India rewards making a considered choice and punishes a long list. She is too big, too varied, and too complex for anything else: she contains worlds within worlds.
Experience India alongside people who know their corner intimately rather than the whole country vaguely. People like Anu, who runs a lodge in the Chambal badlands and shares stories of the dacoits who used the ravines as cover for a century. Or Seegirl, our guide in Munnar, who was out searching for night frogs when she discovered a rainbow-coloured snake entirely new to science.
Expect to seek out tigers in Madhya Pradesh or even Dudhwa rather than overcrowded Ranthambore. Explore Kerala by heading north to glide the Malabar backwaters, far from the day boats. Ask us about the Taj Mahal and we’ll say go, of course; but stay two hours away in the quiet countryside, waking to a version of India most visitors miss.
All made possible by our regional partners, our separate specialists, and the dedicated drivers and guides we’ve trusted for well over a decade.
We design trips you wouldn’t have known to ask us for.
Explore our India Holidays by Region
Each region of India feels distinct and deserves time to breathe.
You’re in Safe Hands across the Subcontinent
No need to worry. We’ve been organising trips across India for over ten years, and our co-founder, Sam, still travels there regularly with his own family.
You’re met right away at the airport by your driver-guide. From there you travel in a private, air-conditioned car with reclining seats: never squeezed in, and always stocked with water, snacks, and Wi-Fi. Our drivers know their patch properly: the back roads, the best stopping points, where the clean loos are.
In most places, you’ll also have a local specialist guide alongside your driver, which matters more in India than anywhere else. They help you navigate the streets with total ease and know exactly which food stall to eat at and which to skip.
Then there’s your India consultant, who stays in touch from the first conversation to the day you land home. If anything comes up while you’re travelling, you have a direct emergency number that stays the same wherever you are in the country.
Speak
to an India specialist
In Our Travellers’ Words
Immersive India
India, exceeded all expectations
Tigers and the Himalayas
Explore our India Holidays
by Type
Our signature classic journeys are crafted through long-term relationships, creating routes that feel fluid rather than frantic. Travelling with family? We balance discovery with downtime and know which hotels genuinely work, a touch of style for teenagers, space to exhale, and locations that don’t complicate the day. Our wildlife holidays avoid staged encounters, favouring time in landscapes where sightings unfold naturally. And our luxury holidays aren’t about chandeliers or palace façades, but rare access, remarkable guides and hosts who open doors others don’t know to knock on.
Meet Our Experts
“I always say: go slow. India’s doesn’t shine when you’re rushing from landmark to landmark – it’s best when you sink into your surroundings. Stick to fewer places and you’ll find the real magic in the everyday.”
Sara
India Specialist
How We Plan India
India demands careful planning and pacing. We choose regions based on your interests and intent.
Rajasthan: the celebrated cities, forts and palaces work best when slowed down. We build in breathing space in rural Rajasthan, using places like Bundi and Ramathra Fort to give the journey more texture.
Northern India: Varanasi‘s ghats on the Ganges, and Lucknow; lesser visited, but with its own architecture, culture and Awadhi street food.
The Himalayas for the adventurous. Head into Uttarakhand‘s forested foothills and remote Kumaon villages, or out to otherworldly Ladakh.
Kolkata, Darjeeling & The East: less travelled, and all the better for it. We’ve scoped out Kolkata, Darjeeling, and the wilder reaches of Sikkim and Bengal.
Central India & Madhya Pradesh: one of India’s best-kept secrets. The latter rivals Rajasthan for palaces and forts, without the crowds. We rate spiritual Maheshwar, Gwalior‘s fort, and the tiger reserves that inspired Kipling’s Jungle Book.
Kerala deserves more than the standard circuit. We gently go further into Wayanad, Malabar and the quieter backwaters, weaving in Theyyam rituals, birding, and spice-port history.
Southern India: Far beyond Kerala, we focus on Tamil Nadu‘s Dravidian temples, French colonial towns and hill stations.
Karnataka has Hampi‘s temple ruins, Coorg‘s misty coffee estates and Mysore‘s regal palaces. Goa works well as a final chapter.
Gujarat in the west: Craft traditions in Bhuj, UNESCO-listed Ahmedabad, Jain temples lions in Gir and flamingos across the Rann of Kutch at sunrise. Few companies know it well. We do.
Our Unique Holidays in India
Relaxing, immersive, life-affirming adventures that show you the best of the destination. Packed with experiences that connect you to the country and are kind to its people and environment.
Explore Experiences in India
Immersive experiences sit at the heart of ETG. Each one is specially designed to confound preconceptions and share magical, memorable, and truly exceptional moments.
India's Hotels, Chosen In-House
We’ve stayed in India’s palaces, havelis and a fair few homestays, our collection is the shortlist. Some are grand, some are simple, and all have enough character to stick in your memory. Here are the places we keep going back to, alongside a few off-the-beaten-path finds you’d be hard-pressed to find by yourself.
The Curious Traveller’s Guide to India
This is our experts’ edit of experiences and hotels, plus a detailed breakdown of popular regions and advice.
You’ll receive five emails from us as well as the guide you requested. They will be inspiring, helpful content about this country. You’ll then be added to our weekly newsletter list, but you can always unsubscribe using the link in any of our emails.
Important FAQs about India
It depends on where in India you’re going. The peak season for most of the north and the classic Golden Triangle is October to March: cooler, drier, and the best conditions for wildlife in the national parks. South India and Kerala are good year-round, with March to May hot and April to September bringing the monsoon to the west coast. The monsoon transforms the landscape and brings its own appeal if you travel with it, not against it. We’ll design around the timing that suits your trip. For a full breakdown, our seasonal guide to India covers it in detail.
Two weeks is a minimum for a trip with any real depth, and three weeks lets you breathe even more. India punishes a long list: the gap between seeing a place and understanding it requires time, and the distances between stops are often underestimated. We’ll tell you honestly if an itinerary is trying to do too much, and recommend where to slow down.
Yes, and it’s one of the trips we most enjoy designing as first-timers who arrive nervous are often the ones asking about a second trip before they’ve flown home. India can overwhelm you if an itinerary tries to cover too much, so we don’t plan it that way. Every stop gets at least two nights, and at least one gets three or more, which means there’s always a morning with nothing scheduled.
Every India trip we design includes time in the countryside, too. Rajasthan and Kerala are the natural starting points and both work beautifully, though in Kerala we’d point you north, where it’s quieter. If you want forts, temples and the Taj with fewer crowds, Madhya Pradesh is the region most people never think to ask about. In each region a private guide travels with you, explaining the temple, the market or the fort as you go.
Yes, for the vast majority of travellers. The things most likely to catch you out are the traffic, ‘Delhi belly’ or the attention you might get in crowded places, and the way we design an India trip takes care of most of it.
You’ll travel with a private driver and guide, so you’re never tackling the roads or a busy bazaar on your own, and we choose hotels whose kitchens we trust. Before you travel, we check the FCDO’s current advice for every region on your route and plan around it.
Our co-founder Sam still travels in India regularly with his own family, and while you’re away you have a 24-hour emergency number.
Not in the usual sense. Every Experience Travel Group trip to India is private and designed for the person taking it, but we don’t do “tailor-made”, and that’s deliberate. Because “tailor-made” assembles a trip around what you asked for, from hotels and tours anyone can book. We design around why you’re travelling, using experiences we’ve built ourselves, boutique hotels we’ve scouted out and matched to you, and trusted guides and drivers we’ve worked with for years. That lets us reach parts of the country you wouldn’t have known to ask for.
- All your accommodation in hand-picked, characterful hotels
- Private drivers throughout
- Carefully chosen local guides
- All activities and experiences (some secret!)
- Entrance fees to national parks and cultural sites
- Many meals and snacks throughout
- All regional transport
- International flights on request
- 24/7 in-country support
Because we don’t do “see-it-all” India. It doesn’t exist, not in one trip and possibly not in ten, whatever some travel companies promise.
Rush a country this size and you come home exhausted, with a list of sights and little else. We go slowly, on purpose. That pace leaves room for the moments a packed itinerary squeezes out: an early morning at the fish market with your guide, stopping when a game of street cricket breaks out, something sizzling at a stall your guide knows well.
We start with why you want to go and what you want to get out of India. Then we use our own judgement, and the hotels and guides we know well, to take you to places you’d never have thought to ask for.