Why monsoon season might be the best time for a trip to India

But there’s also a chance to get a taste of more everyday life nearby on a village jeep safari, meeting local families and venturing inside their homes. They’re often very simple with little conventional furniture except a fridge, and they offered us a chance to see beyond the temples and monuments of the usual tourist trail.

The welcome is just as authentic; as we stepped over the threshold, our host instantly started mixing flour with water, lit a fire and cooked rotis for us.

Sustainability is a way of life at Umaid Palace. Seventy-five per cent of their energy is already solar-powered, with a plan to increase that to 100 per cent, while the hotel’s food is made with vegetables grown in-house using traditional farming methods, along with products from the in-house dairy.

We passed up the chance to milk the cows but joined in an impromptu cookery class, feasting like kings on the resulting piping hot vegetable pakoras.

Then, after another brief taste of regal life with a stay at the restored 19th-century royal palace Shahpura House, to explore Jaipur and the Amber Fort, it was time to venture north to Shimla.

The largest and most famous of India’s hill stations, this was the summer capital of India from 1864 until the end of British rule, where viceroys would migrate to escape the heat.

The climate was noticeably cooler, the air heavy with mist; here you are literally in the clouds of the Himalayas. Dense forests are inhabited by monkeys, and colourful buildings of every kind stand perched precipitously on the winding roads. And in the far distance, the mountains themselves appeared in their full glory.

It was in Shimla that we finally saw our first rainfall of the trip, dodging heavy downpours as we wound our way through the colourful bazaar. A walk here is a stroll through history.

Following the Heritage Walk route across the city, we started with a tour of the Jacobean-style Viceregal Lodge, where the Partition of India was planned. Now home to the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, only a few rooms remain open to visitors.

Colonial buildings dot the Mall Road too, between shops and cafés selling plump samosas with chai; from the neo-Gothic General Post Office to the Town Hall, the Gaiety Theatre and the memorably named Scandal Point — the truth behind the name is something of a mystery, although stories tell of a Maharajah who eloped with a viceroy’s daughter.

Sitting 2,500m above sea level, our own base of Wildflower Hall was equally splendid. The most luxurious of hotel chain Oberoi’s three properties in Shimla, the former residence of Lord Kitchener felt more like a stately home, with its landscaped gardens and a tennis court that becomes an ice rink in winter.

Surrounded by fragrant cedar forest, a guide led us past towering pines, oaks and rhododendrons — the route itself is known as the Strawberry Trail, with wild strawberries and raspberries to pick and eat, while dodging some of the most enormous slugs I’ve ever seen.

Monkeys chattered in the trees — until our hike was finally cut short by one belligerent troop blocking our path, forcing us to retreat for a final dip in the outdoor infinity pool.

If Shimla is the best-known hill station, it’s far from the only one. Driving through Himachal Pradesh and Kangra Valley to our next stop of Palampur was worth every second of the journey for a stay at the valley’s largest working tea estate, the Lodge at Wah — which, appropriately, means “wow”.

Owned by the same family for 70 years, the cottages here were built using local skills and materials, from chiselled river stone to wood off the estate, polished with linseed oil; a witness stand from Palampur courthouse has even been recycled to make an ornate balcony.

You could while away days playing games in the main house over iced tea, or cricket matches and birdspotting in the garden. But it’s worth tempting yourself away to visit Palampur, a bustling, colourful market town, or to discover local crafts and traditions, such as a massage at the local Ayurvedic hospital.

Himachal Pradesh is also famous for its pottery, using Himalayan terracotta, with lessons at the nearby artist village of Andretta, home to one of India’s oldest working pottery studios.

Palampur itself is called the tea capital of north-western India, thanks to its perfect growing conditions. The Wah Tea Estate was established in 1857, and tea has been cultivated under various owners ever since. As well as a tour of the factory and tea-tasting, there’s a chance to watch the pickers at work.

Then onwards and ever upwards to the home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile, at Dharamshala. Opening the balcony door of Justa Birding Resort, clouds drifted in; across the valley lies Mcleod Ganj, known as Little Lhasa for its large Tibetan population, with colourful flags flying at Buddhist temples and monasteries.

At the Tsuglagkhang, the most important Tibetan Buddhist temple outside Tibet, my children marvelled at the magnificent gilded bronze Buddha and looked on, transfixed, as students performed the Tibetan rites.

Lying in the shadow of the snow-capped Dhauladhar mountains, the area is a hiker’s paradise. The Triund Trek is one of the best known, taking at least four hours to explore its four-mile length as you climb up to 2,850 metres. For a faster way to view the surrounding scenery, there was even a zip wire stretching across the valley.

As ever, one of the highlights was meeting the people living here, with a visit to the Tibetan Children’s SOS Village, a residential school for kids from Chinese-occupied Tibet, many of whom are orphans.

With its focus on conserving Tibetan values and language, it was uplifting to hear their stories. Housed with loving foster parents in homes mirroring typical Tibetan family life, their regular football matches are entertaining enough to draw hermits out of their mountainside dwellings to watch.

Outside town, the Norbulingka Institute also plays a part in preserving centuries of Tibetan tradition, with hundreds of apprentices studying Tibetan art, from woodcarving to painting to metal sculpture.

Our final stop, Amritsar, might not be off the beaten track but a visit to the Golden Temple is unmissable. We paid our respects at the Langar Khana; this 24-hour soup kitchen is filled with volunteers doling out food from huge vats. It’s considered a sacred duty to work there.

Nearby the Jallianwala Bagh memorial commemorates the 1,500 Indians killed or wounded when a British officer ordered his soldiers to shoot unarmed, peaceful protesters during a festival in 1919. Recently renovated, the exhibits among the park’s shaded walkways offer a real insight into the massacre.

And just 20 miles away lies the Wagah border with Pakistan, as far north as our journey took us and only a few hundred miles from India’s most northerly point.

Famous for its changing-of-the- guard ceremony, the atmosphere was electric; a staged march-off between the two nations, the Indian crowd cheering on a soldier whose swaggering performance rivalled Freddie Mercury, before the border was officially closed for the day and the flags were ceremoniously lowered to the cheers of the crowd.

An epic end to our epic adventure.

Getting There

A similar three-week trip to the Golden Triangle and northern India costs from £3,895 per person with Transindus, based on two sharing. Price includes all accommodation with breakfast, excursions, domestic and international flights with Virgin Atlantic.