India

India Designed from the Ground

Why India, Why Us

A Country Best Travelled
with Someone Who Knows It

India is not one country so much as twenty, stacked together — each with its own language, cuisine, climate and code of hospitality. Travelling it well is less about ticking sights and more about choosing the right hotel in the right season with the right guide at the door.

Luxury Retreats is an India-based travel consultancy. Our designers live here. Our guides work with us, not for us. Our relationships with Oberoi, Taj, Aman, Ananda, Leela and Six Senses mean our clients receive the rooms, rates and quiet upgrades that aren't available elsewhere.

On the ground Designed by specialists living and working across India.

Private by default Cars, guides, access and pace — never shared, never group.

Preferred partner Priority access and quiet benefits at India's finest hotels.

Seamless logistics Private transfers, fast-track and one point of contact throughout.

Signature Journey Styles

Six Ways to
Travel India

Most of our clients blend two or three of these. The journey is always yours — these are the frameworks we start from.

Royal Rajasthan & Palace Journeys

Udaipur, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur — private palace stays and the rooms former maharajas still remember.

Explore Rajasthan →

ii.

Wellness & Slow Luxury

Bespoke wellness programmes in the Himalayan foothills and Kerala backwaters — practitioners matched to your intent, slow mornings and a return to your own pace.

Explore Wellness →

Wildflower Hall-style mountaintop retreat above pine forests in the Indian Himalayas

iii.

Himalayan Retreats & Spiritual Escapes

Ladakh's monasteries, Bhutan crossings and the clear air of the high valleys.

Explore the Himalayas →

iv.

Wildlife & Tiger Safaris

Ranthambore, Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Kaziranga — private lodges, expert naturalists and first-light drives.

Explore Wildlife →

Taj Mahal at sunrise with a lone figure on the Yamuna riverside

Golden Triangle & Cultural Icons

Delhi, Agra and Jaipur — reimagined privately, with after-hours access and the monuments at their quietest.

Explore the Triangle →

vi.

Beach, Island & Celebration Journeys

Goa's quieter coast, the Andamans and private villa milestones — anniversaries, honeymoons, birthdays.

Explore Celebrations →

Spiritual India

Three Doors Into
The Quieter Country

Each is its own pilgrimage. Travelled privately, with the right guides, at the right hour.

Varanasi & the Ganga

Boat at dawn, aarti at dusk and conversations with priests whose families have served the ghats for generations.

Rishikesh — riverside ashrams on the Ganga at golden hour

ii.

Ashrams of the Ganga

Rishikesh and Haridwar — yoga lineages, twilight aarti at Parmarth Niketan and the quiet bridges across the upper Ganga.

Dravidian gopuram at twilight — Sacred South India

iii.

Sacred South & Beyond

Madurai, Hampi, Bodh Gaya — temple towns and Buddhist circuits, paired with quiet stays nearby.

Where You Might Stay

The Rooms
Worth Asking For

From four-hundred-year-old palaces to contemporary wellness sanctuaries — a shortlist of where our clients sleep, eat and unwind.

Palace Hotels

Taj Lake Palace · Umaid Bhawan · Rambagh · Falaknuma

Boutique Heritage Stays

Haveli suites, courtyard homes and restored family residences.

Wellness Retreats

Ananda · Kalari Kovilakom · Six Senses Vana · Atmantan

Safari Lodges

Sujan · Aman-i-Khás · Taj Safaris · Jamtara · Mahua Kothi

Backwaters & the South

Kerala kettuvallams, tea-country bungalows and the south's quieter coast — staffed and arranged privately.

Refined City Hotels

Oberoi, Taj, Aman, Leela — suites, butler service, quiet arrivals.

In Clients' Words

Journeys, Quietly
Remembered

We've travelled India three times before. This was the first trip where we felt we'd actually been let in — to the right rooms, the right guides, the moments we hadn't thought to ask for.

Mr. & Mrs. P. — New York 12-Night Rajasthan & Wildlife Journey

Frequently Asked

Planning Your
Luxury India Journey

How much does a bespoke luxury India tour typically cost? +

Our private India journeys generally begin from around USD 800 per person per night and scale considerably based on hotel choice, private aviation, guide specialisation and the rarity of the experiences involved. A complimentary initial proposal will give you a precise, itemised sense of what your specific journey would involve.

How far in advance should I plan a luxury India tour? +

For the classic October–March season, we recommend beginning the conversation six to nine months ahead — and twelve months for peak weeks around Christmas, New Year and Diwali. For wildlife and tiger safaris, lodges with the best drive allocations release limited availability early and we book them the moment dates open.

Is India safe for luxury travellers, including families? +

Yes — especially when travelling privately. Our clients are met at immigration, transferred in private vehicles and accompanied throughout by English-speaking guides and a 24/7 concierge. We tailor the pace, food and logistics specifically for families, including multi-generational groups.

Can you design a tailor-made India itinerary from scratch? +

Every itinerary we design is built from scratch. The sample journeys on this page are starting points for the conversation — we use them to understand your preferences, then rewrite everything around you. No two of our India journeys are the same.

Which are the best luxury hotels in India? +

It depends entirely on region and intent. For palaces, the Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur, Umaid Bhawan in Jodhpur and Rambagh in Jaipur are unmatched. For wellness, Ananda in the Himalayas and Kalari Kovilakom in Kerala. For safaris, Aman-i-Khás and Taj Safaris lodges. For cities, Oberoi, Taj, Aman and Leela are our most-used preferred partners — and we hold priority rates and benefits with each.

What's the best time of year for a luxury India tour? +

October to March is the classic window for most of India — cooler, drier and ideal for Rajasthan, Kerala and the Golden Triangle. April and May are the finest months for tiger safaris. The monsoon months (June–September) are the traditional season for Ayurvedic retreats in Kerala and are perfect for Ladakh. Your designer will match the season precisely to your route.

Do you arrange private jets, helicopters, or luxury trains within India? +

Yes. We routinely arrange private aviation between destinations to save time on longer itineraries, helicopter transfers in the Himalayas and wildlife parks and private cabins or entire carriages on the Maharajas' Express and Deccan Odyssey.

Can you plan a luxury honeymoon or milestone celebration in India? +

Honeymoons, anniversaries and milestone birthdays are among the journeys we design most often. Private palace dinners, vow renewals, surprise upgrades and discreet staging are all part of how we work — arranged quietly, never announced.

Are your guides and drivers included, and what standard are they? +

All private guides, drivers and vehicles are included in every journey we design. We work exclusively with senior, English-speaking guides — many of them historians, naturalists, or specialists in their region — and not with the pool guides most agencies rely on.

What's included in your India luxury tour packages? +

Our journeys typically include accommodation, daily breakfasts (and meals as appropriate to each property), private transfers, all guides and entrance fees, domestic flights and luxury train segments where relevant and a dedicated 24/7 concierge throughout the trip. Your proposal will detail everything — nothing hidden, nothing assumed.

A Country Best Travelled
with Someone Who Knows It