Great Rail Journeys - Golden Triangle, Tigers & Shimla
We're looking at this tour & have a few questions of anyone who's aleady done this.
- What is the typical age group of the travellers (we're in our 50's/early 60's) - What is the class of train carriages booked (not snobs but don't want to slum it) Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
It’s highly unlikely that you’d be using anything less than AC CC chair class . These are not long journeys in Indian terms and I’d equate it to UK standard class circa 2010 . Not luxury but certainly not slumming it either . The hotels they are proposing to use are all good too - again not absolutely top end palace style but very pleasant . To me it appears well priced for what you are getting .
If you are looking for comfortable journey so book your seats only with Ac Executive class.
This is a pretty comfortable and relaxed tour arrangement as they use India's most premium trains. These trains don't take much time to reach their destinations other than Toy train (which is an experience in itself). All in all you will enjoy the tour.
Regards
Walks By Arif Tours
I loved our train trips in India. We booked "tourist-class" and though not luxury, the trains were perfectly acceptable and a great experience.
I took my late father onto this tour seven years ago by Great Rail Journeys. It's fantastically organised tour. Most of hotels we stayed at were top notch five to seven star hotels likes of Taj, ITC or similar. You have a tour manager with you 24/7 looking after you. Food is again within hotel restaurants, and as it's Taj, ITC or similar, you will expect superb good. On days you are traveling, they will also organise packed lunch for you from these hotels.
Trains were AC1 (1st Class AC), or AC chair class, you won't be slumming it. with regards to age, most were in their 60s and older, but you will have one or two who will be younger. At in my 50s, I was one of younger, and there were couple who were even younger than me.
You meet at Heathrow airport, and tour manager will organise most things for you.
We had an amazing time when we went, and will highly recommend it. It is one of best organised tours from UK, if not the best. And as it's UK company, you have reassurance of protection from ABTA and ATOL in case something goes wrong.
Edited: 2 years agoHi we are a group of 4 ages from 53-70 and have booked for April 24, I think it will be a fabulous tour. All hotels look great and I for one can not wait… please let us know if you have been or have also booked
Dear goodie1970,
Namaste!!
Yes, the circuit is good and fabulous tour golden triangle , Please share your hotels list also.
Thanks
Fortunate India Tours
For clarity’s sake readers should understand the subject of this thread is a specific offering.
Details at the link below.
https://www.greatrail.com/tours/five-star-indias-golden-triangle-and-shimla/
The Great Indian Railway Journey. Hays Travel
My wife and I are 66 and 67, reasonably fit and this was our first trip to India. We decided that we would go with a tour operator, as opposed to arranging our own trip and the Great Indian Railway Journey appeared to offer good variety in the holiday as it takes in the highlights of The Golden Triangle, plus visits The Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, the border area with Pakistan and The Shimla Mountain Railway. We were especially keen to visit The Taj Mahal, Amritsar and Shimla.
https://www.haysfaraway.co.uk/the-great-indian-rail-journey-saga
We originally selected Saga for the holiday, but when they could not confirm the hotels that we would be staying at after several days of waiting, we eventually cancelled and went with Hays. Hays then put the holiday in the hands of Titan who would appear to be the people providing the holiday anyway through their contacts in India. Several people we met that had booked with Saga were on the same tour, so it appeared to us, no matter who you had booked with, Saga, Titan or Hays, you will probably be contracted with Titan and their local guide in India anyway and end up in the same group of people on the same tour.
To help you avoid the unnecessary stress that we experienced it’s important you understand the pitfall we fell into with our Visa for India. Hays don’t apply for your Visa for you and neither does Saga, however you can pay a third party to do it for you, but we did it ourselves. Here’s a link.
https://indinaivisagov.org/?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3NO99Kn9hAMVzpRQBh0UAwb0EAAYAiAAEgITTvD_BwE
The Visa application itself, whilst time consuming is achievable as long as you have all of your details to hand. You can start the application, save it and go back to it if you need to have a comfort break or gather more information.
We were advised to organise our Visas as soon as possible and because we were told it’s quite time consuming, requiring the applicant to gather quite a lot of information, we decided to do it on the first day that we could, which was 30 days before we were due to travel. What was not clear to us or explained to us at the time when we made that decision is that the Electronic Travel Authorisation or ETA that you get issued with to board the plane and head to India is ONLY VALID FOR 30 DAYS FROM DATE OF ISSUE. The ETA then states that you can enter India up to the last day on the ETA validity and stay for a maximum of 30 days after that date.
It turns out that the advice to apply for our Visa ASAP (30 days in advance of the travel date) was bad advice, because in our case the 30 day validity ETA’s were issued the same day within 4 hours of applying, which could have meant we would have been refused entry if our flight had been delayed by 12 hours, as the expiry date of 28th February was nearly upon us when we arrived in India that same day. Luckily the ETA is valid until midnight on the last day of validity, but this did cause unnecessary concern at the time for people that just wanted to be organised. The irony is that Hays stated they couldn’t advise customers on the Visa application process, but unfortunately, they did and wrongly.
Our advice regarding Indian Visa application is, don’t apply for the Visa on the first possible day that you can in case it gets issued immediately like ours, but wait a couple of days before applying, then your ETA should be valid at least another 48 hours after your planned arrival time, giving you wiggle room in case of flight delays etc. We suspect that historically the ETA has taken much longer to issue, hence the advice to apply ASAP, but now everything is online, it appears to be much quicker, with no need to apply ASAP!
The Titan door to door VIP car service to and from the airport was absolutely first class, with both drivers being on time, friendly and very helpful. The service totally removed the stress and expense of making our own way to and from the airport and organising and paying for car parking. The driver was at the airport ready to collect us when we arrived back and helped us with our baggage. 10 out of 10.
We travelled with Virgin Atlantic. They were great, no delays, reasonable food, free drinks, good choice of entertainment on the Airbus A350, good legroom in economy. No complaints.
The holiday itself was very enjoyable and we would highly recommend it if you like train travel and are fit enough as there are quite a few early starts and long-distance journeys.
The best hotel for comfort and food was by far The Marriot in Jaipur with a very good food selection and luxurious rooms. Our favourite hotel was The Ranthambore Regency which was absolutely wonderful, with much appreciated open spaces in a wonderful green jungle like setting where you could sit outside. Although The Ranthambore Regency hotel is not as luxurious as say The Marriot in Jaipur, It was more in line with our pre conceived idea of what all the hotels in India would be like.
Guide
Our main guide was a likeable knowledgeable guide, but I struggled as others did, to understand what he was saying a lot of the time. This was due to a bad PA system on the coach with far too much base and not enough treble. When we changed coaches towards the end of the holiday we could understand him much better. I did mention this a few times during the holiday, but improvements could not be made at the time.
Tips
It’s explained in the brochure that tipping is part of the deal and a suggested tip for the guide and the drivers is provided in the brochure.
The main guide took 5000IR or just over £50 from every guest to cover incidental tips, so in a party of 24, that’s over £1,200 in tips. Throughout the holiday various other people, including other guides presented themselves and their services to us and we were left wondering whether or not to tip them. On some occasions the main guide suggested we might want to tip them, adding to the uncertainty of who was in receipt of the original kitty funds and who was not. The tipping set up could be better explained and accounted for at the start with a more detailed explanation from the main guide as to who he was going to tip from the funds, what other guides we were going to meet, how much he intended to tip them and when we might need to add further tips that he hadn’t allowed for in his £50 whip round. We spent at least another £80 each in tips on top of the original £50, so between us, about £260.
Itinerary
A feature packed itinerary is on offer and you won’t get bored or be disappointed with the places you visit. The Taj Mahal, Amber Fort, Golden Temple at Amritsar, Shimla Mountain railway were the highlights for us. Just be prepared for some early starts and long days travelling as India is a vast country and this trip only takes in a small section of it .
The holiday is quite intense and we would recommend it to people that are reasonably fit and can walk at least 500M up a steady incline as there are stairs at railway stations and hills to negotiate, especially at Shimla. Due to the intensity of the traffic the guide did his best to reduce the need for walking, but ultimately, expect to have to do some walking as the coaches that you travel on simply cannot get to every location where you disembark a train.
We didn’t have to worry about our suitcases as they were handled by porters and were collected from outside our room and delivered to our new hotel room. That was a real plus on the holiday. We packed intermediate sized cases as we thought we might need to do more handling ourselves. We just needed to make sure we had a day bag with us large enough to carry a change of clothing, water and any meds we needed. We both took small backpacks as carry on luggage for that purpose.
Some more positive aspects of the trip.
India was a great education and experience that we would not have wanted to miss for the world. We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday and would recommend it if you are reasonably fit, keen to experience new situations and meet interesting friendly people.
India came across as a safe place to be and we were not made to feel uncomfortable for our safety at any stage during our trip, even when we went out on our own away from the group. In fact we were made to feel like celebrities, with many locals wanting to take their photograph with us.
We travelled 28th February to 13th March and the weather was perfect. Not hot, not humid, no mosquitoes, temperatures in the mid 20’s. We didn’t actually see a single mosquito, so no need to worry about malaria or insect repellent at that time of the year.
There was never a dull moment as we were constantly being bombarded with sensory stimuli. It was an exercise in really living in the moment, which after a very stressful run up to the holiday, was just what we needed.
We travelled with a group of 24 and everyone appeared to be getting on with everyone else. We looked out for each other and spent some enjoyable times together. One member of our party had set up a local SIM card on his phone on arrival in India, which was of great benefit to the rest of the group when we were on the move away from the hotel WiFi. I think he only paid a few pounds for it when he arrived in India and a tech guy set it up for him. There was plenty of spare data available for the rest of the group to share via his WiFi hotspot, so I would highly recommend that you look into obtaining a local SIM card as data can be expensive on your UK account when travelling in India.
It was a humbling experience that made us feel very grateful for the privileged lifestyle we have in the UK. The free kitchen at Amritsar serving 100,000 people each and every day was just so humbling and special. The guided tour there was very inspiring.
The ride in a rickshaw through Chandni Chowk Market in Old Delhi was great fun, as were the various Tuc Tuc rides we enjoyed. We will never forget the fun we had and we highly recommend that you find time to take yourself out of the planned group tours and try to do your own thing for at least a couple of hours during your holiday. That way you will get to see more of the real India. Tuc Tucs are quite cheap. We paid 250IR (about £2.50) for a 10Km ride right across Jaipur, but prices are negotiable. Just get a price before you get in and be wary that they often want to take you to their friends outlet, so it’s a good idea to know where you want to go first and stick to it.
Textiles and cotton clothing is quite cheap in India and you will probably want to bring back a few new shirts. All prices in the markets are negotiable and the vendors expect you to haggle with them.
Some things that brochures won’t tell you and room for improvement
The booking process with both Saga and Hays could have been better, although Hays did seem to respond quicker. The staff at both companies appear to be working from home part time, sometimes just one or two days a week, so this injects delays. Umi at Hays was particularly responsive, but the visa issue was left hanging after we mentioned our concerns about date validity.
Children and women begging and sleeping on the streets is difficult to ignore. The guides told us not to give them money or they will pester you all the more, but it is very difficult and might be too upsetting for some travellers.
India did not strike us as a clean and tidy place. Litter, rotting waste, roaming cows, dogs, monkeys and just general garbage seem to be wide spread in the streets. We were a bit concerned about the rabies risk before we travelled, but we didn’t get the jab and as it turned out, the animals kept themselves to themselves.
Animals, especially cows are considered to be sacred, but they are hardly cared for, with many looking very thin and left to wander through the garbage looking for something to eat.
There are people, animals and vehicles everywhere, with constant traffic jams and pollution. Most people in our group, us included, ended up with sore throats and a cold, probably as a result of the pollution.
It’s difficult to get a good cup of coffee in India, unlike the UK where shops seem to offer countless varieties. The UK coffee culture has not arrived in India yet and most places seemed to serve instant coffee, so if a fresh ground expresso is your bag every few hours, don’t be surprised if you struggle to find one.
Indians don’t eat much meat. Most dishes are vegetable based with the emphasis on curry. Chicken was the most available of the meats at the hotels, with the occasional serving of lamb, which disappeared early and you missed out if late for dinner. If your ideal holiday consists of eating a 12oz sirloin every other day, then go to the USA instead.
Most food is very spicy and can be a bit much. At the end of the trip we were looking forward to some simple home cooked English food. The hotels could do more to cater for the overseas travellers in this respect. We recommend that you take a travel probiotic to help with your stomach as some travellers inevitably get a tummy upset when travelling abroad and experiencing new food. We bought some from Holland and Barrat and they worked well for us.
The hotels were all 5 star, but some were better than others. The Suryaa in New Delhi was not so good, where some of us experienced quite noisy rooms on two of the three occasions due to the constant weddings that appear to be going on in India.
The drinks prices at the hotels came as a bit of shock to us as we had a pre conceived idea for some reason that India was a low-cost country to visit. Bars and opportunities to get a beer or glass of wine outside of the hotels when walking around towns are very limited, unless you buy from a street wine merchants. We paid £23 for two glasses of Indian wine, which was not very good at the Suryaa. The Kingfisher beer is better, but still quite pricy at about £15 for two medium beers.
All hotels, except for The Ranthambore Regency had limited opportunity for outside dining, although they had external swimming pools with seating. A couple of people went swimming, but for us, it was still a little too cold for outside pools.
The train trip seating could have been better organised. My wife and I only got to sit with each other on one of the six rail trips included in the holiday. On the trip to Shimla for example I was in carriage number 2, whereas my wife was in carriage number 7. We were not overly bothered about this, but some members of our party were very keen not to be separated from their travelling partners and it is unclear why a block booking could not have been made so we all sat together as a group. We were sitting in carriages with the locals, but one might argue that is part of the experience and those that spoke English were keen to make our acquaintance and have a chat.
Hotel booking in seemed to be quite long and protracted each time we changed hotels considering we had already given our passport details in advance to both Hays and Titan. On one occasion it toom over 1 hour, when all we wanted to do was go to our room to rest.
The information from the guide regarding the next days activities were normally provided by word of mouth the evening before, when we were tired and after we had just arrived after a long day travelling. This could be handled much better in our opinion if the guide provided a web page or even an update sheet, either posted in the hotel lobby or sent to people’s phones. Easy enough to do with today’s tech. In reality the group usually ended up checking with each other when we were supposed to have our bags out and meeting up.
The official website for e-Visa applications is:
https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html
Link to e-Visa Guide which explains how/when to apply.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cYa3zqEjsWHzL-MRPnDRPZPZiaHusG6Sk7eUrQScccc/edit?pli=1
