India guide
India is an explosion of colour. The Golden Triangle glistens with culture, Rajasthan has pink and blue cities, and Kerala has lush green Ghat Mountains...
Indian village tourism
A herd of buffalo wandered back from the fields, followed by women in brightly coloured saris, water gourds balanced on their heads. Blue jays darted overhead as smoke rose from the cooking fires and aromas filled the air. A reclining cow chewed on a cabbage, a man on a bicycle wobbled slowly past. The village children played on the path between the crooked houses while several village elders, pulling lazily on their smoking beedis, squatted by the track to discussed the day’s events. It’s a magical time of day when dusk settles in a thousand villages across the Indian subcontinent and the night creeps in. The Indians have a word for it: Godhuli, the homecoming.
Our Rural India Holidays
Central India holiday, culture and wildlife
The very best of central India's wildlife and history
From
Rupee145000 to Rupee195000
16 days
ex flights
Ladakh cultural and rural tour, India
Stay with local families in beautiful Ladakh
From
£750 to £1250
9 days
ex flights
History, culture & wildlife of India holiday
From the Nilgiri Hills to the beaches of Goa
From
£1336
15 days
ex flights
Sikkim & Kolkata cultural tour in India
Cultural and rural tours in beautiful East India
From
£750 to £950
9 days
ex flights
Cultural and rural tour of North East India
Cultural, rural and tribal holiday in North East India
From
£850 to £1150
12 days
ex flights
Rural India holiday, culture & wildlife
Authentic exploration of Central Indian village life
From
£2500 to £3000
14 days
ex flights
India rural holiday with charity walk
Village India including a sponsored walk for Frank Water
From
£1000 to £1100
7 days
ex flights
Ladakh and Changtang cultural tour, India
Cultural immersive tour ideal for couples and small groups
From
£950 to £1150
10 days
ex flights
North East India tour, Nagaland & the Hornbill Festival
The unique festivals of the tribes of remote Northeast India
From
£2350
15 days
ex flights
Ganges tour, Delhi to Calcutta
Explore spiritual India sailing on the Ganges
From
£2915 to £2945
16 days
ex flights
Gujarat holiday and the Rann of Kutch, India
A fascinating mix of local village culture and wild landscapes
From
£2315 to £2395
15 days
ex flights
Kashmir and Ladakh holiday, India
An unforgettable adventure to the rooftop of the world
From
£2149
15 days
ex flights
Kashmir small group holiday, India
An extraordinary road journey through Ladakh and Kashmir
From
£2645 to £2895
15 days
ex flights
Ladakh cultural tour, India
Ladakh-Moonscape: An extraordinary part of India
From
£1039
7 days
ex flights
Sekrenyi Festival tour in Nagaland, India
Sekrenyi Festival Tour of Naga Tribes of North East India
From
£2250
14 days
ex flights
Ladakh and Kashmir tour, The Hemis festival
Experience the colourful Hemis festival
From
£1875
11 days
ex flights
Central India holiday, journey through Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh’s best of wildlife and tribal culture.
From
Rupee165000
14 days
ex flights
Horse riding tour in Rajasthan, India
Recce ride across Rajasthan's desert by Royal Marwari horse
From
£3745
12 days
ex flights
Birdwatching in India
Visit India's top birding and wildlife destinations.
From
Rupee227500
15 days
ex flights
Northeast India tour, Tawang and its monasteries
A spiritual journey to India's largest Buddhist monastery
From
£1800
10 days
ex flights
North East India tour of rural tribes
A discovery of the Khasis, Limbhu & Bhutias tribes
From
£3713 to £4000
16 days
ex flights
Kashmir cultural holiday, India
A relaxed tour of Kashmir by riverboat
From
£2400
11 days
ex flights
Tattooed Headhunting tribes Aoling festival in Nagaland, India
Aoling Festival of the Tattooed Heandunting Naga Tribe
From
£2250
10 days
ex flights
Walking holiday in India, Ladakh & Kashmir
Walking and camping holiday in beautiful Kashmir and Ladakh
From
£2850
16 days
ex flights
Cycling holiday in the Maikal Hills, Central India
Cycling tour in indigenous tribal and tiger country.
From
Rupee85000
9 days
ex flights
Buddhist Pilgrimage trek to Pemako, India
Trek the Buddhist Pilgrimage trail in the Eastern Himalayas.
From
£2750
26 days
ex flights
Chhattisgarh to Orissa tour in India, tribes and villages
A journey through the tribal heartlands of Central India
From
Rupee160000
14 days
ex flights
Spiti Valley tour in India
Cultural immersion, adventure and rural experience
From
£650 to £850
9 days
ex flights
Sadly, very few visitors get to experience the day to day beauty of rural India, focusing instead on well known urban centres such as Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. Estimates suggest that over 60 percent of the 650,000 British visitors to India in 2005 travelled within the Golden Triangle, their trips consisting almost solely of sightseeing tours to historical monuments, religious sites and heaving bazaars. With most companies offering similar itineraries during the peak tourist season, it can be hard for travellers to experience the "true" nature of India.
With this in mind, an imaginative company has come up with a novel way of getting their clients off the well-worn tourist trail, and into the heart of India, allowing them to witness firsthand life as it is lived by the vast majority of Indians. In these lesser travelled areas there is a cultural richness guaranteed to rival the palaces and opulence of Golden Triangle and a colour and tranquillity that will stay with you for ever. With a number of trips on offer, from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to Uttaranachal and the mighty Himalayas, this is an original way to explore real Indian life in a way that benefits both the visitor and the host. This is not just visiting - it is interacting as well.
Our top Rural India Holiday
Central India holiday, culture and wildlife
The very best of central India's wildlife and history
From
Rupee145000 to Rupee195000
16 days
ex flights
Tailor made:
This trip can be tailor made throughout the year to suit your requirements
This trip can be tailor made throughout the year to suit your requirements
Helpdesk
Hello. If you'd like to chat about Rural India or need help finding a holiday to suit you we're very happy to help. Rosy & team.
On these trips you might spend the morning with a farmer milking his buffalo, help him turn the milk into lassi and join his family for a local meal on a banana leaf plate. You might sit in the shade of a banyan tree beside a Shiva temple and listen to a sadhu preach. You could walk through the foothills of the Himalayas, stopping to talk to locals that you pass, or drift slowly down the holy River Ganges, camping by small settlements at night.
These trips utilise a variety of different accommodations, ranging from once-decadent, privately owned palaces to comfortable guesthouses and hotels. For a truly authentic experience the itineraries also include homestays with local families, giving you the opportunity to interact directly, to learn about their life and culture, and they about yours. In this way it will not only be your money that will benefit these communities but the cultural exchange as well.
In order to run these trips the company has developed unique relationships with many local people. Through the company’s interactive, socially-conscience tourism policy they have helped to provide an important additional income. In Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, all the company's clients join a tree planting scheme as well as help directly with the financing of rural village schools; in Calcutta they work with the street children to help give them a better chance in life.
In Kashmir the company works with and helps finance a woman’s handicraft cooperative. And on all their tours they employ local guides and drivers, stay in locally owned hotels and guesthouses, and often stay in their guides' villages and homes, which again diverts important funds directly into the area. The wonderful thing about this kind of tourism is that everyone gains – the locals gain income and get to play a part in the tourism industry. The visitors get to enjoy the fuss made of them, and experience a side of India that remains unseen by millions of other tourists.
More about Rural India
The best time to go on holiday in rural India varies greatly, from the mountainous north, through the deserts, to the hot, humid south...
Holidays in rural India take you beyond the Taj Mahal and tigers into traditional, welcoming villages - a side of India that few get to experience...
More relevant guides
Why book with Responsible Travel
Photo credits: [Page banner: Abhijit Kar Gupta] [Bicycling in India: Juan Antonio F. Segal]
[Ladakh mountains: Praveen]
[Family with goats: Arian Zwegers]
[Banyan tree: Mike Prince]
[Homestay: India Untravelled]
[School children: Tom Maisey]
[Embroidery: Mike Prince]
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