Cruise in India on the Ganges

The journey begins in Kolkata, a unique and fascinating metropolis where history is etched into every monument. As India’s cultural capital, Kolkata reveals traces of its colonial past: Raj Bhavan, the Victoria Memorial, St. John’s Church, as well as deeply human moments of daily life: Mother Teresa’s home, the Kumartuli pottery district, and the flower market beneath the Howrah Bridge, where the scents of thousands of flowers destined as offerings to the gods overwhelm the senses. It is here that we board the RV Ganges Voyager, a colonial-inspired ship with four-poster beds, to travel upriver along the Ganges toward less-touristy, authentic, and unspoiled lands.

As the boat glides along, the Ganges winds its way through mustard fields, mango orchards, and villages with bustling riverbanks, revealing a deep and little-known side of India. In Kalna, 108 terracotta temples, among the most beautiful in Bengal, can be admired from a rickshaw, while in Matiari, artisans work with copper using methods passed down from generation to generation. Murshidabad, a jewel of the colonial era, features the Hazarduari Palace, the “palace of a thousand doors”, and Chandernagore, a former trading post of the French East India Company, preserves the memory of the French presence until 1950. Throughout the journey, onboard lectures and French-speaking local guides bring each stop to life with their lively and passionate insights.

Varanasi, one of the seven holy cities of Hinduism, is a place where people come to wash away their sins by immersing themselves in the Ganges and where cremations are performed. At dawn, a river cruise immerses you in an atmosphere of piety and devotion rarely matched, before winding through the narrow streets of the old city to the Golden Temple and Aurangzeb’s Mosque. For those wishing to extend the adventure, Rajasthan, nicknamed the “Land of Kings, offers a marvelous mosaic of maharajahs’ palaces, impregnable fortresses, and heady spices, culminating in a visit to the Taj Mahal at sunrise—the highlight of an unforgettable journey to the heart of eternal India.