Historic Lower Ganges Cruise

Day 1 - Kolkata

On arrival you are met by a representative in the arrival area of the airport after you clear all immigration and customs formalities. Depart for your hotel where you will check in for your stay (Standard Check-in at 14:00Hrs).  Kolkata – a city on the Hooghly, retains the aura of days long gone, weaving the past and the present, the intense and the fun loving into a charming fabric. Home to four Nobel laureates - Ronald Ross, Rabindranath Tagore, Mother Teresa and Amartya Sen, Kolkata is the nerve centre of intellect and human values, where many modern movements began in art, cinema and theatre, science and industry. India's quest for freedom began here. Kolkata is the gateway to Eastern India. It’s a city with a rich heritage, bustling streets and bewildering variety of facets. 

Upon arrival at the hotel, check-in to your room and spend the rest of the day at leisure

Meals Included - None 

Day 2 - Kolkata

Today you will proceed on city tour of Kolkata by visiting Dalhousie Square (Covering Raj Bhavan, St. John’s church, High Court, GPO, Town Hall, Writer’s Building and other important colonial buildings). After lunch (payable locally), visit the Howrah Bridge- It is one of three bridges on the river Hooghly and is the most famous symbol of not only Kolkata but also West Bengal, Indian Museum (Closed on Mondays & National holidays) - built in 1875 and is probably the best museum in India and one of the best in Asia; St Paul's Cathedral - built between 1839 - 1847 is one of the most important churches in India; Victoria Memorial (Closed On Mondays & National holidays)- which is one of the most solid reminders of the Raj is a white marble museum built in a blend of classical European style of architecture with some Mughal influences; Kalighat temple, believed to be 500 years old and Mother House (Closed On Thursdays & National holidays)

Meals Included - Breakfast

Day 3 - Kolkata to Farakka

After a morning at leisure take a 4 hr (approx.) train journey from Kolkata to Farakka in the afternoon, and then a short road transfer to the vessel. 

Accommodation – Assam Bengal 

Meals Included – Breakfast &  Dinner

Day 4 - Jangipur

This morning’s cruise is along a straight canal section to Jangipur, where the afternoon is free to explore this small country town on foot. Alternatively, enjoy a full day excursion by road to Gaur, near the town of Malda, or English Bazar. This quiet, deserted place was once one of India’s great cities, first under the Hindus in 12th century, then as the Muslim capital of Eastern India from the 14th to the 16th century. There are plentiful remains of mosques, palaces and gateways and you visit a number of the most interesting historical sites before rejoining the ship in the evening near Jangipur. Set sail down the Lower Ganges, a charming waterway twisting and turning between banks lined with mustard fields and mango orchards. Moor at Baranagar for the night. 

Accommodation – Assam Bengal 

Meals Included – Breakfast  Lunch &  Dinner

Day 5 - Khushbagh

This morning, visit the delightfully sleepy village of Baranagar with three gorgeous miniature terracotta temples to which you walk through the fields. This is rural India at its most idyllic.  Continue on down past Azimganj, boasting some fine riverside mansions, to Murshidabad where the Nawab’s great Hazarduari Palace dominates the waterfront. Built by an English architect in 1837, the palace hosts an extensive collection of pictures, china, weapons and other objects. Carry on to visit the great Katra Mosque before driving out to see the Katgola Palace. Built in classical Georgian style by rich local merchants, Katgola Palace represents the other side of the coin of the 'White Mughal' period when English and Indian cultures came close to fusion. Moor overnight on the riverbank across from town.

Accommodation – Assam Bengal 

Meals Included – Breakfast Lunch & Dinner

Day 6 - Matiari

Sail downstream a short distance then walk to the Khushbagh, a peaceful Mughul-style garden enclosing the tombs of Siraj-ud-Daulah – the last independent Nawab of Bengal – and his family. Return to the ship and continue downstream past the old British cantonment of Berhampur to a rural mooring close to the battlefield of Plassey where, in 1757, Robert Clive, the Commander-in-Chief of British India, defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah, to change the course of Indian history. You can walk through the fields to the commemorative obelisk. Cruise on to a mooring near Katwa, a market town with narrow bustling bazaars. 

Accommodation – Assam Bengal 

Meals Included – Breakfast Lunch & Dinner

Day 7 - Kalna

Visit the brassworking village of Matiari where you can see the whole primitive process of beating out brass water pots and other vessels. Continue on through the countryside to Mayapur to visit the vast new ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) temple which dominates the skyline. As the headquarters of ISKCON or the Hare Krishna movement, the temple receives over a million singing and dancing devotees a year from around the world. 

Accommodation – Assam Bengal 

Meals Included – Breakfast Lunch & Dinner

Day 8 - Chandernagore

Continue on down to the country town of Kalna. Take cycle rickshaws to see a group of some of Bengal’s most attractive terracotta temples, as well as the unique Shiva temple with concentric rings made up of 108 shrinelets. Sail on, leaving fields behind and arrive at the outskirts of Kolkata. Land at Hooghly to visit the imposing Imambara. With verses from the Koran written on its walls, the Imambara is an opportunity to step back in time and relive a slice of Islamic history in Bengal. Sail downstream past fine waterfront buildings and the old Dutch settlement at Chinsura to moor at Chandernagore. 

Accommodation – Assam Bengal 

Meals Included – Breakfast Lunch & Dinner

Day 9 - Kolkata

At Chandernagore, a French possession until 1950, visit the 18th century church and Dupleix’s House, the erstwhile Governor-General of French India, before continuing down to Barrackpore. Land and take a walk through the cantonment – past the Semaphore Tower, Government House, the Temple of Fame and Flagstaff House – to get a better understanding of India's journey to independence. Subject to river tide, cruise under the Howrah Bridge to reach central Kolkata.

Accommodation – Assam Bengal 

Meals Included – Breakfast Lunch & Dinner

Day 10 - Kolkata

Disembark after breakfast and then transfer to the airport, where this tour concludes

Meals Included - Breakfast