The Golden Triangle - As I sit on our final day in Delhi reflecting on our tour I cannot believe how much we have packed into the last 10 days. Our tour has allowed us to experience so many different areas of India it has been an assault on the senses. I have loved every minute of it. Our driver, Parveen, has been exceptional and made the entire journey top class with his attention to detail, friendliness and helpful nature. Along the way our tour guides have ensured we have had all the information we required about the sites we visited as well as being professional, friendly and joining in with the laughter. The organisation by Joyful Holidays has been top notch and the hotels we have stayed in have perfectly met our needs and provided us with something different in each stay. Whilst all have been great our stay at Serai Bagh in Ranthambore and the Parallel Hotel in Udaipur were exceptional. We leave India with a mountain of memories and a desire to return and explore more. Thank you to everyone in making this trip very special for us.

India is a top destination for a wonderful experience. - We opted for a tour including Delhi, Agra, Ranthambore, Udaipur and Jaipur. We booked through Tour Radar who used a company called Joyful Holidsys. We amended the recommended tour to add a further 2 days. We went as 2 couples and had a truly amazing experience. The hotels were perfect for us - very good quality without being pompous and the tour guides in each city were superb. We have to say a huge thanks to our driver for the trip - Parveen. He was kind, thoughtful, friendly and full of good humour. He made our experience very special. Thanks to Sonia for organising such a memorable trip. We loved our time in India. If you are coming to India, do it as an organised tour as you will see so much more than doing it on your own.

Exceptional in everything way! - Our visit first to India was made special by the excellent organisation and communication by Sonia, and of course, our driver Parveen who was professional, welcoming and knowledgeable. Parveen’s service made us feel relaxed and safe throughout our journey. The hotels were all chosen well for our needs, providing very comfortable stays each with a very good range of restaurant choices. The staff in each hotel provided exceptional service. On our trip the local tour guides were very knowledgeable and passionate and went out of their way to ensure we had the best experience. I would highly recommend using this company for a trip to India and would, without doubt, use them again personally.

Incredible India - Our experience with Joyful holidays was nothing short of amazing ! From start to finish our entire holiday was seamless , well-organised and filled with great memories. A very special mention to our driver and friend Parveen. He was not only professional and punctual but also kind and knowledgeable. Parveen was great fun and kept us all entertained throughout our trip. We strongly recommend Joyful holidays if you are planning an India holiday .

Solo trip - Wonderful and well organised trip. Operator very accommodating to requests and even helped me with collecting a package from India. Great driver on my solo tour too - Mr Sonu, Highly recommend!

Highly recommend this trip! - Absolutely brilliant would encourage any family from all over the world to grasp this fantastic opportunity Sonia Handa and her team were absolutely wonderful, I have been an Australian for 33 years, originally from Bengaluru, my wife is Australian, my daughter Jess (20 years) also Australian, they have never been to India. We did the Golden Triangle and the package was spectacular Raju the driver absolutely fabulous, Vijay Chauhan, Madan Singh, Ronit, Manjit Singh, our guides were absolutely sensational, hotels were magnificent, I do encourage you guys to grasp this opportunity, it is brilliant, thx.

A must book tour if you plan to visit India! - I traveled with Alison (who wrote an extensive review of our trip) and I cannot express how much we loved and appreciated this tour, especially Mr. Rampal. He took excellent care of us the entire 8 days and we’ve had many chats and laughs in the car together. Mr. Rampal is a true gem and made our experience in India 100x better! Sonia and her team were also super helpful and took care of everything, this trip felt like a true vacation as we were taken care of. Do not expect to do everything that is on the itinerary as is (e.g., we could not see the Taj Mahal at sunrise because there was too much fog), but we hit all of the major destinations and the itinerary was flexible to our needs. All of the tour guides were extremely knowledgeable, I have a new love for art history because of their expertise and passion. We’ve made lasting memories because of this tour and I highly recommend booking Sonia and her team if you plan to visit India!

HOLY COWS AND TIGERS - Holy cow (there were lots of them)! What a trip! Usually I stay away from tours since I don’t enjoy being on a charter bus with a lot of other people and keeping a strict schedule, but my friend and I did a lot of research and realized booking a tour was necessary for foreigners in terms of safety and comfort. Luckily, this tour was a private tour where we had a private, air conditioned vehicle (which happened to be 4 months old with an English-speaking driver—we lucked out!). At each city, there would be a new English-speaking tour guide who would accompany us for the day (in our private car) and give us the history, background, and stories of places we would go sightsee. They were very knowledgeable, resourceful, and helped us take pictures. It was the nice to have a tour guide in each city since they helped with exchanging currency, translating, haggling, and explaining logistics and history of the cities we were visiting. The sightseeing was phenomenal, especially since it was paired with the tour guide’s knowledge of each place. Of note, the tickets to each place are out-of-pocket expenses (not expensive, mostly less than $7 per person at each place). We saw tons of animals throughout the trip, including a tiger in Ranthambore which we lucked out on! Not shared in the itinerary given online or presented to us when we arrived is that the tour guide and driver will bring you to see local artisans explaining the process of making a regional handicraft (e.g. rugs in Delhi, marble mosaics in Agra, miniature art in Udaipur, and jewelry in Jaipur). After explaining the process you’ll have an opportunity to purchase their art and you can customize as well (they all accept credit cards). It supplemented the trips to each city very well (and were some of my favorite parts of the trip) but I didn’t expect these stops, which took about 1-2 hours at each handicraft shop, so I wanted to be transparent to other potential visitors. Between each city during our transport days, Mr. Rampal would drive us to/from each place and we would take 1-2 breaks per journey for food and restroom stops. Tbh, he was the best!! Not only did he speak English but he was so kind and personable! During the long drives, he explained some Indian culture to us and sang some Indian songs which made us giggle!! The tour comes with unlimited bottled water but at one point he also purchased us some chips because he noticed we liked those snacks, which touched my heart and melted it!! This man deserves a raise and a good retirement plan!! We felt so safe, so taken care of, and so comfortable in his hands. Honestly, I wish I could book him as my private driver for the rest of my life any time I come to India. My friend and I will probably miss him the most from this trip! This tour is excellent, is pretty much all-inclusive, which alleviated our need to research safe places to eat (breakfast was included/paid for at hotels, lunches were chosen by Mr. Rampal during our driving breaks, and dinner was our choice but we usually chose room service or the hotel’s restaurant). We chose the 4-star option for hotels and I wished we would’ve chosen the 5-star ones. While the hotels are nice for India’s standards, as Americans the boutique hotels on our trip were a little bit of a culture shock (e.g. many showers did not have doors and shared the same space as the toilet and sink), and were as clean as possible but still not up to our personal standards. Overall, amazing trip with an amazing itinerary and team of people who made it a memorable and safe trip to India. Booking a private tour was the way to go because even though there were daily schedules for the 8 days, there was also flexibility in terms of side places we wanted to stop by, which saved us from ordering a taxi/Uber. I want to come back and tell others to book this tour group in the future because of how much I enjoyed the tour’s structure, itinerary, and services/amenities included. I’m a planner and it was so nice to take a break from planning a trip to somewhere intimidating like India. Thank you so much Sonia! You and your team (especially Rampal) are awesome!!!

A great introduction to India - I booked this tour with Joyful Holidays using a different booking engine. However, that site limits the length of reviews. I thought this 8-day tour needed a longer review. Also, I'm more active on TripAdvisor and I thought this review may be of help for the TripAdvisor community. Overall, an excellent experience. The staff at Joyful Holiday responds promptly on WhatsApp chat and is very accommodating. We made a few changes and were charged a small upgrade fee. We had the same driver, Rampal Singh, for the entire week. He was extremely kind and skillfully drove through the crazy India traffic. We had the same vehicle - Kia Carens - which is equivalent to a mid size SUV in the US. It was a newer vehicle in excellent condition and very comfortable for the two of us. In each city, we had a different local guide. Be aware, each guide will offer to take you to see local artisans at work (and purchase their wares). You can, of course, decline. However, some of the artwork was incredible and made for good souvenirs. We booked the 5 star hotel package, but in my opinion, the hotels are 4 stars by US standards. Nevertheless, the hotels were clean, comfortable, and more than adequate. Day 1 - 1/2 day Delhi tour of the major highlights. We arrived in Delhi one day prior to see a few other minor sites on our own. 4hr drive to Agra. Clarks Shiraz hotel was a bit dated and the AC didn't work well in our room. Day 2 - Viewing the Taj Mahal at sunrise was magical. Awesome guide (Dilip). 5hr drive to Ranthambore. Serai Bagh hotel was excellent with super attentive staff. This was easily the best hotel of the week. Day 3 - Morning and afternoon safari. We were lucky to see two tigers in the morning. We were booked on the 20 seat "Canter". If possible I recommend the 6 seat "Gypsy". There was a problem with the computer system of the park rangers in the afternoon, so we had to get our tickets re-issued. The delay resulted in shortening the afternoon game drive. Day 4 - 7 hr drive to Udaipur. Free evening. Parallel Hotel is a newer western hotel. The room was small, but otherwise a nice hotel with panoramic views from the rooftop restaurant. Day 5 - All day Udaipur sightseeing. Awesome guide (Ronit). Day 6 - 6 hr drive to Jaipur. Free evening. Jaipur Marriott was typical of Marriotts in the US. The breakfast buffet is extensive. Unfortunately, it was wedding season and Diwali, so there were many large, noisy groups and loud music late into the night. Day 7 - All day Jaipur sightseeing. Day 8 - We added Jhalana Leopard safari in the morning, but were booked at neighboring Amagarh. Didn't see a Leopard, but it was fun riding in the open air "Gypsy". 5 hr drive to Delhi and end of tour.

Wonderful Tour, Great Driver, Amazing Sightseeing - Great experience! Our driver for the entire 8 days was Ajay Kumar and he was brilliant, taking care of our every need and ensuring the trip was efficient and safe. The drives were comfortable and informative - also an enjoyable part of the tour. The city guides that were arranged were very informative and did a great job of highlighting the unique aspects of each location!