Best of Northern India Tour: Jaipur to Varanasi

Zicasso’s travel specialist delivered on everything we said we wanted to experience on this trip, including history, culture, food, architecture, and wildlife. I was very satisfied with the pricing, the initial planning, and the on-the-ground support we received from the travel specialist’s team.

We had a wonderful trip as a result of the care and attention to detail shown by Zicasso’s travel specialist and his team. We visited Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Udaipur, Cochin, and Munnar. We had a total of 17 days in India, which included three flights. For us, it was a stress-free trip. A representative and driver always met us at the airport, even if the flight was delayed. The drivers were amazing and always made us feel safe.

While on our trip, we requested a lunch reservation at a hotel that only allowed guests onto the property (we were not staying there) and we requested a tour of the Presidential Palace in Delhi. A reservation was secured at the hotel and we had a wonderful tour of the Presidential Palace. Both experiences went above and beyond.

We would highly recommend the travel specialist and his team to anyone considering visiting India. It will be a trip we will never forget.

My wife and I spent 18 days in India, nine in the north and nine in the south. We worked with Zicasso’s travel company on the design of the itinerary, which turned out to be great. The trip was spectacular. All of our drivers and guides were on time and at the correct location for meeting us. We never had to wait for them. All of the guides spoke English, some a bit better than others. The vehicles were air-conditioned and comfortable.

We loved South India a bit more than the north because it was much cleaner and greener, with more wildlife. Cochin, Munnar, and Periyar National Park are beautiful! In the north, we went to Ranthambore National Park and did see a tiger, leopard, and sloth bear in three safaris. It is worth it to go to Delhi for a day, as well as the Taj Mahal and Agra, although these cities are very crowded and dirty. It is cool to see all the cows in the streets. We also recommend Keoladeo National Park for birds and other wildlife. If there was a destination that we would avoid if we had to do it all over again, it would be Jaipur. The city is huge, grimy, and loud, with not much greenery or trees.

Zicasso’s tour operator was a great planning and execution partner. Their guidance during planning was spot-on and the trip plan they created for us was almost exactly what we were hoping for.

During the planning, we had a lot of unknowns and imprecise aspirations. The tour operator always offered informed observations and our trip plan was modified as a result, always for the better.

During the execution of the trip, the tour operator was in constant touch to ensure any glitches or changes were being addressed and managed. They were completely supportive, available, and helpful.

The arrangements they made for us met all our requirements. The accommodations met our standards and the guiding and escort services were exemplary, with very capable, caring, and informed guides at each location. The travel-support services, cars, drivers, and welcoming representative at each arrival point were far better than we expected or hoped for. The travel execution team we had was just great.

The tour operator was very mindful of delivering to us an experience that reflected the Indian culture and the full Indian experience, both today and historically.

In our opinion, we do not think that they really could have done anything better than they did. As a result, we give them a full five-star rating, with no hesitation in any respect.

We had to end our 23-day trip on day five since my wife fell and fractured her hip. The first five days of the trip were wonderful. We had great drivers and tour guides, and our hotel in Delhi was great.

Zicasso’s travel specialist and the tour team gave us outstanding support and made arrangements to help us get back to New York for my wife's hip replacement. This tour company is one of the best tour companies I have dealt with. You do not know how good a tour company is until you have a major problem. To our travel specialist, thank you for arranging a great tour and helping us.

Zicasso’s travel specialist and the tour company were terrific! They made the process very easy and in every city we were welcomed by a representative from the company.

The overall trip was fantastic! Our driver was excellent. His driving skills were masterful and made our journey very comfortable. The overall traffic in India was overwhelming and while we've heard stories about it, it is something you need to experience for yourself. Our driver did a great job of navigating the traffic in an efficient manner and we always felt very safe.

Agra was amazing. Getting up before sunrise to see the Taj made the experience even more memorable. Thank you for arranging that. Compared to some of our friends who have gone, the lack of significant crowds at that time made a big difference to the overall experience. I was not as impressed with our hotel in Agra. It felt more like a large chain hotel and lacked the five-star luxury that I would have expected. The visits to the marble factory and tapestry collective were excellent. We really enjoyed the visits and ended up with amazing souvenirs. We loved our guide in Agra. He was by far the best one we had on the trip. He took the time to learn all of our names and was very engaging during our day together. We asked him a lot of questions about the culture and lifestyle in India, and he was great.

Jaipur was great. The Amber Fort and elephant ride were definitely the highlights in that city. The large cannon we could have done without. It didn't really add anything. We enjoyed the City Palace and the astronomic gardens as well. The hotel was fabulous and truly a five-star experience. Our rooms were very spacious and the food was great. We had an outside dinner planned at a restaurant in Jaipur (one of your recommendations) and our driver was so helpful in getting us to and from the restaurant. Our guide was good, but less friendly and more transactional. One of our group felt like he was more of a professor lecturing to us. Nonetheless, the information was very good.

Jodhpur was probably the other major highlight for us. We loved the city. The stay in the old city and our hotel in Jodhpur was excellent. The restaurant on site had amazing food and the rooms were again very spacious, with amazing views of the fort. Another five-star luxury experience. We were amazed by the beauty of the fort and impressed with the way it was built on top of the mountain. Amazing! We also enjoyed the City Palace and, in the future, would suggest arranging a dinner or lunch at the hotel there so we could have gone to see what the rest of the palace looked like by visiting the hotel.

The drive from Jaipur to Jodhpur was very long. Not much to do about that. It was obviously very convenient to have all of our luggage with us in the van between cities and doing flights may have taken the same amount of time. We also really enjoyed our guide here. He took us on tours of the local areas in the old city, including the stepwells, market, and blue city. While it was very enjoyable, it was also a little overwhelming for some of our group. Probably one of them would have chosen to stay at the hotel rather than walk around the blue city, but everyone else had a great time on that tour.

Udaipur was lovely and we really enjoyed the City Palace tour and the boat ride on the lake. I would have suggested staying at one of the hotels on the lake there as an option. Had we not been at the wedding, I would have loved the experience of staying at one of the hotels on the lake. Our hotel in Udaipur was nice, but far from everything. Obviously, we had no choice, as that's where the wedding took place.

Overall, an amazing trip. Once in a lifetime. I would love to go back to India and focus on other parts of the country.