Your 14 night cruise on the Ganges will be full of Indian splendour, with visits to an 18th-century church and Dupleix's House, the erstwhile Governor-General of French India. You will pass the old Dutch settlement of Chinsura and a visit to the imposing Imambara at Hooghly with verses from the Koran written on its walls. What better way to see true Indian life than onboard a Ganges cruise. You will visit over 20 towns and villages. Places of sacred importance, battlefields, brass working villages, the world's largest opium factory and many great Palace's are just some of the places you will witness. Depending on whether you are travelling up or downstream, your journey will begin or end in Varanasi with a beautiful trip on rowing boats for sunrise over the bathing ghats.

If time is a little more limited, a 7 night cruise on the Ganges is ideal. Life from the river on the Lower Ganges offers beautiful scenery; you will make your way through the often unseen countryside of Bengal, stopping to take in the culture-rich towns that are full of temples and palaces. Your voyage can include visits to Kolkata and travels to Kalna where you will see the town by rickshaw and onto the brass-working village of Matiari. As you travel further into the heart of India you will walk the mustard fields and mango orchards and on to the quiet village of Baranagar to see the miniature terracotta temples. Seeing rural India in such a way really brings with it a true sense of their way of life.

For travellers with less time to go into the heart of West Bengal we have come up with a shorter cruise that takes in a number of key highlights on this most lovely of rivers flowing through the lush, fertile and agriculturally rich West Bengal countryside. These include former European colonies, finely decorated Hindu temples, rural villages and centres of traditional craftmanship not to mention the Nawab’s vast classical palace at Murshidabad from where travellers will return to Kolkata by express train in around 4 hours and be transferred to their hotel.

Join us for a grand tour of India sailing 19 days along the glorious Ganges & mighty Brahmaputra rivers. Inclusive of flights and transfers between Kolkata and Guwahati, Pandaw's newest combo cruise invites you to experience the best of India's waterways aboard our timeless colonial vessels. Add on one of our pre and post-cruise packages to Dehli & the golden triangle for a truly 'All India' experience.

There can be no river in the world as sacred as the Ganges and an expedition on the Lower Ganges or Hooghly is one of the prettiest river journeys imaginable. The river wends its way through the lush countryside of West Bengal with its culturally significant towns crammed with temples and palaces. A rich and vibrant rural life abounds and there is never a dull moment as we sedately ply this pleasant waterway. Combine this with the mighty Brahmaputra river in Northern India which originates high in the Himalayas before flowing through the scenic Assam Valley where UNESCO protected national parks and remote rural communities provide the traveller with the most wonderful and authentic expedition.

Join Pandaw for this exclusive land and river adventure in India, taking in the highlights of this magnificently vibrant and diverse country. Including Pandaw’s 7 night expedition along the Lower Ganges in West Bengal plus guided touring of the famous Taj Mahal in Agra as well as Kolkata, Delhi and Jaipur. This once-in-a-lifetime 15 night trip is now available for all departure dates and is the perfect way to experience the best that India has to offer in comfort and style.