Kerala · Backwaters
Jaipur · Amber Fort
New Delhi · Humayun's Tomb
Jaipur · Hawa Mahal
Mumbai · Gateway
Ladakh · Himalayas
An honest, India-only travel consultancy based in Sydney. Every trip comes with a cultural host who travels with you throughout — someone by your side every day in India, not just at the monuments. No hotel commissions, no hidden margins. You see exactly what you pay for.
I came to Sydney to do my Master's in Banking and Finance at Macquarie. I finished the degree and then sat with the harder question — what now? Looking back, the answer was always there.
I've now been to almost every Indian state — north, south, the deserts of Rajasthan, the backwaters of Kerala, the mountains, the coast, the small towns nobody writes about. The more of it I saw, the more I understood how badly most travellers were being served by the way India gets sold.
When I looked at what's currently on offer — large operators charging significantly more for less personal a trip, small agencies wrapping vendor commissions inside opaque quotes, families told to "trust us" on prices they can't see — I knew there was room for something straighter. The Indian Story is that something.
So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds.
Most travel companies don't tell you how they make money — it's buried in your hotel rate. We put everything on the table in your quote: what you pay, what we earn, and what we don't touch.
A flat fee for designing your trip — conversations, itinerary drafting, revisions, vendor research, hotel recommendations, restaurant lists, and the briefing documents that make your trip actually work.
Every trip includes a cultural host who travels with you from first day to last — every city, every meal, not just the monuments. They bridge language, navigate the unexpected, and give you context no guidebook can. Vetted vehicles, licensed drivers, and specialist site guides complete the package.
No hotel commissions. No flight margins. No surprise fees. No add-ons that turn out to not be optional. We sit with you through the hotel and flight booking — advising, briefing, and negotiating where we can as your destination expert. The money flows straight to the provider, never through us.
Indian states
explored first-hand
Commission on
hotels & flights
Operational buffer
refunded if unused
Revision rounds
included, always
Eight clear steps. No surprises. No moment where you don't know what happens next.
Fill out the form or email me directly. Tell me roughly who's travelling, when, and what you're imagining.
30–45 minutes on the phone or video call. No quote yet — I want to understand you and what you actually want from India.
Within a week: a personal trip proposal — the shape of your India trip, the regions, the rhythm, the pacing — alongside a full transparent quote. Enough to get genuinely excited about.
Two rounds of changes are included. Swap a region, adjust the pace, add a few days — we shape it until it feels exactly right for you.
Happy with the shape of the trip? Sign the Service Agreement and place a deposit — and that's when we open the full playbook: specific hotel names, ground operator briefing, day-by-day detail. Then we sit with you through every booking.
A detailed briefing pack arrives a few weeks before you fly — every city, every site, what to expect at each.
You're met at the airport. Your driver is briefed. Your guide is booked. A cultural host travels with you throughout — someone alongside you every day, bridging language and local context, not just at the sites. I'm reachable throughout.
A short debrief call when you're home. What worked and what didn't — it makes the next trip better.
Anyone who wants India done honestly — individuals, couples, groups of friends, families travelling multi-generationally, clubs marking a milestone. The common thread isn’t the group type; it’s that you want a trip that’s been thought through, not assembled off a shelf. Every itinerary is built around who’s actually going — the pacing, the hotels, the ground logistics — not a template fitted to your dates.
Two things, only two things — and we show you both.
"Your trip. Built from scratch. By someone who's been there."
Most agents charge you nothing upfront — then quietly take commissions from every part of your trip. On a typical trip, that's $2,000–$6,000 hidden across your entire booking, paid without your knowledge. Our planning fee replaces all of it. You see it, you agree to it, and you keep every saving.
We take commission on none of these. Zero. What you pay us is what you see — before you commit to anything.
"This is where we earn our margin — and we show you exactly how much in your personal quote. No surprises, no vague totals."
We work exclusively with the most economical and value-for-money vendors without compromising on quality. Your quote will itemise every line — including our coordination margin — before you commit to anything.
Ground Services ~$1,300*Vehicles, drivers, guides, cultural host, airport transfers, coordination — sourced from our most economical vetted vendors
Hotels ~$700*We guide the booking, you pay direct — zero commission to us
Planning Fee ~$500*Flat fee shared across family of 4 — full design & briefing work
Flights & meals ~$2,000*Booked independently — not our transaction
* Figures shown are indicative estimates based on the most economical and value-for-money vendors we have identified. Actual costs vary depending on trip duration, travel dates, season, group size, and hotel category. Your final quote will itemise everything before you commit to anything.
We guide every hotel choice and sit through the booking with you as your destination expert. You pay direct — zero commission to us, ever.
We advise on timing, routing and how to use your points. You book through your preferred platform — we're not in the transaction financially, but we're right beside you.
Paid directly to guides and drivers in India. The money goes to the people doing the work, not through us.
Typical total cost, all-in (planning fee, ground services, hotels, flights, meals, tips):
$3,500 – $7,000 AUD per personHover any card to see the details. Each is a starting point — your actual itinerary will be shaped entirely around you.
India's most-loved first trip. Three cities, three completely different feels — Old Delhi's layered history, the Taj Mahal at sunrise, Jaipur's palaces and pink bazaars. The logistics are the most predictable in India; the sights are genuinely extraordinary.
The most popular two-region trip we plan. A week of intensity through India's iconic north, then a week unwinding on Kerala's slow rivers and tea hills. Most travellers find the combination almost perfectly weighted.
Our gentlest introduction to India. Less crowded, calmer, deeper — backwaters, Mysore's palace, tea plantations, and Hampi's extraordinary ruins. A different country entirely from the north.
A single-region deep dive through India's most photogenic state. Desert palaces, walled old cities in blue and pink, dunes outside Jaisalmer, the lakes of Udaipur. For travellers wanting depth, not a quick tour.
Mumbai's many layered faces, then inland to Ajanta and Ellora — among the greatest sculptural achievements in human history. Most India trips skip them. The ones that don't, never forget them.
Ladakh & the high Himalayas. The North East. The Andamans. Pilgrim circuits. Single-region deep dives. India is far bigger than the standard templates — and we plan those trips too, designed entirely around you.
India is loud, chaotic, extraordinarily beautiful, and unlike anywhere else on earth. Travellers who come here with the right preparation almost always leave planning their return.
The key is knowing what you're walking into — and having someone who's been to almost every corner of it, planning your days from the other side of the table.
India is far bigger than the Golden Triangle. Scroll to explore the specialist regions we plan custom journeys to.
Every itinerary is custom — so it can be shaped around the experiences that matter most to you.
We're building something from scratch — which means every review here will be a first. We publish them exactly as written, unedited.
Leave a Google review or send us your experience by email — we'll add it to this page exactly as you wrote it, with your permission.
We're not a travel agent in the formal sense — we don't sell flights, don't book hotels for you, and we're not ATAS-accredited. We're an India-focused planning consultancy. We design your trip, manage ground operations through licensed local operators, and charge clearly for the work we actually do. Hotels and flights you book directly with our guidance — we sit through the process with you as your destination expert, but take no commission on either.
No. Every trip we plan is built for one group — you. We don't run set departures, combine clients, or have a calendar of pre-scheduled trips. You travel on your dates, with your people, on an itinerary built around what you actually want.
For school-holiday trips (December–January, April, July, September–October), we recommend 4–9 months ahead. India's better hotels in peak cities book out early. We can plan on shorter timelines, but options narrow quickly.
No — visa lodgement is regulated work and sits outside what we offer. For most Australian passport holders, the Indian e-Tourist visa is straightforward, applied for online at indianvisaonline.gov.in. We'll flag what's current at planning time, but the responsibility for valid visas rests with you.
Yes — we only put on our website what we know first-hand. For specialist regions covered under Custom Journeys, we work with trusted regional operators and tell you upfront when we're doing that.
Because we'd rather charge clearly for our work than make money on your accommodation choice. Hotel commissions are typically 10–20% — built into your nightly rate without you knowing. We take a planning fee and an honest margin on ground services. That's it.
Yes. We'll show you the breakdown in your specific quote — what's paid to Indian operators and what stays with us. We don't publish a single percentage because the right margin varies. What we commit to is honesty in every individual quote.
Most trips land between $3,500 and $7,000 AUD per person, all-in (planning fee, ground services, hotels, flights, meals, tips). Solo travellers and luxury hotels move this up; larger groups and simpler stays move it down.
Commercially-licensed Indian drivers, with vehicles holding valid tourist permits (yellow-plate vehicles). Arranged through registered Indian tour operators we work with. Neither I nor anyone from our Australia-based team drives clients in India — that's a job for licensed professionals.
A cultural host is someone who travels with you throughout your entire trip — not just stationed at individual monuments or sites. They're there from airport arrival to departure: on the road between cities, at restaurants, in markets, and everywhere in between. They bridge language (menus, signs, conversations, local negotiations), explain the context behind what you're seeing — religion, history, customs — and handle anything unexpected in real time. Think of them as your person on the ground. Not a driver, not a licensed monument guide (we have those too at every major site) — someone who actually knows you, knows your itinerary, and is genuinely alongside you every day. Most travellers tell us it's the thing that made India feel accessible rather than overwhelming.
You'll have a single point of contact in India — a real person, a real phone number, reachable throughout your trip. Most issues are small. Bigger ones get escalated to me directly. We've planned for the common ones; we'll problem-solve the unusual ones in real time.
Yes. At every ASI-protected monument (Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Amber Fort, Ellora, Ajanta, and dozens of others) and most state-licensed sites, we use guides who hold the relevant licence. Cheaper trips often use unlicensed guides. We don't.
Yes, with the right planning. Millions of families travel through India every year without incident. The genuine risks are food and water (managed through preparation), traffic (managed through hired drivers), and illness (managed through travel insurance). Real risks are the boring ones: stomach upsets, fatigue from heat. We plan around all of these.
We plan for this often, especially for Indian-Australian families travelling multi-generationally. We pace the itinerary differently — no 5am Taj sunrises, more rest days — check that hotels have lifts and accessible bathrooms, and pre-brief drivers on a slower pace. Tell us the specifics at inquiry and we plan around them.
Yes. Vegetarian is straightforward in India — the country is built for it. Halal and Jain requirements are manageable in most cities. For specific allergies (particularly nut allergies), we brief restaurants and guides specifically and recommend allergy-translation cards in Hindi and the relevant regional language.
Honest answer: it depends on the kid and the trip we plan. India is sensory-overload by Australian standards. Some kids love it from day one; others need a slower pace. We design itineraries around your kids specifically. Most families finish their trip surprised at how well their kids adapted.
A first conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing. The more you can tell me upfront, the more useful that conversation will be.
Start Planning NowBook a free 30–45 minute call with me, Abhishek. No quote, no pressure — just an honest conversation about your trip, your dates, and whether India is right for what you’re imagining.
A first conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing. We respond to every inquiry within two working days, usually faster. The first response will be from me personally — I'm the one who'll plan your trip.
There's no quote in the first reply. The first conversation is 30–45 minutes on video or phone to understand what you're imagining.
Families, couples, solo travellers, friends' groups, special-interest journeys — all welcome. Just tell me who's going when you get in touch.
hello@theindianstory.com.au
Direct email is always welcome.
Planning India trips for travellers who want to see it properly. India-only, always.
Within two working days — usually same day. If your trip is in the next 60 days, email directly for a faster reply.
— or fill the form below and we'll be in touch within two working days —
