Review: Gate 1 Tour of India: 15 Day Classic India with Ranthambore

The 15 Day Classic India with Ranthambore Tour

Note: This review is for the Gate 1 tour of India alone, including the tour itinerary, guide and driver, bus, transports, and pre-booked accommodations and activities.  This review does not include the in-depth individual reviews of the cities visited, dining experiences, or tourist attractions, etc. – a full listing of those India posts can be found here.  

Using Gate 1 Travel:

For my fist trip to India, I [wisely] opted for a tour. I had used Gate 1 Travel before, and was impressed (and pleasantly surprised) with the quality, comfort, and value of that tour. It was well organized, paced, and planned out. Not to mention, I got lucky and got a great and funny tour guide with a old-school cheeky personality. The accommodations on that tour were all upscale boutique Marriott properties at great rates.

The Taj Mahal

With India, using Gate 1 Travel for a tour was a ‘no-brainer’. India was simply too steep of a learning curve, there was a written and spoken language barrier, and I had almost no knowledge of South Asian history. Oh, and they drive on the left side  of the road. 😉

Gate 1 had amazing price on a tour that had almost everything I wanted to see on my first trip there – including, of course, the Taj Mahal: The 15 Day Classic India with Ranthambore tour. Not only that, the price was better than I could manage if booked separately on my own — and I was able to take advantage of the $300 off coupon code from the mailed brochure.

Tip #1: Sign up with Gate 1 Travel online to receive brochures in the mail, they contain valuable coupons

Tip #2: Gate 1 Travel gives a 5% discount off the trip if you opt to pay off your balance with a cash in the form of a check

Included With The Gate 1 Tour of India:

(Image courtesy of gate1travel.com)

I opted for the “land only” version of this tour as I booked my international flight free with points.

The Itinerary on a Map:

(Image courtesy of gate1travel.com)

The Tour Guide:

First, let me me say that I was lucky to have another great Gate 1 tour guide, “Sony”. She happened to be one of the only female tour guides in an Indian industry that is completely dominated by men. As you can imagine, she was tough! But she was also quite funny, and her great sense of humor and knowledge of all things ‘touristy’ really made the trip fun. She politely fielded all the crazy tourist questions (that she’d no doubt heard a million times) with a smile, like this gem: “So, if people are starving in India, why don’t they just eat the cows?”. I cannot recommend her highly enough!

Garden Park at Udaipur

The Driver, Assistant, and Bus Coach:

The driver, and his assistant, didn’t speak English but got the job done through some VERY tough driving conditions and situations. Not having to drive was the #1 reason I felt like a genius for booking a tour. They were friendly and always provided cold bottled water, smiles, and sanitizer squirts when you boarded the bus.

The coach was modern and ‘average’ by international standards; but could be considered ‘luxurious’ in India. The seats relined, the A/C and curtains worked well, the bus was clean and smelled fine. Most importantly, the bus didn’t breakdown or get a flat for the entire trip.

The Hotel Accommodations:

The Ranbanka Hotel, Jodhpur

Eros Hotel, New Delhi, INDIA – I rate it a 4/5

Trident Agra Hotel, Agra, INDIA  I rate it 4/5

The Pugmark, Sawai Madhopur, INDIA  I rate it 3/5

Ramada Jaipur, Jaipur, INDIA I rate it 4/5

Ranbanka Hotel, Jodhpur, INDIA  I rate it 4/5

Trident Udaipur Hotel, Udaipur, INDIA  I rate it 5/5

Trident Nariman Point Hotel, Mumbai, INDIA I rate it 5/5

The Eros Hotel and the Trident Hotels were particularly upscale and very high-end properties. The Ranbanka was a stand-out hotel as well as the layout and service was great.

Tip #3: As the Ramada Jaipur is almost the half-way point of the tour, it’s an ideal and inexpensive place to have your laundry done. They had a deal for about $10 US for everything you could cram into their laundry bag with a 12-hour turnaround.

Tip #4: The Ranbanka has an awesome restaurant complex called “On the Rocks” within close walking distance. There are many great restaurants and bars there, you really can’t go wrong. Get there early as the place fills up quick.

The Flight:

The domestic flight route from Udaipur (UDR) to Mumbai (BOM) was serviced by a Jet Airways flight.

I hadn’t flown with them before, but the plane was new, the flight was short, and the service was great.  Overall, it was an easy morning flight. Based on this experience, I would definitely fly with Jet Airways again.

Landing in Mumbai

The Tour Pacing:

While I feel like the itinerary was very solid and well planned out, I do feel like I missed some important ‘must-see’ items. Delhi could have used another day as the tour missed the Humayun’s Tomb, Bahai Lotus Temple and Red Fort.  Jaipur was also a great city that could have used another day with all there is to see there.  The same goes for Jodhpur – one night is simply not enough.

Of the 20 people on the tour, 16 (plus the tour guide) continued on to Nepal as part of the larger Gate 1 Travel “18 Day Classic India with Ranthambore & Nepal” tour. Mumbai seemed like the only poorly planned part of the trip: It was a strange plan to fly South only have one afternoon in Mumbai, then have to be in bed early to catch the 6am Northernly flight out to Nepal. One afternoon is not close to enough time for a city like Mumbai.

Things to Consider:

Delhi Belly: Beware, this is a thing. On our tour, 5 out of 20 people got hit with this at one time or another, missing days or half days of the tour. Do what you can to prevent this — ALWAYS sanitize, wash you hands, and avoid hotel sink water when brushing your teeth, avoid ice, and ease yourself into Indian cuisines before you go for the street food. The tour guide knew exactly what to do and was able to get people back on the tour usually within 24 hours.

I was recommended the probiotic ‘Cuturelle’ (digestive health) and I didn’t get sick. I also eased myself into Indian by sticking  to curries and rice early on to expose my system to foreign bacteria before going for street food chili paneer and lassies.

The website also notes there is a lot of driving involved. You will regularly have 5-8 hour days of solid driving. The Taj Mahal is not close at all to Delhi, and the road to Ranthambore is three hours of “white knuckling” – there and back. You will get ample roadside stops and lunch breaks, but you should know what you are in for. Also know, there’s really no other option if you really wanna see India.

(Image courtesy of gate1travel.com)

The Bottom Line:

Overall, this Itinerary covered about 90% of a first-timer’s dream checklist for India. You will visit seven amazing cities, and spend a large part of this tour in the stunningly beautiful desert region of Rajasthan. You’ll have the opportunity to do the optional Gate 1 activities consisting of various dinner shows, watching a Bollywood movie at a vintage cinema, and trying the local cuisines and even lassie-bar tastings.

The way I see it, it’s really three trips in one. You get the “Golden Triangle” (Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur), Rajasthan (Ranthambore, Jodhpur, and Udaipur) and Mumbai. You get to see at least eight UNESCO World Heritage sites. And if you are really lucky, you’ll get to see a Bengal Tiger!

Beautiful Tigress on Safari @ Ranthambore National Park

This tour is really quite a lot to see and do in a very short amount of time, but its perfect for a first trip to India. Understandably, this tour is very ambitious and you should know that going in.

I highly recommend this Gate 1 Tour of India and itinerary. In fact, I’ve already recommended it to many friends and family members who want to visit India but don’t know how to do it. If you have the time, its also worth looking at the tour with the Nepal tack-on.

My overall rating of this tour: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Cheers!