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Planning a trip to India
Visas, seasons, money, what to wear and the handful of habits that make the difference between a smooth trip and a tiring one.
Getting here
Most international travellers arrive at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL), which connects to the whole of North India and sits three hours from Agra on the expressway. Jaipur and Udaipur both have airports useful for ending a trip without doubling back to Delhi.
We meet guests inside the arrivals hall with a name board, not in the car park. The driver's name and number reach you by WhatsApp the day before.
Visa and entry
Most nationalities need a visa before arrival. The e-Visa is applied for online, usually approved within a few days, and is the route almost all our guests use. Apply through the official Government of India portal — the lookalike sites that appear in search results charge several times the real fee.
Check that your passport has at least six months left and two blank pages. Keep a printed copy of the approval; airline staff sometimes ask for it at check-in.
Best time to visit
October to March is the comfortable season across North India. Days are warm, evenings cool, and the monuments are pleasant to walk. December and January bring morning fog around Delhi and Agra, which can delay trains and occasionally veils the Taj Mahal until mid-morning.
April to June is hot — 40°C and above. Sunrise starts become less of a preference and more of a necessity. July to September brings the monsoon: green landscapes, fewer visitors, lower prices, and rain that usually falls in bursts rather than all day.
Money
Carry a mix. Cards work in hotels, restaurants and established shops; cash is easier for rickshaws, tips, small purchases and roadside tea. ATMs are widespread and reliable in cities. UPI runs most of India now but needs an Indian bank account, so it is rarely an option for visitors.
Tipping is customary but modest. For a multi-day tour, most guests give the driver and the guide something at the end rather than daily.
What to wear
Light layers. Afternoons are warm even in winter and mornings can be genuinely cold in December and January, especially in the desert.
At religious sites, cover shoulders and knees. At Sikh gurudwaras and Muslim dargahs, heads are covered too — scarves are available at the entrance, and our cars carry spares. Shoes come off at temples, mosques and gurudwaras, so slip-ons beat laces.
Habits that make the trip easier
- Start early. Monuments are emptier, cooler and better lit before nine. This single habit changes the trip more than any other.
- Trust the buffer time. Our schedules build in slack for traffic. When the day runs ahead, that time becomes yours.
- Check photography rules. Tripods need permission at most monuments. The Taj Mahal's main mausoleum allows no photography inside. Akshardham in Delhi takes phones and cameras at the gate.
- Drink bottled or filtered water. We keep it in the car. Avoid ice in places you would not drink the tap water.
- Say no clearly. Touts outside monuments are persistent but harmless. A firm no and walking on works; engaging does not.
What guests tell us matters most
Three things, consistently: being met by someone who knows their name; a driver who is reachable all day; and a guide who stops talking when they want to look at something quietly. None of it is exotic — it is just the difference between being managed and being looked after.