Taj Express - 8 days

Excellent tour excellent guide, very professional , kind and helpful

I have never been to India before and must say it was a life enhancing experience in unexpected ways. I make these comments with no reference to any other experience as I have not had one. Yusef the main tour guide was experienced and knowledgable on history and current India which I think is very important to navigate in what is quite a complex country. The transport by coach was very good. I had a bolt on to the spiritual cities of the Ganges and the four hour car ride to these on the Indian motorway as I was the only one to go on this addition (the rest went to see tigers) was a little gruelling. But visit to Hadawar and Rishikesh was great. I had been late due to flight and luggage loss so I had missed the initial meeting at the hotel before we started the main tour in Delhi. I do not know what information was given there about the possibilities of dehydration without large intake of water as the weather was very hot. By the time I got to Haridwar on the Ganges I was becoming severely dehydrated. The guide there took me to the chemist for rehydration salts and I started to feel better but it took some time to recover. I enjoyed the food but I did get a bad tummy and the runs so I expect this may have contributed to dehydration. I will be aware of both these things in the future! I hope to go again before I get too creaky as I am 68. Filling in the Indian e visa was quite a chore and I had to get some help so some advice on this would be useful.

Everything about this tour was brilliant, our tour guide Yusuf was so knowledgeable about all the history behind the great places we visited plus he was very approachable and easy to talk to. I could not fault all of the accommodation and the service received whilst there. Well done to On The Go Tours for employing such experienced people

Totally loved the tour, our guide was so knowledgeable, informative and caring. He very subtly kept watch over us all, took time to check on everyone and really became part of the group. I learnt so much about the history of India and Pakistan, the religions were brought to life equally and without bias and his personal stories were a joy. I cannot recommend highly enough this tour and our guide and I look forward to my next trip to India (and beyond!) with you.

Our tour with on the go far exceeded expectations. Transport was in a modern air conditioned coach and was with us all of the way. Our guide Satendra is a proud Indian man with a passion for his country and was able to provide an understanding of the true wonder of India that will leave an indelible impression on the mind and heart. India is more than sights but an experience. The accommodation was high standard and a few stays were in ex palaces. Some like exotic marigold hotel. Our guide also attended every meal and took us to some amazing places only a local would know and to maintain safe eating of the incredible flavours of India. India can be daunting but with our tour guide our safety, care and comfort was paramount. We also did the food tasting tour in Delhi. Wow.

Fantastic and very well organised trip! I learnt much about India. The organisation was extremely efficient! Yusef was extremely professional and went above and beyond expectation every time, he is a huge asset to your company. Intend to travel again with your company in the next 12-18 months- thank you for making this trip an incredible life experience. Deborah McAllion

I've just come back from the Taj Express tour in India. It was amazing! Our tour leader Yusuf was the best. So knowledgeable, kind and one of life's gentlemen. The tour was the right balance of sightseeing and time out. The hotels were a great blend of old and new. I highly recommend On The Go and will definitely be using your company again.

He was amazing, very knowledgeable and a credit to your company.

Although this was an ‘express’ tour I felt we covered a lot in the time available and with the distances covered. I was surprised by the travel time for each leg of the trip - the trip notes didn't include estimated durations for all travel days. Other companies do this routinely so this is one improvement that On the Go could make so travellers have full information before they book. I note that road and traffic conditions are not the same as the U.K. and there were sufficient toilet and food stops which shows the guides’ consideration for the group. The hotel on the last day in Delhi was disappointing. The rooms were great however the location wasn’t and as there was no bar or spa at the hotel (unlike the starting point hotel) spending the last night together was not as much fun as it could have been and relaxing after a busy week would have been better with spa, or a gym! The breakfast was also poor with mostly Indian food and only bread and cereal other than this. Our guide was fantastic. He looked after everyone with great care and consideration, including finding pharmacy’s and phone shops for travellers, offering more frequent stops for those who weren’t well and re-planning portions of the trip where journeys took longer than expected or It was a foggy day. He shared some personal stories to help explain aspects of the Indian culture and provided excellent information on all aspects of history, culture, etc. There were times when Yusuf sat away from the group for meals, which we felt uncomfortable with as we wanted him to be part of the group - by the end of the week he was doing this and I think this made him feel more comfortable sharing stories with us, which was nice for everyone. My one criticism of Yusuf would be that he would often move the group on in quite a quiet manner so we didn’t always know we were supposed to follow - I think this may be down to the quiet nature of the Indian people, whereas lots of loud Brits and Aussies probably need a loud voice to get them to listen!! He was excellent at advising us on how to stay safe and not get taken advantage of by locals and stepped in several times to assist when money was stolen and people approached us. He made the trip very successful. Having water available on the bus was another added bonus as we didn’t need to find shops to buy it at - another small detail that helped make a difference to the overall quality of the tour.

I enjoyed the trip but felt the entertainment and meals and hotels were poor. I have been on a trip to Vietnam and China with On The Go and this wasn’t a patch on them. The guide was good and did what he could to make the trip enjoyable. But the hotels, restaurants and entertainment provided was of a poor standard