Mamallapuram Tours and Trips

As stated in the trip notes, this is a fast paced tour that covers a lot of ground. There are some long drives although there are often stops to visit somewhere of interest. Overall the tour was excellent, there was plenty of variety in the programme. The only disappointments were that Puducherry was oversold and there wasn’t much French heritage to see and the trip on the houseboat in the Kerala backwaters was a cruise on the lake and didn’t venture into the canals. The hotels were very good, the final hotel in Mamallapuram was more basic but this was more than offset by its location in the centre of the town. Replacing the overnight train journey with a daytime express train is a good decision by Explore. The food was delicious throughout. We had an excellent tour guide. This tour would be ideal for someone visiting India for the first time.

The southern India trip itinerary offers a nice variety of things to see and do. One day you are at a magnificent temple and the next day you are on a safari looking at a tiger. Be aware that there are long drives to get from one city to the next but this trip gives you a nice taste of the southern region which has a totally different feel from the northern and central areas.

A very enjoyable 2 week trip. The tour leader was excellent as was our driver and the local guides. The highlight of the trip was seeing leopards and a tiger in the Bandipur Tiger reserve but there were lots of other memorable moments from the evening "bed ceremony" at the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai to the Kathakali dance performance in Kochi and the train ride up to Ooty.

A very interesting tour packed with variety, colour and contrasts. Some long driving days but always plenty to see. The city sights were magnificent, and I particularly loved the night on the Kerala backwaters, also Bandipur and the bird reserve. Seeing a tiger was the icing on the cake. Our guide Abhi went out of his way to ensure we made the most of every day.

This was full on trip to visit major sights in S India. Expect a lot of travelling as there is a lot to see. Our tour leader Jojan was excellent. He was very knowledgeable, enthusiastic, well-organised with a good sense of humour and keen to showcase his country. Highlights included the Mamallapuram Shore Temples, the Meenakshi temple at Madurai, Kochi, the wildlife drive at Bandipur where we were lucky to see a tiger and Mysore Palace. A great trip with wonderful food.

An excellent tour led by our outstanding tour leader, Jojan. We got to see many amazing places and were lucky to be able to catch special events in temples and to see a wild tiger in Bandipur. The accommodation was better than I anticipated, all very comfortable. The food was consistently superlative. The only change I would recommend is to go to Mamallapuram after Chennai on the way to Pondicherry.