I am a solo traveler (70), just completed the Buddhist Circuit tour with VE. It was also my first visit to India.
Aamir, the tour coordinator, did a great job making sure that the tour came off as planned. Bablu was a fantastic driver. He really catered to my every need. Professional, courteous and a lot of fun to be with.
The hotels were excellent. The on-site guides were very good. Just make sure that they speak English clearly. This situation came up only once.
I strongly recommend VE.
Ballu is very helpful and knows Varanasi very well. He has a lot of local knowledge about the city and showed me some amazing sites. He also knows how to negotiate the best price and what the best time is to visit places. Thank you for all you help and kindness.
The team at Varanasi Excursion are great to work with and really know how to look after their guests. My tour began with some additional time in Varanasi which they arranged at my request (see separate review for Tour Radar). The seven-day Buddhist Tour that followed was brilliantly organised to include all the major sites in the life of the Buddha, and the guides were all informative, although I struggled to understand some of their English. Special mention must go to T K Roy of Kushinagar, who not only had the clearest English but is a fascinating person who seems to have a high standing in his community, as he was greeted warmly wherever we went. Bablu, the driver for the whole tour, is another great character who navigates the hectic Indian roads with a level of skill that is almost superhuman. Nothing is too much trouble for him and he is great at engaging his guests on a personal level. Again, English communication was a challenge, but we overcame it with the help of translation apps. I didn’t meet Aamir, the tour organiser, in person, but he checked in regularly by phone to ensure that everything was going smoothly and arranged for some of my belongings to be couriered to me when they were accidentally left behind – very helpful. Overall, this was a great tour, and some of the hotels were first-rate, although I was disappointed to spend a few nights without hot water and often struggled to find staff who could converse in English. I was touring in the off-season, but I got the impression that many of the staff were not used to dealing with international guests.
It was a memorable and fun-filled trip
Bablu our driver and Aamir the tour operator did everything they could to ensure my daughter and I had the best tour of India. Bablu especially went out of his way to make sure we were happy and took us to some excellent restaurants in each of the places we visited. In our visit of 5 cities we had excellent guides who were knowledgeable of the geography, history and cultures of each area. I would highly recommend using Varanasi Excursions for your trip to India. Just be sure to plan for extra cash for tipping these wonderful people you will be working with.
Excellente excursion. Ça a été le point fort de mon séjour en Inde.
Des plantations de thé, aux parcs Naturels pour finir par une nuit et un balade incroyable dans un house boat. C’est un rêve !
A noter le professionnalisme et toutes les attentions de Jaswin, le guide accompagnateur.
Sunny was an excellent guide — friendly, patient, and very knowledgeable. The tour was well-organized and never rushed. We loved starting with the sunrise on the Ganga, followed by a foodie walk through old Varanasi, a visit to Sarnath and BHU, and ending with front-row seats to the Ganga Aarti. Sunny shared great insights, helped us with photos, and made the day truly memorable. Highly recommend and would definitely book with him again!
Everything was good for this trip. Our driver Zakkir was excellent especially as we needed a hospital visit. The hotels were fantastic. Our backwater boat ride was disappointing but that was down to us being late due to the hospital. The cabin was perfect as was the food. The fact we could not visit the national park due to it being breeding season was not explained before we booked and we would probably not have booked if we had known but saying that we enjoyed our trip. Good value for money.
