Relive the romance and turbulence of the past in splendid palaces and time-worn forts. Listen to the mesmeric chant of prayers in Tibetan monasteries and let the chime of temple bells bless your travels. Examine colonial architecture closely. Take a deep breath of nature's generous bounty and wonder at its immense variety. Here is a selection of fine jewels from the Himalayan crown.

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In the morning, you arrive in Ambala from New Delhi by the fast Shatabdi Express. If you opt for the highway, we take you along the centuries old Grand Trunk Road. This cuts a swathe through bustling towns and rich farmland. En route you may take a break at the motel by the Karna Lake and later, at Ambala, is an other comfortable wayside hotel - the Kingfisher. By luxury coach. we take you to Patiala and refresh you with a cup of tea. Between now and lunch - which is also at Patiala we invite you to sample the sights of this pulsating town which was once the capital of a powerful princely state. There are several grand palaces, elaborate gardens and speciality museums. You may visit the Sheesh Mahal, the Bara Dari, the Medals Museum, the Moti Bagh Palace, now the National Institute of Sports and the North Zone Cultural Centre. You can also shop for handicrafts like 'phulkari' embroideries and traditional footwear.

You now depart for Nalagarh via Pinkassia - where evening tea is served along the banks of a water body. Nalagarh's fort resort comes replete with its past and its stones lie soaked with the stories of turbulent centuries. Its palace is renowned for its frescoes. There is a cultural programme on for the evening. Dinner and the overnight stay are at Nalagarh, which was ruled by the Chandela dynasty.

Today you are bound for McLeodganj, once a small colonial settlement that is now the residence of His Holiness The Dalai Lama and the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile. Enroute you cross large stretches of rolling downs and numerous small towns and hamlets. Pragpur is one such breathtakingly picturesque village where clumps of tall bamboo, flowering bougainvillea, banyan and peepal trees line the roads. Here, at the Judge's Court, a painstakingly restored country manor, you stop for lunch. And should Pragpur tempt you enough, you are welcome to stay on for the night. You then visit the revered Hindu shrine at Jwalaji, where the Goddess is manifest as tiny flames burning through fissures in the dark rock. By evening tea, you are at McLeodganj where you will have dinner and spend the night.

Under the gaze of the high Dhauladhar mountains, a sub-system of the Himalayas, McLeodganj is often called 'Little Lhasa'. Apart from the presence of the Dalai Lama, it also has a large Tibetan community. You can visit the Namgyal monastery, the ancient temple of Bhagsunath, the little Dall Lake, the Kangra Art Museum, the dressed stone church of St.John in the Wilderness and at Sidhbari, the Norbulinka Institute of Tibetan Art and Culture and the ashram of Swami Chinmayanand. Further afield is the Chamunda Devi temple and the ancient rock cut monolithic shrine at Masrur. At McLeodganj, you can shop for Tibetan handicrafts.

For lunch you are at Palampur. Here, the snowclad Dhauladhars form a formidable backdrop, while tea gardens provide a deep carpet whose pattern is an intricate mesh of fast-flowing streams. Check out Palampur's beauty for yourself and return for a cultural programme and dinner at the hotel.

Through a richly varied landscape, today you head towards Manali which - by the river Beas - lies in the heart of the fabled 'Silver Valley' and presents some magnificent vistas of the Himalayas. Overlooking Mandi town, you are served lunch in a park adjoining the famous Tarna Devi temple. Evening tea is at the Apple Valley Resort near Kullu . Dinner and the night are in Manali.

A day with a variety of sightseeing. The pagoda style and finely carved temple of Hadimba Devi, the temples and hot springs renowned for their therapeutic powers at Vashisht and ski slopes at Solang, followed by lunch at hotel Whispering Rocks at Palchan. We then take you to Naggar which offers a panoramic view of the Beas Valley, temples, a fascinating old fort, now a hotel. There is also a gallery of the Russian artist, Nicholas Roerich, who wished to unite the world though art.

There is a cultural programme in the evening and dinner and overnight stay are again in Manali. And at Manali, you can also shop for local handicrafts and visit the Buddhist monasteries.

After breakfast you leave for Shimla, the former 'summer capital' of British India and the present-day state capital of Himachal Pradesh. In its architecture and ambience, Shimla still holds lingering echoes of a colonial splendour.

Enroute, lunch is served at Bilaspur's hotel Sagar View. This is by the banks of the Gobind Sagar - a large man-made lake across the river Sutlej. Dinner and night are in Shimla.

You can stroll up to Shimla's fashionable Mall and shop for souvenirs and curios. You can take some of its delightful walks and visit the churches or cemeteries, or amble through woods. You can visit the State Museum and the grey stone former Viceregal Lodge that was inspired by the renaissance in Elizabethan England.

A cultural programme is on for the evening. Dinner and the night are in Shimla.

The day's destination is Chandigarh. But first, along a narrow highway that unravels some of the Himalayas' fabled beauty, we take you to Chail - and to the Maharaja of Patiala's summer palace. Lunch is served here. Along the road, you stop over at the Kufri Resort and the Shilon Resort.

For tea, you stop at Barog's hotel Pinewood and for dinner and the night, you are in Chandigarh.

Before breakfast, you may whet your appetite with golf or tennis and then tour the city. Created by the renowned modernist architect 'Le Corbusier' Chandigarh was a grand, well planned vision for independent India. The city was built mainly in the 50s and 60s. You visit the impressive Capitol Complex, the innovative Rock Gardens created out of scrap and waste by Nek Chand, the Sukhna Lake and the Shopping Plaza in Sector 17.

You catch the Shatabdi Express to Delhi. Lunch is served on the train.