India Small Group Trips

Our leader made the trip extra special. Neha was very knowledgeable. Kept us informed about the plans for the day. Made sure we had the best experience possible. Really looked after us.

This was my first trip to India, and Kerala was the ideal place to start - relatively compact, affluent, clean, and accessible, with incredibly friendly, helpful locals, and a wide variety of sights to see. The pace of the trip was perfect, moving on to a new destination every other day, normally on the road for 3-4 hours, with plenty of comfort breaks and additional sights along the way. I feel like we saw as much as was comfortably possible in 12 days. The one area for improvement would be a little more free time to explore independently. In Cochin, in particular, we had a very busy morning visiting several churches, a palace and a synagogue, only stopping for a late lunch, and it seemed a missed opportunity to spend some time wandering through the narrow streets of the old quarter for tea, chats with locals, and a bit of shopping. This would have helped with orientation too, as it was our first full day after the long journey from the UK.

This was a wonderful tour covering key highlights in the Golden Triangle. There were so many highlights but seeing the Taj Mahal at sunrise was very special. Mr Singh was a fabulous tour leader and our group were great company. As first time travellers to India it was an amazing introduction.

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