Highlights of Northern India

We packed a little too much onto 2 weeks, the itinerary was full on. We did not have all the free time to explore which was sugested in the itinerary. Our guide was very helpful and friendly. When visiting places it did feel a little like a school trip and a bit rushed in places. It would have been good to find shade to stand in rather than full sun to listen to our guide. He was also very quiet and didn't always have the time to repeat himself and got a little cross if we were doing our own thing. Some members of the group seemed to be favoured more. We spent a lot of time at lassi shops for only 3 or 4 of the group to enjoy. The rest of us had to stand around waiting. Felt a bit pressured when visiting a carpet shop, which felt more commercial than authentic. Overall though we had an amazing trip with a great group of people and saw everything we wanted.

A brilliant tour guide who was exceptional at making our trip memorable. Great education on the history of India through tours of Mughal palaces and forts. Great experience of the culture in Varanasi. Good visit to the Tiger safari, we did not see a Tiger but the rest of our group did. (We had a guide from the forestry dept that spoke very little English, not helpful but we were restricted by who was sent to guide us.) Good food and accommodation with our tour guide. He took care of almost all the tipping with was a great bonus for Explore.

Excellent trip. Very packed itinerary means you see and do so much. Very well organised and looked after by brilliant tour leader.

This was an excellent trip full of interest. The highlights were seeing the Taj Mahal at dawn, a boat trip on the Chambal River looking at crocodiles and numerous birds, and the visit to Varanasi. The overnight train to Varanasi was overcrowded with people sitting in all the corridors. It wasn’t the most comfortable night but apparently this was unusual due to the exceptional number of visitors going to Varanasi for the Kumb Mela Hindu festival. The overnight train back to Delhi was a much better experience. Our tour leader, Indu, was outstanding, taking great care of us and frequently going out of his way to give us the best experience, even staying awake all night on an overnight train to ensure that we were all ok. The hotels were all pretty good but there was an occasional leaky bathroom. We had a comfortable bus and a vary capable driver who coped well with some difficult roads.

We were blessed with the best guide/fixer in Indu Singh and if you want to see everything you wanted to see in Northern India then this trip is for you. Taj Mahal, Jaipur, Delhi, Ranthambore, Chambal, Varanasi and Agra were fantastic . Some early starts and lots of driving meant we could see all the marvelous things.