Vanessa
India
Family
I arrived in India on March 8 as the COVID-19 was ramping up worldwide. Everywhere along the way, we received excellent service from the greeters at the airports and train stations, to the tour guides and drivers. Our tour guide in Kolkata weaved in my family history sites with a walking tour covering the daily life of Kolkata. Schools were shuttered due to COVID, though he ensured our access and a tour of a school important to my family history. The driver skillfully navigated Kolkata traffic and was always at the ready. The same experience repeated in Mussoorie with our guide. It was imperative to visit my father’s school. He not only gained access, but conducted a customized tour (he graduated from this school). Our driver arrived two hours early to prepare for the day and then extended his day to drive us to the local airport due to unexpected travel changes. Sadly, my trip was suspended early due to COVID and India closing access to tourist attractions and suspending international flights. Upon request, our tour guide immediately secured alternative travel and lodging arrangements for my party to return to Delhi. Our local agent met us at a very crowded Delhi airport at 1 a.m. and escorted us to the airline check-in line and kindly waited with us until we received our boarding pass—this was extremely reassuring.
The best parts:
I whole-heartedly and without reservation recommend local agencies in parternship with Evaneos in India. I searched for months and read many reviews about the best tour companies servicing India. I required a customized tour based upon family history, taking me to areas of India not typically traveled by international tourists. I contacted many agencies such that advertised customized tours. While initially responsive, they ceased responding once I shared my special itinerary. Evaneos local agencies in India will customize itineraries based upon budget and location, including hotels and domestic transportation. Budget airlines mostly fly the domestic routes, so be clear if you want upgrades such as luggage allowances and seating. Our India travel advisor patiently worked with me for months to finalize my itinerary—I had many potential places to visit covering much of India, and he worked with me on the potential logistics to tailor the trip to fit within the designated number of days. He was also extremely timely in responding to my many emails.
4 go to India
India
Friends
We booked this big tour of India with*************. Throughout the booking process and the tour itself they have been fantastic. This made the trip a great success.
I would thoroughly recommend bespoke for anyone looking for a unique tailored trip to India.
The best parts:
The overall organisation of the trip, all the connections and transfers were perfect.
The drivers were all excellent, very safe and considerate.
The worst parts:
The only thing that wasn't perfect was the hotel in ooty. I have given feedback to *********** on the reasons. I believe they will not be using this hotel in the future.
Evaneos
Thank you for your feed back! See you around the world!
Antonio
India
Couple
Very enjoyable tour of Tamil Naidu with plenty of temples visits, the guides were all excellent and the driver Sinthil was very nice, courteous and professional. The cities are quite chaotic in India with heavy traffic, but this is compensated by the peace and countryside locations.
The best parts:
I really enjoyed the variety of places, the buzz and atmosphere of the cities and the peace of the countryside. I particularly enjoyed staying at *************lake resort, a haven of tranquillity in Kerala.
The worst parts:
There weren’t worst parts, however in hindsight the distances between places are quite long which means a lot of time spent in the car. Also packing and unpacking frequently isa bit tiring at times.
The breakfast in many hotels could be improved, particularly things like breads and toast needs improvement, as well as the offer of yogurts. Also the coffee in most places wasn't very nice and not to western standards, though I understand India doesn’t have a tradition on coffee.
The tax on luxury resorts on food and alcohol is too high and makes the cost of these items very expensive for foreigners too high. Entry fees to museums for foreigners is also too high. The government of each state should think about this carefully as westerners will otherwise choose other destinations.
Evaneos
Thank you for your feed back! See you around the world!
VK Kerala tour 2020
India
Couple
Kerala is a very exciting destination, the weather was perfect with blue skies, sunny and not too hot. The local food is a definite highlight. The comments on best/worst parts are stated above.
The best parts:
The meet and greet part at each stage was excellent and showed that the representatives of I*********** were genuinely interested in how our trip was proceeding. The driver throughout the trip was engaging, very informative, and went out of his way to look after us. The two days on the house boat at Alleppey was the best part - one day would not have been enough - and the captain and his crew, especially the chef, were caring and thoughtful during our stay. The food on the houseboat was the best on the trip. Old Kochi was lovely but two days was sufficient to see the sites. The ************ was the outstanding hotel by a long way. The visit to ******************* was delightful and well worth the time spent with him and his family. The buffet in the Cardamom County at Thekkady was, in contrast to the one in Munnar, very good. After the rather dismal boat ride on Lake Periyar, the elephant ride and time with the elephant afterwards - washing and feeding - was an absolute joy.
The worst parts:
The ************** hotel was the worst stay as unfortunately for the hotel and its staff, the ******************** were pile-driving a new quay directly in front of the hotel which meant the view was obscured and the noise incessant from dawn till well past dusk. The works are scheduled for several more months and were started last autumn so the tour company should have been aware of that. The restaurant provided excellent food but was empty except for us because of the noise. Our suite was at the back so did not suffer too much from the quay work - instead the building works and street noise were just as bad. The food in the*************** at Munnar was very poor and the buffet dishes were all cold or luke warm despite our eating in the restaurant first thing in the evening. The tour of the tea plantation and factory was unsatisfactory, it was more of a hike and not well organised but at least ************** accepted our complaint and resolved it satisfactorily immediately. The country roads are poor, which was to be expected, but our driver was caring and considerate and his vehicle was very comfortable so we had no cause to complain. The visit to the Spice Plantation at Thekkady was a waste of time as we had already done a far better one at Mr Tomy and was more about buying spices than seeing them being grown, and the planation's guide's English was poor and his knowledge was limited.
Evaneos
Thank you for your feed back! See you around the world!
Marco
India
Family
We particularly enjoyed our stay at Sariska, with its stunning scenery and wildlife and dedicated competent guides, and we were amazed to find it virtually deserted by international tourists.
The best parts:
Excellent organization and services. High standards of professionalism throughout.
The worst parts:
The fog and the coldest winter of the century. Unsurprisingly, many hotels are not prepared for such temperatures.
Evaneos
Thank you for your feed back! See you around the world!
LymdenGuy
India
Couple
There were many highlights and the culture and history of India are very rich and varied. The itinerary was well designed to cover a wide range of these highlights, whilst balancing it with interesting side activities to make sure we experienced both the current culture alongside the ancient (and also had time to enjoy a holiday). The local support was very comprehensive and well organised and the selection of the hotels en-route was good and matched our needs well.
The best parts:
A well balanced trip itinerary, with a combination of historic and religious sites intermixed with nature reserves, city and village walks and even an Indian cookery class.
Very comprehensive support from*********** at every step, including airport and hotel check-ins as well as ground transport.
The worst parts:
The /***********support only broke down once, in Ranthambore, but luckily the driver's own initiative recovered the situation.
Evaneos
Thank you for your feed back! See you around the world!
Alexander
India
Couple
Delhi was full of very kind people that were warm and very hospitable. The mountains around Rishikesh are very beautiful. The Taj Mahal was a bit of a let down as the pollution was thick, however we really enjoyed the Red Fort in Agra.
The best parts:
The guides took great initiative and took us to explore places a bit off the beaten road. They listened to what we were looking for and adapted our itineraries to fit in with what we like. Our tour organizer kept us up to date at every stage and was always extremely helpful.
The worst parts:
Some of the guides weren't very knowledgeable about the subjects and sites we visited. A lot of the information was incorrect (dates, places, people).
Evaneos
Hello Fanny,
Thank you so much for the positive feedback - we're so happy you've enjoyed a trip off the beaten path and that you were pleased with the guides that worked on your trip!
Until next time,
The Evaneos Team
Caro
India
Friends
I made this 16 days trip in November 2019 with a friend for my 40th birthday. We had a wonderful trip overall. We loved the diversity of the places we visited (Delhi, Agra, Darjeeling, Kolkata, Sundarbans and Varanasi). We visited essentials, but also more unknown places. I wanted to experience a total change of scenery, while maintaining a good level of comfort, and I was served!
The best parts:
The beautiful places we visited. The quality of the hotels and the restaurants. The contacts with the local population. The whole tour planned by our agency. The courtesy and excellent service from most guides and drivers. The fluidity of the transfers. Jay's patience and efficiency during the preparation stages. I had so many questions, and he always answered very quickly.
The worst parts:
We were a bit disappointed because we didn't see any tiger in the Sundarbans, but we still enjoyed our visit to this peaceful place, even if the level of comfort was not so high. In Kolkata, one of the guide was not as good as the others (spoke little) and took us to a store without asking us first.
Evaneos
Thank you for your feed back! See you around the world!
Meg F
India
Friends
Delhi - amazing, the step well was very interesting and Vic did a wonderful job showing us around.
Varanasi - very interesting and informative. Would have liked to do more in between the morning boat ride, the visit to Deer park and the evening ceremony.
Agra - great location. Some issues with getting to the wildlife rehab centers en route (see above).
Ranthambore - best part of the trip.
Jaipur - the home stay was lovely, especially celebrating Diwali here.
Jodphur - very nice accommodation.
Udaipur - very poor accommodation; not much to do and our flight was rescheduled with little notice.
The best parts:
Our driver was great - very reliable and consistent.
Our guides were also fantastic, especially Vic!
Our accommodations were, overall, very nice. The home stays were the best part.
The safari at Ranthambore was AMAZING!
Really enjoyed how flexible and tailored to our interests the tour was.
The worst parts:
Not very good time management on one of the days - we flew from Varanasi and then had a long drive to Agra, but were supposed to stop at a sloth bear and elephant rehab center, but both were closed when we arrived. We were still able to make it to the sloth bear rehab center, but it would have been good to take an earlier flight to allow time for both attractions.
Also, it was unclear who our main point of contact was throughout - was it our agent, or each local coordinator? We didn't hear much from either, and were only met in person by one local agent (Varanasi).
Evaneos
Thank you for your feed back! See you around the world!
Peter from Australia
India
Solo
Mumbai Dharvi slum tour? very interesting thriving community with excellent local guide Bortolo? Amber Fort @ Jaipur Cultural music and dance at Udaipur very entertaining after being a bit reluctant to go but strongly recommended by Rikki the guide Overnight trains from Mumbai to Udaipur and Udaipur to Jaipur were a very interesting way of seeing India and how the railways functioned
The best parts:
Outstanding organization by our local agent and guides spot on
Especially Drivers Ramesh,Bombay and Prim All pickups and drop off,s excellent. Hotel early check in made for acomfortable start to the the day with a chance to freshen up and relax a bit before heading out on the tours ***** Hotels I stayed in were 10/10 ,staff rooms and dining options available Vehicles were always immaculate and clean
The worst parts:
Did not have any worst parts
Alex
India
Friends
We started our journey in India at the end of April 2019. We received very warm hospitality from our local agency. The most and special thanks to Jay, our India Travel Advisor. The coordination of the entire trip was very good. We enjoyed to our fullest. And we must say and rather we would thank Jay, for making our India tour worth remembering. Our journey was very smooth. We would like to express our warmest thanks for the wonderful organization of our recent India trip. The local guides, all knowledgeable and speaking very good English introduced us to your country in a very agreeable way. If you ask me, what you can do better, I cannot give you any hint.
You provided us a new, always clean car with a very friendly, punctual, experienced and secure driver- Sanjay. A very special thank also to him - he was amazing, a world class chauffeur, tour guide and gentleman and we would definitely request him again, if needed. He has a gifted personality for this job and such a wonderful disposition. We found the service and response of this travel agency to be excellent. Easily 5-stars. My emails were promptly responded to by Jay. We will heartily recommend the local agency and most important Jay. It was an amazing 11 days trip, custom-made to suit our interests. And it was! Hence why we didn’t want to go home. Our driver and guides were consistently on time, well-informed, eager to please and great ambassadors for their respective regions. Our hotels were lovely, most with fabulous views and all with every amenity one could wish for. We explored major cities (New Delhi, Agra, Jaipur) and smaller towns (Ranthambore, Mandawa).
Everything was well planned and the itinerary was outlined well with easy to understand instructions. There are so many wonderful sites and things to do there. The people are friendly and willing to help. We were given a modem for WiFi access which was great! We would highly recommend that. It certainly was a trip we will never forget and we will definitely recommend your tour company to anyone we come in contact with.
Thank you for a wonderful experience!
The best parts:
Very good orhanized trip
Wanakom
India
Family
We enjoyed travelling as a family with 2 children (12 and 10) and the variety offered (cultural, nature, mountains, beach, food). We had a busy itinerary that kept both adults and children entertained and interested. We enjoyed interacting with people (the drivers, the local offering tours and cooking demonstrations), we liked the wildlife parks, the shows and visits to temples.
The best parts:
We liked everything!
Very happy with the arrangements - everything went smoothly and we felt looked after at all times.
When some issues arose (Madurai festival) alternative arrangements were made. The drivers were great; friendly, knowledgeable and very accommodating.
The worst parts:
We were a bit disappointed with the backwaters house boat tour. The boat was fitted to a high spec (air conditioned deck) which distracted from the experience (we weren't out in the open). The boat only did a very quick trip and we stayed where we left. We were aware of a wide range of possibilities of tours and boats and perhaps we could have been consulted to a greater degree at the time of organisation.
gamekeeper
India
Couple
Our trip involved travel to Delhi, Jodhpur, Narlai, Udaipur, Pushkar, Jaipur, Agra, and back to Delhi – the golden triangle with some extra gems. It was a fantastic trip and we will have many wonderful memories for years to come.
Narlai is where we were fortunate enough to see two leopards in the early morning, the female high up in the rocks, on a perfect spot for us to see her clearly. The other was her nearly adult cub who was nestled in the rocks much further down.
The Taj Mahal was unbelievably beautiful. We planned our trip to visit the Taj Mahal at sun rise at the end of the holiday before flying back to UK and it was truly spectacular. Luckily it wasn’t crowded and was worth getting up at 4.30am to see it in all its glory.
The best parts:
The quality of the hotels.
The worst parts:
1. Elephant Ride in Jaipur was ruined by the hawkers attempting to sell cheap trinkets. From the moment one got out of the car at the car park one was surrounded by groups of them and their constant efforts to sell did not stop even when on top of the elephant travelling around the paths. Hawkers would still follow the person on the elephant shouting out prices and continually attempting to pressure a sale. As it is a private site with security on the gate why do the management of the site allow this activity? I believe that you must use a different site for providing guests with elephant rides.
2. The hotel in Udaipur has a significant problem with its hot water heating system. We only had hot water in our room on one occasion in 3 days, even after raising the issue on a number of occasions with reception.
Can Travel
India
Couple
Both India and Nepal provided a wide variety of sites and experiences, from cultural, to historical, spiritual and natural environments. Guides and drivers were always helpful.
Although sometimes the pace seemed a bit hectic, there was some opportunity for independent exploring. In retrospect, perhaps a few more days dedicated to personal time following long drives and later flights would have been more relaxing.
The best parts:
The local guides and drivers were all effective and personable. All of the locations visited provided interesting sites and activities. The pace was a little hectic and there were a few very early flights that were exhausting, however, we felt that things were well organized and efficient at the local level.
The worst parts:
Communication was lacking on the part of the Delhi office and, in particular, with Stanzin. After arrival in India, our emails often went unanswered. The last minute issuance of airline tickets caused unnecessary stress. These were tickets we had already paid for. In other trips we have taken, all tickets were provided at the start of the trip. This was unacceptable. In Agra we sat on the side of the road at night while arrangements were being made for accommodations. In Delhi no guide had been arranged; again we waited while Stanzin et al tracked down a guide.
Evaneos
Hello,
Thank you for providing your post trip feedback to us. We are delighted to read that you enjoyed your trip and found that everything was well organised and efficient. :) We also highly appreciate all feedback from our travellers to ensure that we can improve our partner's services where necessary, and so value your points made regarding communication issues with the agent. We will certainly follow up on this with the agency for the future. Thank you for travelling with Evaneos and we hope to see you on our platform again in the future! :) kind regards, the Evaneos team.
HLF
India
Couple
The country itself was amazing and we will be back, our driver was excellent at navigating the very tricky roads, the hotel's were excellent and a mixture of chain and quirky. I loved all the animals by the roadside, including the cows.
The best parts:
The whole thing was fantastic. India is amazing and the tour company organised the whole thing beautifully
The worst parts:
Nothing really. Except the plastic rubbish that finds its way onto the hills
