By length · Duration

1 week or less

Six trips of seven days or fewer, from EUR 350 to EUR 2,160. A week buys one region — the Golden Triangle, Bhutan's western valleys, or a beach — not a country. Two are touring itineraries; the other four are five-day beach stays built to extend a longer trip.

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A week is one region, not a country

What one week actually buys you

Seven days on the ground is one region. Not India. Not India and Nepal together. And the arithmetic is tighter than it looks: day one is arrival, the last day is a transfer to the airport, so a seven-day trip is about five days of real touring.

That is why only six trips in the whole catalogue sit at seven days or under — and why only two of them are touring itineraries. The other four are beach stays. Knowing which is which before you enquire is the point of this page.

Every trip here is private and guided, with a German-speaking guide included. You pick the start date: no group departures, no fixed dates, with one exception noted below. International flights are not included. Domestic flights written into an itinerary are.

The two touring weeks

Golden Triangle & Colors of India runs 7 days from EUR 1,515: Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Udaipur. Qutub Minar and Humayun's Tomb on day two, the Taj Mahal at sunrise on day three, Amber Fort and the City Palace on day four, then Udaipur and a boat on Lake Pichola. Day five is Holi in a royal garden — the one fixed date on this page. Holi follows the lunar calendar and falls in late February or March; book any other month and you get the same route without the festival. The itinerary also carries things most short trips drop: dinner cooked at a local family's home, hand-block printing with artisans in Jaipur, a cooking class in a private house.

The land of happiness runs 6 days from EUR 2,160 through Bhutan: Paro, Thimphu, the Dochula Pass at 3,080 metres, Punakha, and the Tiger's Nest above the Paro valley on day five. You choose on the day between the viewpoint walk of about an hour and the full climb to the monastery of about two.

One honest note on that one. Bhutan costs more per day than anywhere else we sell, and six days is not the cheapest way in. The magic of the gigantic Himalayas is 8 days from EUR 2,010 — two days longer for EUR 150 less. If your calendar can stretch, stretch it. If it cannot, six days still gets you Thimphu, Punakha and the Tiger's Nest. Paro is served by very few airlines, and that flight sits on top of the price either way.

The four beach weeks are add-ons, not holidays

Four of the six trips on this tag are labelled "travel component" in the catalogue, and the label is accurate. They are five-day beach stays built to extend a longer trip:

Goa beach stay — 5 days, from EUR 350
Marari, Kerala — 5 days, from EUR 400
Andaman & Nicobar Islands — 5 days, from EUR 410
Maldives island stay — 5 days, from EUR 700

All four have the same shape: airport pickup, transfer to the hotel, three free days, transfer back. The Goa itinerary spells out what the free days mean — no vehicle, no guide. That is not a gap in the product; that is what a beach stay is. If you want a guided week, these are not it. If you have just spent ten days on forts and temples and want to stop moving, they are exactly right.

Two of them involve more than a flight. The Andamans stay reaches Havelock by ferry from Port Blair, and the Maldives stay reaches the hotel island by speedboat from Malé. Both eat into day one and day five, so plan your international flights around them. The Kerala stay is the simplest: land at Kochi, transfer to Mararikulam, done.

Where a week does not work

There is no one-week Sri Lanka trip and no one-week Nepal trip here, and we are not going to invent one to win a booking. Sri Lanka starts at 13 days with The wonderful world of Sri Lanka from EUR 750. Nepal starts at 9 days with The world of Nepal from EUR 930. Both countries have long road transfers between the places people actually come to see; compressed into seven days, most of the week is spent in the vehicle.

Combining countries has the same problem. India with the Maldives is a real trip — India's facets & Maldives, 15 days from EUR 3,140 — but it is not a seven-day one. If you can find ten days, 10–14 days is where the catalogue opens up.

When to go

For the Golden Triangle and the rest of north India, October to March. April to June passes 40 °C in Rajasthan, and July to September is monsoon. Goa and Kerala work November to March. The Andamans are best November to April, the Maldives December to April. Bhutan has two settled windows: March to May, and October to November.

Month by month: India, Bhutan, the Maldives. Still deciding whether the trip is worth it at all: is India worth visiting.

Good to know

Practical info for 1 week or less

What does a one-week trip cost?

EUR 350 to EUR 2,160 per person for the land arrangement. Goa is EUR 350, Marari EUR 400, the Andamans EUR 410, the Maldives EUR 700, the 7-day Golden Triangle EUR 1,515, and six days in Bhutan EUR 2,160. Those are entry-tier prices. Rooms come in four tiers — Standard, Deluxe, Superior, Executive — and moving up a tier moves the price. There is no five-star tier; if a five-star week is what you want, we are not the right operator. International flights are on top of every figure here.

Is one week enough to see India?

No, and nobody should tell you otherwise. A week covers the Golden Triangle — Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, plus Udaipur on our 7-day itinerary — and that already fills the week. Kerala, wider Rajasthan, Varanasi and the south each need a trip of their own. If you want two of those regions in one visit, the honest minimum is ten days: see 10-14 days at /duration/10-14-days/. Trying to fit them into seven means seeing them from a car window.

What is included, and what is not?

Included: private transport with driver, a German-speaking guide, accommodation in the room tier you pick, the sightseeing and entries written into the day-by-day, and any domestic flight that appears in the itinerary. Not included: international flights, visa, travel insurance. On the Bhutan trip the cooking session, the archery lesson and trying on a kira or go are optional extras charged separately — the itinerary says so on the day it offers them. Meal inclusion varies from trip to trip, so ask us to confirm it for the one you are considering.

Can I travel on my own dates?

Yes. Every trip on this page is private, so there are no scheduled departures — you name the start date and we build the week around it. One exception: Golden Triangle & Colors of India puts Holi in a royal garden on day five, and Holi is set by the lunar calendar to late February or March. Ask us for that year's date. Book the same route in any other month and you get everything except the festival.

When is the best time to go?

North India, including the Golden Triangle, October to March. Goa and Kerala November to March. The Andamans November to April. The Maldives December to April. Bhutan has two windows, March to May and October to November — worth respecting on a six-day trip that crosses the Dochula Pass at 3,080 metres and climbs towards the Tiger's Nest. Month-by-month detail is at /blog/best-time-to-visit-india-month-by-month/ and /blog/best-time-to-visit-bhutan/.

Can I add a beach week onto a longer trip?

That is exactly what four of these six are for. Goa, Marari in Kerala, the Andamans and the Maldives are five-day components designed to sit on the end of a touring itinerary — you finish in Delhi or Kochi, fly on, and stop moving for three days. Tell us the main trip you are looking at and we will price the combination as one booking. Two notes on timings: the Andamans stay reaches Havelock by ferry from Port Blair, and the Maldives stay reaches the hotel island by speedboat from Malé. Both take a real bite out of the arrival and departure days.

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