Your passport to adventure
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PHONE: 0800 448 596
Bursting with colour, sights and sounds, the diverse natural and cultural history of India is wonderful to immerse yourself in. On one of our India tours, you'll find that this beautiful country is the home of breath-taking contrasts, vibrant places and people, as well as the most impressive landscapes.
All of our staff have visited and explored India, so we know it well and really enjoy opening its doors to new visitors, and showing repeat travellers places and experiences they haven't considered before.
Our India tour packages have been completely re-worked and updated with itineraries designed to strike a balance between including must-see sites like the Taj Mahal, the Golden Triangle and the Golden Temple, with a range of different activities and local experiences much more off the beaten track.
Examples of this on our India tours could include a walk through fields and homesteads with a local villager on the opposite bank of the Yamuna River to the Taj Mahal, more exploration on foot through villages and markets, and performing Langar Sevar (helping prepare and serve food) in the huge community kitchen at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
With an updated and improved selection of hotels, including some fascinating heritage properties, smaller group sizes, and excellent drivers and guides, we're confident in saying that our current itineraries will provide travellers with the best India tours money can buy. You will find both small-group, shoestring and tailor-made tours featured.
All of our India tour packages, including the group tour itineraries, can be run privately and customised to fit your personal requirements, interests, budget and available dates. For more information about this beautiful country, here are 10 things not to miss in India.
Do you want to know more about India and its beauty? Or do you need accurate visa information?
Contact the India tourism board for more information.
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The currency in India is the Indian rupee (sign: ?; code: INR). The rupee is subdivided into 100 paise (singular: paisa). 5 rupees 75 paise would normally be written as ?5.75.
There are many ATMs in most towns, but we suggest carrying cash as a backup. A useful technique is to keep small notes (?10-50) in your wallet or in a pocket, and to keep larger notes separate. Then, it will not be obvious how much money you have.
Indian food has a well-deserved reputation for being hot, owing to the Indian penchant for the liberal use of a variety of spices, and potent fresh green chilies or red chilies powder - however the degree of spiciness does vary throughout the country.
It is, of course, impossible to do full justice to the range and diversity of Indian food - not only does every region of India have a distinctive cuisine, but you will also find that within a region its communities have different styles of cooking and often have their own signature. The adventurous traveler is to try various by lanes of the city and look for food in unlikely places like temples in search of culinary nirvana.
Indian food has a well-deserved reputation for being hot, owing to the Indian penchant for the liberal use of a variety of spices, and potent fresh green chilies or red chilies powder - however the degree of spiciness does vary throughout the country.
It is, of course, impossible to do full justice to the range and diversity of Indian food - not only does every region of India have a distinctive cuisine, but you will also find that within a region its communities have different styles of cooking and often have their own signature. The adventurous traveler is to try various by lanes of the city and look for food in unlikely places like temples in search of culinary nirvana.
Planning a trip in India depends not only on the length of your stay but also what all you would like to do and see. However, you can leave all the planning to us if you book your India trip with us - have a look at what tours we have to offer here.
While meal prices in India can vary, the average cost of food in India is around RS468 per day.
If you’re plan on dining out then it’s good to note that an average meal in India should cost around RS187 per person – breakfast prices are usually cheaper than lunch or dinner.
While many countries have one national language, India has a different language for each of its 29 states.
India still harbours a place for English. English is widely spoken – so much so, that there is a whole new word that describes the way English words creep into the local vernacular: Hinglish.
Yes, the CDC and WHO recommend the following vaccinations for India: hepatitis A, hepatitis B, typhoid, cholera, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, rabies, meningitis, polio, measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis), chickenpox, shingles, pneumonia and influenza.
How much your trip to India costs is determined by how long you’re planning on staying and what you plan on doing and seeing. At Encounters Travel we offer a wide range of tours that caters to every type of traveller – tours range from $1135 per person. Have a look at our India tours here.
The Taj Mahal - bigger and more majestic in person. This world wonder was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and took over twenty-two years to complete.
Ideally, try and visit only one region in a time frame of two weeks. You can do a good mix of highlight places and some less popular places in North India, or the same for South India. You could also look at an 8-9 day North India tour and end with 4-5 days on the beach.
The best time to visit India is between October and March when the monsoon rains have stopped and the country starts to warm up.
The climate does vary considerably by region though this is the peak travel season in Rajasthan and Kerala due to the agreeable weather conditions.
India is commonly known as one of the least expensive destinations for travellers. For those of you on the tightest of budgets, you could survive here in India with a daily spending limit of $15 per day.
The best time to visit is between October to March as the weather is warm, dry and sunny.
India usually only experiences three seasons a year – mainly, summer, monsoon, and winter. The north of India will experience extreme heat in the summer and icy cold winters . November to January is the winter season whereas April and May are the hotter months – there is a brief spring season in February and March but mainly in North India.
India experiencing autumn is debatable but the ancients have identified such a season among the five other seasons: Vasanta - Spring, Greeshma - Summer, Varsha - Rainy, Sharat - Autumn, Shishira - Winter, and Hemanta - mild winter.
The currency in India is the Indian rupee (code: INR). The rupee is subdivided into 100 paise (singular: paisa). 5 rupees 75 paise would normally be written as 5.75.
There are many ATMs in most towns, but we suggest carrying cash as a backup. A useful technique is to keep small notes (10-50) in your wallet or in a pocket, and to keep larger notes separate. Then, it will not be obvious how much money you have.
Encounters Travel did such a superb job in organizing this tour. I had never heard of them before going on the Maldives Magic tour, however now I will recommend them to friends/family and use them for my future planned trips.
Our tour is what made the trip that much more memorable. Rather than being plopped at a westernized resort, we were able to get a taste of how the locals live, eat and entertain themselves. We stayed in quaint guesthouses on the islands amongst the locals, ate authentic Maldivian cuisine (one day even with a Maldivian family who made us breakfast), and viewed a traditional dance/singing performance which was absolutely delightful. This was a trip of a lifetime that I will never forget.
Anthony has been amazing throughout my planning of my tour. He has been very quick in replying to my emails and always answering with everything I wanted to know.
I look forward to hopefully planning my next trip through him next year!
There was a lot of communication from the beginning. The encounters staff was very responsive and the tour guide was great and very accommodating. Encounters was also able to help me with last minute changes to my itinerary while I was on the trip.
Ant provided excellent service. He always responded as quickly as he could, attending to the questions I had for him. He was also very patient and pleasant. I depended on his knowledge and service to make the trip.
I liked the service and the tour guide & driver on the tour. They were professional and provided very good service. I thought 1-2 hotels on the trip were not quite 4-star. It also happened that this group of people was always late for schedule and our walk pace was too slow. It really needs the guide to make people on schedule and be punctual for the activity. Overall I think the time management of this tour needs improvement.
Took care of every single detail from prior to our arrival in Cario until we we're dropped of at the airport a week later.
Our hotels, tours, meals, and tour group we're all wonderful.
Our tour guide was wonderful!
The price was great and the people wonderful!
Time: GMT+5:30
Dial Code: +91
Area: 3,287 million km2
Elevation: The lowest point In India is Kuttanad at 2.2m (7.2 ft.) | The highest point in India is Kangchenjunga at 8,586m (28,169 ft.)
Population: 1,354,051,854 (2018)
Capital: New Delhi
Governemnt: Parliamentary system
Language: Hindi, English
India also called the Republic of India is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast.
The Indian subcontinent was the birthplace of the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE. The following millennium saw the composition of the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism.
In 2017, the Indian economy was the world's sixth largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. After market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the fastest growing economies in the world and is considered a newly industrialised country.
With a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society, India also has a variety of wildlife in a collection of protected habitats. The Indian climate is greatly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar Desert.
The two major language families that are spoken in India include Indo-Aryan (spoken by about 74% of the population) and Dravidian (spoken by 24% of the population). India has no national language, but Hindi has the largest number of speakers and is the official language of the government. English is used in administration, business and education. India is renowned for its religious diversity and Hinduism is the predominant religion, followed by Islam.
Our video features aim to bring our adventure tours to life in a way that no photo can, giving you a great taste of the destination.
Need some travel inspiration or looking for some handy travel tips? Our blog provides excellent insight into our travel destinations - from tour updates to country guides, packing lists to little known things to do, you'll find it all in our travel blog.
Travel guide to some of the most beautiful and interesting place to visit on an Encounters Travel tour of India.
Landlocked 2,000-year-old Nepal is surrounded by China and India.
