Take a Last Minute Luxury Tour of Northern India

Of all the countries that I've traveled to, India was among the most fascinating -- and the most intense. I'll never forget the feeling of overwhelm when I landed in Mumbai after a 16 hour Continental flight direct from Newark. I stepped out of the airport, into the hot night and to a sea of cab drivers clamoring for my attention. Suddenly, and somehow, a slim young man appeared in front of the throng, and calmly said "Mrs. Wellner?". He was carrying a Greaves Tours sign and a bottle of water, and at that moment (and many times thereafter, as I traveled throughout the country) I was incredibly relieved to have arranged my trip through that Chicago-based, family-owned company.

There are many countries where you don't need a tour guide or a driver, and India is just not one of them. Greaves arranges thoughtful custom packages with the country's most luxurious hotels, and engages experienced English-speaking guides and drivers so you can relax and take in the total-body sensory experience that is India. One driver that Greaves engaged during my trip observed, as he simultaneously leaned on the horn, steered the van through traffic coming at us in every direction (that included at various intervals elephants, donkeys, people, cows) and smiled, that Formula One champ Michael Schumacher could drive faster than him, but no way could he negotiate the roads of India as well as he could. I do believe he was right.

Greaves is offering several discounts, specials and sales this summer, but if your July is looking a little slow, check out the 10 day 'Royal Deal' package to Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Udaipur. It's being offered at half its usual price, so fly British Air's Business Class from New York, stay at Taj hotels, enjoy top-notch tours and transfers and other perks from $6,885, per person, double. The highlight just may be your stay at the Taj Lake Palace Hotel, pictured here, and which you might recognize from the James Bond movie Upon arrival, as you disembark from the ferry boat, you are literally showered with rose petals. Book and travel by July 21st, 2009.