Portrait of India

brookvillenancy

I have traveled a lot but have never traveled with Tauck. I was attracted to the 18 India tour and would like to hear from someone who has been on it. Though I am not averse to shopping I really want to learn about the history culture customs and religion of India. I hav registered for a small group trip in January 2014. Please give me some feedback. Thank you

Ken from Vegas

We went last year. There will be history, culture and customs aplentry on the trip. I think if you look through the detailed itinerary, you will get a good idea. Lots of temples, mogul palaces, Ghandi shrines and so on. Local guides are provided at all the major sites and we had talks at the hotels in Delhi and Cochin from local professors. However, like any tour, there's only so much they can impart to you in brief time (it's a big and complex country). Reading up will help you put things in context. I suggest Michael Wood's excellent "The Story of India (a PBS/BBC television series with a companion book). If you have time on your own in Delhi or Mumbai, think about hiring a local guide for the day through the concierge desk at the hotel. This can be done at a reasonable price.

Although you will have time to shop, Tauck isn't one of those companies that forces you to shop so the tour director gets a kickback (in fact, this is prohibited by Tauck). This means you don't waste time on the tour shopping (one of the many reasons why we're taking our fifth tour with Tauck this year). Shopping opportunities are provided in Jaipur and Varanasi, but they are purely optional and don't take a lot of time away from the tour.

I strongly recommend this tour! We had a wonderful time.

btoohill

We went on this trip this past February. We have been on 4 other Tauck tours so we knew it would be good. But it was even better than we anticipated. Both the local guides and our Tauck tour director were extremely knowledgeable. When we had spare time on the bus, our Tauck tour director kept us totally engaged with his extensive experience with Indian culture. He had handouts on history and religion which expanded on the knowledge we got from local guides. We talked about books to read and movies to see that would enhance our experience when we returned. This tour is very well designed. You see most of the major sights and experience the country as much as you could in the 18 day period and the sequencing is just right with the heavier touring in the beginning and some relaxation at the end. The concierge at the hotel in Delhi suggested some things to see on our free day and afternoon and if I had it to do over again I would stay an extra day in Mumbai since our time there is short. The hotels and food options were sublime. You stay in some of the best hotels in the world and have the option to eat a la carte at most places. If you like Indian food (we do), you get the opportunity to try some fabulous dishes from both the north and the south. For those who were not huge fans of Indian food all the time, there were other options.

scottol

I just got back from the Spotlight tour (12 days vs the full 18) and it is wonderful. Having done 2 other Tauck tours, this one is going to be hard to beat. Have a great time!!