India adventure tour, 37 days

Planet

The very ethos of our style of travel is responsible; small groups on fully escorted tours, experiencing the very best of a region, a culture and a landscape, with a friendly local hand guiding the way. Our itineraries are designed to give our travellers real life experiences without compromising the part of the world through which we are journeying, to travel responsibly is at the heart of our commitment as a global tour operator.

This no-frills journey of discovery through incredible India will take you on a journey from the bustling cities of the North to the tranquil, palm fringed beaches of the South, taking in all of the highlights in between and straying well off the beaten track on more than one occasion. Every step of the way, you can be certain that your trip will be minimising the cultural and environmental impact of your holidays, while all the time maximising the positive economic benefits.

To keep the environmental impact of our trip to a minimum you’ll use a lot of local transport on this trip, from overnight sleeper trains, to local buses, to boats and even rickshaws. As well as being environmentally sound, joining in on a nation’s various methods of commuting is a fantastic experience and offers a whole new perspective of exploring a destination.

The use of local transport helps to minimise our carbon footprint as we travel.

Throughout your trip you personally will be encouraged to join us in ensuring your holiday is as environmentally responsible as possible. Your group leader will be on hand to assist with the appropriate disposal of rubbish en route, recycling wherever possible and we encourage all our travellers to use refillable water bottles with water purification tablets rather than purchasing regular small supplies of bottled water.

The sale of bottled water contributes to an enormous environmental problem around the world. In addition to the water in the bottles, the production of a 1 litre plastic bottle takes 2 litres of water and 200ml of oil. A large proportion of the bottles then end up in limited landfill or discarded in waterways and natural environments.

People

Working closely with our local team ‘on the ground’ in India gives us the unique opportunity to plan itineraries getting you to travel like a local, with the added economic benefit of creating jobs, promoting tourism and supporting local businesses! Local suppliers are vital to the smooth running of this holiday to India. From our camel driver and overnight hosts during the desert stay in Jaisalmer, to the boat crews who accompany the group along the Ganges and through the backwaters of Kerala, to the stall holders and local craftspeople who populate the many traditional markets we encounter en route.

On a day to day level, you’ll stay in a variety of fairly basic, small independently hotels and guesthouses, including a night with a local family in Kerala where traditional home cooked Keralan food makes dinner a real trip highlight! Generally when eating as a group, you’ll find yourselves eating where the locals do, sampling genuine regional specialities like pakoras, pani puri or samosas; in Jaipur we recommend trying food from local street vendors for a whole new range of flavours, and overseeing all of this will be your English speaking local group leader, a great source of information of things to do and places to explore in your free time.

On tour you’ll be encouraged to travel with respect for the local cultures and sensibilities we encounter. You’ll travel to some of India’s most holy sites, from the city of Varanasi to the ornately decorated temples of Madurai and you will be expected to dress and act appropriately to the sites being visited and behave in keeping with local customs. If you are unsure about something, your group leader will be on hand to help with any questions you might have and give guidance if required.