While most people begin their Indian experience in cacophonous Delhi or Mumbai, Amritsar offers a much gentler, more manageable introduction. This is partly due to its smaller size – its Old Town is easily explored on foot – and partly due to the characteristically welcoming attitude of the Amritsaris, who are always ready with a smile and a chai. Kick off your exploration in the spiritual atmosphere of the Golden Temple on your first night, then head out with one of our expert local guides to discover the city, from a Jain market in an old fortress to a sobering memorial to colonial brutality at Jallianwala Bagh.

It’s a long and winding drive today, taking you through a dramatic transformation from the Indo-Gangetic plains into the foothills of the Himalayas. As the landscape transforms, so does the culture: from Sikh-Hindu Amritsar to the majority Buddhist regions of the far north. Once a colonial outpost, Dharamshala is now best-known as the home of the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile at McLeod Ganj - but a day’s exploration with one of our local guides will reveal much more to this haven in the Himalayas. Stop in at the world’s most beautiful cricket stadium, wander to tea gardens and waterfalls, and browse markets stocked with Tibetan crafts and prayer flags. Don’t forget to try the momos.

Just a couple of hours of south brings a totally different cultural flavor in Pragpur, the first destination in India to be designated a ‘Heritage Village’ in 1997. Founded around 300 years ago, the village’s cobbled streets, mud-and-slate houses and European-style mansions create a picture-perfect backdrop for an afternoon exploring its time-warp alleys crammed with silversmiths, basket-makers, weavers and tailors. Your home for the night is the Judge’s Court, a converted ‘country manor’ owned by the local Sood family, and surrounded by orchards filled with mango, litchi, camphor and cardamom trees.

Heading further southwards still brings you from the snowcapped Dhauladhars to the lush, green slopes of Shimla: cloaked in forests of pine, deodar, oak and rhododendron. This former British summer capital sprawls along a ridgeline linking seven hills, commanding epic views from its mock Tudor mansions and neo-Gothic municipal buildings. Get to know the city’s unique history and cultural mix on a heritage walking tour, taking in British colonial life at the Shimla Club and Gaiety Theater, then the indigenous cultures of Himachal Pradesh at the State Museum. If you’re keen to see more, add in the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ trail through cedar woods to tucked-away temples and colonial country piles.

Continue south today with a scenic train journey from Shimla to Kandaghat, a UNESCO World Heritage experience on the old Himalayan Queen Railway. From Kandaghat it’s on by car to Chandigarh, India’s first planned city, where sharp-edged, Le Corbusier-designed architecture shares top billing with the exuberant, psychedelic ‘Rock Garden’, built in secret over decades by a former road worker. Chandigarh is a strikingly different experience from any other city in India, providing a fascinating contrast to your final couple of days in Delhi.

Finally, a domestic flight brings you to Delhi, the final stop on your tour of the north. Here, you’ll swap clear mountain air for the humidity and non-stop clamor of the country’s capital, where Mughal monuments share space with tangled bazaars and up-and-coming, hipster enclaves. Get your bearings with a rickshaw tour of the Old City, rattling along past haveli mansions, mosques and markets, before concluding in the serenity of Humayun’s Tomb: World Heritage precursor to the Taj Mahal. If you’re keen to see a bit of modern culture, too, we’ll organize a walking tour of Hauz Khas – beloved by the city’s cool crowd for its boutiques, art galleries and contemporary design studios.