India guide
India is an explosion of colour. The Golden Triangle glistens with culture, Rajasthan has pink and blue cities, and Kerala has lush green Ghat Mountains...
Indian village tourism
A herd of buffalo wandered back from the fields, followed by women in brightly coloured saris, water gourds balanced on their heads. Blue jays darted overhead as smoke rose from the cooking fires and aromas filled the air. A reclining cow chewed on a cabbage, a man on a bicycle wobbled slowly past. The village children played on the path between the crooked houses while several village elders, pulling lazily on their smoking beedis, squatted by the track to discussed the day’s events. It’s a magical time of day when dusk settles in a thousand villages across the Indian subcontinent and the night creeps in. The Indians have a word for it: Godhuli, the homecoming.
Our Rural India Vacations
History, culture & wildlife of India vacation
From the Nilgiri Hills to the beaches of Goa
From
£1336
15 days
ex flights
Central India vacation, culture and wildlife
The very best of central India's wildlife and history
From
Rupee 145000 to Rupee 195000
16 days
ex flights
Rural India vacation, culture & wildlife
Authentic exploration of Central Indian village life
From
£2500 to £3000
14 days
ex flights
Birdwatching in India
Visit India's top birding and wildlife destinations.
From
Rupee 227500
15 days
ex flights
Central India vacation, journey through Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh’s best of wildlife and tribal culture.
From
Rupee 165000
14 days
ex flights
Buddhist Pilgrimage trek to Pemako, India
Trek the Buddhist Pilgrimage trail in the Eastern Himalayas.
From
£3200
26 days
ex flights
India walking and cultural tour
Meet locals & discover the flavours of this special region
From
AU $2145
12 days
ex flights
India Golden Triangle tour, a journey beyond
Of ancient cultures, Himalayan abodes & rich architecture
From
£4938 to £6500
25 days
ex flights
Northeast India tour, Tawang and its monasteries
A spiritual journey to India's largest Buddhist monastery
From
£1800
10 days
ex flights
Central and Western India vacation, rural life
Truly rural India: Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, hidden Goa
From
£3000 to £3500
20 days
ex flights
Sekrenyi Festival tour in Nagaland, India
Sekrenyi Festival Tour of Naga Tribes of North East India
From
£2350
14 days
ex flights
Ladakh adventure vacations, India
17 day journey from Delhi to Leh and back down to Shimla
From
£3165
16 days
ex flights
Cycling vacation in the Maikal Hills, Central India
Tiger safari and cycling in rural central India
From
Rupee 97000
9 days
ex flights
Tribal festival vacation in India
A tour covering two major festivals of the animist tribes
From
£2450
16 days
ex flights
Gujarat vacation and the Rann of Kutch, India
A fascinating mix of local village culture and wild landscapes
From
£2415 to £2750
15 days
ex flights
Kashmir small group vacation, India
An extraordinary road journey through Ladakh and Kashmir
From
£2775 to £3040
14 days
ex flights
Chhattisgarh to Orissa tour in India, tribes and villages
A journey through the tribal heartlands of Central India
From
£1700
14 days
ex flights
North East India cycling and hiking tour, Eastern Himalayas
Multi activity tour of the Eastern Himalayas
From
£2500
12 days
ex flights
Ladakh & Kashmir vacation, India
Timeless monasteries, stunning mountain scenery and Srinagar
From
£2449
14 days
ex flights
Nagaland small group vacation, India
Experience the spectacular Hornbill Festival in Nagaland
From
£3595 to £3695
16 days
ex flights
Horse riding tour in Rajasthan, India
Recce ride across Rajasthan's desert by Royal Marwari horse
From
£3745 to £3935
11 days
ex flights
Rajasthan rural tour in India
Explore the romantic hill forts and palaces of rural India
From
£3249 to £5095
18 days
ex flights
North East India tour of rural tribes
A discovery of the Khasis, Limbhu & Bhutias tribes
From
£3713 to £4000
16 days
ex flights
North Kerala homestay tours in India
Homestay tour in North Kerala - plus Coonoor.
From
£2015
16 days
ex flights
Kashmir and Ladakh vacation, India
An unforgettable adventure to the rooftop of the world
From
£2149
15 days
ex flights
India cultural tour, Chattisgarh and Orissa
This trip offers an intimate look at remote tribal village India
From
£3095 to £3195
14 days
ex flights
Tattooed Headhunting tribes Aoling festival in Nagaland, India
Aoling Festival of the Tattooed Heandunting Naga Tribe
From
£2250
10 days
ex flights
North East India tour, Nagaland & the Hornbill Festival
The unique festivals of the tribes of remote Northeast India
From
£2350
15 days
ex flights
Central India vacation, trekking and culture
A walking tour through the forested Maikal hills to Kanha
From
£900
7 days
ex flights
Sadly, very few visitors get to experience the day to day beauty of rural India, focusing instead on well known urban centers such as Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. Estimates suggest that over 60 percent of the 650,000 British visitors to India in 2005 travelled within the Golden Triangle, their trips consisting almost solely of sightseeing tours to historical monuments, religious sites and heaving bazaars. With most companies offering similar itineraries during the peak tourist season, it can be hard for travelers to experience the "true" nature of India.
With this in mind, an imaginative company has come up with a novel way of getting their clients off the well-worn tourist trail, and into the heart of India, allowing them to witness firsthand life as it is lived by the vast majority of Indians. In these lesser travelled areas there is a cultural richness guaranteed to rival the palaces and opulence of Golden Triangle and a colour and tranquillity that will stay with you for ever. With a number of trips on offer, from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to Uttaranachal and the mighty Himalayas, this is an original way to explore real Indian life in a way that benefits both the visitor and the host. This is not just visiting - it is interacting as well.
Our top Rural India Vacation
History, culture & wildlife of India vacation
From the Nilgiri Hills to the beaches of Goa
From
£1336
15 days
ex flights
Tailor made:
This trip can be tailor made at a time to suit you and can be adapted to suit your interests, budget and requirements as necessary
This trip can be tailor made at a time to suit you and can be adapted to suit your interests, budget and requirements as necessary
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about Rural India or need help finding a vacation to suit you we're very happy to help.
On these trips you might spend the morning with a farmer milking his buffalo, help him turn the milk into lassi and join his family for a local meal on a banana leaf plate. You might sit in the shade of a banyan tree beside a Shiva temple and listen to a sadhu preach. You could walk through the foothills of the Himalayas, stopping to talk to locals that you pass, or drift slowly down the holy River Ganges, camping by small settlements at night.
These trips utilise a variety of different accommodations, ranging from once-decadent, privately owned palaces to comfortable guesthouses and hotels. For a truly authentic experience the itineraries also include homestays with local families, giving you the opportunity to interact directly, to learn about their life and culture, and they about yours. In this way it will not only be your money that will benefit these communities but the cultural exchange as well.
In order to run these trips the company has developed unique relationships with many local people. Through the company’s interactive, socially-conscience tourism policy they have helped to provide an important additional income. In Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, all the company's clients join a tree planting scheme as well as help directly with the financing of rural village schools; in Calcutta they work with the street children to help give them a better chance in life.
In Kashmir the company works with and helps finance a woman’s handicraft cooperative. And on all their tours they employ local guides and drivers, stay in locally owned hotels and guesthouses, and often stay in their guides' villages and homes, which again diverts important funds directly into the area. The wonderful thing about this kind of tourism is that everyone gains – the locals gain income and get to play a part in the tourism industry. The visitors get to enjoy the fuss made of them, and experience a side of India that remains unseen by millions of other tourists.
More about Rural India
The best time to go on vacation in rural India varies greatly, from the mountainous north, through the deserts, to the hot, humid south...
Vacations in rural India take you beyond the Taj Mahal and tigers into traditional, welcoming villages - a side of India that few get to experience...
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Photo credits: [Page banner: Abhijit Kar Gupta] [Bicycling in India: Juan Antonio F. Segal]
[Ladakh mountains: Praveen]
[Family with goats: Arian Zwegers]
[Banyan tree: Mike Prince]
[Homestay: India Untravelled]
[School children: Tom Maisey]
[Embroidery: Mike Prince]
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