Kolkata Tours and Trips

Great trip with Raj… excellent caring guide… great itinerary and experiencing trains, tuktuks and pleasant minibus drivers…. India is just incredible.. I’m so happy I did this trip… learnt so much more about this amazing country.. don’t try to understand it but absorb it and learn 🙏

The Kolkata to Amritsar tour was a fantastic experience. If this is the first time to India, the traffic is nothing we’ve experienced before, and an initial shock, but it does work, very little accidents (goodness knows how) and you will get use to it. Highlights were, the Golden Temple, Agra Red Fort, the Taj Mahal, city tour of Kolkata (inc Mother Theresa orphanage) We added the Ranthambhore tiger trailing at the end of this holiday which was fantastic and a highlight. Be prepared for long hours on Indian trains, as the distance travelled was extensive. Most journeys are around 5 hours long and the overnight train is 14 hours! The toy train is a bit of a bone shaker and uncomfortable, but an experience (not one I’d want to repeat) Most of the hotels are clean and comfortable. The one in Bodhgaya is not good, but we understand we’re the last to be staying at this hotel on this tour as it is being changed. The one in Varanasi, is ok, but needs to be closer to the Ganges, as it is a 30-40 minute Tuck tuck ride away. Raj our guide was fabulous. He guided us through the very busy areas with his extensive expertises and with professionalism. He helped to book activities during our free time during the tour and between plane journeys. This was extremely helpful and kind of him. He also escorted us on the optional Kolkata city tour in his rest time. Overall India is an experience you won’t forget, so if you are undecided if to go or not, just do it!

This was a great trip taking us from kalkata and the southern mangroves to the hills crossing from Darjeeling to the lovely old kingdom of Sikkin to Buthan and finally in Kathmandu. The contrast between them is striking with mountain tops communities temples ancient fortress and beautiful people. So much history. With countries so close you would expect people and costumes to be similar but this could not be further from the truth. Our tour leader Keran had everything organised to a tee and was great company as well a continuous source of knowledge. Just go, before it all changes forever😂😂

We benefited from an absolutely brilliant tour guide, Kiran, very experienced and knowledgeable but also highly organised and excellent company! Bhutan was of course the tour highlight with another excellent local guide. We only covered a very small part of the country which could be made into a tour in its own right if possible! It would have been useful for dress code to be included in the tour notes ( long trousers and collared sleeve tops) as some of the party had to buy the latter in Bhutan. Enjoyed everywhere else but a long return trip to Sandurbans to see very little, although a welcome bit of relaxation after Calcutta. Darjeeling and train ride another highlight and staying mid town was appreciated, which we missed in Gangtok and Kathmandu, Accommodation generally good but Summit chain in India variable quality and repetitive menu selection, some variation would be preferable. But all in all a most enjoyable and worthwhile trip expertly guided

The rail trip across north India with Explore was undoubtedly a magical and once in a lifetime experience. The itinerary was jam packed and whilst exhausting with early starts and long rail journeys, it ensured we made the most of the 14 days . The accommodation was varied, sometimes underwhelming but on the whole acceptable. For the price we paid, Explore could make improvements, as It’s so cheap in India . Amritsar was my highlight, the golden temple and the border crossing was a glorious end to an incredible adventure. Extend your stay here if possible , we had an extra day and loved wandering around, exploring the winding streets close by the temple.

On the whole a great itinerary. I would drop the Sunderbans though, since the chance of seeing any wildlife while sailing for hours up and down the middle of the river is unlikely, especially since the animals are behind a fence. We had an excellent tour leader, Kiran who is warm, very informed and energetic and who certainly went that extra mile in solving problems and caring for everyone. The local guides who travelled with us were also great, as were the drivers. The hotels in India were the Summit hotels, an Indian chain. They are clean and quite well organised. However since those in Sikkim were out of town we were forced to eat dinner in the hotels which produced the identical menu. It would have been better to have spent the bits of free time we had in Sikkim in the towns themselves.