15 of the best new tours to India

Nov 07, 2023

According to popular Indian culture, British tourists fall into two camps. There are the "old India hands", who haggle with zest and love nothing better than haring off on two-stroke auto-rickshaws in the dusty thrum of the midday heat. And there are the "greenhorns": think wide-brimmed hats, non-negotiable air con and fortifying G&T sundowners. Happily, the subcontinent has always provided for these two distinct tribes. Its five-star hotels — the august Taj, Oberoi and Leela estates — are without compare in their service ethic (and a relative snip at an average cost of £150 per night) while, whether it be tracking tigers in Madhya Pradesh or camel trekking across Rajasthan's golden deserts, there are heart-in-your-throat adventures to be had in every Indian state.

Old hands or no, imminent arrivals in India for the traditional peak travel season (October-February) will find a few things have changed. A burgeoning Indian middle class and two years of closed borders have led to a boom in domestic tourism, with leading destinations such as Jaipur (the pink city) in Rajasthan and beachy Goa seeing brisk bookings. Hotels, launching by the tens each week in mid-range categories (20 Marriotts alone are slated to open in India in the next 18 months), are simultaneously adjusting to these new tourists’ love of home style, regional food (see the hyperlocal focus of the hotel chain SeleQtions) and preference for gleaming bling over old-timey chintz. The Palace on Wheels, a luxury tourist train, has lowered its rates by 30 per cent and launched shorter routes with these domestic travellers in mind.

The pandemic has also been an opportunity for some heritage housekeeping, with the Taj Mahal, Humayun's Tomb in Delhi and the 16th-century Old City of Hyderabad all undergoing major restorations. Elsewhere, newly-launched ethical travel companies are seeking to channel tourist income into the lands of India's tribal communities.

From the luxury-hotel sector comes big news courtesy of the launch of Six Senses Fort Barwara following the ten-year restoration of an ancient Rajasthani royal bastion, with its old zenana, or women's quarters, now hosting the sumptuous Ayurvedic spa. Inspired by maharajahs’ travelling caravans, luxury tented camps are also hot property, with the Untamed Bandhavgarh — vast, all-mod-cons canvas dwellings in a tiger-rich Madhya Pradesh national park — new for 2022.

● 15 unforgettable places to visit in India● When is the best time to go to India?

Talking of tigers, now is a good moment to get close to these venerable Indian felines. The pandemic and breeding programmes have together led to such a population boom that, in leading tiger-spotting national park Ranthambore, hotels have had to install water cannons to stop the Bengals swiping tourists’ breakfast idli (rice cake) and sambar stew.

All in all, and especially as India celebrates 75 years of independence from British rule, there's never been a better time to plan that big trip to the subcontinent.

Sally Howard is the author of The Kama Sutra Diaries: Intimate Journeys Through Modern India (Hachette, £9.99)

The steam-powered liners that once afforded Britons a "passage to India" are no more, but Viking Cruises’ itinerary of the same name, sailing on the 2022-launched all-veranda small ship Viking Mars, is a 21-day flight-free epic offering a flavour of those old maritime routes. Departing from Athens, you will sail the Aegean to Israel, the Red Sea to Egypt and Jordan, and the Arabian Sea to Oman and eventually Mumbai, with nine expert-guided tours (including Cairo, Muscat and Mumbai) en route.Details Twenty nights’ full board in Owner's Suite from £20,990pp, including gratuities, return flights and transfers (vikingcruises.co.uk)

Occupying a clement nook between jungle and mountains on the banks of the Ganges, Rishikesh is the gateway to the Himalayas and the capital of India's globe-conquering spiritual-health practice, yoga. New for 2022, this retreat combines hatha yoga, pranayama (breathing) and meditation practices, and an Ayurvedic (Indian holistic health) consultation, with a Hindu fire ritual, hearty vegetarian eats and a chance to poke around local craft stores.Details Eleven nights’ full board from £1,362pp, including 40 taught hours and local tours (responsibletravel.com). Fly to Delhi or Dehradun

This safari into the interior of India in Madhya Pradesh offers a more intimate way to spot these handsome big cats in the wild than the classic Ranthambore pitstop. The tour takes in tiger habitats in tropical deciduous forest at Pench National Park and at Bandhavgarh, a biodiverse grassland region that's home to Bengal tigers, leopards and deer. The tour is low-impact, employing local guides with decades of experience in tiger tracking; accommodation is in luxury tented camps with all the mod cons.Details Ten nights’ B&B from £4,395pp, including flights and transfers (abercrombiekent.co.uk)

With no single supplement, the small-group Exotic India tour takes in the highlights of northern India, from the atmospheric capital Delhi, to the palaces of the state of Rajasthan and tigers in Ranthambore, via a stay in a traditional haveli (ornate marble and sandstone mansion), a scenic ride passing waterfalls on the toy train to Deogarh and a dinner overlooking the silvery expanse of Udaipur's Lake Fateh Sagar. You’ll also stop at Agra for that luminous tribute to romance: the Taj Mahal.Details Twelve nights’ half-board from £3,295pp, including flights and transfers, two safaris and entrance fees; average of 12 people on the group tour (coxandkings.co.uk)

This 19-day tour includes a trip in a private carriage on the famous narrow-gauge route to the hill station at Shimla, a steam-train journey to Shoghi amid the plunging mountains of Himachal Pradesh, and breathtaking journeys by rail to Darjeeling and Udhagamandalam (Ooty). The rail specialist Ffestiniog promises to deliver "fierce gradients", though will also deliver you, happily, to the Golden Temple at Amritsar, the Taj Mahal in Agra and the tea plantations of Darjeeling for a nerve-restoring cup of chai.Details Eighteen nights’ half-board from £6,250pp, including flights, transfers and an expert guide (ffestiniogtravel.com)

The wellness specialist Health and Fitness Travel combines the best of a point-to-point highlights tour with en route R&R in this, a whip around the must-see spots in mountainous northern India. From Delhi you’ll head to yogic Rishikesh; to Dharamshala for fine mountain scenery and the Dalai Lama's temple; and on to Amritsar for the Golden Temple, that gloriously gilded spiritual cradle of the Sikh faith. Wellness (or "recover moments" as the company cutely terms them) comes in the guise of ashram meditation sessions, yoga classes, Tibetan healing and Ayurvedic spas.Details Ten nights’ B&B from £1,918pp, including some additional meals, transfers and excursion costs (healthandfitnesstravel.com). Fly to Delhi

This history tour from new-kid-on-the-block India specialist Millis Potter takes you to the sites of key events in the history of British India. You’ll visit the room that hosted independence talks at Shimla and stay at Wildflower Hall, the former residence of commander-in-chief Lord Kitchener. Take the train to Lucknow, where the erstwhile British residency still shows the scars of musket fire from the 1857 Indian Rebellion against colonial rule, and continue to a tea bungalow in the fields of Darjeeling, accompanied throughout by an expert local guide.Details Fourteen nights’ B&B from £3,995pp, including some meals and all internal flights and transfers (millispotter.com). Fly to Mumbai

One for animal lovers, this, from the horse riding tour specialist Saddle Travel, combines five days of riding on native Marwari horses (guided by venerable Indian horse-breeder Ajeet Singh) with wildlife spotting in mountainous northwest India. The trail begins high up in the Aravalli Hills of Rajasthan, descending through forests on old camel tracks to desert plains where leopards roam free at nightfall. Rest saddle-weary limbs on linen-draped beds in a grand tented camp. It's glamping in the regal sense of the word, with plumbed-in porcelain loos.Details Seven nights’ full board from £2,195pp, including local transfers and guides (saddletravel.com). Fly to Udaipur

The hustle and bustle of the commercial capital Mumbai (still known as Bombay to many Indians) and the palm-fringed beaches of Goa make for a classic twin-destination trip. You’ll take a dawn tour as Mumbai wakes and then learn about the entrepreneurial spirit at play in Dharavi, one of Asia's largest slums, before bedding down (with renewed perspective) at the five-star Trident Nariman Point. In Goa, at the rice paddy-fringed Alila Diwa boutique resort, you’ll have a full five days to enjoy golden sands and coconut liqueur cocktails before flying back direct to the UK.Details Ten nights’ B&B from £3,295pp, including flights and some additional meals (audleytravel.com)

Pushkar Camel Fair (held this year from November 1-9) is the cultural highlight of the Rajasthani calendar, a teeming assembly of merchants, musicians, local comedians and manicured and grunting dromedaries. Exodus's Colours of Rajasthan two-week tour covers the rest of the bases in the palace and desert state, including the dazzling pink city of Jaipur, the lakes at Udaipur and palace-dotted Jodhpur.Details Thirteen nights’ B&B from £2,299pp, including flights and airport transfers (exodus.co.uk)

Calcutta was the commercial centre of British India and today its faded charms combine with rich Bengali literature, art and food scenes. This tour takes you from the Bay of Bengal to one of Hinduism's most sacred sites at Varanasi, where sadhus (holy men) recite mantras and altars are strewn with garlands of fragrant jasmine. From here you’ll travel to Khajuraho, a temple town that offers a lively insight into the culture that gave us the Kama Sutra, where acres of beehive temples are adorned with carvings of gods and mortals in flagrante.Details Ten nights’ B&B from £6,800pp, including return flights, transfers, activities and some additional meals (originaltravel.co.uk)

With its grand landscapes and rainbow textiles, India is a snapper's dream. This small two-week group photography tour runs you through the basics on an itinerary that takes in the tribal villages of Nagaland, Kaziranga Nature Reserve (home to the great Indian one-horned rhinoceros), elephant safaris and the tea plantations of Assam.Details Thirteen nights’ full board from £4,150pp, including domestic flights and transfers, photography tuition and guides (responsibletravel.com). Fly to Calcutta

Kerala is reputed for its backwaters and golden-sand beaches, and its Western Ghats mountain range creates a microclimate perfect for growing rubber, coconuts, spices and tea. Exodus's moderate-going 15-night walking holiday (walking on five days, with porterage) traverses tea and spice terraces as you climb to the vistas of Meesapulimala Peak (2,630m). Cultural stops include the uplifting Sri Meenakshi temple at Madurai and the old trading port of Kochi (Cochin).Details Fourteen nights’ B&B from £1,749pp, including 12 additional meals and transfers (exodus.co.uk). Fly to Kochi

With its chaotic pace, India can seem overwhelming to family travellers. This itinerary in laid-back Kerala is an easy introduction to the subcontinent, taking in coffee and vanilla plantations, elephant-spotting at Eravikulam National Park, and a charming backwater boat cruise, with stays throughout at small family-run boutique hotels.Details Fourteen nights’ B&B from £10,700pp for a family of four, including flights, transfers, a driver/guide and excursions (stubbornmuletravel.com)

New from Kuoni's cultural-tours offshoot, Alfred&, this bespoke Mumbai and Goa package gets you up close with the idols (and idiosyncrasies) of India's celluloid city. In Mumbai you’ll join a dance workshop, visit a working film set and try your hand at dubbing a movie in a Bollywood sound studio before bedding down in a luxury hotel, the Taj Mahal Palace. Then it's on to the Taj Exotica resort in Goa, where the golden sands of Benaulim beach and private plunge pools beckon.Details Seven nights’ B&B from £2,290pp, including flights and private transfers (kuoni.co.uk)

● UK nationals need a visa to travel to India. Suspended during the pandemic, e-visas have yet to be reinstated; check for the latest guidance at indianvisaonline.gov.in. At the time of writing, it is best to apply in person at the VFS Indian Consular Application Centre in London, with this option taking about two weekss (vfsglobal.com). For more information, visit hcilondon.gov.in.

● Travellers to India also need to upload Covid-19 vaccination details or proof of a negative Covid-19 RT-PCR report, with this test having been conducted within 72 hours before undertaking their journey (upload via the Air Suvidha portal at newdelhiairport.in). Children under five are exempt from Covid-19 testing.

● The Indian Ministry of Tourism has a 24-hour multilingual telephone helpline on fee-free number 1800 11 1363 providing visitors to India with information about travel and tourism.

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