29 Dec 2021
Just finished an extremely enjoyable and memorable whirlwind tour of North India -- Delhi, Jaipur, Ranthambore, Fatehpur Sikri and Agra -- in five days! This tour is an excellent option for people who only have a compressed timescale and want to do as much tourism as possible in a short timeframe.
You get your own comfortable vehicle with driver who will take you from one point on your itinerary to another. The driver was very friendly, helpful and accommodative to all our needs as he drove us from one city to another. In each city we got our own knowledgeable, english-speaking tour guide who would show us the points of interest that we wanted to see. At every stop we appreciated the fact that our tour guides knew the fastest ways of getting us past the crowds and in and out of the attractions. We also appreciated the end-to-end comfort that our driver (Pratap Singh) gave us. We had only to eat, sleep and be ready for the next day for more tourism; the driver solved all the remaining logistical problems for us. The hotel accommodations were also excellent. The dinner with the authentic Rajasthani family was an unexpected treat!
Two helpful tips:- 1) Your guides and driver make a tenth of what you make, so understand the system of tipping in India to get the best out of them. 2) Have a sense of the major highlights you want to see. There is so much to see that you probably won't get to see it all. Your tour guide is basically infinitely malleable to your wishes. If you choose unwisely, your tour guide will just as happily show you a local bazaar and let you skip a World Heritage Site!