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. I don't take commissions on your hotels or flights. I tell you what I earn, and you pay for what I actually do.
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 exactly how they make money. We do. Here's the full picture — what you pay for, 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.
Vehicles that arrive, drivers you can trust, guides who know what they're doing, someone reachable when something goes sideways. One transparent line on your quote — including our coordination margin, shown clearly.
No hotel commissions. No flight margins. No surprise fees. No add-ons that turn out to not be optional. You book accommodation and flights directly — we recommend, brief, and sometimes negotiate, but the money flows straight to the provider.
Indian states
explored first-hand
Commission on
hotels & flights
Operational buffer
refunded if unused
Revision rounds
included, always
Families are who I build this around — the pacing, the safety, the multi-generational trips where grandparents and kids travel together. That focus is deliberate; it’s how I keep the quality high. But if you’re a group of friends, a couple, a club, or marking a milestone in India, I’d genuinely love to hear from you too. Trips outside the family template just need a little more notice, so I can plan them as carefully as everything else.
Two things, only two things — and we show you both.
Up to 10 days: $2,000 · 11–14 days: $2,500 · 15+ days: $3,000.
Covers the full design work: all conversations, itinerary drafting, two rounds of revisions, vendor research, hotel recommendations, and the briefing documents that run your trip on the ground.
Covers vehicles, commercially-licensed drivers, ASI- and state-licensed local guides, airport transfers, and on-the-ground coordination. Includes our coordination margin — and we show you the full breakdown in your specific quote.
We work exclusively with the most economical and value-for-money vendors without compromising on quality. A 3% operational buffer is built in; any unused portion is refunded at trip end.
Ground Services ~$1,300*Vehicles, drivers, guides, coordination, airport transfers — sourced from our most economical vetted vendors
Hotels ~$700*You book & 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.
Book direct, pay direct. We recommend, brief, and sometimes negotiate — we never take a commission.
Use your travel agent, points, or preferred platform. We're not in this transaction.
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 your family.
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. Australian families who travel 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.
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 your family and what you actually want from India.
Within a week: a proposed itinerary, hotel shortlist, and a clear quote with planning fee and ground services separated out.
Two rounds of changes are included. Most families need them. We refine until you're confident and excited.
Sign the Service Agreement and pay the planning fee plus a ground services deposit. You book hotels and flights directly using our recommendations.
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. I'm reachable throughout.
A short debrief call when you're home. What worked and what didn't — it makes the next family's trip better.
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 your family.
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 — we take no commission on either.
No. Every trip we plan is built for one family. We don't run set departures, combine clients into groups, or have a calendar of pre-scheduled trips. You travel on your dates, with your people, on an itinerary built around what your family wants.
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 family trips land between $3,500 and $7,000 AUD per person, all-in (planning fee, ground services, hotels, flights, meals, tips). Smaller groups 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.
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 family, your dates, and whether India is right for your next trip.
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 your family is imagining.
Not a family trip? Friends' groups, couples and special-interest journeys are welcome too — just give me a little extra notice so I can plan it properly.
hello@theindianstory.com.au
Direct email is always welcome.
Planning India trips for Australian families. 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.
