Booking Process

Red Dot designs a completely bespoke India holiday for every client. We listen to your likes and dislikes, how you like to pace your days, the style of hotels you enjoy and your budget, then build a tailor-made itinerary using our own expertise alongside that of our long-standing partners on the ground. India is vast and varied, so this conversation matters more than almost anywhere. We are happy to talk it through by phone, on WhatsApp or on a video call, whatever suits you best.

We specialise in a small number of regions rather than the whole world. India sits alongside Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Bhutan and Nepal, and we have spent years getting to know it properly. We pair our own knowledge with trusted local partners who have their own offices across India, which gives us real depth and reach in a country this size. More than that, we treat every trip as something to be crafted, not packaged: designed creatively and with real thought, care and integrity, and built with a sense of purpose that goes beyond what most tour operators offer. Our reviews tell the rest of the story.

Our tailor-made India holidays include handpicked accommodation, a private driver with a good-quality air-conditioned vehicle, expert local guides at the places that warrant them, all of your experiences and entrances, and 24 hour support on the ground. We are an ABTOT member and are ATOL protected.

More than that, we truly personalise your trip. We take the time to understand the things that quietly shape a holiday: your particular interests and hobbies, what you do for work, your children's likes and dislikes, any allergies or preferred foods, whether you have a disability or any mobility needs, how active and fit you are, or not, whether you are an early riser or a night owl, whether you like to exercise while you travel, and so the list goes on. The more we know, the better we can build each day around you.

A package holiday runs on fixed dates, in fixed hotels, along a fixed route. A tailor-made India tour is different: a bespoke holiday to India designed entirely around you, with the hotels chosen for you and the route shaped by your interests, the season and how much ground you want to cover. In a country as big and as varied as India, that flexibility makes an enormous difference.

Yes. Every private journey to India we arrange is yours alone. You travel with your own driver and your own guides, never in a group, and we do not sell set packages or fixed group tours.

We have our own teams in the UK and in Sri Lanka, and in India we work hand in hand with genuinely exceptional local partners. They are small, deeply specialist outfits with their own offices in the major cities, the kind of partner that simply is not available to the big operators pushing high volumes through India, which gives us a real upper hand. After more than 20 years, those relationships run deep, which is what allows us to deliver seamless guiding, logistics and support across such a large country, and to act quickly if anything needs attention. You get the benefit of our knowledge in the UK and an outstanding team on the ground in India.

India rewards good planning and local knowledge more than almost anywhere, and it is knowledge we hold first-hand. Many of our team have lived in and travelled across India extensively over many years, and most have been with us for more than ten years, so that experience runs deep. Our sales team, all women, design each trip with real purpose. We work alongside trusted local partners who have their own offices in the major cities, and with a team in the UK and colleagues working across different time zones, there is always someone looking after you, wherever you are and whatever the hour.

It shows in the detail. Exceptional, comfortable vehicles, and specialist drivers and guides chosen with real care. Genuine 24 hour support on the ground, so that if anything does go wrong we are quick to put it right. The relationships to open doors and arrange the kind of access most visitors never see, from a private moment at a great monument to a quiet corner of Rajasthan that few people reach. And full financial protection through our ATOL licence and ABTOT membership. Above all, we take the stress out of planning a complex country, handling every last detail so you can simply enjoy it. Our reviews on TripAdvisor and Feefo tell the rest of the story.

We feel life is short, and the few precious weeks of holiday you get each year are not the place to take chances. Booking direct with a local operator, or trying to piece a trip together yourself, can carry real risks in a country as big and complex as India, from quality and accountability to simply wasting time, money and energy, or getting it wrong altogether.

With Red Dot you have your own dedicated India specialist who takes the time to understand you, and a trip designed specifically around your interests and paced so it never feels rushed. You travel with highly trained drivers and guides in high-quality vehicles, with a beautiful app and clear documentation holding everything you need, and genuine 24 hour support on the ground if anything needs attention. Behind all of it sits unmatched knowledge built over years of research trips, and one of the most dedicated teams in India, forever seeking out what is new and the quieter corners most visitors never find.

Just as importantly, your booking is financially protected through our ATOL licence and ABTOT membership, the kind of security a local operator simply cannot offer, so you are looked after if anything ever goes wrong. With Red Dot, every detail is handled by people who know India inside out, so your precious time there is spent enjoying the country, not managing it.

There are some excellent tour operators in the UK, and the right choice depends on what you are looking for. Where many cover the whole world, we deliberately specialise in just a handful of destinations, India among them, alongside Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Bhutan and Nepal. That focus, built on years of first-hand research trips, gives us genuine, up-to-date knowledge and the confidence to take you somewhere truly unique rather than along the usual tourist trail.

We are an independent, close-knit company rather than a large machine, with a settled team who mostly stay with us for many years, so the specialist who designs your trip knows their region intimately and looks after you from the first call to your homecoming. Add full financial protection through our ATOL licence and ABTOT membership, honest advice on where your money works hardest, and a level of personal care a bigger operator can struggle to match, and you have what sets us apart. Our reviews and press coverage tell the rest of the story.

Because every trip is tailor-made, there is no single price, but as a guide, many of our journeys sit in the region of £3,500 to £5,000 per person, and from there costs can rise as far as you would like to take them at the top end, where India has some of the finest hotels in the world. What you spend depends mostly on the length of the trip, the season, the style of hotels and any internal flights. Once we understand what you are looking for, we will put together a detailed, transparent quote with no obligation.

India can be wonderful value or genuinely high end, depending on how you travel. Day to day costs such as food and entrances are modest, while the hotels are where the range really shows, from lovely small heritage stays to palace hotels and luxury safari lodges. We are always honest about where your money goes furthest, and we will build a trip that feels right for your budget.

No, they should not. Because we hold negotiated trade rates with the hotels we use, booking through us does not cost you more than going direct. In fact it is often far better, because our long-standing relationships with our hotels and partners in India mean our guests are frequently looked after with extra care, thoughtful added extras and room upgrades that you would rarely receive booking on your own. Naturally there is a cost to a privately planned, tailor-made journey, and we pay our drivers and guides properly, as they deserve, but we keep a firm finger on the pulse and genuinely believe our trips are excellent value for money. We also keep our overheads sensible, without a large, expensive UK office or unnecessary spending on marketing, and that helps keep the cost of your trip down.

Wisely, and with real care, which is something we take very seriously. Our honest advice is often to put as much into your guides and experiences as into the hotels, rather than only chasing the fanciest rooms. A truly knowledgeable guide, a private moment somewhere special or time spent with a local family can shape your trip far more than another grand suite. We will always help you balance this so your money works as hard as it can, and the trip feels rich in the ways that matter most to you.

Quite a lot, which is part of what makes booking with us so easy. Every trip includes a bespoke itinerary designed just for you by your dedicated India specialist; a personal app holding all your private itinerary details and pre-departure information; a private driver and expert local guides; all of your hotels; and genuine 24 hour support while you travel. International flights are included if you would like us to arrange them, and domestic flights within India are included too. Breakfast is included at most hotels, and at some properties all meals are part of the stay, depending on where you are staying.

A few things sit outside the price: your visa, any meals not included at your hotels, tipping and personal shopping. We set everything out clearly in your quote so you know exactly what is and is not included, with no surprises.

The earlier the better. Ideally we would suggest starting the conversation six to eighteen months ahead, particularly for the high season from November to March, for festival dates, and for the smaller lodges and heritage hotels that have only a handful of rooms. That said, we can also help with very last minute trips, so do ask whatever your timeframe. Planning earlier simply gives you the best rooms, the best hotels and the best guides.

Once you are happy with the India itinerary we have designed for you, a small deposit secures it, normally around 20 per cent.