Our India Tour: A Review

India was the first destination on the itinerary when we put together our Big Adventure. A trip to India had been at the top of my bucket list for as long as I could remember, and Brett wanted to go as well, but we both knew it was not a place we were equipped to visit on our own, especially not for a first visit. We knew, unlike other destinations, that we needed some sort of organized tour.

So, I dug in and began researching tour companies . . . and there are a lot of them! However, one name kept coming up again and again, always with five-star reviews: Easy Tours – Luxury Travel Made Easy. The luxury part wasn’t what got my attention though; instead, it was the variety of tours that were offered and especially the small tour group sizes. Brett and I are not “tour people,” but Easy Tour’s groups were limited to no more than 12 people, and we later learned they often cap a group’s size at eight persons. Another aspect that appealed to us was the company’s focus on culturally immersive touring versus just getting us from place to place. Finally, Easy Tours is based in the U.S. (in Dallas, TX), one other reason we felt comfortable booking with them.

From making sure we had all of our paperwork in order before we traveled (visas are required to enter India), and meeting us at the airport upon arrival and getting us to our hotel to seeing us off at our departure, the attention we received from Easy Tours was personal and always available to make sure everything happened easily and effortlessly. We received exceptional service throughout the tour – our wonderful guide, Luke (Lokendra) was at the hotel every morning to greet us and let us know what was up for the day, and Raj, our driver, expertly got us from place to place without incident. Both spoke fluent English, and Luke’s knowledge of the places we visited was amazing. He was able to explain to us both cultural and historical aspects of things we were seeing, from ancient to modern, things that made the travel experience deeper. He kept us informed about life in India, its customs, etc. as well. We were able to see and sometimes experience aspects of Indian life that we might otherwise have missed, from rural life to glittering palaces, from religious traditions to India’s crowds and crazy traffic.

We took the 7-day Golden Triangle Tour; our tour partners were on the 11-day North India Highlight Tour, and continued on to Udaipur and Mumbai with Luke after we departed India for Hong Kong. Easy Tours offers two levels of service, Premium and Luxury, but we are hard-pressed to think of anything the Luxury level could offer that we didn’t receive at the Premium Level. Each hotel we stayed in was 5-star, the hotel and tour service superb and personalized, and the meals were amazing, whether at the hotel or when we were out and about (breakfast and lunch were covered in the tour price, and provided enough food that Brett and I never needed to eat dinner). Admission fees were always covered, with the highest level admission provided. Our day usually began around 9:30 a.m., and we were back at our hotel every afternoon by 4:00 p.m. in order to relax and enjoy the hotel’s amenities. There were no hidden costs along the way, and we felt we more than got every penny’s worth of what we spent for the tour. (Tipping for guides and drivers is culturally expected although not required, and Easy Tours provided us guidelines ahead of arrival so there were no surprises and we could budget accordingly.)

Both Brett and I hope to return to India someday – it was truly among the most memorable travel we have ever experienced. There is so much more of India that we want to see, and we would not hesitate to use Easy Tours again. We also would not hesitate to use them for travel in other parts of Southeast Asia.

(I am not receiving any compensation for this review; in fact, Easy Tours has no idea I even wrote this!)