Private, fully-managed India journeys for American travelers. From the Taj Mahal at sunrise to the backwaters of Kerala — every detail handled, nothing left to chance.
Every traveler's India is different. We craft journeys around what moves you — ancient temples, royal palaces, Himalayan trails, or spice-laden coastlines.
Heritage
Royal Palaces & Forts
Rajput fortresses, Mughal monuments, living maharaja palaces — India's royal legacy is unmatched on earth.
TripRoutes India handled our 3-week family trip from start to finish. Airport pickups, hotels, guides, even a cooking class in Jaipur — every detail was perfect. I've traveled the world but India with TripRoutes was truly special.
Jennifer & Mark Holloway
Seattle, WA · Golden Triangle + Kerala, 21 days
✔ Verified Trip
“
★★★★★
I was nervous about solo travel in India. The team made me feel completely safe the entire time. My guide in Varanasi was extraordinary — not a tourist script, real stories and real access. This is how India should be experienced.
David Kaplan
New York, NY · Sacred India Circuit, 12 days
✔ Verified Trip
“
★★★★★
The Ladakh trip they planned for our group of 8 was flawless. Permits, altitude acclimatization days, 4WD convoy — they thought of everything. The WhatsApp support was instant every single time. Already planning our next India trip with them.
The Golden Triangle: Three Cities, One Circuit, a Thousand Reasons to Weep With Wonder
The first time I arrived in India, I did what every guidebook told me to do. I landed in Delhi, took the train to Agra, stood in front of the Taj Mahal, felt so...
Read Story →
Festival Guide7 min read
Holi: India's Festival of Colours Is the Most Joyful Thing You Will Ever Experience
I have celebrated New Year in Sydney Harbour. I have danced at Carnival in Rio. I have watched the aurora borealis in Iceland. None of these experiences prepare...
Read Story →
Destination Guide9 min read
Kerala: God's Own Country Earns Its Name a Thousand Times Over
I have a theory about Kerala. I think it does something to the nervous system that no other place I have travelled can quite replicate. The pace of life along t...
Read Story →
Festival Guide8 min read
Diwali in Varanasi: The Night the Ganges Becomes a River of Fire
The boatman cut the engine at 6.45pm. We were in the middle of the Ganges, floating on water turning from black to bronze in the last of the evening light. On b...
Read Story →
Destination Guide10 min read
Ladakh: The Himalayan Kingdom That Makes the Rest of the World Feel Small
The pilot made the announcement about 40 minutes after departure from Delhi. We were flying over a sea of white cloud, and then the clouds ended and the Himalay...
Read Story →
Culture & Spirituality8 min read
The Ghats of Varanasi: Where India Keeps All Its Secrets
There is a specific quality of light at the Varanasi ghats at 5.30am in November - a grey-gold half-light in which the river is the colour of tarnished silver a...
Read Story →
Destination Guide9 min read
Rajasthan: The Land of Kings Still Wears Its Crown
The first rule of Rajasthan: everything you have seen in the photographs is real, and the photographs are still not enough. The blue city is actually blue. The...
Read Story →
Festival Guide7 min read
The Pushkar Camel Fair: Five Days at the World's Greatest Nomadic Carnival
I arrived in Pushkar on the third day of the fair - the day of maximum chaos, my guide later informed me. The road into town was backed up three kilometres with...
Read Story →
Food & Culture8 min read
Eating India: A Fearless, Flavour-First Guide for the American Traveller
The single most common question I get from Americans planning their first India trip is not about the Taj Mahal or the visas or the safety. It's about the food....
Read Story →
Destination Guide7 min read
Goa: Where India's History, Portugal's Legacy, and the Arabian Sea Collide
I have a confession about Goa. The first time I went, I spent almost the entire trip on the beach at Palolem reading novels and eating prawn curry. I thought I...
Read Story →
Essential Travel Guide10 min read
The Complete, Honest Guide to India for First-Time American Travellers
I have been travelling to India for twenty years. I have seen first-timers arrive in total overwhelm and leave saying it was the best trip of their lives. I hav...
Read Story →
Culture & Wellness7 min read
Rishikesh: Why the World's Yoga Capital Has Nothing To Do With Yoga Classes
Let me tell you what I expected from Rishikesh the first time I visited. I expected beautiful people in white linen doing sun salutations on rooftops. I expecte...
Read Story →
Festival Guide7 min read
Navratri in Gujarat: Nine Nights of Dance the Guinness World Records Cannot Adequately Describe
I arrived in Ahmedabad for Navratri on the sixth night and the first thing my driver said at the airport was: how long will you stay? When I said three days, he...
Read Story →
Destination Guide9 min read
Delhi: Eight Cities Built One on Top of Another, Each One Worth a Week
There is a ruin in Delhi called Mehrauli - not internationally famous, though extraordinary. A 13th-century mosque built using the columns of 27 destroyed Hindu...
Read Story →
Culture & Wellness8 min read
Ayurveda in Kerala: 5,000 Years of Medicine That Science Is Only Now Beginning to Understand
I came to my first Ayurvedic retreat in Kerala reluctant and sceptical. I am a travel writer, not a wellness enthusiast. I came because the resort was extraordi...
Read Story →
Wildlife & Adventure8 min read
Ranthambore: The Morning a Bengal Tiger Looked Me in the Eye and I Forgot My Own Name
We had been out for three hours. The mist had burned off by 9am. The forest was full of the particular birdsong that accompanies a morning that has not produced...
Read Story →
Festival Guide7 min read
Onam: Kerala's Ten-Day Festival of Flower Carpets, Boat Races, and a Feast That Took Three Days to Prepare
I have eaten some extraordinary meals in twenty years of travel writing. A kaiseki dinner in Kyoto. A private tasting menu at Noma. None of them match the exper...
Read Story →
Culture & Heritage Crafts7 min read
India's Textile Traditions: Thirty-Six Centuries of Craft You Can Still Watch Being Made
In a narrow upper room in a lane behind the Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, a man named Amir showed me a sari that had taken him six weeks to make. Banarasi silk...
Read Story →
Travel Planning Guide8 min read
When to Visit India: The Complete Month-by-Month Guide for American Travellers
One of the most common questions from Americans planning their first India trip: when should I go? Also, unfortunately, one of the most complicated questions to...
Read Story →
Destination Guide8 min read
Hampi: Walking Through the Capital of a Lost Empire That Once Fed the World
The first thing you see from the road is the boulder field. Not the temples, not the ruins. The boulders. Enormous granite spheres and ovoids piled on top of ea...
