to go.
Tell us your dietary needs and favourite dishes on our plan your trip page.
Day-by-day itinerary
Your driver meets you at Delhi airport and takes you to your hotel. Rest after the flight. If you arrive in good time, your first taste of India can be simple and gentle: a pot of masala chai, sweet with cardamom and ginger, and a plate of samosas while your specialist talks you through the days ahead.
Overnight: Delhi
Walk into Old Delhi with a local food guide. Visit the Jama Masjid, then follow the lanes off Chandni Chowk to try stuffed parathas, crisp jalebis and spiced chaat at long-running stalls. Continue to Khari Baoli, the city’s wholesale spice market, where sacks of chillies, turmeric and dried fruit line the alleys. Your guide chooses stalls with care for hygiene.
Overnight: Delhi · Meals: Breakfast
See Humayun’s Tomb in the morning, then visit Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, where volunteers prepare free meals for all comers in the community kitchen. Cover your head and remove your shoes. In the evening, join a family in their home for a cooking class: learn to temper spices for dal, roll rotis and make a simple curry, then sit down to eat it together.
Overnight: Delhi · Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Drive to Jaipur, about five to six hours by road, with a stop at a roadside dhaba for tea and freshly cooked flatbreads. Arrive in the Pink City in the afternoon. In the evening, walk through the old city bazaars with your guide to taste spicy onion kachori, thick lassi served in clay cups and Rajasthani sweets.
Overnight: Jaipur · Meals: Breakfast
Start early at Amber Fort, the hilltop palace of the Kachwaha rulers, with its mirrored halls and views over the valley. Back in town, see the honeycomb façade of the Hawa Mahal and the City Palace. In the afternoon, explore the spice and vegetable stalls of the old city, where your guide explains the dried pulses and spices behind desert cooking.
Overnight: Jaipur · Meals: Breakfast
Spend the morning in a family kitchen learning Rajasthani dishes made for a dry climate, such as dal baati, gatte curry made with gram flour, and spiced vegetables. Eat what you cook for lunch. The afternoon is free to rest or visit the Jantar Mantar observatory, with its giant stone instruments for tracking the sun and stars.
Overnight: Jaipur · Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Take a flight of about an hour and a half to Mumbai. After checking in, head to Marine Drive as the sun sets over the Arabian Sea, then join local families on Girgaum Chowpatty beach for bhel puri, pav bhaji and kulfi from the stalls. Your guide points you to busy, well-run stalls with fast turnover.
Overnight: Mumbai · Meals: Breakfast
Walk through the Victorian Gothic heart of the city and stop at an old Irani café for bun maska and sweet tea. At midday, watch the dabbawalas deliver thousands of home-cooked lunchboxes across the city. Then explore Crawford Market’s fruit and spice halls and finish with vada pav, Mumbai’s favourite potato fritter in a soft bun.
Overnight: Mumbai · Meals: Breakfast
Fly south to Kochi, about two hours. In the late afternoon, walk to the Fort Kochi waterfront, where the Chinese fishing nets rise and fall. Fishmongers sell the day’s catch nearby, and small kitchens will cook your choice with Kerala spices. It is a simple, lively way to start your days in the south.
Overnight: Kochi · Meals: Breakfast
Explore Mattancherry with your guide, where merchants have traded pepper, cardamom and ginger for centuries, and see the Dutch Palace murals. Then join a home cooking class to learn Kerala dishes: fish curry in coconut milk, a vegetable thoran with grated coconut and soft appams. Lunch is what you have cooked. The evening is free.
Overnight: Kochi · Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Drive about two hours to Alappuzha and board your private houseboat. As you drift past paddy fields and village churches, the crew cooks Kerala meals on board, often with karimeen, the local pearl spot fish, and red rice. Ask the cook to show you how the masala is made. The boat moors by a village for the night.
Overnight: Houseboat, Kerala backwaters · Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Enjoy a last breakfast on deck, perhaps with puttu, steamed rice cake, and banana. Leave the houseboat in the morning and drive to Kochi airport, about two hours, for your onward flight. Pick up a bag of black pepper or cardamom before you go: they travel well and taste of Kerala.
Overnight: — · Meals: Breakfast
What’s included
- Accommodation for 11 nights with breakfast
- One night on a private houseboat with lunch, dinner and breakfast
- Three home cooking classes (Delhi, Jaipur and Kochi), with the meal you cook
- Guided street-food walks in Delhi, Jaipur and Mumbai, with tastings
- Private airport and hotel transfers
- Private car and driver for sightseeing and road journeys
- Local English-speaking guides for sightseeing
- Domestic flights from Jaipur to Mumbai and from Mumbai to Kochi
- Entrance fees to the sights in the itinerary
- 24/7 support during your trip
Not included
- International flights
- Visas
- Travel insurance
- Meals not listed
- Tips for guides, drivers, hosts and houseboat crew
- Personal expenses and shopping
- Optional activities
Good to know
Sample itinerary: we adapt the route, hotels and dates to you and confirm everything in your written quote. Best October–March.
You travel with a private car and driver in each city. Delhi to Jaipur is about five to six hours by road. You fly from Jaipur to Mumbai, about an hour and a half, and from Mumbai to Kochi, about two hours. Kochi to Alappuzha is about two hours by road. Flight routes and timings change, so we confirm them when we book.
Frequently asked questions
With sensible choices, most travellers enjoy it without trouble. Your guides choose busy stalls with fast turnover, where food is cooked hot in front of you, and you can start gently and build up. Drink bottled or filtered water and avoid raw salads at street stalls.
Yes. India has one of the world’s great vegetarian cuisines, and many dishes on this route are meat-free. Tell us about allergies or dietary needs and we will brief your guides, hosts and houseboat crew.
It varies a lot. Rajasthani food can be fiery, while Kerala cooking often softens spice with coconut. Your hosts are happy to adjust the heat in cooking classes, and you can always ask for food that is less spicy.
Yes. Many travellers add Goa, with its Portuguese-influenced cooking, or Agra and the Mughal dishes of the north. Tell us on the plan your trip page.
