Practical information India

Yes, all French, Belgian, Swiss and Canadian travelers must obtain a visa to enter India. The simplest procedure is the e-visa, which can be requested online on the official website indianvisaonline.gov.in between 30 days and 4 days before departure. Expect approximately 25 USD for 30 days with double entry, 40 USD for a one-year visa with multiple entries, and 80 USD for five years. Your passport must be valid for at least six months after your return date and have two blank pages. The electronic visa is valid for arrivals at 28 airports and 5 ports. We will send you detailed instructions upon booking.

No vaccine is mandatory to enter India from Europe, except yellow fever if you are arriving from a country where it is circulating. Strongly recommended are: up-to-date DTP, hepatitis A and B, typhoid. Depending on your itinerary and season, your doctor may add Japanese encephalitis (rural areas, monsoon) and rabies (long or isolated stays). Malaria affects certain rural areas in the Centre, East and North-East; preventive treatment may be advised depending on the regions visited. Dengue is present year-round, especially during the wet season, and mosquito protection remains the best defence. Consult an international vaccination centre 6 to 8 weeks before departure.

Excluding international flights, our tailor-made trips range between €80 and €150 per day and per person in a double room, with comfort formula including private driver, charming hotels and breakfasts. For a more upscale formula with Rajasthan palace-hotels or safari lodges, expect €200 to €350 per day. As a reference, a meal at a good restaurant costs 600 to 1,200 rupees (€7 to €13), entry to a major site 500 to 1,500 rupees for foreigners, and a chai from a chai-wallah 20 rupees. Domestic flights Delhi-Cochin or Delhi-Leh range between €80 and €150 depending on the season.

For the North (Rajasthan, Delhi, Agra, Varanasi) and Central India, the ideal season runs from October to March, with daytime temperatures of 25-28°C and cool nights. Avoid April to June when temperatures exceed 40°C, then the monsoon from July to September. For the South (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka), the window is similar, November to March, but the monsoon there remains navigable and offers very green landscapes. Ladakh and Spiti follow a reverse calendar: June to September only, when the passes are open. Kashmir is best visited from April to October. Three weeks in November-December allow you to combine Rajasthan and Kerala under favorable conditions.

For our circuits, we favour private car with driver, more flexible and comfortable than train on tourist routes. Expect 4 to 6 hours of driving between major cities in Rajasthan; main roads are in good condition. Domestic flights (IndiGo, Vistara, Air India) are essential for long distances: Delhi-Cochin (3h), Delhi-Leh (1h30), Mumbai-Madurai. Train remains an experience worth having on certain iconic stretches like the Darjeeling toy train or the overnight Delhi-Varanasi connection in AC2 class. In cities, auto rickshaws and Uber/Ola work everywhere, at 80 to 200 rupees per ride.

India is globally a safe destination for travelers, including families and women traveling together. Standard precautions apply when traveling in tropical countries: stay alert in crowded areas like Delhi or Mumbai, be wary of common scams (unlicensed guides, unauthorized taxis at airport exits), and drink only sealed bottled water. A few regions remain inadvisable: border Kashmir, certain parts of the Northeast, and tribal regions of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. None of our itineraries pass through these areas. Our team in Delhi is available 24/7 via WhatsApp throughout your stay, and our English-speaking drivers are trained to support travelers on a daily basis.