IN MAHARAJA STYLE

No more unpacking every night, no more ghastly crack-of-dawn internal flights. Greaves Travel is now offering you the chance of staying in your favourite hotel for a week or more with your own magic carpet, a private charter plane to make day trips where you want and when you want, returning to your luxury pad each evening.

If you choose the much-awarded Oberoi Rajvilas hotel in Jaipur, here’s what you could notch up in eight days: Agra and the Taj Mahal (one hour’s flight ea way), Udaipur and lovely Lake Piola (one hour), the formidable fortress city of Jodphpur (45 minutes), the temples of Khajuraho (two hours 15 minutes) and Delhi (one hour). To which you could add a visit to the Shimla in the Himalayan foothills, or even a tiger reserve — whole chunks of India can be digested with ease. At a price!

The Jaipur week with sightseeing costs £11,750pp including Club Class (business class) international flights, private charter plane, mainly half board, all tours and entrance fees.

NORTH EAST DISCOVERY

When Marco Polo first set eyes on the one-horned Great Indian Rhinoceros, he thought he’d found the legendary unicorn. Alas, hunted almost to extinction, only a few such rhinos remain — the place you’re most likely to spot them, the Kaziranga National Park.

Ampersand Travel’s new 15-day tailor made itinerary includes the sanctuary as well as activities that are exclusive to this lesser-known north-eastern corner of India. There’ll also be a stay at an organic farm owned by direct descendants of the former rulers of Sikkim, village to village walks and homestays visiting Buddhist monasteries en route, two nights at delightful little Glenburn Tea Estate in Darjeeling and a three-day river cruise, followed by elephant trekking and a private tour of Calcutta.

The price of £3,380pp covers all flights, private car with driver, most meals and excursions.

SHOP AND PARTY

Combine sand, sea and partying in Goa with shopping, sightseeing and star-spotting in the home of Bollywood, Mumbai (Bombay) on new twin centre packages from Indian-specialist Somak.

For £1,398pp you can spend 12 nights at a five-star beafront hotel in Vainguinim, or a new boutique hotel in travellers’ haunt, Anjuna (don’t miss the Wednesday flea market), followed by a three-day stay at the turn-of-the-century Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai/Bombay, a tourist attraction in its own right. All flights, B&B and some sightseeing tours are part of the deal.

PITTAS AND PIPITS