Questions
The things people ask before they book
If yours is not here, ask us — a person will answer it.
Planning
Which visas will we need?
India: an e-Visa, applied for online four to thirty days before you fly, valid for most UK, US, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and EU passports. Nepal issues a visa on arrival at Kathmandu, or in advance if you prefer no queue. Sri Lanka uses an ETA. Bhutan’s permit is arranged by us as part of the booking, and the Maldives is free on arrival for thirty days. We send a checklist with your confirmation and chase it.
When is the best time to come?
It depends entirely where. North India and Rajasthan are at their best from mid-October to early March; by April, Jaisalmer is over 40°C. Kerala and the south run November to March. Ladakh opens in June and closes with the snow in early October. Bhutan is loveliest in late March for rhododendron and in October for clear Himalayan views. Sri Lanka has two monsoons on opposite coasts, so there is always somewhere dry.
Should we avoid the monsoon altogether?
No. June to September is the wrong time for Rajasthan forts, and the hill roads in Sikkim and Uttarakhand do slide. But it is the best time to be in Kerala, where Ayurvedic treatment is traditionally done in the rain, and the hills above Munnar are green in a way they never are in January. Ladakh sits in the rain shadow and is at its peak. Rain comes in bursts, not all day. Hotels are half price.
I’m a woman travelling on my own. Is this a sensible place to do it?
Yes, with the same care you would take anywhere, and rather more support than you would get travelling independently. You have a named driver who is with you the whole trip, a guide vetted by us in each city, and a phone number in Delhi that is answered at any hour. We choose hotels with a proper reception rather than a keybox, and we avoid arrivals after dark. Dress modestly at religious sites. Several of our planners are women who travel alone here regularly.
Money
How is a trip priced, and is there a single supplement?
We quote per person on twin-share, with everything but international flights, visas and personal spending included. As a guide, a twelve-night Rajasthan itinerary in heritage properties runs about ₹2,45,000 per person; the same trip in palace hotels closer to ₹4,80,000. Bhutan sits higher because of the government fee. Solo travellers pay a room supplement, typically ₹65,000 to ₹1,40,000 for a fortnight, which is the hotel’s charge, not ours — we look for properties that waive it.
What are your deposit and cancellation terms?
Twenty-five per cent confirms the booking and is what we use to hold rooms, permits and train berths; the balance is due sixty days before you arrive. Cancel more than ninety days out and you lose only what suppliers have already taken, usually the deposit. Between ninety and thirty days it is fifty per cent, and inside thirty days the trip is generally non-refundable, because the hotels have charged us. Peak-season palace hotels and Maldives resorts set stricter terms; we flag those before you pay.
What is Bhutan’s Sustainable Development Fee?
Bhutan charges every visitor a daily levy — currently USD 100 per adult per night, half that for children aged six to twelve, nothing under six — which goes to the government for healthcare, education and forest cover. It is separate from your hotel, guide and transport, and it is not optional or negotiable. We collect it with your balance and remit it when we apply for your permit. Longer stays sometimes attract discount nights; we will tell you if yours qualifies.
How much should we tip?
Nothing is expected on top of the trip price, but tipping is customary and welcomed. As a rough scale: ₹1,500 to ₹2,500 a day for your driver, ₹2,000 to ₹3,500 for a full-day guide, ₹100 to ₹200 for porters and ₹500 a night into the hotel’s shared box for housekeeping. We give you a printed card with these figures and small notes on your first morning so you are never guessing at the door.
On the road
Who will be guiding us?
A different specialist in each place, not one person shepherding you for a fortnight. In Delhi you might have a historian who has written on the Lodi tombs; in Kanha, a naturalist with fifteen years in the park. All are licensed, all are people we have travelled with ourselves, and we name them in your final documents. If you would rather have one guide throughout, we can do that too — say so early, because the good ones are booked months ahead.
Will we have to fly internally?
Sometimes, and we try to keep it to a minimum. Delhi to Leh or Kochi is a flight; Delhi to Agra is not, and anyone selling you that is padding the itinerary. We use the overnight trains where they are genuinely good — Delhi to Varanasi, the Colombo to Kandy line by day — and drive the rest. Where a flight is unavoidable we book the morning slot, because afternoon departures in the north are the ones the fog and the delays find.
How do you handle altitude in Ladakh, Bhutan and Nepal?
By building in time. Leh is 3,500 metres and you land at it rather than climbing to it, so we keep the first two days flat and slow: no monasteries above the town, no drives over passes, plenty of water. Paro and Thimphu are gentler, around 2,300 metres. If your itinerary crosses Chele La at 3,988 metres we schedule it late in the trip. Talk to your doctor about acetazolamide before you fly, and tell us about any heart or lung condition.
Practicalities
Can we drink the water?
Not from the tap, anywhere on the subcontinent. Every car we run carries a filtered dispenser and we hand you a steel bottle on day one, which saves roughly sixty single-use bottles on a fortnight for two. Ice in hotels and good restaurants is made from filtered water and is fine; ice from a roadside cart is not. Brush your teeth with bottled water for the first few days if you are cautious, and eat street food that is hot and cooked in front of you.
Is vegetarian or vegan food easy? What about allergies?
Vegetarian is the default across much of India — you will eat better than you do at home, and half of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu never sees meat. Vegan takes a little more work, because ghee and yoghurt are everywhere, but it is straightforward once kitchens know. Allergies we take seriously: we send your requirements to every hotel and restaurant in advance, in writing, and your guide carries a card in the local language. Nut allergy and coeliac both need naming at the time of booking.
Do we need travel insurance?
Yes, and we will not take a booking without it. It must cover medical treatment and repatriation, and if you are going to Ladakh, Bhutan or the Nepali foothills it must cover helicopter evacuation and altitude above 4,000 metres, which many standard policies quietly exclude. Buy it on the day you pay your deposit, not the week you fly, so cancellation cover starts immediately. Send us the policy number and the emergency line and we will keep both on file.