Vacations to Odisha and Bastar, India
This wonderful Odisha and Bastar cultural tour takes you well beyond the beaten tourist track into rural India. Enjoy spending time with rural communities, learning about traditional ways of life, with welcoming homestays offering superb cultural immersion.
Homestays among tribal communities Stay in a former royal hunting lodge Wetlands tour by dugout canoe Overnight train between Bhubaneshwar and Jagdalpur Kanger Valley National Park Visit with local artisans in their workshops Explore rural villages to see temples, ruins and traditional ways of life
Price
£2950 excluding flights
Description of Vacations to Odisha and Bastar, India
Price information
£2950 excluding flights
Departure information
This trip can be tailor made throughout the year to suit your requirements
Travel guides
Go beyond the Taj Mahal and tigers into traditional, welcoming villages - a side of India that few get to experience...
Find out why a Chhattisgarh vacation might be for you and discover some of it's highlights with our useful interactive map
Vacation information
Dietary requirements:
We can cater for vegetarian and vegan diets.
Indigenous Peoples:
In Chhattisgarh we spend time with a forest dwelling Muria Gond community in Kanger Valley National Park, where the introduction of sensitive tourism has helped support aspects of their culture that was disappearing (traditional dancing, jewellery making and knowledge about wild food and medicine). We also spend time with the Dhurwa people in whose village our host’s home stay in situated. Walks around the village, small purchases of handmade crafts. In Odisha the Munda people make up the largest numbers of the indigenous communities in the areas we visit and make up the majority of the local staff employed by the lodges and guest houses we use. In northern Odisha all our guests visit a sports academy for tribal children from Santal, Ho, Munda and Gond villages in the hills around the town of Baripada. Our contributions have funded the purchase of bicycles for the girls at the academy.
Reviews
2 Reviews of Vacations to Odisha and Bastar, India
5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed on 24 Nov 2025 by Alex Harrison
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
Our stay with the kind-hearted Shakheel in Bastar stands out as the highlight of our journey. Receiving the opportunity to live among the Mariya Gond tribe in the Tribal Region felt like an extraordinary privilege. Although we shared no common language, it was completely irrelevant; their profound warmth and selfless hospitality spoke volumes. This incredible generosity was a defining feature of our entire trip, echoed by every family and guide we had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with across Bastar and Odisha. It was an honour, and the connections we made are unforgettable.
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
Arrive with an open mind. India is a land of vivid juxtaposition, delivering moments of intense light and raw visceral power. You must quickly become immersed in your environment. Sophie and her team have done something magical. While the journey is not for the faint-hearted, approach it with spirit and an eagerness to see everything. I felt perfectly safe and cared for throughout; every detail was accounted for. Sophie’s exceptional experience and connections make this a truly special, exclusive experience unlike anything offered by traditional companies.
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Undoubtedly, yes. While conservation in India is a hard task, the unwavering care, passion, and dedication shown by the team towards supporting local people and keeping regional traditions alive was evident at every point. The people of the region are naturally warm and welcoming, but this spirit is actively nurtured by the care fostered by Sophie, the guides, and the residents themselves. Traveling this way made me feel less like a tourist and more like a part of the family. I came away with a genuine affection and commitment to everyone I met, confirming the powerful, positive impact this trip had on the local community.
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
Unlike every trip I have ever been on - in the best possible way. It really opened my mind to the way I live and world I live in. How the most humble and simplest of things can mean the most and can be the things most worth working hard to save. A truly unforgettable,and beautiful time.
Reviewed on 27 Oct 2025 by Harriet Sanderson
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
We loved every part of our trip, but the Bastar region was especially memorable. The villages are so peaceful and lovely to cycle through, the people are so friendly, and the food is amazing. Staying with the Muriya Gond tribe in Gudiya Padar was a highlight - such a unique experience and a real privilege! An adventure that we’ll never forget!
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
Go with an open mind and a sense of adventure - this isn’t a typical tourist trip, and that’s what makes it so special! Be ready for simple accommodation (mixed in with some luxury places too), and lots of incredible local experiences. Cycling through the villages and connecting with local communities are real highlights, so take your time and soak it all in.
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Absolutely! It was clear that the trip was designed to benefit local communities. We stayed in village homestays run by local people, had local guides, and shared meals prepared by local families. All our hosts give back in meaningful ways, such as supporting tribal communities to preserve their crafts, funding education and schools, and creating local jobs. The focus on slow, low-impact travel, such as cycling and taking trains, also made it feel environmentally responsible. Many of the homestays respect local customs by using buckets rather than showers, which not only conserves precious water but also honours the way villagers live.
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
Amazing! One of the best and most unique trips we’ve ever done. Every day felt like an adventure, and we came away with a deep appreciation for the people, landscapes, and culture of these parts of India. It was thoughtful, authentic, and beautifully organised - we couldn’t recommend it enough. Thank you!
Responsible Travel
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we've screened this (and every) vacation so that you can travel knowing we've worked to maximise the benefits of your vacation to local people and places, and minimise any negative impacts.
Planet
This trip works with accommodation suppliers who use various sustainable energy sources: from an anaerobic digester turning cow dung to gas for cooking, to solar energy, to quite simply staying in places with no electricity whose sole source of fuel is cow dung or fallen wood.It involves one (and the option of two) overnight rail journeys, thus significantly reducing the carbon footprint of the trip.
The company makes a £12 donation to a local charity for each guest who chooses a train journey.
Wildlife: the trip includes visits to two wetlands where local hunters have been re-trained as guides. It also includes a stay in a national park in which the wildlife has been largely hunted to extinction. We hope to support the small village within the park with our low impact high value tourism helping them to continue to resist the urge to hunt by providing additional income from tourism.
Guests are told to bring a reusable water bottle, and filtered water is provided everywhere where there is electricity available for a reverse osmosis filter.
People
Accommodation providers all employ solely local staff and all on a year round basis.All accommodation providers have an extremely close relationship with their indigenous neighbours and provide support in various ways from finding funding for a school teacher in an isolated village to supplying the local girls football team with balls and kit.
The activities that the guest do support local craftspeople, particularly those that are well off the usual tourist route and thus extremely vulnerable to vanishing with the older generation. Rather than simply stop and look we engage guests in workshops where possible - on this trip painting a mask with a local mask making community. This gives guests and host communities and informal and levelling means of interacting and shows how time consuming hand made crafts are and thus why they are expensive. It also motivates people to buy hand made and local when they can see the impact the sales have on genuinely low income communities.
All food is locally sourced and reflects (and thus shows respect to) local food culture.
Popular similar vacations
Orissa and Chhattisgarh tours in India
From US $3775 14 days excluding flights
Distinct tribal cultures, temples & traditional textiles
Sikkim & Kolkata cultural tour in India
From US $1699 - US $1899 11 days excluding flights
Cultural Immersion with Tribal Communities in Sikkim
Rajasthan off the beaten track adventure, India
From £3020 15 days excluding flights
Palaces, villages, forts, slow travel through Rajasthan
