India Odyssey ToursReviews 

We did a life time journey on the Deccan Odyssey from 10/10/2024 till 19/10/2024through Maharastra state covering Mumbai,Nasik,Ellora,Ajanta,Kolhapur and Goa.The service for our needs in terms of comfort,food,tour of places,presence of medical staff and choice of venues was truly exceptional.The cordiality and approachability of staff indicated that this company had sorted their people issues.They were truly a team there to achieve perfect hospitality
for their customers.I would strongly recommend anyone to take this journey ....it is truly awesome!!!!

Our travel consultant Allison Chiang did a fantastic job of organising our trip to include the highlights we were aware of, plus more. Our intinery included Delhi, Varanasi (sunrise on Ganges and evening Ganges Aarti ceremony), Agra (Taj Mahal), Ranthambore (3 x tiger safaris), Jaipur (Amerfort), Pushkar (Brahma Temple and Pushkar Lake), Jodhpur (Meherangarh Fort), Ranakpur, Udaipur (City Palace and Lake Pichola) and return flight to Delhi.Apart from our flights to and from Varanasi our privategroup of 7 travelled in a large comfortable bus with our driver Mr. Singh and his capable assistant Mundi. Both Mr. Singh and Mundi were extremely polite and friendly. They went out of their way to ensure our trip was comfortable and interesting. We were met at each city by a representative of India Odyssey (now Odynovo) and introduced to our guide for each tour. Each of the guides offered new and interesting information about each city and provided our group of 7 with an informative insight into the history, people and cultures of the area. Our hotels were all first class. We have used Allison before for a Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos Tour and would highly recommend her and Odynovo for any Indochina trip.

I have used india odyssey twice now in india, I had private tours in kerala and rajasthan. I think travelers are skeptical of this company because you book it online through China, I can vouch it is safe. You are picked up at the airport and safely dropped off for home flight. The driver will stop anytime for photo shots , which I found to be great. The guides are very educated and knowledgeable about india which is my ethnicity, I learned alot since I grew up in the usa. I will definitely book with them in the future. Don Li worked every request I asked all hotels stayed in were great.

Don Lee, excellent with organising our tour. He was prompt & accomodating and went above and beyond our expectations by helping us book a few dinner reservations. Our driver; Rajesh Kumar, was the most wonderful driver we could've hoped for. His English was great, has superb knowledge & is a very safe driver. We would highly recommend him to anyone travelling to Rajasthan & Delhi. All tour guides and representatives were helpful and extremely knowledgable. The cars we travelled in were clean & well maintained. Accomodation, especially the Heritage hotels, were superb. We will definitely be using this company again & would recommend to our family & friends.

Our travel consultant Don Li put together a couple of quotes for us incorporating our desired locations (Yala, Pasikuda and Trincomalee) plus some extras. The itinerary was perfect as we got to see all the places on our wish list and the traveling time was not excessive on any given day.

Our driver and guide (Anton and Anton) were great and we highly recommend them for future tours.

The only things I would note that may be improved on:

1. Train tickets were not booked in advance by odyssey. We had some difficulties in obtaining train tickets for the Kandy-Nuwara Eliya leg and our guides were not transparent with us (told us was due to train delay rather than lack of availability of seats)
2. Cinnamon lodge in Sigiriya was not on par with the other 5 star hotels, for example the bathroom was quite mouldy and the bed was two different sized single beds pushed together.
3. Issue with checkout from Cinnamon hotel - they informed the company had not paid for our 2 night stay at the last minute. This caused a moderate delay in travel on our last day.

Overall we had a fantastic time in Sri Lanka.

Mavis has done such an amazing job helping me plan the tour that I can't imagine working with anyone else for future travel! She is always so efficient, professional, and friendly!

As we are not due to actually travel with this company until November, it's difficult to rate their services on the ground so far, but I've a good deal of experience in travelling in this way, and you tend to get a feel for how good a provider is long before you in fact travel. The efficiency of bookings, the promptness of replies to queries, and the ability to go beyond the ordinary are just a few of the facets that give the customer an idea of how the final tour will be. And Mavis at India Odyssey (now Odynovo) has been excellent in those regards from the moment I made my first tentative query. It's never taken more than a few hours to answer my messages, and in all cases this has been done in a thorough and efficient fashion. I feel confident that our trip to India in November, now all the bookings have been made by Mavis, will be a memorable one.

Wonderful experience from start to finish. I particularly appreciated the services of my excellent driver, Ankit Samesh, and of my trip coordinator, Liz Ling. After traveling with Odyssey, I will never again be content with the ordinary "tour bus" experience. I am a 71 year old American woman who traveled solo.

The whole trip in India 2017 was amazing. The luxury train is fantastic.The whole team from the train, service, kitchen, butler. All people we will never forget.
The wheelchair and the wheelchair driver for Helmut was very helpful, so Helmut could go with us everywhere. It was not always easy to go with the wheelchair.
We were only 11 Guests in the train. The last evening in the train we had a special dinner and got a Saree as a present. Always when I see the dress at home I think on the fantastic trip. All the private tour guides, were very friendly and helpful.
Mumbai and Delhi was also fantastic. The dance performance was wonderful. The normal life in India is so different. The culture, the life in the city and countryside. The Indian people are open and always with a smile on her face. It is amazing.
Once again i want to say thank you to Queenie from the company Odyssey Tours. She did a great job. In a short time I got an answer of my questins. Queenie is very flexible when I want to change anything else. I am so satisfied with her and her company. I hope I can meet her on my next tour through China with my girlfriend. Sylvia from Austria.

Where do I begin? My family has traveled extensively throughout the world, both with tours and on our own. When I began planning our India trip, I chose to use a tour group, but was not finding a tour that would
match the dates we were available. A web search turned up Odyssey tours, which offered customized, personal tours.

I was concerned about the cost, but was pleasantly surprised that the price was competitive with the group tours being offered. As a U.S. resident, I was initially concerned with working with a Chinese company for a tour to India, but was quickly put at ease by my Odyssey rep., Lynn Liu, who was able to answer all my questions. Also, she promptly responded to any changes I wanted made to my itinerary. She also recommended changes based on my requests—such as providing a larger car, pointing out India's visas requirements, and arranging for our driver to be available on our (additional and on our own) final day.

Odyssey continued to contact us throughout the trip to make sure all our needs were being met. When we mentioned that we were not happy that WIFI was not included at our Delhi hotel, Odyssey arranged for free WIFI to be available when we returned to the same hotel for the final two days of our trip. What an outstanding experience! Odyssey's reps. were there every step of the way—from meeting us at the airport at 3 a.m. (Mr. Rathore), getting us to all our hotels on the trip, arranging check-in (Mr. xxx in Delhi, Mr. Hitesh in Agra and Mr. Pratap in Jaipur), introducing us to our local guides in each city, and, finally, ensuring that our departure at the airport went smoothly (Mr. Jitendra).

Our tours in each city were very interesting and informative and were enhanced by having our own personal guide (Mr. Sood in Delhi, Mr. Sharma in Agra, and Mr. Shekhawat in Jaipur) as opposed to one guide for a group of 20+ people. The flexability of a personalized tour allowed us to adjust starting times of our tours, or change our itinerary—such as stopping when we needed a break or wanted to do some shopping. (This would not have been possible with a group tour.) This made our experience much more memorable. They even recommended restaurants where we could get dinner!

I also want to commend our driver, Mr. Devinder Singh, whose service was above and beyond throughout our trip. From ensuring that there was cold water and snacks always waiting for us whenever we got in the
car to providing insight into life in India during our long car rides between cities. Mr. Singh also showed us around Delhi on our final day, with several interesting stops including a visit to a Sikh temple and Ghandi Srmiti.

Overall, I want to say “thank you” to Odyssey tours for a job well done and for giving us a most memorable vacation. We are planning several more trips throughout Asia over the next few years, and I plan to make Odyssey my first stop when I begin planning for those trips.

Can't begin to recommend this company highly enough. Had used them for Vietnam/Cambodia a few years ago, but this tour was even better. Seamless I might add.

Can't thank Queenie, Odyssey rep, enough for "holding our hands" through numerous pre trip changes and making the trip a reality.

An Odyssey Tour rep met us in every location from Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Udapair, (and yes, Maldives) and finally, Mumbai. Felt safe and cared for. and much thanks to our Odyssey driver, Girgarg "Giddy" for the best 8 days of professional driving. Dodging "sacred cows' can be quite daunting.

Odyssey helped us select the Oberoi hotel in five cities; this is not a 5 star hotel, but a 7!! Personalized, culinary delight and spectacular accommodations; never experienced anything like it. Thank you Odyssey!

Chicago, May 2018

Our 7 day Golden Triangle tour with Odyssey was fantastic. All details at each city were handled very well. Our driver, who was with us the entire 7 days, was particularly outstanding. He was professional and took care of our every need along the way.

Mavis is such a pleasure to work with, she makes herself available to you at all times and understands your needs. She is quick to solve your issues

From the start of the booking process on my desk at the Gold Coast, Australia, from the north of India to the south of India, my wife and I were repeatedly impressed with the teamwork of India Odyssey Tours, the quality of service, selection of wonderful hotels/accommodation, the variety of tours provided and the safety and respect afforded to us throughout our 18 day tailor-made journey. All of the guides and drivers were excellent and it is clear India Odyssey spend a great deal of time ensuring that the quality of product and service provided is going to be second to none.
I would like to pay tribute to a few of the star players. Firstly, our travel consultant, Catherine Wang, was so thorough and completely competent from the very beginning of the booking which began over nine months ago. Nothing was ever too much trouble for Catherine and she always replied to my numerous questions and amendments very speedily (so much so that I wondered when she would ever have had a day off work or got any sleep as she seemed to be able to answer me at any hour of the day). Her attention to detail was faultless and because of this, everything went according to plan each day. All local India Odyssey staff on the ground were also very attentive and were always checking to make sure we were OK. On one occasion, I was not well and Catherine and her team were once again very concerned and would have gone out of their way to assist if I had have required any help (which thankfully wasn’t required). Our last night was on a houseboat in the backwaters of Kerala. We had not mentioned it to anyone but it happened to be my wife’s birthday. The restaurant staff of the hotel in which we were staying the previous night (Spice Village, Periyar) presented her with a beautifully made birthday cake and sang “Happy Birthday” to her at breakfast. Unfortunately, at this time of the morning we couldn’t really do it justice but it was a very thoughtful gesture. When we checked out of the hotel, our driver (Giri) was standing at the car with a huge bunch of roses and on check in to the houseboat, there was another surprize with a gift of wine. All of these were very much appreciated.
Two other star players on our journey were our drivers, Rawat and Giri. Rawat looked after us for about 5/6 days when we visited Delhi, Agra and Jaipur and Giri for a similar amount of time while we visited Cochin, Munnar, Periyar and Alleppey. Both these gentlemen were exceptional in the way they looked after us. They were always very polite and courteous, provided interesting and educated conversation during sometimes long road trips, their driving skills were excellent (always felt very safe while they were driving), their vehicles were kept immaculately clean and they made sure we always had plenty of snacks and refreshments in the back of the car. They are both a credit to their respective employers and we hold very fond memories of them both. All of our guides were similarly very good also, particularly Sunni (Sankalp) in Agra.
Thank you, Catherine and the entire India Odyssey team for a memorable Indian adventure.

My family and I recently got back from an 18-day personalized trip to India, covering Goa, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Agra, Varanasi and Darjeeling.

Few months back, we were scouring the internet for travel agencies, trying to figure out and pick the perfect itinerary that would line up with our budget. Fortunately, we came across India Odyssey Tours I must mention it was the only company that was the most responsive.

Queenie Yang was our travel consultant and she made our booking process seamless. Although we went through several itineraries, made several amendments before reaching the final one, she has been really patient with our concerns and accommodating to our preference. Regardless of whether she was away from work or it was a holiday, we always heard back from her within a day.

We had no difficulty finding the representatives at the airport, they were all on time. Unfortunately, for some reason, most of our domestic flights were delayed, but we received a warm welcome from the representatives and the drivers at each destination and we're thankful for their patience.

Richard, our driver in Goa was excellent. He was reliable, friendly and really kind. We'd one half-day trip; for the rest of that day we were gonna be on our own, but Richard gave us some helpful suggestions about the activities we could do and we decided to go for a boat tour - despite that this wasn't part of our itinerary, he went above his normal working schedule and gave us a complimentary ride to the beach.

All of the guides were great, but our guide from Agra was particularly amazing, he was really nice and he also gave us ample time to take pictures at the Taj Mahal.

Overall, it was an amazing experience. We really appreciated Queenie as well as the local manager following up with us to ensure that we were well-taken care of.

If you're looking for a personalized tour with a reasonable price, we highly recommend my Odyssey tours and our travel consultant, Queenie Yang. We will definitely choose them to plan and book our next trip.

Review of Nepal Tour
1. I rate Mr. Shirish,Paj(Guide in Kathmandu), ( Raj-Prince- driver in both cities),Jrit (Guide in Pokhara) and Praesh (representative) with 5 stars. They all were respectful ,accommodating, professional staff members and went beyond in making us feel welcomed and happy. Please make sure that each staff member is recognized for their generous hospitality.
2.The sites and landmarks were very interesting. Somehow we would have wished to spend more time in Kathmandu and hope that it can be coordinated to fit in more in future trips. 30 minutes at a certain area or landmark can feel very rushed.
3.Pohkara was arranged just right to give us an amazing taste of the countryside.
4. We were satisfied with all the accommodations.
5. I feel that the trip can be more enhanced by having the guides demonstrate certain landmarks with visuals to show us places that we cannot enter for whatever reason but can show us the inside elements in books with motivating visuals .
6. In conclusion, I will like to add that Mr. Don Li was so instrumental in coordinating our trip and answering all my questions, every step of the way. Please make sure he is acknowledged too!
I would recommend this trip to others without hesitation!! Namaste!..:-)

Mavis Jiang helped my to book my India Odyssey Tours. She is a very friendly and responsible person. Every time, I needed to modify the tour, she always provided quick update to the quotation. She is also a very knowledge person to provide information for the tour. I'm glad that I have her assisting my booking and looking forward to having the tour.

We are so glad we came across Odyssey when researching our trip to Rajasthan .
As travellers that normally book, organise and manage our own itineraries this is the first time we have used a tour company. But we were both a little daunted at the challenges all that might entail for a trip to India in the heat of April. My wife was particularly concerned about our personal safety arrangements given the horror stories we are fed in our home country. What also appealed to us was having our own tailored itinerary and a driver that stayed with us throughout the whole trip. We did not want to be bundled up in a large group.
From the very first contact we had with Odyssey tours, we found them to be highly responsive to all our questions and requests. We changed our plans numerous times before settling on our final itinerary and each time we were treated with the up most courtesy and efficiency. Our emails were all answered promptly.
Our hotels were of good quality, the car comfortable and Mr Thakur the driver made us feel safe and at ease from the moment we were picked up from the airport to the moment we were dropped off to head home.
We were well looked after, each day the car was stocked with fruit and snacks for us to enjoy and there was never a shortage of cold bottled water to drink. The guides that joined us each day and Mr Thakur gave advice on how to navigate the hawkers at the tourist spots and when we were required to tip and what tips were appropriate. We were offered the chance to shop and visit craft shops, which we often declined, and we never felt pressured to have to go.
All of the guides in each of the cities we visited were courteous, respectful and extremely knowledgeable about the history of the places we explored. The guides looked out for our comfort and safety, managing entry ticket purchase to all the sites we visited and often personalising the experience by offering to take photos. The guides were very personable and couldn’t have been more helpful.
In short, we were very impressed with Odyssey tours and thank them for a wonderful experience. We would definitely use them again.

We have used odyssey tours previously for a trip to Vietnam .
Joan Qin was very helpful and responded quickly with suggestions for our itinerary
The drivers and guides were fantastic, hotels booked were good standard and the restaurants for lunch also great
This year we are going to India, and when I saw odyssey also operated in India I didn't hesitate to contact them,
It was really nice to have Joan assisting us again. Booking these type of holidays cost a lot of time, researching areas, booking hotels and flights etc. Odyssey does all the hard work for you, and makes sure you get the trip you want

The entire trip was well planned and we found Don to be extremely responsive and accommodating to our special requests