Kolkata to Amritsar

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.

A fascinating trip with visits to high profile hot spots as you cross India to the Pakistan border and learn about the country’s history. The journeys in between use various classes on the excellent railways, so you see how the locals travel by joining them. Hotels were fine, dining interesting and local motorised transport in Autos (tuctucs) and cars, exhilarating. The trips are long so not for the fainthearted. All this led by an excellent local guide. Make it an excellent experience for hardy travellers.

group size was good. Leader attentive and kept us organized. Local guides were difficult to understand. Liked train experience and meeting Indian citizens. Could reduce time spent on Ganges River - evening or morning but not both. Tuck Tuck experience was memorable. Most accommodations good. Good opportunities to learn history.

We enjoyed this varied train journey visiting major sights of India. I particularly enjoyed Kolkata, Bodh Gayá, Shimla and Amritsar since I had never visited these places before. I found Varanasi overcrowded (due to religious festival) and found my visit in 2014 much more enjoyable. Indian train journeys are always exciting and give an insight into how a lot of locals travel. My favourite place was Amritsar beautiful city. Our tour leader Gajendra Singh Rathore was excellent and made our tour run very smoothly.

Our leader Gajendra was excellent. The trip was quite full on with several very early starts. There were some very long train rides too. There were a few things which could have been improved such as the overnight train journey of 3rd class. This was awful. ) 6 to a carriage plus a child. We were virtually ontop of each other. Explore should have booked 2nd class. & preferably with us sitting with the other Explore guests.. We were all on different carriages which was difficult for our guide to organise. Also the accommodation in Bodh Gaya was well below standard & dirty. Our hotel Ashiana Clarke in Shimla was about 2 miles away from the Ridge. We needed to taxi to go anywhere so going to a local restaurant at night was out. The location was no good at all. Finally I was puzzled why my £50 tip money had to be used for the taxi to the airport, , various guides, 3day driver for Agra to Delhi etc. These were all included in our payment gif the holiday.,