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.

Brilliant trip. Highly recommend. Very full on, cramming in so much in 2 weeks & we saw & did so much. Tour leader Indu was outstanding & went out of his way to make it special. Some long journeys but worth it; no time wasted trying to sort stuff out so all very efficient from start to finish.

Highlights of Northern India really is an excellent tour. Busy of course but the intention was to cover a lot of ground in a reasonable time period. I enjoyed our location visits very much as well as the travelling itself, which opened up so much of life in India along the way. Our guide, Inder Singh Chauhan, was excellent: knowledgeable, patient in answering our many questions and within a short space of time he got to know us all well which enhanced the quality of the experience. Our driver and his assistant were also excellent, unfailingly professional and always safe. All in all a very rewarding two weeks.

A great trip. I did not expect to be so wowed by India. India is glorious chaotic and unexpected. The itinerary was really well planned with enough time at each stop and a good variety of nature, historical sights and modern day insights. Inder the trip leader was incredible. Knowledgeable friendly and fun. The trip to the Taj Mahal was breathtaking, and we saw it ahead of everyone else due to amazing organisation by Inder - he even arranged coffees while we waited in the queue.

A superb trip! Our tour leader, Inder was lovely, amazingly knowledgable and an incredible birdwatcher! He was always smiling, happy to answer any questions at any time of day however repetitive they were and went out of his way to make sure we were all enjoying our holiday. The trip ran very smoothly despite doing a lot in the busy itinery. It included visiting a great variety of things: tombs, forts, palaces, a camel ride, busy markets, temples, a boat trip a long the Ganges, tiger safari and wildlife/bird watching in Chambal nature reserve. We learnt a lot about Indian culture and different religions. There was only one hiccup in the itinery. Our sleeper train from Agra to Varanesi was cancelled at short notice due to an accident between 2 freight trains. A completely unavoidable cancellation. Despite this Inder calmly and professionally sorted out an alternative for us (an extra night in a hotel and a coach trip the next day to Varenasi). Despite this we didn’t miss out anything in our busy itinery. About 4 of the group of 12 were keen birdwatchers. Even though it was not an official birdwatching holiday Inder made sure we saw a huge variety of birds from babblers and flycatchers to an oreole, storks, Ibis, 3 different species of owl and the impressive indian skimmer. All in all we saw 87 different species of birds in India which was amazing! Binoculars are useful if you have them. Thought i would say a few words about logistics on the trip. I had ben a bit worried about how we would have to keep buying bottled water to have on the trip (tap water is not safe to drink). I didn’t need to worry. A large container of water was brought paid for out of the tips money and we just accessed it throughout the trip whenever we had run out of water. There were plenty of ATMs in all the towns and cities and generally we were excorted to them if we needed one. Most of the restaurants in the evenings (a group meal was organised every night for those who wanted it) took cash, credit cards or debit cards. It was useful having a bit of cash for lunch/coffee stops. Yes there were coffee stops! Some of the coach journeys were very long. There were plenty of stops to use the washrooms about every 2.5-3.5 hours or you just needed to say if you needed to stop. It was useful stocking up each morning with toilet paper in your pocket from each hotel as a lot of public toilets were out of toilet paper! Sorry my partner is saying I am giving too much information here! It was a fun, jam packed holiday and Inder and the great group of people that we had helped to make it fantastic. This was our fifth explore holiday. They have all been good but this was our best yet! Can’t wait to go on our next Explore holiday! If you are thinking of going to India. just do it. You won’t be disappointed!

A very interesting tour covering a lot in just two weeks. Made particularly successful by excellent leadership from local leader and support staff. Every effort was made to ensure we got the most from our experience and that our particular needs were met.