One-Week India Family Tour: Nature, Culture, and Cities

After last year amazing experience with Delhi, Rishikesh, Varanasi, Agra and Jaipur this year we decided to continue with Zicasso and explore South India. Together with my wife (57y and 50y) we travelled through Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. We slept in 11 hotels and by car made about 1000 km.

I have firmly and honestly state that from first to last minute we were confronted with first class services which were based on very good choice of hotels, very communicative driver, highly knowledgeable local guides and fantastic people of India.

Itinerary of our trip was fine-tuned in three rounds and implemented to reality by this travel company, Zicasso´s Indian local partner. Many thanks to the company's CEO for perfectly prepared itinerary.  I believe that this awesome experience started with his empathy and understanding for our expectations.

Let me start with great appreciation and thanks to travel company's. Since my wife is a pediatrician and our son is a child with special needs, we had a wish to visit Jivadhara Institute of Neuro Development and Research near Kochi, starting point of our trip. As we later experienced, it was not easy to set up this meeting. But thanks to our travel company, who sent over his employee; finally, we succeeded and had a fantastic two hour meeting with Sister Mary and Center tour. Great inspiration!

Other remarkable moment which made a great contribution to our contentment was our driver. Our driver was fluent in English and for us was not just a driver but also a good travel mate with whom we could discuss any topic of Indian life and local culture. Couple of times our driver recommended us unplanned stops at places which might be interesting for us. He was a very skilled, clam and safe driver having a history over 1,5 Mkm. We enjoyed our time with him very much.

Selection of hotels was great and at least 10 of 11 had its local boutique charm. No sterile hotel chains where you are not sure about the country you are currently in. Just to mention the wellness resort, our Kerala hotel or our Tamil Nadu Villas! Great, great, great!

As expected, selected city guides were real professional. Most of them university graduated and their knowledge of sites and history was absolute.

Another moment we enjoyed very much was the local cuisine. Yes, it is spicy, but spices, colors and all the hustle is an integral part of India. I recommend, don’t ask for “less spice”. Then you are at risk that you are neglecting a very essential moment of India. We brought home some 2 kg of Indian spices. 

Our eight day trip (Mumbai-Goa-Kochi-Kumily-Alleppey) was a prelude to a previously booked land/river boat tour.. We submitted our Zicasso request almost a year ago.  Our agent at this India travel company promptly replied to our query with a detailed itinerary.  We tweaked it a bit. From then until we started our trip, our agent communicated with us on a timely basis and with specific information and requests.  Also, at various points during our trip (beginning, after each transition -- arrival in Mumbai, Goa, Kochi), our agent called to ask how our trip was going and what he and his company could do.  I will add that we had a minor transition hiccup -- but our agent worked quickly to resolve the glitch.  I appreciate it when a rough patch is encountered and resolved with grace.  High marks to this company!

Our travel agency did a wonderful job being responsive to our needs. What made our trip exceptional was our driver. Any request we had, he made it a priority to make it happen. After many travel experiences, we realize that a driver can make a good vacation a great one. Our highlights included a South Indian cuisine cooking class with a family in their home in Thekkady, our stay at the Spice Tree Hotel -staff were so welcoming and the food fresh and delicious. Our 2 hour bumpy ride in a jeep to Kolukkumalai, the highest tea growing estate in the world in the Western Ghatts was well worth the journey. The Backwater in Kumarakom was educational in terms of agriculture and fishing. It is a tourist attraction; however, getting off the boat for a walk along the jetty is a chance to truly experience the unique culture. The children were eager to talk with us using the English they have learned in school. One the way back to Cochin we had a traditional lunch in a private home where we were taught how to eat an Indian vegetarian meal with our hands arranged on a banana leaf - very delicious! We were fortunate to be in Kerala during Onam, the Harvest Celebration. Kerala is truly "God's Own Country".

We had the most amazing trip to Mumbai, Aurangabad for the Ellora and Ajanta caves, Tadoba and Kabini for wildlife, Mysore, Kochi, Munnar, and, finally, Kumarakom. Everything went according to plan and our agency checked in with us via WhatsApp most days. Our guides and drivers were all excellent and looked after us so well.

I would thoroughly recommend Zicasso’s travel agency and will certainly use them when we return to India.

The initial planning via WhatsApp phone calls and emails was on point, and we were able to create the itinerary we wanted.

The hotels were excellent and although we had many very early starts, there was always some downtime during the day to chill.

From the initial contact to the end of the trip, I was impressed with the care in planning. All through the planning stage, I had very helpful contact with our agent. I note the following for future improvement:

1. The guides were not of uniform standard. They varied from excellent to average.

2. I would have liked to have chauffers to be more proficient in English communication.

3. The standard of one of the hotels was below my expectation in cleanliness.

4. I wish I was advised not to take such a long drive from Kanyakumari to Kochi Airport  which was very taxing and alternate schedule suggested.  I should have thought about it myself.

Overall, I was happy and I would use your service again and recommend to my friends.