We use cookies. Privacy Policy
The most overwhelming, beautiful, chaotic, and transformative travel experience on earth.
India is the country that breaks you open and puts you back together differently. It's overwhelming, beautiful, frustrating, and life-changing in roughly equal measure. The Golden Triangle is just the beginning.
Each region has a completely different character. Here's what to expect from each area.
Delhi–Agra–Jaipur is the classic introduction — 3 cities, 7 days, covering Mughal history (Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Agra Fort), Rajput palaces (Amber Fort, City Palace in Jaipur), and old Delhi's overwhelming bazaars. Delhi's Chandni Chowk market and the Red Fort are non-negotiable. The Taj Mahal is as extraordinary as claimed — go at dawn when the light is perfect.
Desert fortresses, camel safaris and cities that are genuinely blue (Jodhpur) and pink (Jaipur). Udaipur's lake palaces are the most romantic city in India. Jaisalmer's sandstone fort city still has people living inside its walls. Pushkar's ghats around the sacred lake feel unlike anywhere else in the country. Slow down here — Rajasthan rewards the traveller who lingers.
A completely different India — backwaters cruises on traditional rice barges (kettuvallam), spice plantation tours in the Western Ghats, Ayurvedic treatments in Kovalam, and some of the best seafood in Asia. Kochi's Fort Cochin district has Portuguese, Dutch and British colonial layers. The Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary (tigers, elephants) is accessible from Thekkady.
The holiest city in Hinduism and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Ganga Aarti ceremony at the ghats at dawn and dusk is extraordinary. The cremation ghats (Manikarnika) run 24 hours a day — photography is not permitted but respectful observation is welcome. Varanasi requires a specific kind of openness — it's overwhelming and magnificent simultaneously.
Dharamsala (home of the Tibetan government-in-exile and the Dalai Lama's temple) and McLeod Ganj above it are a fascinating pocket of Tibetan culture within India. The Spiti Valley (accessible July–September) is high-altitude Buddhist territory — monasteries perched above dramatic valleys, homestays in whitewashed villages. The Hampta Pass trek is one of Himachal's finest.
Fly Delhi → Golden Triangle (8 days) → train to Varanasi (2 nights) → fly to Kochi → Kerala (5 days) → fly home from Kochi or Trivandrum. 3 weeks. Or replace Kerala with Himachal Pradesh for the mountain alternative.
£15–35/day depending on state and style.
Street food (samosas, chai, dosa): 20p–£1.
Local thali: £1.50–3.
Budget guesthouse: £8–20.
AC train sleeper: £10–25 per overnight journey.
India's plastic waste problem is severe — carry a reusable bag and bottle. Choose local family guesthouses (dharamshalas) over international chains. The overnight train network is excellent and far lower carbon than flying between cities. In Rajasthan, camel safaris with smaller operators who own fewer camels treat their animals better than large operators.
Tell us where you want to go and your budget — we'll build a personalised quote with routes, hostels, and transport sorted.
SE Asia, South America, Europe, Africa, Central Asia and beyond.