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“ You were all just fantastic. And Singh was simply a legend, there could not have been a better guide and a person for the trip. Also, the whole office and preparation were exemplary.”
Mira Grant – March 2020
Thank you for visiting the India section of our website. We offer the best upscale small group tours (12 guest maximum) of India. Compare our Lodging and included experiences and you will see that our India journeys are unique and unrivalled.
All tours are not created equal, nor are all travel companies. In true upscale travel there is no ‘One Size Fits All’ and some travelers will not find us to be a good fit for their needs. Explorers who repeatedly travel with us all seem to share the following attributes -
1. You cherish learning about other cultures.
2. You value your time and don’t want it wasted because of poor planning and/or execution.
3. You appreciate guides with real expertise, intelligence, and passion for their nation.
4. Your most treasured travel memories include genuine interactions with locals.
5. You like rooms with views at upscale hotels with great dining options.
We use the word ‘Tours’ for want of a better term. Since 2004 the Easy Tours family, both at the destinations we offer and, in the U.S., has worked tirelessly to design and facilitate authentic upscale experiences for our guests. About 70% of our guests today are Repeats and Referrals.
Almost every nation has lost its old way of life to progress, and ethnic attire and adornments, as well as original culture and rituals, are encountered primarily in carefully staged locales that are preserved solely for tourism purposes.
India is unique in that it has retained its original charm, as the majority of its 1.4 billion residents still inhabit rural areas, and the middle aged and older members of these villages still dress and adorn themselves just like their ancestors did many centuries ago. The best tours of India include opportunities to observe these lifestyles. Everyday rituals, ceremonies and festivals are vivid windows into India's glorious past, and anyone who has toured through India with us has enjoyed these wonders throughout their exploration.
Nowhere else will you find this fascinating fusion of the ancient and the modern. Sights you will see will include marvels such as an elephant and his mahout, or a camel and his owner, sharing the road with vehicles and pedestrians on a busy street, and pushcart hawkers singing their way through any Indian big city’s extremely expensive real estate as they banter and negotiate with locals. Villages and rural areas are full of cattle such as cows, buffaloes, camels, goats and sheep, all of whom are an integral part of everyday life, both as everyday labor, as well as a source of necessities such as milk. There is a lot of unique relevant information on India throughout this long webpage.
Easy Tours was born in 2004 with two guiding principles - to provide the best small group and private luxury tours for explorers from North America, and to always value our guest's time. We have not sacrificed these principles on the altar of growth - we still guide just a couple of thousand guests a year total in all the countries we now call home.
Please take the time to review one or more of our detailed itineraries, which are different from other tours, to determine whether we are a good fit for you. The best tour of India for you is one that touches your heart - your itinerary should make you really want it to start right now!
We know that the best Small Group India Tours should include experiences that delight and amaze you every day of your exploration. This can only be achieved by a boutique agency with local expertise and focus on the following:
1. Genuine interactions with locals, including options to visit village schools, rural homes, and more.
2. Great rooms at the best upscale hotels with excellent cuisine and service.
3. India's best Accompanying Guides (Tour Directors).
4. USA and India based Specialists with expert local knowledge.
Lodging options for travelers in India are unsurpassed anywhere on this planet, and we use only great rooms at the best upscale hotels.
Easy Tours is a preferred India tour operator partner of top-rated hoteliers such as the Leela Palaces, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, and the Taj Hotels, Palaces & Resorts. Ask someone who has stayed at one or more of these hotels and they will verify that the service, amenities, and luxury at these hotels is unsurpassed anywhere on our planet.
The terms 'luxury' and '5-star' are used very loosely in our industry. For example, a 5-star hotel room might cost $70, and another one in the same destination may cost $1500 - there are a lot of reasons for the difference in price. The hotels/resorts and room/suite types we use in India are far above what other travel companies offer.
We include great dining options at and outside your hotels, and the restaurants at our preferred hotels receive rave reviews from guests for both local and western cuisine.
A list of India's most fascinating destinations, in no particular order, where you can experience unique local culture, amazing UNESCO World Heritage Sites, breathtaking scenery, and India's incredible colors.
| 1 | Agra |
Taj Mahal and 2 other UNESCO World Heritage Sites |
| 2 | Delhi |
India's Capital. Historical and Cultural Hub, plus 3 UNESCO World Heritage Sites |
| 3 | Varanasi (Benares) |
Oldest Continuously Inhabited City on Earth - the Holy Ganga flows through it |
| 4 | Cochin (Kochi) |
Lush Tropical Jewel of South India, completely different from North India |
| 5 | Backwaters |
560 miles of interconnected canals, lakes, and rivers in a gorgeous tropical setting |
| 6 | Jaipur |
1 of 3 cities in the Golden Triangle - Amazing Color & Culture - 4 UNESCO World Heritage Sites |
| 7 | Udaipur |
Hills, Lakes, and Amazing Palaces - Rajasthan's Prettiest City - Slower Paced Small City |
| 8 | Ajanta and Ellora |
India’s Most Awe-Inspiring Archaeological Gems – both UNESCO World Heritage Sites |
| 9 | Narlai |
Authentic ancient Rajasthani Village with a 17th Century Royal Lodge |
| 10 | Ranthambore |
One of India's Premier Tiger Sanctuaries - Easier access than most National Wildlife Parks |
Most of our guests say that the highlights of their exploration included the rich ancient culture and rituals, the gracious and gentle people and their behavior and mannerisms (evolved over millennia), and obviously the incredible colors of India.
India has more UNESCO World Heritage Sites than almost any other country on this planet. With Easy Tours you get to experience these with India's best guides and support staff.
But UNESCO Sites do not often become lifetime memories for true explorers. The memories you will cherish are interactions, with humans and others, including when you look deep into the eyes of a wise Elephant.
If your goal is to avoid higher temperatures, October to March is the best time to visit India. Our small group tours of India operate during these months. But this is a subjective issue based on your preferences and so our escorted private tours operate throughout the year.
Most of North India’s National Wildlife Sanctuaries are closed from July 1st until October 1st. Over 85% of our guests get one or more Bengal Tiger sightings at all our chosen parks.
October through early April are the relatively cooler months, and temperatures can be fairly cold between mid-December and late January. Our small group tours operate during the cooler months.
At South India's coastal destinations, such as Kochi, which is included on our longer small group tours, and Goa that we offer as a beach extension after our luxury escorted private tours, temperature change throughout the year is minimal, and it is always fairly hot.
There are thousands of festivals, fairs and celebrations in India each year. All the major festivals of India are fascinating for the locals, but our experience has taught us that some are much more interesting for a visitor to experience, while other festivals, although extremely important to the natives, do not offer much of an opportunity for visitors to really experience the actual celebration. As an example, India's biggest festival, Diwali (unlike Dev Diwali in Varanasi), is primarily celebrated by families in their homes, just like Christmas. We highlight the most interesting of these festivals on some of our tours of India.
Our Small Group Festival Tours combine our India tours with the country's most important and interesting festivals. Offered once every year, these tours are an opportunity to experience India's incredible colors and unique culture in conjunction with its people's biggest celebrations. Since India's festivals are based on the lunar calendar, dates change every year. Availability is extremely limited.
India is home to tens of thousands of animal & bird species. They all play an integral part in Indian society, history, and day to day existence. Enjoy an escorted small group tour of India with Easy Tours and experience one of India’s premier Wildlife Sanctuary’s that is home to many of these species.
Our founder started visiting Indian wildlife parks in the early 70s, and these sanctuaries soon became a passion for him. The India Specialists at Easy Tours love to hear him recount those days, when the infrastructure for both travel and lodging was primitive compared to today, yet the experiences were, just like today, unforgettable. We hear of bareback elephant rides into remote parts of the jungle, and of chance tiger encounters while on foot! He has enjoyed hundreds of safaris in India over the past four decades and personally designs each of our wildlife itineraries.
Our Small Group Tours include 2 jeep safaris at Ranthambore National Park, which is famous for its frequency of Bengal Tiger sightings and occasional Indian Leopard sightings. Other premier Wildlife Sanctuaries can be added to any small group tour as a private extension. There is a plethora of other wildlife and avian life in Ranthambore, including both predators and prey. Wildlife Safaris in India are nothing like what you may have experienced in Africa, as one is sub-Saharan desert and this is thick and lush Asian jungle with a terrain made up of hills, streams and grassland. You are surrounded by wonderful virgin forest while you are driving on the mostly dirt and often bumpy tracks.
Named after the once imposing 10th century fort whose ruins preside over the park from a nearby hilltop, Ranthambore National Park offers among the best statistical chances of seeing tigers in the wild. It is the easiest park to access on an exploration of India. In the 18th and 19th centuries the jungles here were the royal hunting grounds of the Maharaja of Jaipur. In the mid-nineteenth century, the British Officer in charge of the area started a program of conservation for the fast-dwindling wildlife. It became a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1955 and a National Park (as part of Project Tiger) in 1973.
India requires visa's for almost all foreign visitors. Although Easy Tours does its best to provide the most current information on our site and in our correspondence, we do not guarantee the accuracy of such information and it is solely the traveler's responsibility to acquire their visa for India. Charges for the India Visa, are not included in quoted tour costs.
Please make certain that your passport has over six months of validity remaining at the time of travel. Also, your passport should have at least two blank pages upon entry.
The e-Tourist Visa offers 3 lengths of validity options - a 30 Day Visa with Double Entry (non-extendable and non-convertible), a 365 Days (One Year) Visa with Multiple Entry, or a Five Years Visa with Multiple Entry, all from the date of issue. We recommend at least the 1-year visa. Turn around is usually within 3 to 4 business days. Please apply anytime 30 to 60 days in advance before your arrival date in India: https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/Registration
Discerning explorers have always agreed on how special India is as a destination. Mark Twain said “India is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grandmother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured ... in India only.”
Although we do not expect everyone to agree with us, or the late Mr. Twain, we bring this up for a reason. We believe in mindful travel. If you are someone who likes having everything always go your way, and are not open to adapting to other cultures and their idiosyncrasies, as well as existing ground reality, we recommend that you use one of the large travel companies who offer sanitized private tours of India.
As the premier US based luxury travel in India specialist, we offer our guests a choice between the finest selection of flexible luxury private tours combining India, Nepal and Bhutan in any configuration and you can have us design such an itinerary so that you will do exactly what you are interested in at each destination.
Having facilitated the top-rated escorted tours of India for North American travelers since 2004, Easy Tours knows what makes for a truly memorable exploration. We believe that the three most important parts of the best India tours are well planned itineraries, great guides, and boutique luxury hotels.
We are able to offer the best small group and private tours of India for upscale explorers because we understand what our guests enjoy. Our guests like a diverse mix of culture, local colors, history, and insights into the everyday lives of the locals. Easy Tours focuses on providing such experiences.
Because we know great food and a good night's sleep are an integral part of the best India tours, we offer options between gourmet regional cuisine and fine western fare. We use the best upscale hotels, resorts, and jungle lodges in India that provide exemplary service.
We feel that the most important facet of the best tour packages in India is your guide's and chauffeur's passion for, and knowledge of, their homeland. It is human interactions that make up a discerning explorers' fondest memories, not how many sights, or cities, they visited while touring. Our guests tend to wax poetic about our colleagues, and write many paragraphs about them in their reviews!
Passion leads to excellence, and our guests interact with people deeply committed to your satisfaction all through the reservation and travel experience. This is a key reason why about 70% of our guests are repeat and referral travelers today, and our reviewers consistently state that we are not just the best tour operator in India, we are unmatched in the world! Please take a minute or two to read some of our guest reviews. You will notice that almost all our guests, during their exploration, develop relationships with Easy Tours' guides, chauffeurs, and travel facilitators. We have many guests from over a decade and a half ago that, even today, maintain relationships with our India based colleagues.
