India Tours in December 2025

Ranthambore Park was lovely and very peaceful. We were fortunate to see a tiger on our first safari, but also really enjoyed seeing the other animals and birds in the park. The train rides where a great experience. The Explore staff did a great job of getting us to/from the train & ensuring we were ready for our safaris. The safaris were in a 6 person jeep plus a driver and naturalist. A value for money extension. Depending on what tour you were on and the timing of the extension it would be great if this extension was also offered from Jaipur.

The greatest concern the tour itinerary was going to way too many Hindu temples. It would be greater value to add in different activities or free time in hotels. Highlights for us included the spice planation tour, the national park game drive, and eating in the different restaurants our guide arranged. The Kerala backwaters houseboat was very relaxing.

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!

What a lovely trip, the itinerary offered a great amount of variation with so many different things to see, do and experience every day. From vibrant towns, tea plantations and peaceful backwaters. I especially enjoyed the hike at Munnar through the tea plantations and learning about the local wildlife. The trip was well balanced Santosh our guide leader was outstanding, knowledgeable, organised, friendly and always making sure everything ran smoothly. The hotels including the home stay and boat experience were all good and the food throughout the trip was consistently delicious. So many different flavours, variety and explanations of the different foods/ spices used I have travelled with Explore many times and this was a really good trip

Excellent trip, full on and packs in all the highlights of the Golden triangle. The tour guide was absolutely fantastic, leading our group and taking advantage of his good relationships with local people to make sure we had the best experience possible.

This trip was exactly as described. It is full on, brekky 7.30am out at 8.30am. A lot of coach travel but with breaks that made it fine. The accommodation was far better than I expected. Our tour leader was always on hand, always checking everyone was present, and was very approachable. This was my first trip with Explore and I was a solo traveller but I always felt included. I will be booking my next trip soon. 🙂