Taj Express - 8 days

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.

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.

First tour with on the go and you now have my loyalty for life, I could not fault the tour or the guide Sammy he was brilliant, The group of people was diverse and we all got along well. I would highly recommend for Single travellers also. Looking forward to choosing my next tour and will probably go back and do more of India, I have never felt safer and in good hands. Only thing I would change is having the group meet on the first evening instead of on the morning of day 2. 5 Stars on the go and I look forward to taking my next trip with you!

Our fourth holiday with On The Go Tours. There were quite a few on this tour who were with OTG for the first time ...and they loved it. Another superbly organised holiday. We don't normally do 'tour' holidays ..but for India..... it's best to have a bit of organisation behind you, but with the freedom to have time to explore on your own. Now looking through the website to book my next tour to India......

Excellent tour excellent guide, very professional , kind and helpful

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

Yusuf was a very good tour leader who was always helpful and consisderate of individuals on the tour. He was very knowledgeable about his country and explained the history thoroughly. He would rearrange the order of the tour at various times to make the tour flow more easily for the benefit of the participants. He would provide a buffer zone from some of the local vendors for us at times which was very helpful and useful to us. I can say with certainty that he was one of the best tour leaders we have ever encountered. With our visit to India we have been to 80 countries so we have encountered many tour leaders throughout the years. Even though we were very tired by the end of the tour, it was a wonderful experience to see a small part of India. The heat at this time of the year coupled with our age lead to our being very exhausted at teh completion of the tour. Thanks to Yusuf for our pleasurable trip and great experience of India.

Tour was well-organized. Our guide Yusuf was knowledgeable, professional. He handled the group well and was in charge at all times. Hence, we all felt safe and secure. My overall enjoyment of the tour was somewhat dampened by the heat, but that can't go against On the Go and/or Yusuf. If there is anything -- two comments about the itinerary and one about the accommodation Taj Mahal: if there is a time when the Taj Mahal has less people, then that would be the time to go. Our itinerary calls for visiting the Taj in the afternoon: I don't know if there are more people in the afternoon or less, the whole place was just crowded. The site itself was not well-organized (Indian government fault, not the tour's). People were shouting in the mausoleum and that just detracts from the whole experience. Personally, I could have done without the day in Karauli and the village walk. The village walk felt a tad like poverty tourism to me. While some people may like that aspect of it, I didn't like it that much. Would have liked the option of upgraded accommodations, especially in Agra.

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.

Excellent tour guide. India is daunting but with Yussef in control we had the best experience possible.