thestyledancer

I am in the early stages of planning a first-time two-to-three week trip to India and I can already say "thank you" to everyone who participates within this forum as I have spent a few hours simply reading through posts and have already formulated some great ideas for my trip. I have decided that I would like to work with a travel agent to create this special trip. I want to pre-book as much of the travel and logistics (especially in-country planes, trains and drivers/guides) and would like assistance with experiences (tours, places to visit off the beaten path) as well as lodging (looking for 4-5 star hotels). I do not want to book a pre-arranged tour but instead would like to create a private itinerary that includes private tours, guides, drivers and the like. Does anyone have travel agent recommendations that I should include as I begin to evaluate? I live in Los Angeles but I am happy to work with folks via email and phone as needed. Thanks so much for your recommendations. Best, David

rhkkmk

david---i have used avrind from castle and king in new delhi twice. he owns C&K and is very responsive to working with you...

he also lets you secure some of your own hotels which i see as a bonus.

click on my name and read my two trip reports on india---2006 and 2011..

ask questions here as often as you want..

ask for krishna to be your driver--- you need an suv for your car for safety..

tell avrind bob and karen sent you

jules39

We used Yatrik & would definately use them again. We had friends that used them on our recommendation & were very happy. They do have a wierd web site but they delivered the goods for us. Our communicatins were with Ajay but did have the op to talk to some of the others when we were in India & they were on the ball. Have a great trip.

Almeita

Hello David - First you have not mentioned whether you will visit North India or South India. As there are some travel agencies in both North and south India.

If you will visit North then you shall contact castle & King. Most of the Delhi agents are working with South India travel agents.

If you get your package cost for South India from Delhi agent. Then your tour cost will be on higher side. Hence i advise you to get the rate in any one of South India travel agents.

Happy journey

Marija

Another satisfied yatrik client here.

Rasputin1

Hi David

We can highly recommend Kan Singh of Rajasthan Visit Tours. Let me know if you want details. He will arrange a tour if you give him the places and amount of time you want to stay in a place and the quality of accommodation you require.

520

And another very satisfied Yatrik client.

christo

I used Castle and King this past winter for a 3 week trip and they were good, good price, but not without some glitches. Perhaps if you deal with Arvind it will be better. I was working with Poonam and all the email and pre-trip arrangements went very well but on arrival in India our driver and guide were not there. It was Arvind who sorted thing out after we phoned him from the Delhi airport.
There were 2 more glitches where flight times were not reconfirmed. However everything worked out in the end. I suggest that you proactively double check all arrangements.
I did like that I ultimately chose all the hotels we used usually with their suggestions.
They subbed out the Kerala portion of our tour to Marvel Tours who were very good, in particular our driver Sunil was fantastic.
You can see my trip report for the hotels I liked. Especially good were Saubhag B&B in Delhi and Chitvan in Kanha Park.
Bon Voyage

skgupta

Hi David

I live in New York , originally from Mumbai. My entire family and in-laws are in the US. Only After countless trips travelling all over India I realized the importance of one reliable Travel Agent. Below is is contact info.
Vishvajeet Patil
Raja Rani Travels
[email protected]

Good Luck...India is an unbelivable experience. Feels like U're on a different planet.

Seema

gpotvin

We ended up using INB and were very satisfied with the work of Mr. Thakur and his staff. All arrangements were as promised and provided in a timely manner. We requested three star hotels and were generally pleased with the quality of our accommodations. We would recommend INB if you are looking for reasonably priced and efficient service. http://www.inbvacations.com/ Our trip included Delhi, Varanasi, Khjuraho, Orchha, Gwalior, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Jaipur and Udaipur over 17 days.

CaliNurse

Yes, please say what parts of India you plan to visit.

I've used Indianpanorama twice for 3 week trips, and been pleased with their assistance, ideas, and fantastic long-haul drivers. The company's co-owner, Mrs Faith Pandian, is fantastic!!!

www.indianpanorama.in

On a trip in January, I used them a third time, but only for about a 5 day segment, to help with train bookings, and a visit to a village and place I would not otherwise have gone, Bhanwar Vilas, in Karuali town,which was very interesting .

The actual driver on this last trip was booked with Registhan travels, and while sweet and kind, and an excellent driver, he had limited English. It didnt matter to me for this trip, as we enjoyed practicing English/Hindi with each other....BUT especially as this is a first trip, no matter WHICH agency you book with, be sure to specify that you want a driver who is FLUENT in English.

In India, the safety and helpfulness and kindness of the driver will make or break your trip.

atravelynn

If your "great ideas" include any wildlife areas, please consider Wild World India. Even if your ideas are cultural rather than nature, you'd be happy with WWI, as they do those trips too.

Have a wonderful trip.

barrylando

Hi, we are planning a trip to srimlanka the end of 2014 beginning of 2014 and would like to combine it with two or tree weeks or more in southern India. Looking for a good travel agency Any recommendations! Many thanks

thursdaysd

Better to start a new thread than resurrect this old one.

cathygreen

We have been planning a trip with Lucy Davidson of Banyon Travel. Our trip isn't until Feb 2014, but I have been very favorably impressed with her responsiveness, ideas, and willingness to tailor our trip to what we really want. banyantours.com