- Clear sustainable travel policy
- Social / Environmental Impact
- Tourism Dispersal
- Behavioral Awareness Education
- Small Group Travel
- Listen to Community Feedback
This 9-day tour of North India revolves around responsible wildlife experiences with a dash of luxury, city, and cultural village tours mixed in.
Visit Delhi, Agra (home to the Taj Mahal), Sawai Madhopur, and Ghanerao over the course of your stay. Witness incredible wildlife as well as significant cultural sites. Experience stays in luxury wildlife lodges and charming homestays that are working directly with local communities in wildlife conservation, rehabilitation, and community development projects. For example, the wildlife lodge in Sawai Madhopur and the homestay in Ghanerao are working with tribal women and camel herders on several projects including creating alternative incomes via selling camel milk, selling wool products, and supporting a local school.
The combination of wildlife, conservation projects, and cultural experiences makes this tour equally great for families, couples, and solo travelers.
Highlights:
- Visit a rescue and rehabilitation center for distressed wildlife, in particular, Indian bears and elephants
- Stay in a luxury wildlife lodge for a guided safari in Ranthambore National Park, famous for Indian tigers
- Spend a couple of days with camel herders witnessing their nomadic life and conservation efforts
- Hear lesser-known, unique facts about the famous Taj Mahal from one of our storytelling guides
- Free time to explore Delhi, including the President’s Palace, the India Gate, and the crafts market
- Guided tour of Delhi through the spice markets, jewel markets, cloth markets, and more
- Cultural tours, and visits to tombs, temples, forts, and monuments
- Optional visits for extra time at cultural monuments, visiting with local artisans, seeing their crafts (requires adding a day or two to your tour)
- Optional tour extension for a full day leopard safari
India has so much to offer! If you have a few more days to spare, we highly recommend that you add on Jaipur, Udaipur, and Jodhpur to this tour. This can give you the opportunity to embrace a “slow travel” mindset and provide the time for an additional safari or to visit more wonderful cultural sites.
Seasonal Notes: We offer this tour during the best season for it – anytime between September 1st and April 15th each year. Guests choose their desired start date.
📋 Itinerary
This itinerary is customizable (number of days, accommodation type, activities). For solo travelers, we can also set up public transport tickets if a private car is too expensive. Contact Yūgen Earthside for more information.
Day 1: Delhi [India] (arrival day)
Day 2: Delhi
Day 3: Agra
Day 4-5: Sawai Madhopur (wildlife experience & safari)
--Optional 1 day extensions: extend overnight in Agra, or visit Jaipur--
Day 6-7: Ghanerao (experience with camel herders)
Day 8: Cultural tours
--Optional 1 day extension: full day leopard safari--
Day 9: Rail transfer (departure day)
🌱 Sustainability
We cap the number of travelers we host per year to 500 to combat the risk of over-tourism. We stay free of touts (persistent salespeople). Our trips support 8 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (#1, 5, 8, 10, 12-15).
We promote tourism dispersal by spending only limited time at bigger cities and main monuments, with the majority of the tour in less-trafficked areas.
We pride ourselves on propagating and reviving local folk tales through storytelling.
Our many environmental actions include strict care of nature, using energy-saving electrical appliances in our homestays, and efforts to manage waste responsibly.
This tour focuses on ethical animal and wildlife tourism. We do not indulge in animal slavery, cruelty, or luring through bait during the wildlife experiences. We visit rescue centers and speak with those caring for the animals.
All accommodations are personally reviewed by our team. Our homestays and accommodations focus on local & organic food (vegetarian options available!), recycling waste properly, and strive for using energy-saving lights and appliances as well as solar thermal panels.
We support local artisans by involving them in tourism.
We minimize plastic on this tour and provide safe and healthy alternatives to plastic plates, packaged items, and bottles. We leave behind zero waste.
We locally sourced raw materials for meals.
- Adhere to Strict Environmental Standards
- Conserve Ecosystems/Preserve Biodiversity
- No Animal-Harming Tourism
- Green Transportation
- Local/Organic Restaurants
- Donate to Reputable Climate or Energy Group
- Responsible Waste Management
- Focused on Reusing Materials
- Recycle >80% Waste
- Energy-Saving Lights
- Solar Thermal Panels
- Provide Local Employment
- Fair Wages / Fair Trade
- Ensures Good Working Conditions
- Supports Local Businesses
- Tours Benefit Local Community
📌 Location
Use the Google map to orient yourself about where in the world this trip is. The location indicates the starting point for this trip.
A specific route map is included in the downloadable detailed itinerary.
🏷️ Pricing
Prices vary based on the number of travelers.
Prices are the same regardless of when you travel.
Prices are for twin-share rooms (except for solo travelers).
Prices exclude flights to/from the destination.
See the full list of price inclusions and exclusions in the downloadable detailed itinerary.
ℹ️ Other Info
If you're ready to book this trip, or if you still have some questions, contact us to let us know!
Book with confidence: To reserve your spot on a tour, a $750 deposit will be required. However, you can book with complete peace of mind as this deposit will be 100% refundable until 45 days prior to the trip start date (excluding fees paid to the payment gateway or bank).
This trip has a variable start date, so you can plan a departure date that suits you. It's also a private tour, meaning you will only be traveling with those you book the trip with.
Be sure you have traveler's insurance.
Please be fully vaccinated and boosted before traveling. You may also need proof of a negative Covid test before arrival to the country. Keep a mask and hand sanitizer with you at all times.
Special precautions for guests:
Given that we operate in village communities and areas away from the crowd, you are already safer in comparison to a regular tour. However, in the best interest of everyone’s health and well-being, we have strictly implemented some guidelines.
- Enhanced cleaning of the rooms, common areas, and vehicles used with soap and hot water.
- Cleaning of high-frequency touchpoints such as door handles, handrails, tables and chairs, electrical switches, and AC and TV remote with alcohol-based disinfectant.
- Meals will be served in rooms only, and hot water will be served in the cold Himalayan regions. In other regions, we serve boiled water but at room temperature. Meals in common rooms will be discontinued.
- We serve immunity-boosting drinks such as herbal tea at the accommodations regularly during the day.
- Zero physical contact and distance of at least 6 ft. at all times.
- Visits to monuments and any other places according to the itinerary to be scheduled in a staggered manner and with the necessary social distancing.
- Contactless check-in and check-out at all accommodations.
- If you are using an Indian SIM card, we encourage you to download the ‘Arogya Setu’ app for regular local updates and contact tracing.
Special precautions for communities & our staff:
We are in touch with all our communities and get real-time updates about state guidelines for health and safety. We are also checking on each others’ families and exchanging support wherever possible in these difficult times. To keep the food coming to everyone's table, we have taken a few actions behind the scenes.
- We have shifted to 100% contactless and virtual operations. All our meetings and calls are now over video or voice calls. We are currently not working from a physical office, but we are available during our normal working hours without any impact on the business.
- We have trained our guides for the same contactless operations during the tours.
- We care equally for the communities we work with. They are vulnerable and we need to take extra care. Keeping this in mind, we have worked with all our homestay families and cooperatives regarding health and safety measures.
- All payments are now 100% via internet banking, debit card, or credit card. We have removed any cash payments from the loop, and are encouraging all our partners to do the same.
- If any staff member is found to have symptoms of Covid-19, we will ensure that he/she gets enough time for personal care, quarantine, and recovery before joining back.
COVID & Sustainability:
All our tours are now upgraded to follow the necessary health and safety measures while staying green.
- We don’t keep single-use cutlery. Instead, we use hot water and dishwashing solution to clean and reuse the utensils.
- We are using multi-layer cloth masks with 6 ft. distancing measures rather than non-biodegradable masks. The masks we are using are also responsibly sourced.
- We are adopting regular handwashing with hot water while working in the kitchen and in other areas of the homestays. For our drivers, we are recommending alcohol-based hand sanitizers. We are not using rubber gloves as there are better alternatives available by following the simple practices mentioned above.
- We are using alcohol-based solutions for cleaning all high-touch point areas and making hand sanitizers available in all common areas of the accommodations. At the same time, we encourage you to use regular water and soap for hand washes.
- We are serving home-cooked food only as it does away with the need for any packaged food from the market.
Q: What is the best season to do the wildlife tour of north India?
A: We suggest that you take this tour anytime between September and early March. While the afternoon may be hot, the rest of the day is pleasant, and the nights have a nip in the air.
Q: I am a solo traveler. Can I use public transport?
A: Yes, we can setup tickets for all public transport available. However, you may have to follow the departure times defined by the service provider, in which case all the activities mentioned above may not be possible in the given time.
Q: Can I choose hotels throughout the tour?
A: This tour provides lodging at homestays and lodges, including one luxury wildlife lodge. We audit and work with a specific set of accommodations that are inclined towards sustainability. However, if you have any special requests for accommodation, we can cover that (the cost may vary). Just let us know when you send the inquiry.
Q: What kind of a car do you provide?
A: We provide either a sedan or an SUV depending on the number of people. All the cars are air-conditioned as the weather and local terrain demand it.
Q: Is this a fully escorted wildlife tour?
A: This tour is a mix of guided and un-guided experiences. The walking tours and village experiences are with our storytellers whereas monument visits are self-tours. All monuments usually give an audio guide with the ticket which is a great way to know about the place. Your private car will be available 24/7. On special request, we can do this as a fully escorted tour (at additional cost).
Q: Is this wildlife tour safe for solo travelers and female travelers?
A: Yes, all accommodations, drivers, and storytellers we have are well trained and personally known to us. This tour of Rajasthan is safe for solo travelers and female travelers.
