Make Your Next Trip Extraordinary

Mary Ko | March 11, 2024
Little girl jumping out at Eklingji Temple, near Udaipur in India.

One of Mary Ko’s daughters gets some energy out at Eklingji Temple, near Udaipur. Photo: Traveler Mary Ko

Our family has been on many trips. We usually use Wendy Perrin’s List because all the companies offer flexibility and we travel with young kids (ages 11, 9, and 5). We went to India February 28th-March 9th, and it was our best family trip to date, I know part of this was because we finally don’t have a kid under 4 with us, but the other part was the travel company, and Narji our guide. We went to Agra, Jaipur, and Udaipur. There was so much to offer for everyone.

The kids’ favorite parts of the trip were the shopping, the block printing (2 of 3 kids took very serious), feeding peacocks at Taj Rambough, and seeing elephants at the Sanctuary. They truly loved all of the trip, but those are their favorites. My husband and I loved the Oberoi hotels, the gems, the Taj Mahal, the love of western travelers we felt, the tuk tuk ride, the historic sites, and so much more. Really every day. The weather was perfect, the guides were flexible and kind, and India is truly a magical place. We have already purchased the things needed to try to make our own jalebi and we loved the tea!!!

A few details that can’t be missed. We hopped airports a bit to quickly jump cities, and our driver would drive our luggage so we only had a backpack and snacks, making flying headache-free. Narji our guide was an amazing photographer, so sweet with our kids, and he is crazy smart, and so funny. He had us laughing many times. I don’t think I would change a thing. What I love about Victoria and Bertie’s company is that we had flexibility with kids. Meaning if we cancelled something because they needed downtime, it was fine, or if we had to change things quickly, it was no big deal.

Before we went I had heard not to drink the water and bring shoe covers and hand sanitizer. Victoria and Bertie provided all of this…so pack lighter!

Amazing adventure!!

Our travels were to India for a family wedding in Agra. Working with Bertie and Victoria’s team to select the hotels, identify places to visit and to coordinate the travel arrangements for the 9 members of our family was a great choice. We especially enjoyed the Chandhi Chowk rickshaw ride and the early-morning tour of the Taj Mahal. Our guide, Ajay, was great at sharing the history of the monuments and helping us make the last-minute schedule adjustments to accommodate the wedding and family events. Also, Bertie and Victoria’s office made it look effortless to handle the complicated timing of arrivals and departures of our family members.

We went to Kolkata, India for a wedding and then arranged a 10-day tour of Udaipur, Jaipur and Agra through Victoria. Victoria arranged a great itinerary. She worked closely with us to align the activities to our priorities. We have traveled extensively and can say that our tour guide, Vikram, was one of the best tour guides we have had. He truly enjoys sharing his knowledge and teaching us about the various Indian cultures and traditions. We really appreciated that he shared his very interesting family history with us. Whenever we travel, a major priority of my amateur photographer husband is to get great photos. Vikram kept this in mind and ensured that we saw not only the interesting buildings, but also interesting people to photograph. He knew exactly where to stand to get the best photos, especially when my husband wanted a photo that showed the chaos of India traffic! Having traveled to India many years ago for work, I knew that having a tour guide with us for the whole sightseeing trip was the way to go when touring India, and I was right! Vikram took great care of us and we felt very safe with our drivers, also.

A rickshaw ride through Delhi.

Amy Evers’ husband and son on a rickshaw ride through Delhi.

Our trip was wonderful! I have now visited 52 countries and I don’t know why it’s taken this long to get to India. We loved it. This trip was with my husband, 2 kids (ages 12 & 13), my mother-in-law and I. We all loved it. Victoria and Diggi did a wonderful job planning a trip that would cater to all of our interests and abilities. I had a long call with Victoria in the beginning to get the process started and for her to get a better idea of what we wanted out of this trip. She took this to heart and knocked it out of the park. November was a perfect month to visit, highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s in Rajasthan.

Harsh, our guide, was one of the best! He is knowledgable, flexible, agreeable, capable of dealing with the trials of siblings, liked by all, patient, etc, etc. I’ve had good guides and I’ve had bad guides. He’s a great guide!

Dinesh, our driver, was wonderful too. We always felt safe with him at the wheel. He always greeted us with a smile. The vehicle was clean and roomy and perfect for our group.

We loved the tuktuk rides. Yes, at times, they were chaotic, but that just added to the adventure. The rickshaw ride got a special mention from my daughter. Our modes of transportation were perfect.

All of our accommodations were beautiful and unique. I honestly don’t have any complaints about any of them. My mother-in-law was able to do yoga 2 mornings at one of them, which made her very happy.

I don’t think there were any activities that we didn’t like, but the things that received special mentions by the group are:

-Food tour in Delhi. Everyone pushed themselves out of their comfort zones just a bit.
-Jaipur by dawn tour, including a very authentic experience at an active Hindu temple.
-Impromptu walking tour in Udaipur, resulting in feeding a random elephant walking down the road.
-Block printing workshop, a fascinating village visit and a hands-on creative experience.
-Elephant experience. Who doesn’t love spending close time with elephants?
-Jain temple visit and lunch with the pilgrims.
-Astrologer reading. My kids thought this was spectacular.
-Street food Indian breakfast.

Ultimately this was just the cultural and fun trip I was hoping my kids would have. We learned so much about various religions, culture and history. My kids truly are catching the travel bug and this trip has definitely contributed! I have no doubt that my husband and I will be back to India, maybe several more times, and we will definitely be contacting Victoria’s office again!

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