Northern India Tours & Trips

What people love about Northern India Tours

• Richard12 Dec, 2024

  4

  I write this as an average Australian. I travelled solo (despite hoping it might be a group tour which this isn’t), and am well-travelled, not a fussy person. TL;DR: Overall - good experience, a package deal is always easier and you get what you pay for which was good value (in Aus). Without time to organise something myself, it hits the high points. Could you do it cheaper/more customized yourself? - sure, but you can customise with your driver/Swastik anyway if you know what you want to do. It was a good introduction for my first time in India and I wasn’t sick my entire stay. I’ll break it down. Pick up and drop off - excellent, they collected me from a hotel (a fair distance away rather than airport) after a wedding then at the end to a hotel. This was brilliant service. My Driver - Dilip Singh. He was always on time, drove safely and ensured customer satisfaction and security (trusted him completely with my belongings, had bottled water for me everyday). He was good with some casual English conversation and some food recommendations. The daily/site guides are where you’ll need to rely on for more fluent English (as expected per itinerary). Guides - all seemed to be good quality, spoke English well (as with any of the guides, they’re local - you’ll just need to listen carefully). There is some risk that they may suggest leaving out some places or add places you might prefer not to go to (tourist trap handicrafts etc. that are added by Swatik I’m told - would avoid as they seem to be exorbitant prices for India. Don’t rely on guides to help you with bartering either, they’ll look after their own and likely have ties to places - it’s difficult to know the true value of things). The best guide I had was in Jaipur - Narinda Singh. He was eager to provide information and was very thorough, gave a heads up on some prices and helped educate a bit more on tourist traps. I found him to be an honest and good man. Sage advice - ‘Nothing is free in India’ (photos, videos of things even) Guides are great for taking photos for you. Probably better to request their help and tip them better for good photos than dealing with the ‘professionals’ at touristy places (Taj Mahal, Amer Fort etc.) that actually take your opportunities to take your own photos. For both driver and guides, I think the extra mile would have been offering alternative/better sights instead of just trying to remove options which I presume was somewhat to get an early knock off (I only realised at the end that the booking info/FAQ mentioned we’d see monkey temple and Chand Bawdi which didn’t occur - not on itinerary though). This would have been good considering Day 3 was 1 sight and a transit without sunrise Taj Mahal.. Most days were quite full anyway and I was happy to rest, but there were 2 places I voluntarily opted out of in Agra, but Humayun’s Tomb (Delhi) I believe was missed by mistake by the guide as he didn’t seem aware of the itinerary. Fatepur Sikri and elephant ride in Amer Fort was an addition not on the written itinerary (but apparently part of the plan), these were a nice addition albeit part of their plan, just not communicated. Some of the lower reviews (Phil) below ring true in a few ways, but I think you get what you pay for and some of these things are to be expected in India. Taj Mahal happened at a busy time of the day on Day 2 rather than planned sunrise Day 3. This is apparently to avoid the fog/smog - a friend went a day or 2 after me at sunrise and got amazing pictures without crowds or smog/fog.. so I guess it could be hit and miss, but consider your options and tell the company/driver exactly what you want and deal with the consequences either way. Accommodation: Delhi (Diplomat Classic) - not great, check in lady was quite rude. WiFi didn’t work, no hot water, free breakfast wasn’t offered. (compared to all other experiences) Agra - nice place (Regal Vista), one of the nicer ones for sure. Jaipur (Harnawa Haveli) - Decent place, good service. All were clean and decent places for the price. Like most of India, the outside area tends to look worse than inside the building (might be in some back road area, but inside the hotel is clean and comfortable) Things to be aware of (what I learnt): - obviously tourist traps and bartering are a thing. Just be careful, literally don’t trust anyone.. Do your research and have an idea of what you’re chasing if anything. If you don’t want to go somewhere, tell the driver/guide/company to drop it off the itinerary. They’ll generally comply if you’re assertive about it. - entry to most places are similar to Aus prices. Expect to pay 10x what locals pay. - Tipping and taxes after the initial price is a confusing beast for an Aussie and I’m still unsure I got it right (tipped based on travel research, some seemed to add tax after, other the price included tax, some had service fees, some don’t). I found no matter the tip, it never seemed appreciated weirdly enough. I’ve found that many Indians expect you to pay Aus-equivalent prices/tips when in India not realising that many people wouldn’t travel to India apart from the consideration that it’s meant to be cheaper (cost of living in India is much lower). If India expects Western payments, provide a Western environment as a general comment. Overall, I enjoyed my time and got what I paid for. Swastik themselves were a good tour operation and assisted me well (only dealt with them in lead up). Their staff have provided a friendly and safe service to see the tourist hotspots. Best advice is to clearly articulate the experience you’re wanting to the Swastik staff to get the most of your experience. Enjoy your time in India!

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• Graham16 Mar, 2024

  4

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• Donna25 Feb, 2024

  5

  The tour was very good. I loved the hotels especially bristol hotel. I think all meals and everything should be included. Was a little upset that i had to stand up for that. All entries into all things we visited for sure should be added with out having to insist on it. The tour guides were very good and helpful and made my trip very nice and cab driver was very nice (wish he spoke more english but he was very kind and nice)

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