Step Wells in India

Rmm6

Does anyone know if Tauck takes you to any step wells on the Portrait of India tour? I can’t get to the India forum to post this. Thank you to anyone who can answer this question
Melanie

Ken from Vegas

It's been six years since we took this tour. At that time, there were no step wells included on the tour. We did see one in Mumbai on a tour with a local guide (extra day after the tour ended). It was basic a square with stepped sides all around (sort of like an inverted pyramid, if you can picture that). It wasn't as nearly as deep or dramatic as some that I've seen pictures of and I think the construction was fairly modern. Atlas Obscura has a page on these (maybe that's where you saw it). There appear to be some around New Delhi and Jaipur, so maybe could arrange a tour with a local guide, if you arrive early to New Delhi or don't want to shop in Jaipur. Contact the concierge at the appropriate hotel to inquire. I also noticed that a number of tours are offered on viator.com. Search "India step well" on the viator site. Here's the link to the Atlas Obscura webpage.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ancient-stepwells-india

Rmm6

Thank you so much, Ken. For some reason I’ve always wanted to see one. I’ll check the link and Viator.
Melanie

joycesw

We did not see these on our Portrait tour two years ago, but I recall someone writing about a pre-tour visit to see them on the Forum. If you go back through the threads, you can probably find the post. I am not sure if it was on the "Portrait" thread or the "Spotlight" thread.

soun80

Hello Melanie,

I just back from the tour a month ago and the step wells are not part of the tour. I visited the step wells on my pre-tour date in New Delhi. I hired a private tour and the step wells were part of the tour. Well worth it! Hope you get to see it!

Ann K

Step Wells were not on the Jan 4 Portrait of India tour.

Rmm6

Thank you for your input everyone. It’s enormously helpful.
Soun80, who did you hire for your private tour? Did you choose the sites? The Ashkaran temple seems to be a popular add-on I’ve noticed.
Joycesw, I remembered seeing the wells mentioned as well. That’s actually what put me in mind of them, but at the time, the sub-forums were disappearing at an alarming frequency and I could never catch them working. Lol. They seem to be much better this week. Whew!

Carolina gal

We were on the tour 2 years ago and no step wells were included. We saw a beautiful one in Delhi with our private guide. It was Agrasen Ki (sp?) near Cannaught Place. Well worth seeing, no entrance fee at that time.