Private tours in Northern India

Old Mar 10th, 2017, 11:25 AM
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Private tours in Northern India

Hi - We would like to get some recommendations about companies that offer private tours (driver + guide) in Northern India. We (my husband and I) are going to India in early 2018. We have traveled widely (Europe, China, Viet Nam, etc.) around the world and mostly independently but I feel that having a driver and guide might make things a bit easier for us in India. Please only respond if you are a TRAVELER who has used this service. Thanks very much.
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Old Mar 10th, 2017, 01:53 PM
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god thoughts for india.. a driver and guides to specific places is the way to go.

I have used castle and king 2 times in northern india. avrind the owner is very helpful and personable, plus offers decent costs. ask for Krishna to be your driver.
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Old Mar 11th, 2017, 04:18 AM
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We have used TGS twice and were extremely happy with the service (this included a phone call every day to make sure things were going well for us). When you say northern India, I assume you are referring to Rajasthan.

We too have done a ton of independent traveling all around the world and have done a lot independently in India too (it is not that hard). Our first two trips we had a car and driver prearranged for portions of our trip, but by trip #3 we decided to just put it together as we went along using drivers sourced from the hotels. This was fine too.

During our trips that included Rajasthan we went to many places that we loved and that are not on the typical Golden Triangle itinerary. Click on my name and look for my trip reports for ideas if you want to visit some places that are not the same-old, same-old.
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Old Mar 11th, 2017, 12:09 PM
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I highly recommend Tim at Indianpanorama. The company started in Tamil Nadu, but has expanded over the years to have local offices all over India. I just returned from another trip planned and carried out to perfection with ground staff in Gujarat, and then Udaipur and Mumbai. I;'ve traveled with their help to both North and South India. All trips were great. They are excellent and will make your time as seamless as it is possible to be in India.

Email Tim Hawley, tour planner.
[email protected] or [email protected]

Whichever company you use among those listed above, and others you research, have a fantastic time Techwrite!
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Old Mar 12th, 2017, 03:44 AM
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We used "India by Car and driver" in Sept 2016 and were very pleased indeed with the firm and with our driver who was called Raj.

It is to some extent a matter of personal taste but apart from Varanasi we did not feel the need for a guide in India. Raj, our driver, would just drop us off at the entry to the various sites and we would look around at our own pace enabling us to linger where we wanted to linger taking in the atmosphere without being bombarded by all sorts of random facts and figures. We felt that our guidebooks [Dorling Kindersley and Lonely Planet] covered the history of the sites and key features pretty well and most places had good audioguides that you could rent very cheaply. When we had finished we just called Raj on a mobile phone provided by the firm and he would magically appear at the exit [or wherever we were] within a couple of minutes.

http://www.indiabycaranddriver.com/

I did a trip report with more detail which you should be able to find if you are interested by clicking my name.
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Old Mar 14th, 2017, 02:21 AM
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We used Louise Nicolson twice, second trip had a few moments but would highly recommend her and will use again.

http://www.louisenicholsonindia.com/
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Old Mar 14th, 2017, 08:59 AM
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techwrite, apologies for typo. second email i sent should be:
[email protected]

Good luck in your research and planning and finding the right fit for your needs!
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Old Mar 23rd, 2017, 10:47 PM
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How far have we travelled down in time when an august member has to write 'Please only respond if you are a TRAVELER who has used this service'!
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Old Mar 24th, 2017, 06:41 AM
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techwrite is a new member of Fodors, so doesn't yet know that posts from advertisers are deleted regularly. This forum in not like Trip Advertiser.

Welcome, techwrite, and I hope you find a company that is a good match for you.
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Old Mar 24th, 2017, 07:11 AM
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Well we've used Mr VP Singh above and his service was excellent.
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