Lower Ganges Cruise with Pandaw

Begin your holiday in relaxing style with included VIP airport lounge access before boarding your overnight flight to Kolkata, arriving on day two. 

On arrival, transfer to your hotel, the Oberoi Grand Kolkata, which features a luxury spa and three stunning restaurants and is just moments from the city's colonial-era landmarks. Choose from one of the three eateries tonight, from refined elegance in threesixtythree° to traditional delights in Baan Thai and the intimate lighting of The Bar.

Stay: Oberoi Grand Kolkata (Deluxe)

After breakfast, the adventure begins as you head from Kolkata to Farakka via an ultra-scenic train journey, passing awe-inspiring mosques and palaces along the way. Stop to explore Malda, all ancient ruins and historic monuments, before you return to board the stunning RV Orient Pandaw ship. Settle in to your sprawling stateroom, featuring French windows and private decks alongside gorgeous bathrooms with stone showers. You'll be greeted with a welcome drink – perhaps enjoy it on the sprawling sundeck or top deck bar, mingling with other guests, before the first of your included dinners, themed each night with specialities including local seafood, Asian and European delights.

This morning your voyage truly begins as you set sail down the sacred waterway of the Lower Ganges, winding through West Bengal's verdure and past towns dotted with temples and ancient palaces. Chug past sprawling mustard fields and mango orchards before stepping on land to the sleepy city of Baranagar, where miniature terracotta-roofed temples dot the sprawling fields. Before dinner tonight, and every evening for the rest of the cruise, enjoy complimentary evening canapés as a delicious prelude to your themed dinners.

The next two days will be spent voyaging among and exploring the spectacular landscapes and traditional towns of the Ganges. Sail past Azimganj’s riverside mansions to reach Murshidabad, the home of the Nawab’s great Hazarduari Palace that dominates the harbourfront, with highlights including the spectacular Katra Mosque, resplendent Nashipara Palace and Georgian architecture of the Katgola Palace. Day six will see you sail downstream to Khushbagh, home to a Mughul-style garden and the tomb of Siraj-ud-Daulah – the last independent Nawab of Bengal. Continue past Berhampur to the battlefield of Plassey, a site of important history where the Commander-in-Chief of British India defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah. You'll anchor in Katwa, a busy market town filled with buzzing narrow bazaars.

After breakfast, continue downstream and visit bustling Matiari where you'll see the entire brassworking process; a tradition that still remains central to this village. Continue on through the countryside to Mayapur and visit the vast new ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) temple, a movement of 500 centres, temples and rural communities. As the headquarters of ISKCON or, as it's otherwise known, the Hare Krishna movement, the temple plays host to more than 1,000,000 singing and dancing devotees annually from around the world.

Continue to the country town of Kalna today where you’ll cycle on rickshaws to stunning terracotta temples, including the marble Shiva temple that's made up of 108 shrines arranged in a ring, before passing sprawling fields to arrive back at the outskirts of Kolkata. Here, you’ll explore the imposing mosque of Hooghly Imambara, adorned with Koran scripture on its walls. This evening, perhaps head to the ship's onboard movie lecture theatre for a fascinating lecture about colonial Kolkata and the Ganges.

After breakfast, sail downstream past the spectacular waterfront buildings of Chandernagore, a former French colony and home to an 18th century church. Then, walk past the Semaphore Tower, Government House, the Temple of Fame and Flagstaff House and learn of India's journey to independence. Indulge in your final themed dinner this evening, perhaps before a sundowner or two on the top deck with new-found friends.

After breakfast, cruise under the Howrah Bridge to central Kolkata to disembark. On arrival, transfer to the airport for your overnight flight back to the UK, arriving on day 11.