Ranked, with the working shown
The best train tours in India
31 hotel-based trips in India had enough verified data to score; hostel and self-guided rail-pass trips are not ranked here. The ranking below is fully mechanical; here is exactly how it works:
- Eligibility: only hotel-based tours are ranked. Trips built around hostels or self-arranged accommodation are left out, since these guides recommend hotel-inclusive tours for the general traveller.
- Rail share (35%): the estimated share of itinerary days with a train leg (a share of days, not distance or time); trips not assessed are not ranked.
- Value (20%): price per day against the other hotel-based trips on this page (cheaper per day scores higher).
- Data completeness (25%): full day-by-day itinerary, imagery, inclusions, and verified price.
- Departure breadth (20%): how many months the operator publishes departures for.
Sacred sites and Himalayan foothills across Northern India by rail
- Rail share
- 65
- Value
- 100
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 100
15 days · from $2,465 ($164/day)
9-day Maharaja Express circuit through Rajasthan from Mumbai to Delhi
- Rail share
- 78
- Value
- 3
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 88
9 days · from $11,965 ($1,329/day)
Luxury train loop through Rajasthan, Taj Mahal, and Varanasi from Delhi
- Rail share
- 75
- Value
- 6
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 75
9 days · from $11,449 ($1,272/day)
17-day journey across India by rail from Kolkata to Delhi with private guides
- Rail share
- 65
- Value
- 84
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 0
17 days · from $4,856 ($286/day)
Ten-day luxury train through Rajasthan's forts, palaces, and wildlife on Palace on Wheels
- Rail share
- 85
- Value
- 45
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 0
10 days · from $7,328 ($733/day)
Luxury rail odyssey from Delhi through Shimla, Rajasthan, Agra, and Varanasi
- Rail share
- 65
- Value
- 39
- Completeness
- 85
- Departures
- 50
15 days · from $11,880 ($792/day)
Fifteen-day luxury train journey across India from Mumbai to Kolkata on the Deccan Odyssey
- Rail share
- 75
- Value
- 26
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 13
15 days · from $13,447 ($896/day)
Twelve-day luxury train journey through India's Golden Triangle and Rajasthan
- Rail share
- 58
- Value
- 52
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 0
12 days · from $8,537 ($711/day)
15-day luxury rail journey across India on the Deccan Odyssey train
- Rail share
- 65
- Value
- 26
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 13
15 days · from $13,447 ($896/day)
12-day luxury train journey from Delhi through India's Golden Triangle to Varanasi
- Rail share
- 58
- Value
- 48
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 0
12 days · from $8,564 ($714/day)