PLANNING AN INDIA TRIP? · LICENSED GUIDE & TRAVEL COMPANION
Your Private Tour Guide Across India.
I’m Ashish, a government-approved, licensed tour guide. I live in Delhi. Hire me and I travel with you for the whole trip. I’m with you from the day you land until the day you fly home. I guide, and I sort things out.
There is no agency in between. Nobody hands you over to a stranger in the next city. The guide who meets you at the airport is the same one on the train with you a week later.
Private trips only · Any length, anywhere in India · ₹10,000 a day (about US$110) plus my travel costs · Free quote on WhatsApp
INDIA TRIPS
Where We Can Go.
Most guests start with one of these. Some want a week, some want a month. I’ll tell you honestly what fits the days you have.
The Golden Triangle
Delhi first. Then Agra for the Taj Mahal, which we see at opening time, around 6 am, before the coaches arrive. Then Jaipur. Four to six days is enough. The trains are good on this route, so we don’t always need a car.
Rajasthan
Jaipur is the usual start. Jodhpur has the blue old town under the fort. Udaipur has the lakes. Jaisalmer is far out in the desert, so it costs a day each way. Eight to twelve days works well. Expect a lot of thalis.
Varanasi and the Spiritual North
Varanasi is best at dawn on the river. The evening aarti is the other fixed point. Sarnath is half an hour away. Khajuraho or Bodh Gaya can be added if you have the days. People usually join this to Delhi and Agra.
Amritsar and the Hills
In Amritsar we do the Golden Temple, ideally twice, once by day and once lit up at night. The border ceremony at Wagah is 30 km away. It is noisy and slightly ridiculous. Go anyway. Rishikesh comes next if the river appeals to you. If the plains are too hot by then, we head up to Shimla, or to Dharamshala.
South India and the Coast
Kerala has the backwaters, where you can sleep on a houseboat, and the tea estates above Munnar. Tamil Nadu is temple towns. Goa is the beach. Mumbai suits people who enjoy a huge, busy city. I fly down with you and we work out the local details as we go.
Your Own India
Some guests come for food. Some for textiles, or photography, or tigers, or one festival. A toddler and a grandmother on the same trip is fine. Then grandma sets the walking speed and I plan around her. Tell me who’s travelling. I build the route from there.
Every trip is private · As short or as long as you like · Starts wherever you arrive · Message me your dates for a quote
HOW TO HIRE ME
How It Works
1
Message Me on WhatsApp
Send me your dates. Then the places you’d like to see, how many of you there are, and what you’re hoping the trip will be like. It doesn’t need to be exact at this stage.
2
We Plan the Route Together
I come back with a route and a day-by-day pace. I also give you the price in writing. It is my daily fee plus my travel costs, and that is all.
3
Confirm the Dates
If the plan suits you, we lock the dates. After that I help you book the trains, the drivers and the hotels at local prices. You pay those directly, not through me.
4
Travel India Together
I meet you when you arrive, usually at Delhi airport or at your hotel. Then I stay with you, city after city, until you leave.
WHY A COMPANION
The Person Who Knows the Way.
A guide shows you the monuments. A travel companion does that too, but he is also there at the station at 6 am. He argues with the taxi driver who quotes triple. He finds the pharmacy. He gets your SIM card working. On your own, those small things are what wear you out in India.
A Licensed Guide, Not an Agency Rep
Government-approved, licensed, and based in Delhi. I’ve spent years travelling India with guests from abroad. You deal with me and only me.
The Hassle Is Mine
Train tickets. Taxis. Queues. The ATM that won’t work. The bargaining. I handle all of it in Hindi while you look at the view.
Honest Advice, Every Day
I’ll tell you where it’s safe to eat and what a thing should cost. I’ll tell you which “attractions” to skip and when to rest. I take no commissions, and there are no shop stops you didn’t ask for.
Safer, Calmer Days
A tout who sees a local standing next to you usually gives up before he starts. That one change makes the whole trip calmer, and guests say so.
My fee covers my time and guiding. When we travel outside Delhi you also pay my train or flight seat, a simple hotel room and my meals, at cost. Your own tickets, hotels and transport are separate.
INDIA PRIVATE GUIDE FAQ
Hiring a Private Guide for India: Your Questions Answered
Prices, trip lengths, what I do and don’t do. Anything else, ask me on WhatsApp.
My rate is ₹10,000 a day. At the moment that works out near US$110. That is for your whole group, not per person. Outside Delhi you also cover my travel at actual cost. That means a train or flight seat, a simple hotel room and meals. Take a seven-day Golden Triangle trip as an example. My time is ₹70,000. My own travel costs come on top. Figure ₹10,000 extra if we use trains. Flying pushes it nearer ₹15,000.
Before the trip, I plan the route with you. On the day you land, I’m at the airport. After that I’m on every train and in every city with you, guiding you around each place. In between there are tickets to buy, taxis to argue with, menus to translate and a chemist to find at 10 pm. That part is my job too. The pace is yours to set. The practical side is mine.
No. Three days for Delhi and Agra is about the shortest that makes sense. A month is fine too. I only take one group at a time, so for a long trip please write to me early.
Anywhere. I’m based in Delhi and most trips start here. Rajasthan, Agra and Varanasi are what most guests ask for, then Punjab and the hills. The south is fine too. If you’d rather begin in Mumbai or Kochi, I fly out and meet you there.
I don’t sell packages. What I do is help you book trains, flights, drivers and hotels at local prices. You usually pay the provider directly. There is no mark-up, and you stay in control of your budget.
Yes. From the moment you land there is a licensed local guide next to you. That alone takes away most of the stress people worry about before coming here. If you’re travelling as a family, it also means one less adult doing the planning every evening.
Yes. I guide in English, and in Hindi when that’s what people prefer. I work mostly with travellers from the US, the UK, Europe and Australia, and a few from Southeast Asia.
I’m your guide, not a driver. For long distances we take trains or flights, or an air-conditioned car with a driver I trust, booked at cost. Inside a city it depends on the day. Sometimes we walk. Sometimes it’s the metro, sometimes an auto-rickshaw or a cab.
For a trip of several days, somewhere between two and eight weeks before you fly is ideal. That matters most between October and March, which is the busy season. Short notice sometimes works too, so it’s always worth asking.
Then my Delhi private guide page is the one you want. Same daily rate, no travel costs.
Travel India With Someone Who Lives Here.
Send your dates, the places you have in mind and who’s travelling. I’ll write back with a route and the price.
₹10,000 per day
About US$110 a day for your group · Plus my travel costs at actual price · No agency mark-ups
I take one group at a time. For October to March, message me a few weeks ahead.
No obligation. Send your plans and I’ll come back with ideas, a route and a quote.