14 Days India Famous Golden Triangle With Varanasi & Mumbai & Goa

Customer Reviews

• AP

  Anton

  · November 14th, 2024
  Automatically translated. View in EnglishRate this translation
  Automatic translation available in English. View in English
  If we had not had their very good employee "Carina" in Vienna, we probably would not have received our contractual services. 3 times the organizer tried not to fulfill his services, finally Mrs. Carina and I managed to enforce everything. Tour Radar is not to blame, you can forget an organizer like this "Real viaggi India".
  Show more
  Trip date: October 2024
• JW

  Jason

  · August 2nd, 2024
  We booked the “14 Days India Famous Golden Triangle With Varanasi & Mumbai & Goa All- Inclusive” trip on Tour Radar site through Real Viaggi India tour company for a family of four. A person from Real Viaggi Krishna (owner?) reached out to me beforehand introducing himself, providing his What’sApp contact and asking for our passport info. After that, pre-trip communication was almost non-existent. I kept asking for pre-trip info that would help us in India including detailed lodging info. I only received the lodging info for the different cities with Mumbai being “TBD” which told me that very little was planned in advance. There was no info on immunizations (which Westerners really need), Visa info, what to bring, etc. The first 5 days around the Golden Triangle (Delhi, Agra, Jaipur) went very smooth. We had one driver the whole time who was excellent (Suni) and all the guides were knowledgeable and helpful. Hotels were good (Jaipur’s was super cute) and given that the travel agency was located in Agra (Taj Mahal city) and most of the Western tours are probably just these five days in this iconic area, the agency has this down pretty well. Starting day 6 is when it all went downhill when we had to fly to Varanasi. Regarding flights: there is a discrepancy on Tour Radar and itinerary Real Viaggi sent me. Tour Radar only says Mumbai to Goa flight included, while the tour agency itinerary says flights “Mumbai to Goa economy flight ticket included”, “Flight Varanasi to Mumbai economy flight ticket”. This leaves Varanasi to Mumbai flight unaccounted for and it is not included in either Tour Radar or Real Viaggi “what is not included” section. Soooo, not knowing India and stupidly believing the “All-Inclusive” title of our tour as advertised on Tour Radar we assumed there would be no issues. Credit to Krishna/agency that they did pick up the cost of all flights but he did poke me about them having to pay for the flights “out of pocket” when I later complained about hotel quality and value for my $1800/pp fee. Therefore: sort all the flights out with local company in advance before you book! Also, the names on a couple of the flight reservations were wrong for two flights even though Real Viaggi had copies of our passports?!?! Krishna said he would change them but never did which caused stress at the airport until we discovered India really doesn’t care about names matching on official travel documents. LOL! Also, he booked all the flights without consulting us first so for the Varanasi flight we almost missed breakfast at the hotel. His response was “get the hotel to give you a bag for the road”. The itinerary promised this “After you pack your bags and mentally ready to leave Jaipur with amazing ever-lasting memories of tour, enjoy a scrumptious breakfast in hotel and then our driver will reach you for transfer to airport.” Definitely, not the same as a cold bag breakfast! When I asked if he could change the flight time for later to make it more comfortable for us, he responded “No, flights are non-refundable, so you would have to pay for that.” Again, we got all the flights only when we arrived in India on day 4 as if this had all been done at last minute by agency. Day 6-8 Varanasi- Driver was good and tour guide was ok. He bragged a lot about being a doctor and said he was only doing this job to improve his English. He didn’t seem to care too much about being a tour guide and was very quick going through streets and hustling us along. The hotel was an absolute dump: dirty, rundown, pool was not maintained, no hot water, no internet. We had our room changed to get Wifi but that wasted time. The restaurant was not good, including breakfast. No bottled water sold for Westerners to keep from getting sick. We were the only Westerners there. When I complained to Krishna he apologized and said the tour promised “four-star” accommodations. He may be technically right as “4-star” in India means something else but there was no concern from Viaggi about the quality of these accommodations and what Westerners would like. Day 9-10 Mumbai- Hotel was a Raddison Country Inn and Suites so it was very good and adapted for Westerners. The food/breakfast was the best of the trip. However, it was over an hour from the airport and an hour from the areas in which we would be sightseeing. I don’t know if this was Krishna trying to please me or him poking me for complaining by sticking us that far out in a place that was truly “4-star” but I can definitely say by checking Booking.com he saved money by putting us that far out. There were many good choices that were more in city center for only $20 more/night. For our one-day sightseeing in Mumbai, the driver was over 1 hour late, with no explanation or apology. He was unfriendly and was constantly spitting out the window. Traffic in Mumbai was insane so even though it was a fun and interesting day and tour guide was informative and energetic, because our hotel was so far out, we literally spent over 2.5 hours sitting in traffic unnecessarily. I requested through Krishna a different driver for the next day for our 1-hour plus ride to airport and 1000 AM pick up to give us plenty of time. For some reason, he changed the pickup time to 0900 (way too early) without me agreeing. The driver showed up at 0900, waited a while and then left without telling his company, Krishna or bothering to come in hotel to ask. When we were ready to leave at 1000, the driver had to come all the way back through Mumbai traffic and was over an hour late. Now, we were in danger of missing flight. The car was dirty and old and on way to airport it started raining hard and the windshield wipers didn’t work. The driver actually got on the freeway and was going to continue to drive with zero wipers and zero visibility until the whole family started shouting at him. We had to have another car pick us up and the only reason we didn’t miss flight was that it was 2 hours delayed. What a crazy and stressful morning! Day 11-14 Goa- Driver was good the entire time though what we learned was that if we didn’t have a tour planned, we didn’t get a driver. In fact, the night before Goa Krishna writes me this “I want to say that Goa is the relaxing destination over there no need a guide our driver will help you for sightseeing . Goa is famous for beach and relax.“ when in fact the company itinerary promised 3 days of guided activities. When I pushed back, he gave me a lie about local gov’t didn’t allow private guides. Only after I pushed back more forcefully did he agree to provide tour guide and driver. Tour guide was good the first day but then on the second day he just “no-showed” with no explanation from him or Viaggi. So, we wanted driver to take us to the mall about 11 KMs away and that became a fight with Krishna because that was not part of the “tour”, which up to this point he had little interest in following anyway. Because I was so tired of dealing with him at this point, we did not ask anything of him the final full day but rather paid taxis to take us around. Hotel was another dump. It got a 5.5 on Booking.com one of the lowest scores in the whole area. No hot water in one room. Restaurant was disgusting with flies everywhere and mold, very poor breakfast. After first day, we did not eat there and when I complained again, Krishna said they were all pre-paid rooms and we were stuck unless we paid out of pocket. This could have been mitigated had we had hotel info in advance. In summary: I would recommend Real Viaggi for the 5-day Golden Triangle tour but would not trust them with any other tour. Had our trip ended there, we would have had a must better experience. Also, this is far, far from “All-Inclusive”. You are on your own for lunch and dinner (and stuck at hotel for dinner) but some local tour guides do take you to a more Western place for lunch, which was hit or miss. Get the intra-country flights sorted out (who pays) and get them in advance. You have to pay all entrance fees, which believe me add up to a couple hundred dollars per person. Speaking of, bring lots of dollars (or Euros). In India, you are limited to withdraw cash per day (under $200) and many ATMs were out of order. Also, many credit card machines didn’t work. Many of the guides didn’t follow itinerary and there were some trying to cram it all in one day, which I had to push back on a couple times. As far as Real Viaggi, I have no other India operator to compare but Krishna seemed more about saving every Rupee possible than pleasing us. Regarding value: Hotels averaged about $30/night per person ($390 pp total), the 3 flights were about $80 pp ($240 total). Then, there was hiring the guide and driver where labor is extremely cheap so together can’t imagine it was more than $50/day ($690 total). That’s all they covered besides tolls and taxes so call it $1400/pp and we paid $1800/pp so that’s about 33% profit per person. Not great value! They could have booked better hotels for just a fraction more. India is a fascinating place and we will have great memories that will last forever and a lot of stories and memories we will share in our family and laugh and smile about. However, it was definitely tarnished by the poor hotels, poor organization, poor communication and constant back and forth during our vacation with Krishna . Whoever you decide to go with, do your research and ask a lot of questions up front before you book on Tour Radar or other 3rd party site.
  Show more
  Trip date: June 2024
• L

  losilfir

  · November 6th, 2023
  Family took the 14 days India Famous Golden Triangle With Varanasi & Mumbai & Goa All Inclusive Tour, and I'm so glad I did! Not only was it incredibly affordable, but the scenery throughout the tour was absolutely stunning. The tour began in New Delhi and included visits to the iconic Taj Mahal in Agra and the Pink City of Jaipur. These places are absolute must-sees when visiting India and I felt like I got to truly experience the culture and history of these places. The tour also included a stop in the holy city of Varanasi, which was truly profound. The Ganges River is so sacred to the people of India and it was amazing to see it up close. The tour also included a visit to the ancient temples of Khajuraho, which were breathtaking. The final leg of the tour was a stay in Mumbai and Goa. Goa is an absolute paradise and I could have stayed there forever! We got to explore the beaches, enjoy the delicious food, and witness the vibrant culture. The 14 Days India Famous Golden Triangle With Varanasi & Mumbai & Goa All Inclusive Tour is a great way to get a comprehensive look at India. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an amazing experience in India!
  Show more
  Trip date: November 2023