Southern India Explorer with private chauffeur

★★★★★
4.6
93.0% of users recommend this

TiandTo's review of Citrus Holidays www.citrusholidays.co.uk

“Southern India Explorer with private chauffeur”

★★★★☆

written by TiandTo on 28/11/2019

We have recently returned from a 2 week Southern India Explorer tour with Citrus holidays. Although there was little communication from them between the time we booked the tour and the start date, everything happened according to the itinerary.
We were met at Bangalore Airport by one driver and taken to our first hotel and then, in the afternoon, we met our driver who was to be with us for the next 10 days or so. He was very friendly, courteous and always punctual and we felt safe with him, inspite of the driving techniques being very different from home (which takes a bit of getting used to). He had a knack of spotting us coming from a little way off, after finishing at a site or attraction, and being there waiting to pick us up with the car, so that we didn’t even have to walk back to find the car on many occasions. He took us to some very good, cheap and authentic places for lunch, and we enjoyed trying his menu recommendations. On his last day with us, he even took us to some carpet shops, which he had researched, as we had expressed an interest in buying such an item. We cannot recommend him highly enough.
The itinerary itself was amazing and very varied and included visiting palaces, temples, tea factory, gardens, a train journey, a cultural show and many other sites and viewpoints. Undoubtedly the highlights were the stay in the jungle retreat with walks with the naturalist and cruising the Kerala Backwaters, spending a night on a houseboat. However, just driving along many of the roads and through the towns, there was so much to see and take in. The hotels were all of a good standard and the food delicious.
Downsides were the vineyard tour, as there was a national alcohol ban valid the weekend we visited, so we were not allowed to try, buy or even sniff the wine. We think an alternative activity could have been thought of for that morning. Also, the last hotel Isola di Cocco at Poovar, although by a beach, the waters were not safe to swim in. We think this should have been pointed out when we booked the holiday, as we were looking forward to having a swim in the sea.
Unfortunately, at this last hotel, also, my wife slipped on wet slippery tiles in our bathroom, it had been raining heavily, the bathroom being open to the elements, and suffered a head and arm injury which needed treatment at a local hospital. We can’t fault the service and attention we received from the hotel and hospital staff, but the fact remains, that there should not have been such slippery tiles in the bathroom.
However, to sum up, we would highly recommend this tour.

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