Published on Dec, 2024
Overall a good experience. Our driver and guide were both good. The tour started at 8:30 am and ended at 5 pm. My wife and son couldn’t make it, but my daughter and I made the most of the day.
The highlights of the tour was the elephant sanctuary and petting and feeding an elephant. I saw billboards later that said riding an elephant was cruel, but the person I spoke to at the sanctuary insisted that the money from the rides and interactions with the elephants goes to support the dwindling population of elephants and make sure they are taken care of.
While not negative feedback per se, I found out later that you can rent a car with a driver and a tour guide and do all the same stuff for 8x to 10x less than what I paid on Viator if you know someone local or if you already happen to be there. I took an Uber the next day to Amber fort to revisit it with my family, and the Uber was much cheaper. There are guides hanging out at all the attractions. That said, the guides at the attractions aren’t necessarily as good, because they are not staying the whole day with you and they have no incentive to do a fabulous job.
I think Viator does a good job allowing people to research and pick tours, and the tour operators do a good job giving you a good experience - just keep in mind that you could save a bunch if you just book a day tour locally.
My other feedback for travelers is that the place they stop at to buy jewelry, fabric, clothes, etc. - after I already bought from them, I read the reviews online and found that they have a reputation for being 3x market price. My Uber driver the next day also mentioned that independently.
However - I had a good experience taking my daughter shopping there and although I might or might not have overpaid - it was worth it from that perspective. That said, if you are buying a bunch of things from Jaipur, do some price shopping first, and read some reviews online. There are local arts and handicraft stores on the same street.