India Odyssey Tours

Our travel consultant Allison Chiang did a fantastic job of organising our trip to include the highlights we were aware of, plus more. Our intinery included Delhi, Varanasi (sunrise on Ganges and evening Ganges Aarti ceremony), Agra (Taj Mahal), Ranthambore (3 x tiger safaris), Jaipur (Amerfort), Pushkar (Brahma Temple and Pushkar Lake), Jodhpur (Meherangarh Fort), Ranakpur, Udaipur (City Palace and Lake Pichola) and return flight to Delhi.Apart from our flights to and from Varanasi our privategroup of 7 travelled in a large comfortable bus with our driver Mr. Singh and his capable assistant Mundi. Both Mr. Singh and Mundi were extremely polite and friendly. They went out of their way to ensure our trip was comfortable and interesting. We were met at each city by a representative of India Odyssey (now Odynovo) and introduced to our guide for each tour. Each of the guides offered new and interesting information about each city and provided our group of 7 with an informative insight into the history, people and cultures of the area. Our hotels were all first class. We have used Allison before for a Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos Tour and would highly recommend her and Odynovo for any Indochina trip.

Don Lee, excellent with organising our tour. He was prompt & accomodating and went above and beyond our expectations by helping us book a few dinner reservations. Our driver; Rajesh Kumar, was the most wonderful driver we could've hoped for. His English was great, has superb knowledge & is a very safe driver. We would highly recommend him to anyone travelling to Rajasthan & Delhi. All tour guides and representatives were helpful and extremely knowledgable. The cars we travelled in were clean & well maintained. Accomodation, especially the Heritage hotels, were superb. We will definitely be using this company again & would recommend to our family & friends.

Our travel consultant Don Li put together a couple of quotes for us incorporating our desired locations (Yala, Pasikuda and Trincomalee) plus some extras. The itinerary was perfect as we got to see all the places on our wish list and the traveling time was not excessive on any given day.

Our driver and guide (Anton and Anton) were great and we highly recommend them for future tours.

The only things I would note that may be improved on:

1. Train tickets were not booked in advance by odyssey. We had some difficulties in obtaining train tickets for the Kandy-Nuwara Eliya leg and our guides were not transparent with us (told us was due to train delay rather than lack of availability of seats)
2. Cinnamon lodge in Sigiriya was not on par with the other 5 star hotels, for example the bathroom was quite mouldy and the bed was two different sized single beds pushed together.
3. Issue with checkout from Cinnamon hotel – they informed the company had not paid for our 2 night stay at the last minute. This caused a moderate delay in travel on our last day.

Overall we had a fantastic time in Sri Lanka.

Mavis has done such an amazing job helping me plan the tour that I can't imagine working with anyone else for future travel! She is always so efficient, professional, and friendly!

Wonderful experience from start to finish. I particularly appreciated the services of my excellent driver, Ankit Samesh, and of my trip coordinator, Liz Ling. After traveling with Odyssey, I will never again be content with the ordinary "tour bus" experience. I am a 71 year old American woman who traveled solo.

The whole trip in India 2017 was amazing. The luxury train is fantastic.The whole team from the train, service, kitchen, butler. All people we will never forget.
The wheelchair and the wheelchair driver for Helmut was very helpful, so Helmut could go with us everywhere. It was not always easy to go with the wheelchair.
We were only 11 Guests in the train. The last evening in the train we had a special dinner and got a Saree as a present. Always when I see the dress at home I think on the fantastic trip. All the private tour guides, were very friendly and helpful.
Mumbai and Delhi was also fantastic. The dance performance was wonderful. The normal life in India is so different. The culture, the life in the city and countryside. The Indian people are open and always with a smile on her face. It is amazing.
Once again i want to say thank you to Queenie from the company Odyssey Tours. She did a great job. In a short time I got an answer of my questins. Queenie is very flexible when I want to change anything else. I am so satisfied with her and her company. I hope I can meet her on my next tour through China with my girlfriend. Sylvia from Austria.

Where do I begin? My family has traveled extensively throughout the world, both with tours and on our own. When I began planning our India trip, I chose to use a tour group, but was not finding a tour that would
match the dates we were available. A web search turned up Odyssey tours, which offered customized, personal tours.

I was concerned about the cost, but was pleasantly surprised that the price was competitive with the group tours being offered. As a U.S. resident, I was initially concerned with working with a Chinese company for a tour to India, but was quickly put at ease by my Odyssey rep., Lynn Liu, who was able to answer all my questions. Also, she promptly responded to any changes I wanted made to my itinerary. She also recommended changes based on my requests鈥攕uch as providing a larger car, pointing out India's visas requirements, and arranging for our driver to be available on our (additional and on our own) final day.

Odyssey continued to contact us throughout the trip to make sure all our needs were being met. When we mentioned that we were not happy that WIFI was not included at our Delhi hotel, Odyssey arranged for free WIFI to be available when we returned to the same hotel for the final two days of our trip. What an outstanding experience! Odyssey's reps. were there every step of the way鈥攆rom meeting us at the airport at 3 a.m. (Mr. Rathore), getting us to all our hotels on the trip, arranging check-in (Mr. xxx in Delhi, Mr. Hitesh in Agra and Mr. Pratap in Jaipur), introducing us to our local guides in each city, and, finally, ensuring that our departure at the airport went smoothly (Mr. Jitendra).

Our tours in each city were very interesting and informative and were enhanced by having our own personal guide (Mr. Sood in Delhi, Mr. Sharma in Agra, and Mr. Shekhawat in Jaipur) as opposed to one guide for a group of 20+ people. The flexability of a personalized tour allowed us to adjust starting times of our tours, or change our itinerary鈥攕uch as stopping when we needed a break or wanted to do some shopping. (This would not have been possible with a group tour.) This made our experience much more memorable. They even recommended restaurants where we could get dinner!

I also want to commend our driver, Mr. Devinder Singh, whose service was above and beyond throughout our trip. From ensuring that there was cold water and snacks always waiting for us whenever we got in the
car to providing insight into life in India during our long car rides between cities. Mr. Singh also showed us around Delhi on our final day, with several interesting stops including a visit to a Sikh temple and Ghandi Srmiti.

Overall, I want to say 鈥渢hank you鈥?to Odyssey tours for a job well done and for giving us a most memorable vacation. We are planning several more trips throughout Asia over the next few years, and I plan to make Odyssey my first stop when I begin planning for those trips.

Can't begin to recommend this company highly enough. Had used them for Vietnam/Cambodia a few years ago, but this tour was even better. Seamless I might add.

Can't thank Queenie, Odyssey rep, enough for "holding our hands" through numerous pre trip changes and making the trip a reality.

An Odyssey Tour rep met us in every location from Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Udapair, (and yes, Maldives) and finally, Mumbai. Felt safe and cared for. and much thanks to our Odyssey driver, Girgarg "Giddy" for the best 8 days of professional driving. Dodging "sacred cows' can be quite daunting.

Odyssey helped us select the Oberoi hotel in five cities; this is not a 5 star hotel, but a 7!! Personalized, culinary delight and spectacular accommodations; never experienced anything like it. Thank you Odyssey!

Chicago, May 2018

Mavis is such a pleasure to work with, she makes herself available to you at all times and understands your needs. She is quick to solve your issues

From the start of the booking process on my desk at the Gold Coast, Australia, from the north of India to the south of India, my wife and I were repeatedly impressed with the teamwork of India Odyssey Tours, the quality of service, selection of wonderful hotels/accommodation, the variety of tours provided and the safety and respect afforded to us throughout our 18 day tailor-made journey. All of the guides and drivers were excellent and it is clear India Odyssey spend a great deal of time ensuring that the quality of product and service provided is going to be second to none.
I would like to pay tribute to a few of the star players. Firstly, our travel consultant, Catherine Wang, was so thorough and completely competent from the very beginning of the booking which began over nine months ago. Nothing was ever too much trouble for Catherine and she always replied to my numerous questions and amendments very speedily (so much so that I wondered when she would ever have had a day off work or got any sleep as she seemed to be able to answer me at any hour of the day). Her attention to detail was faultless and because of this, everything went according to plan each day. All local India Odyssey staff on the ground were also very attentive and were always checking to make sure we were OK. On one occasion, I was not well and Catherine and her team were once again very concerned and would have gone out of their way to assist if I had have required any help (which thankfully wasn鈥檛 required). Our last night was on a houseboat in the backwaters of Kerala. We had not mentioned it to anyone but it happened to be my wife鈥檚 birthday. The restaurant staff of the hotel in which we were staying the previous night (Spice Village, Periyar) presented her with a beautifully made birthday cake and sang 鈥淗appy Birthday鈥?to her at breakfast. Unfortunately, at this time of the morning we couldn鈥檛 really do it justice but it was a very thoughtful gesture. When we checked out of the hotel, our driver (Giri) was standing at the car with a huge bunch of roses and on check in to the houseboat, there was another surprize with a gift of wine. All of these were very much appreciated.
Two other star players on our journey were our drivers, Rawat and Giri. Rawat looked after us for about 5/6 days when we visited Delhi, Agra and Jaipur and Giri for a similar amount of time while we visited Cochin, Munnar, Periyar and Alleppey. Both these gentlemen were exceptional in the way they looked after us. They were always very polite and courteous, provided interesting and educated conversation during sometimes long road trips, their driving skills were excellent (always felt very safe while they were driving), their vehicles were kept immaculately clean and they made sure we always had plenty of snacks and refreshments in the back of the car. They are both a credit to their respective employers and we hold very fond memories of them both. All of our guides were similarly very good also, particularly Sunni (Sankalp) in Agra.
Thank you, Catherine and the entire India Odyssey team for a memorable Indian adventure.

My family and I recently got back from an 18-day personalized trip to India, covering Goa, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Agra, Varanasi and Darjeeling.

Few months back, we were scouring the internet for travel agencies, trying to figure out and pick the perfect itinerary that would line up with our budget. Fortunately, we came across India Odyssey Tours I must mention it was the only company that was the most responsive.

Queenie Yang was our travel consultant and she made our booking process seamless. Although we went through several itineraries, made several amendments before reaching the final one, she has been really patient with our concerns and accommodating to our preference. Regardless of whether she was away from work or it was a holiday, we always heard back from her within a day.

We had no difficulty finding the representatives at the airport, they were all on time. Unfortunately, for some reason, most of our domestic flights were delayed, but we received a warm welcome from the representatives and the drivers at each destination and we're thankful for their patience.

Richard, our driver in Goa was excellent. He was reliable, friendly and really kind. We'd one half-day trip; for the rest of that day we were gonna be on our own, but Richard gave us some helpful suggestions about the activities we could do and we decided to go for a boat tour – despite that this wasn't part of our itinerary, he went above his normal working schedule and gave us a complimentary ride to the beach.

All of the guides were great, but our guide from Agra was particularly amazing, he was really nice and he also gave us ample time to take pictures at the Taj Mahal.

Overall, it was an amazing experience. We really appreciated Queenie as well as the local manager following up with us to ensure that we were well-taken care of.

If you're looking for a personalized tour with a reasonable price, we highly recommend my Odyssey tours and our travel consultant, Queenie Yang. We will definitely choose them to plan and book our next trip.

Mavis Jiang helped my to book my India Odyssey Tours. She is a very friendly and responsible person. Every time, I needed to modify the tour, she always provided quick update to the quotation. She is also a very knowledge person to provide information for the tour. I'm glad that I have her assisting my booking and looking forward to having the tour.

We are so glad we came across Odyssey when researching our trip to Rajasthan .
As travellers that normally book, organise and manage our own itineraries this is the first time we have used a tour company. But we were both a little daunted at the challenges all that might entail for a trip to India in the heat of April. My wife was particularly concerned about our personal safety arrangements given the horror stories we are fed in our home country. What also appealed to us was having our own tailored itinerary and a driver that stayed with us throughout the whole trip. We did not want to be bundled up in a large group.
From the very first contact we had with Odyssey tours, we found them to be highly responsive to all our questions and requests. We changed our plans numerous times before settling on our final itinerary and each time we were treated with the up most courtesy and efficiency. Our emails were all answered promptly.
Our hotels were of good quality, the car comfortable and Mr Thakur the driver made us feel safe and at ease from the moment we were picked up from the airport to the moment we were dropped off to head home.
We were well looked after, each day the car was stocked with fruit and snacks for us to enjoy and there was never a shortage of cold bottled water to drink. The guides that joined us each day and Mr Thakur gave advice on how to navigate the hawkers at the tourist spots and when we were required to tip and what tips were appropriate. We were offered the chance to shop and visit craft shops, which we often declined, and we never felt pressured to have to go.
All of the guides in each of the cities we visited were courteous, respectful and extremely knowledgeable about the history of the places we explored. The guides looked out for our comfort and safety, managing entry ticket purchase to all the sites we visited and often personalising the experience by offering to take photos. The guides were very personable and couldn鈥檛 have been more helpful.
In short, we were very impressed with Odyssey tours and thank them for a wonderful experience. We would definitely use them again.

We have used odyssey tours previously for a trip to Vietnam .
Joan Qin was very helpful and responded quickly with suggestions for our itinerary
The drivers and guides were fantastic, hotels booked were good standard and the restaurants for lunch also great
This year we are going to India, and when I saw odyssey also operated in India I didn't hesitate to contact them,
It was really nice to have Joan assisting us again. Booking these type of holidays cost a lot of time, researching areas, booking hotels and flights etc. Odyssey does all the hard work for you, and makes sure you get the trip you want

Very happy with the tour and guides.

I had such a very wonderful trip touring northern India.
It really will be one I remember for my whole life. I was a single traveller, so lots of my friends and family were concerned that I would travel on my own, but Odyssey provided excellent service, and I always felt looked after and safe.

There was only one small issue around transfer times for one flight, these were totally resolved after I raised awareness to my local rep – they stepped in and provided an extra half day of touring- the issue was resolved very quickly. As a result, I feel that I was taken very good care of- which increases my satisfaction with the service provided.

I was very well taken care of. The tour ran smoothly, the guides were very knowledgable and clear. The drivers were all excellent and very safe.

I had one particular driver for most of the week, his name was Mr. Raspal Singh. He drove me in Delhi, to Agra, to Ranthambore and Jaipur- he was excellent, a very safe driver, very attentive, I had his number should I need any help day or night, he was always friendly and ready with my bottled water. His care and attention to detail really stood out, I can only commend the company on the standard of care provided through Raspal.

I would like to thank you again for what was a fantastic adventure. Since returning, I have been more than happy to recommend Odyssey to everyone! I look forward to using the company again soon, I feel I need to explore more of southern India!!!

A special thank you to my tour organiser – who was always on hand, phoned to check I was content during the week, and followed up quickly on any question or concern – Mavis – thank you for such a wonderful experience and your excellent customer service.

Our booking agent for a 10 day Sri Lanka tour was Don Li. He was organized, professional and responsive. It鈥檚 difficult to trust travel companies so I initially placed inquiries out with several companies. Odyssey quickly became the front runner, and I couldn鈥檛 be happier from this choice and overall experience. From the vehicle used to transport us around, to top notch accommodations, to amazing personalized experiences… EVERYTHING was impressive. Our driver Meril was attentive and knowledgeable. He鈥檚 able to make his way around the whole island without using GPS! We stayed in 7 resorts in 10 days within our travels and Don Li nailed each booking! My friends and I typically don鈥檛 use travel agents when trotting around the globe, but will certainly use Odyssey鈥檚 services again! They truly took the hassle out of traveling so that we could focus on enjoying ourselves!

Excellent. From the moment we connected. Allison was chosen to be my travel agent and she was superb. She responded very quickly to all my emails, she made great suggestions, made changes to my itinerary. I would not use any other travel agency but Oddessy Tours. Thank you Allison for all hard work you have done. I will stay in touch.

About a year ago I commenced research on touring in India and quickly settled on a private tour rather than a group tour. During my research Odyssey Tours came up and I noticed that the company had excellent feedback from a diverse range of travelers. Commencing with the classic "Golden Triangle" I decided to branch out further and decided to contact Odyssey with a view to setting up the perfect tour for my wife and myself. Catherine Wang (Cathy) was the travel consultant assigned to us. Cathy did a great job, particularly as I'm the sort of person who prefers "hands-on", which included decision making with regard to accommodation, transportation, destinations, sightseeing, personal likes/dislikes, orientation, etc. From the start I found Cathy to be very knowledgeable and flexible so that ultimately we reached agreement on what seemed to be the perfect package for us. The proof of the pudding is in the eating as the saying goes and we were very pleased with the entire slick operation. From local agents, to drivers and local guides, almost everything progressed like clockwork. I say "almost" because the only time planning went awry was due to circumstances beyond the control of all parties involved such as when political and union activists unexpectedly blocked the railway track and road between two towns effectively stranding us. However, we had been provided with contact phone numbers for the local agency involved and so were able to make the most of an unfortunate situation including looking at other options for continuing our trip.
The bottom line is that we are very happy to recommend Odyssey for your travels and in particular Catherine Wang as your consultant.

We had a fantastic time in India thanks to Odyssey Tours highly recommend this company

Our recent trip to Bhutan ran seamlessly from start to finish. Our local guide was amazing, with loads of knowledge about the cultural side of Bhutan. We also did a 7 day trek to Jomalhari base camp which was fantastic. We couldn't believe how good the food was on the trek, we were eating 3 course meals breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The tent was very roomy and sleeping bags and blankets and even hot water bottles were provided. while the synthetic sleeping bags were good at lower altitudes, at 4200m, I was wearing all of my clothes as well, so if you have your own down sleeping bag I would take that.
After the trek we visited temples, and through our guides people skills, were granted access to places that non of the other tourists were getting to see. Also managed to get us a front row position as the king walked past at the Paro festival, and took us backstage to see the costumes. We also had a front row position to watch the festival.
All in all, one of the best trips I have been on, and would highly recommend Odyssey.

I chose odyssey tours to go all through Asia and they did such a remarkable job I decided to journey with them once again to visit India.They are a great well runned company that put everything together for your trip so all you have to do is enjoy ?

India Odyssey Tours & Mavis Jiang have been great to work with. We have planned our trip and needed to reschedule, but they have handled everything with no issues! Their knowledge of the areas we are traveling to have helped us decide the best route. Looking forward to our trip and will be providing reviews after as well.

Mavis was extremely good at communicating with us and very helpful before we went, and during our stay in India.

All the arrangements, such as being met at the airport and the guides turning up on time went according to plan. The drivers were superb, though a couple of them didn't speak a word of English apart from understanding we wanted the air-con up or down, but that was fine.

The hotels were clean with hot running water and reasonable showers. Only one hotel was a big disappointment – not the hotel itself but the street on which it was situated. However when we came home we sent Mavis photos of the street and Odyssey Tours are no longer using this hotel.

The trip involved a great deal of sitting in a car but then India is a big place and as I said the drivers were superb.

We wanted to see India warts and all and do the trip as cheaply as possible, at the same time not having to worry about how to get places and find our hotels. Odyssey Tours fulfilled this side of things perfectly and if this is the sort of trip you want then I would certainly recommend them.

We had about two weeks in India and could not have had a better arrangement and tour. It was so easy organizing and tweaking our tour with David who responded so quickly to our emails. It was so perfectly customized to our wants and needs, I truly was amazed. The guides and drivers were fabulous with one driver, Anand who not only catered to our every need, but watched over us like a concerned parent. The hotels were great, the tour arrangements lovely, and the balance of our activities perfect. Not only would I recommend Odyssey Tours without hesitation, but I plan to use them again. Cannot say enough about how well everything was organized and the level of service. Many, many thanks!