India & Nepal Reviews

5 Rating 48 Reviews

About smarTours:

smarTours is a leading provider of direct-to-consumer, affordable travel experiences to exotic global destinations. The Company offers travelers curated, pre-packaged itineraries to over 50 destinations across the globe. By offering tours directly to consumers, the Company provides premium-quality experiences at value prices, and as a result, has cultivated a highly passionate and loyal community of repeat travelers. More than 200,000 travelers have taken a smarTours trip since the founding of the Company in 1996. smarTours is… the smarter way to see the world.

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800-337-7773

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info@smartours.com

Location:

500 7TH AVE, 8TH FL,
NEW YORK
New York
10018

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“I went solo on this trip to India and Nepal in December 2015. The experience was Fabulous. Our guide, Ravi Tiwari, was exceptional and our drivers navigated us safely through our travels. Smartours is to be commended for their support of Nepal during this time. If you have an adventurous spirit and passion for travel, add India and Nepal to your bucket list.”

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Posted 9 years ago

“My husband and I went on this tour in January of 2015. Amit was our guide, and he was fantastic! We have been on four SmarTours previously, and while all the guides have been excellent, Amit really stood out. Our group happened to be small (about 16), which helped, but he did not rush us through places like some guides do. If we all seemed interested in a place, we stayed a little longer. "No hurries, no worries" is his motto. Amit has one Master's degree (Political Science, as I remember) and is studying for another in Religion. This made his talks about India so very interesting, as he explained the politics and ethnic/religious groups, and how they interact. Our hotels were mostly excellent, as is the norm with SmarTours. I was pleasantly surprised by the food. I don't mind "flavorful" food, but I dislike spicy hot food. The hotels all had a variety of options to choose from, and Amit was good about helping us choose items from the menu that would suit our tastes. I came back loving Indian food, the warm Indian and Nepali people, and India and Nepal! Thanks to SmarTours for making these tours so affordable, and for hiring such excellent guides. We were fortunate to have left Nepal about 7 weeks before the earthquake struck, but had we been there, I'm sure that Amit and SmarTours would have been doing everything possible to get us home.”

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Posted 9 years ago

“My brother and I really enjoyed the tour. All of the guides and drivers did a wonderful job. This is our second Smartour and I would highly recommend them to anyone.”

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Posted 9 years ago

“SmarTours was recommended by a friend who does her homework and knows good value. We looked at several other companies but most no longer include Nepal which was worth the extra time/effort to visit. The opportunity to contrast different countries and their cultures during the course of one trip is something we like to do when we plan our own trips. (This was the 1st group tour my husband & I have taken in the nearly 25 years we have been together.) Our tour manager, Bonnie Backer, is a magician & diplomat, not to mention a fascinating embodiment of multi-culturalism at its best. After the tour ended, we traveled through India for 3 more weeks on our own and rarely a day went by without some challenge that made us appreciate the inordinate skill Bonnie used to shepherd our @smarTours group those first 2 weeks.”

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Posted 9 years ago

“What a wonderful trip. Hotels were excellent to very good. Continental foods and bottled water offered. Tour Director and local guides were excellent and offered experiences beyond the original agenda. Nepal is open for business and its people very welcoming.”

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Posted 9 years ago

“I have just returned from this fabulous 14-day Smartours trip to India and Nepal. I've traveled with Smartours often and have never been disappointed with their itineraries, accommodation, experiences and excursions, and guides. But for this trip, in a country where the tourist infrastructure is not as easy to access as it would be in less challenging places in the world, their services, including those of our wonderful guide Arvind, were simply outstanding. If you are on the fence about whether you can handle the challenge, I can only say “no worries, a wonderful adventure awaits, reserve now with Smartours!” We were assured of a great trip from the moment of meeting our guide. He was so knowledgeable, helpful, caring, articulate - - it was always evident how much he loved his country, its culture and history, its people and as he shared that with us, we too got to know India for the incredible country it is. Arvind offered so many personal insights into his country - - shared its customs with us, and made each experience personal. I always felt we were in his safe hands. It would be difficult to pick any one experience as a favorite as there were simply too many... but among them, the Taj Mahal, the Hindu rituals on the Ganges at Varanasi, the elephant ride, our farewell dinner in Nepal stand out. Thank you Arvind and thank you Smartours!”

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Posted 9 years ago

“Adding to my previous reviews, Due to the fuel shortage in Nepal, our flight from Varanasi to Nepal was cancelled. SmarTours paid the bill for the 27 of us to fly back to Delhi and connect to another flight to Nepal. This was a huge expense to SmarTours. THANK YOU SmarTours for taking care of us and making the trip a great success.”

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Posted 9 years ago

“I just returned from an amazing trip to India and Nepal. I have been on many trips, but this was one of the best. Thank you SmarTours! So much culture, history, interesting sites, very friendly, beautiful people, a multitude of sounds and vivid colors, its impossible to explain. You must go... The accommodations were top notch as well as our guide, Arvind Chadha. He brought the whole experience to life, guiding us stress free, through a beautiful, colorful country. His tireless, ever so patient, endless efforts helping us to get the most out of every day. Keeping us together and safe, spending his own money at times, giving us gifts along the way made the trip fun and carefree. I have traveled on many trips with SmarTours and with other companies but never encountered a guide like Arvind and would like to let you SmarTours be aware of what an outstanding treasure you have in him. Put India and Nepal on your Bucket List and GO. You will not be sorry. It is a wonderful experience. If you don't you will miss out on one of the beauties of the world.”

Helpful Report

Posted 9 years ago