The Photographer's India — Ghats, Streets & the Blue City

A full day photographing Delhi with a guide who knows its corners — the glorious chaos of Chandni Chowk, the living devotion around the Nizamuddin dargahDargahThe shrine built over the tomb of a Sufi saint, visited as a place of pilgrimage by people of many faiths.Read in the glossary, the spice porters of Asia's largest spice market at Khari BaoliStepwellA well reached by a long descending staircase, so that water can still be drawn as the water table falls.Read in the glossary, the serene Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, the Tibetan colony of Majnu-ka-Tilla and the architectural grandeur of Humayun's Tomb.

Fly to Varanasi and, in the afternoon, walk into the old city to begin exploring the ghatsGhatA flight of steps leading down to a river or tank, used for bathing, worship and cremation.Read in the glossary of the Ganges. As dusk falls the riverfront comes alive with the Ganga AartiAartiA Hindu act of worship in which lamps of flame are circled before a deity or a sacred river, accompanied by bells, conch and chant.Read in the glossary — priests swaying in rhythm to hymns, lamps circling in intricate patterns, a ceremony of light and sound found nowhere else.

A dawn boat ride as the first light gilds the ghats, then the narrow lanes and alleyways under the guidance of a city expert with access to special vantage points — the wrestlers' akharaAkharaA traditional wrestling gymnasium, where pehlwani wrestlers train in an earthen pit under a shared regime of exercise, diet and abstinence.Read in the glossary, an ashramAshramA residential community organised around spiritual practice and a teacher, ranging from an austere hermitage to a large institution.Read in the glossary, the flower market, food streets and temples, and the solemn cremation ghats, photographed always with respect.

Fly to Kolkata and, in the evening, photograph the historic New Market — a vibrant tangle of shops, stalls and people, colour and energy in every direction, a first taste of a city that is a living canvas for the street photographer.

A deep day of street photography — Kumartuli, where clay idols are sculpted in dim ateliers; the Mallick Ghat flower market beneath Howrah Bridge at first light; the yellow taxis; the Maidan; Bow Barracks; Bara Bazar; the Tiretti Bazaar Chinatown and the train tracks at Strand Bank Road.

A second Kolkata day to work the stories you found — the artistry of Kumartuli, the ghats, the colonial bones of the old town, the Kalighat quarter — walking the streets and letting the city's humanity, resilience and celebration reveal itself through the lens.

Fly to Delhi and drive to Agra, arriving for the great red-sandstone Agra Fort, then Mehtab Bagh — the moonlight garden across the river, the classic vantage for the Taj at sunset and a favourite of photographers.

A sunrise visit to the Taj Mahal — the epitome of exquisiteness, and one of the most photographed buildings on earth. After breakfast, drive to Jaipur, pausing at the extraordinary Abhaneri stepwell, its geometry a photographer's gift, before arriving in the Pink City.

A full photographic day in Jaipur — the honeycomb façade of the Hawa Mahal, the pink-and-yellow sandstone of Amber Fort glowing at day's end, the Instagram-famous archways of Jawahar Circle, and a street-and-bazaar photo walk chasing spontaneity: the chai-stall elder, the child in the alley, the shopkeeper arranging his wares.

A long, scenic drive to Jodhpur, the blue city on the edge of the Thar. Arrive and settle in, the rest of the day at leisure to feel the light and scout the indigo lanes for tomorrow's frames.

The mighty Mehrangarh Fort atop its rocky hill, then a blue-city photo walk through Brahmpuri and Navchokiya — the indigo houses, the 1740s stepwell of Toorji Ka Jhalra, the clock-tower bazaar of Ghantaghar and the narrow alleys where Rajasthan's heritage lives on in colour.

Drive to the Rajasthan countryside at Jawai, pausing at a unique Royal Enfield motorcycle temple on the way. In the granite hills, meet the semi-nomadic Rabari — white-turbaned, tattooed, herding goats and cattle in rhythm with nature, and living in remarkable coexistence with the leopards of these kopjes.

Drive toward Udaipur, stopping to stroll a village market at Sadri and to photograph the extraordinary 15th-century marble Jain temple at Ranakpur, its 1,444 carved pillars each different. Continue to Udaipur, the city of lakes, arriving in the afternoon.

An old-city photo tour of Udaipur — the City Palace, Gangaur Ghat on Lake Pichola, the Jagdish Temple, the miniature-painting ateliers, and a boat ride on the lake for the palaces mirrored on the water. Vibrant colour, intricate architecture and bustling street life to close the journey.

Transfer to Udaipur airport for your flight to Delhi and onward home — sixteen days and eight cities of India's finest light behind you. Extensions to Amritsar and Mumbai can be arranged.