Vacation India Reviews and Feedback from Real Travelers
Real travel reviews you can trust. Every single review here has been written by a real traveler who has booked a trip through VacationIndia.com and traveled with us. We are always very grateful for feedback from our guests, as it helps us to constantly improve! Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. We would be happy to plan your India trip for you!
Rajasthan and Varanasi at its best
**This review was written in German and has been translated using Google Translator
Despite many reservations in advance to travel to India, we finally dared a trip to Rajasthan and were not disappointed at all. Quite the opposite. Thanks to Mr. Vikas this vacation became an unforgettable experience. We booked this tour on the Internet. The basic program was perfect for us. Minor additions and corrections were never a problem. Mr. Vikas did everything perfectly to our complete satisfaction, so that we were always in good hands from the first moment in India until the flight home. Great hotels with booked dinners were just as super as all the sights with very good guides. Thanks also to the very pleasant driver Madan. With Mr. Vikas we were daily in contact via whatsapp and could exchange our impressions and experiences. All in all an impressive India trip that left nothing to be desired. Thank you for the great organization.
We will definitely book another trip to India with Mr. Vikas again.
Adventure West India - Round trip through Gujarat
**This review was written in German and has been translated using Google Translator
Once again we entrusted the team of vacationindia.com and Vikas with the planning of our trip to explore West India. All our specifications, wishes and expectations were fully met. And so we could enjoy our trip to the fullest without any problems or difficulties.
Our now fourth trip to India led us to Gujarat. We followed in the footsteps of the father of the nation – Mahatma Gandhi – and got to know the Jain religion by visiting the temple city in Palitana; we looked over the shoulders of the craftsmen in the Banni tribal villages and tried to spot the lions in the thicket of the Gir National Park; we took breathtaking photos in the most incredible buildings, e.g. in the Sun Temple of Modar. e.g. in the sun temple of Modhera or in the Stepwell Rani-Ki-Vav and relaxed on the deserted beach of Mandhvi; we enjoyed a good wine in the Sula-Vinyards and visited the busy alleys of Ahmedabad on foot on the Heritage Walk. The many experiences were topped off with flavorful cuisine and very tasty food. We enjoyed the best thalis at Vishalla Restaurant and House of MG in Ahmedabad and are a must for anyone visiting this city.
We started in Ahmedabad with a walking tour of the city on the Hertiage Walk and a visit to Sabamarti Ashram. On the way to Little Run of Kutch, we visited the Sun Temple in Modhera and the most incredible fountain I have seen, Rani-Ki-Vav.
On our jeep safaris in the Little Rann of Kutch, we discovered an amazing variety of birds and visited the Wild Ass Sanctuary.
We interrupted the long drive to Mandvi for small stops in the villages of Dhamadka and Dhaneti. Here cloth is still being printed by hand using the old traditional block printing technique. Of course, some cloths changed hands here.
Meeting the people in the Banni tribal villages left a great impression. They live in round mud huts called “Bhunga”. These are artfully decorated inside with paintings or small mirror artworks. We discovered embroideries in the Harijana community, in the village of Nirona we could watch a master of the centuries-old art “Rogan” at work, listen to the melodious production of copper bells of the Lohar tribe and watch how the Vadhas tribe transforms wood with colorful paints into household goods.
Probandar, is actually off the typical route and doesn’t have that much to offer in terms of tourism. However, if you are interested in the life and work of Mahatma Gandhi, you must make a stop here. The birthplace and the neighboring Kirti Mandir, a memorial to Mahatma and his wife were our destination here.
Now the visit to Gir National Park was on the agenda for us. We were looking forward to two safaris and a great photo with a lion. Good luck!
The holy mountain Shatrunjaya of the Jains with almost 900 temples is one of the pilgrimage sites of the Jains. Every devout Jain should reach the top of the mountain once in his life. And we also wanted to enjoy the sight of the temples and the view over the country. To reach this goal, only about 3500 steps had to be conquered. Whew! Due to the great heat, one should start the ascent before 8 o’clock and take enough to drink on the way. Even though it took us a little longer than planned to climb, we all still made it to the top. Yes, we were all quite proud and happy.
Thank you for the many new unforgettable impressions we were able to gather on this tour. And it definitely makes you want to do more. Vikas, promised the next trip will not be long in coming. We are already full of anticipation.
Travels in India
Nicholas Goslett, Brighton & Hove, UK
I am a Trustee for an educational charity in Kovalam, a poor fishing village just south of Chennai. I visit each year for a week and then go off wandering in India. I am always reassured by Vikas being there for me at all times: giving me excellent advice whilst I plan the journey; helping me to book trains and planes and buses and the odd hotel (I travel light and usually book bed-and-breakfasts or hotels the day before); always on hand if I have a problem.
My first trip (at the age of 67) was for six weeks to Mysore, Hassan, Hampi (my favourite place in India) then up to Rajasthan visiting Jaipur (where I introduced an Egyptian to the mysteries of 20-20 cricket), Shekawati, Pushkar (where I purchased two tabla which were made for me and shipped to England), Bundi (with the Palace which Kipling described as “the work of goblins rather than of men”), Rathnambore (in a hopeless quest to see a tiger), Udaipur (where I had a superb yoga teacher), Jodhpur (where I chanced upon the sensational Rajasthan International Folk Festival in the fort with the full moon rising over the ramparts), and Jaisalmer (where I was ripped off for a two-day camel trek but loved it all the same). Being my first trip, I was so glad to have Vikas to book most of the long journeys and help me with accommodation when I needed it.
In 2014 I visited the North East , first with a trip splendidly organised by Vikas to the tribal area in Odisa, then on to Konark (another fishing village with children who called me Mr Pen since I gave so many pens away), Puri (with some bird watching), Varanasi (where I played cricket and flew kites with the boys on the beach and soaked up the religious feeling of the ghats and the Ganga) and finally Khajaraho (with the most beautiful, and erotic, carvings I have ever seen).
In February 2016 I decided to spend four weeks seeing more of Tamil Nadu than just Kovalam where we run the Venkat Educational Trust. Starting in Chidambaram (where I had a very strange evening with some Pentecostalists and visited the second largest Mangrove Forest in the world with three lovely girls from South America), I then spent a couple of days in Trichy (and wondered if I had had enough of temples and these Dravidian ones so different to those in other parts of India I had visited), came to Madurai (with the incredible temple which I visited so many times), spent twelve nights in a youth hostel in Kodaikanal (with two games of golf at the excellent 120 year-old course), and finally six days in an Ashram (which I didn’t want to leave – you go for the yoga and stay for the friends). This journey was pretty straightforward but once again Vikas was there to help if I needed it.
I learnt a good lesson during my 2018 trip to Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Shimla and Amritsar: don’t believe in one’s fantasies, check what it’s really like and plan it better! I was saved a couple of times by Vikas when a plane left four hours before the expected time and the Darjeeling Toy Train did not exist. The whole trip went pear-shaped: Darjeeling is now overtaken by 4-b-4s, not much to do in Kalimpong and the monsoon was playing such havoc with the roads to Shimla (which I was told was now much like Darjeeling). I abandoned the trip and flew home in time to watch the Ryder Cup.
Undaunted, this year I was back and travelling to Rishikesh (to take in the yoga and meditation) and Amritsar (to see the Golden Temple which is every bit as wonderful as I had been led to believe, and the Changing the Guard at the Wagah Border Crossing which is ludicrous but the Indians love it).
I can whole-heartedly recommend Vikas and Vacationindia for any help you need with your holiday in India, from planning it all for you or helping you like he does me!
Response from VacationIndia.com
Thanks Mr. Nick for the excellent feedback. We promise to keep the same level of our services!
Rajasthan round trip with New Delhi and Agra
**This review was written in German and has been translated using Google Translator
From the 1st to the 15th of October we traveled through the Indian state of Rajasthan. We had booked an individual trip for two persons with: Mr. Vikas Agrawal
During our search on the Internet we came across this address by chance.
Starting with the first contacts, transmission of necessary information, visa procurement etc. everything worked out perfectly. The organization on site and support by a German-speaking tour guide who accompanied us during the whole trip and additional, absolutely safe and experienced driver with an excellent and spacious car leaves nothing to be desired. The entire itinerary , the many impressions that were conveyed, made the trip for us an unforgettable experience that we would not want to miss. We are grateful to the tour operator, the tour guide and the driver for unforgettable days in a world that was new to us.
The different hotels all corresponded to the upscale European classification. The staff was always friendly and courteous and in an almost amiable way concerned about our well-being.
The daily schedule of the trip was very varied and in addition to numerous sightseeing tours, trips by bicycle rickshaw, tuktuk, train and boat trip, as well as a camel ride through the dunes at sunset were offered, which we gladly took advantage of.
Unfortunately, a wonderful trip went by much too quickly.
Trip through Gujarat
First a big thank you to our trip organizer and another thank you to Vikas and his team who were responsible for the actual execution. India is big and has a lot to offer in terms of interesting buildings, different crafts and culture. We decided to do a round trip through Gujarat. For me it was the first time and these big contrasts between the cleanliness e.g. in the temples and the many garbage outside I found frightening. But the people are very hospitable and the country is worth seeing. The support during our trip worked wonderfully. It was an interesting experience and I was able to look beyond my own nose again. Sabine