If you like a real and safe visit to India...trust in Akash!!! - We visit Delhi and Agra with a high expectation...all the sites, transfers, guide and information from Akash were wonderful and receive more attention than we can imagine, my sister and me went for the first time to this country and we love the way we made it! Thank you Akash for everything!!

Akash was the perfect match for us! Read to see if he would be a great match for you also. - We did a Golden Triangle tour with Akbran Tour. I researched a long time & interviewed many tour operators before choosing Akash. We are not conventional travelers & we are very picky when choosing a tour as we usually always do self-guided tour when possible. Many criteria were important to us: - Speaks good English & most importantly with an “accent” we could easily understand - Ease of contact, before/during/after the tour - Reasonable prices - Willing to tailor our tour to our needs & open to be flexible along the way - As we were booking a long time in advance, flexible cancellation policies were also important - Agree to “No Shopping” unless we specifically request it - Would provide a safe but skilled driver that speaks English - Many good reviews on TA from frequent contributors, - Last but not least, friendly & a good sense of humor After reading tons of reviews & exchanging many emails with several tour operators, I had a good sense that Akash would tick all those boxes & that he would be our best choice. Now that we have completed our tour, I can attest that he does tick all those boxes & so much more. He was the best guide we ever encountered. He easily adapted to our personalities & our needs. We felt immediately at ease & in good hands with him. We were concerned about being overwhelmed with historical data, but Akash was a great story teller. He knew how to make the information interesting & he had a good sense of when to stop talking or when to add more information. His English was very good & he almost did not have any “accent, so it was very easy to understand everything he said. This is such an important part as, to our fault, we often have a hard time understanding Indian people when they speak English. The last thing you want with a guide is to constantly have to ask him to repeat or have to concentrate very hard to understand or totally zone out because you have no clue what the person is saying, LOL. In addition, he protected us from hawkers & knew all the best angles for pictures. He is very smart & knowledgeable. But he is not a pompous or pedantic person. He has a very friendly casual demeanor, which was perfect for us. Not only is he good in giving historical information but he knows a lot about religion, politics, economics & he has a great understanding of people in general. We had a lot of questions & he answered them all comfortably. We also had lots of good laughs. He also provided us with an excellent reliable driver, Deepak. He was always on time & available rapidly whenever we were ready to move on to another place. He spoke good English & had a good sense of humor as well. Most importantly, he was a very skilled driver & we felt safe with him. I will add that when I first contacted him, it took him a while to get back to me so I almost gave up on him. If this happens, don’t give up, he is a busy man. I can attest that all subsequent communications were answered very rapidly. My husband usually can’t stand doing guided tours for more than a couple hours. We were with Akash for almost 2 full days & we could not get enough of him. We were really sad to part from him. We have had other guides since & we can truly say that we miss him. Don’t hesitate to book him for your Golden Triangle Tour.

Great value and a top guide!! - Fantastic tours run by Akash. Good value for money and great knowledge from the guide. Taken to some great shopping spots and the fantastic sights. We recommend this tour and Akash to show you around Delhi and Agra. He looked after us very well. Took some of the worry out of organising our tours. This company can help you with any tour.

I can't imagine a visit to India without Akash and his team - Me and my sister were a little worried about travelling to India as two solo women, specially coming from Mexico, where safety is a real issue. Akash was able to help us even before arrival, as he was always answering my emails and making proper suggestions to our travel plans. Once arrived, the driver picked us up on time and took us toour hotel in Agra. The sunrise visit to Taj Mahal, the visit to Sikri... Everything was just wonderful. We were really pampered, always having plenty of bottled water and having great information of each place. They made our meditation and shopping plans possible. Definitely, if you are not sure what guide to choose when visiting Agra and Delhi, don't hesitate to contact Akash and his team. Thanks for your great services. We felt safe, happy and well informed all the time.

Global Traveler - Very easy going and uncomplicated guide with deep knowledge and sense for the mixture between touristic ‘musts’- and background information about local lifestyle... Efficient and focused on the important things and never boring ... helpful, always friendly & Smart but not overdone or engaged - exact how I expect and love to be guided informed and brought through the stunning monuments of Agra & the spot ... thank you

Highly recommended - This tour from Fatehpur Sikri, Agra Fort, Baby Taj, and the Taj Mahal (both sunset and sunrise) is a complete and wonderful step into Mughal history, not to be missed. As a female solo traveller I felt I was very well looked after. Akash had answers to all my questions and all the monuments were accompanied by an expert explanation. We never waited in lines, and he provided lots of interesting information. For example, he asked the guard to show how the precious stones in the Taj Mahal glow with the light. We went to all the top spots to take the perfect photo and he was happy to take photos for me. Despite a shorted schedule due to my flight we still made very good time and I never felt rushed. Akash made sure I made it to and from the airport and that my hotel was comfortable. I didn’t have to worry about a thing. Very professional tour and well worth it.

Very good! - We booked a two day tour - on the first day we visited Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Baby Taj. On the second day we went from Agra to Jaipur by car and visited Fatehpur Sikri and the Stepwell. Overall we were very happy about the tour and had a very good time. Our driver Deebak drove very safe and we would book him again when we come back. Thank you for your great services!

Very good option for single travelling woman - I used a two days layover in Delhi to go to Agar/Taj Mahal. I did some research for single travelling woman and saw some recommendations about Akbran Tours on Tripadvisor. I can definetily recommend to do the tour with Akbran Tours, especially if you are travelling alone as woman. Driver Dheeraj picked me up in the morning from Delhi to go to Agra via Express Highway which took us 3,5 hours. Dheeraj was really nice, caring and especially safe in driving. Sometimes he was a bit hard to understand but very wiling to tell about surroundings we passed by with the car. We stopped for lunch in Agra, which was a touristic place but totally fine with the price. After that picked up Sandeep as a guide. If you want to the tour- def ask for Saneep. He really tries to connect with the people and finds out what you are interested in. We visited Agra Fort and Mehtagb Garden to see Taj from the riverside. After that we did a kind of "purchasing tour". They took me to different shops where they first show you their handcraft work and then send you through to the shop to may something. I listened to all the explanations- which was really interested. But in the end you need a bit determined but friendly if you not want to buy anything. But Sandeep was very open and honest about this. Next morning both picked me up at 06.30 am to go to Taj Mahal. Sandeep was very supportive with the tickets and organized everything to get me through the line/security quickly. I did not need to take care of anything because Sandeep was doing everything. It was really crowded but Sandeep still took his time to take some pictures of me, explaining the history and always asking me what I wanted do see or do. To me it felt like Sandeep reallly adapts to the people and does not only run through his regular program. Highly recommended. Afterwards I stopped for breakfast at the accomodation before we did go to Fatehpur Sikkri. we met another guide overthere who showed me around for roundabout 1,5 hours. I really can recommend to go to Fatehpur Sikkri as well - to me it was also an impressing place. After that we stopped another time for lunch at a very nice restraurant with buffet in the backyard. Dheeraj then drove me directly to Delhi airport. I was really worried about doing the tour as a single travelling woman but I felt very saffe during the whole tour and can highlyrecommend to do it this way if you only have limited time. Moreover Akash, the owner, was very helpful with providing information via mail and alwys replied very fast. Thanks a lot!

So glad I booked with Akbran Tours - This was an awesome tour for 2 days. Arrived in Delhi late Friday night and stayed at one of the airport hotels. Pappu one of the drivers for Akbran Tours picked me at 8:00 and we drove to Agra and arrived before noon. We stopped for about 20 minutes at one of the rest stops along the way. I originally was supposed to just have a regular 4-person car but decided at the last minute to upgrade to a Toyota Innova. Well worth the $40 extra. Plenty of room and It meant I could recline the seats far back when coming back from Agra. At Agra I met the tour guide Amit. We planned out the rest of the day. We decided to start the tour at 3 pm. That day Amit took me to Agra Fort, Baby Taj and the water garden across from the Taj at sunset. All were awesome, and Amit was a great guide. Afterwards we went to one of the marble shops and I bought a beautiful inlay box. This was the only shopping that I did. The next day we started early. Pappu and Amit picked me up at 5.45 and we did the Taj at sunrise. This was spectacular and moving. I have seen pictures of the Taj since I was a child so its pretty amazing to see it in person. I was supposed to do Fatehpur Sikri in the afternoon on the way back to Delhi. I decided to give this a miss as I have already seen along of Indian forts in prior trips. Instead I chilled by the pool at the hotel- it was a long work week. Pappu picked me up at 4.30 and we got back to Delhi 4 hours later. I also got to meet the owner of Akbran Tours – Akash. Very nice guide. I can’t speak highly enough of these guys. The booking was really easy. Akash had great ideas on how I should do my tour and what I should see. They were also very flexible when I wanted to upgrade the car tow days in advance. They were also very flexible on changing my plans for Fatehpur Sikri etc. To them they want to make sure that you have the best experience and that you are not totally exhausted afterwards. I would highly recommend.

Great 2-day Agra tour! - A solo on a business trip with an unusual spare couple of days so booked this tour at very short notice. There was little time for confirmation with the tour company but nonetheless, Deepak (driver) was right on time for the pick-up and journey to Agra. I chose a 9.30 am start which worked well as the drive is 3-5 hours and you arrive in Agra with enough time for the day 1 itinerary without any rush. It was a pleasure to meet Akash (he rides a Royal Enfield, so a top man in my book!) outside the intended tour hotel. I actually opted to book an alternative hotel which was my own decision (250+ hotel nights per year makes me a little fussy), but to be fair the tour hotel looked perfectly acceptable. I then took lunch at a suggested restaurant (Pinch of Spice). Definitely for the tourist so a little more costly but the food was very good a plentiful. After lunch, we were joined by Rajesh, my guide for the monuments and onto Agra Fort. Rajesh quickly established himself as very knowledgeable answering my unending questions without hesitation. The Fort is impressive, so don't rush it! Then onto Mehtab Bagh, one of the restored Mughal gardens with its excellent view of the Taj Mahal from across the river. These are lovely formal gardens and would have been a fabulous spot for the sunset, if not for the total cloud cover and a little rain which sadly prevented this on my visit. Day 2 was a very early start (5.30 am) for the short drive to the Taj Mahal and the hoped-for sunrise. Even arriving that early there were plenty of people around, so the 'skip the line' ticket (part of the package) worked well! Be prepared for a little madness through the entrance and some mild hysteria as people rush to get their, perhaps crowd-free, pic's. After a brisk walk (about 800 metres) I was guided to a perfect spot for my photo's as the sun came up! Unfortunately not the most spectacular sunrise (due to much overnight rain and consequent humidity) but there was some brief sunrise colour in the monument and so worth the early start. The sunset and sunrise part will always be a hit and miss affair, but going early may mean missing the worst of the crowds. A mistake on my part was to agree, albeit half-heartedly, to a "professional" photographer. I did say perhaps a photo or two but this ended up being some 25-30 shots with me being asked to pose at various spots. I went along with this to a point but, without my partner being there, this had no value for me and ended with the photographer going off disgruntled when I rejected the 3000INR 'photo package'. For some, this is probably a great service, but if you don't want it be specific and save the time and awkwardness. Rajesh's knowledge of the Taj Mahal shone through as he walked me around the monument. He explained the history in good detail and again answered my many questions with ease. He gave me plenty of time to take my photos too, so is exactly what I needed in a tour guide. The next stop was Itmad-ud-Daula (or Baby Taj), another exquisite Mughal mausoleum and garden on the banks of the Yamuna River. This was an especially pleasant visit as with it still being early, no one was there! For some reason, that I may have missed, we didn't go to Fatehpur Sikri as advertised. I only realised this as I sat down to write this review, so not sure what happened here. As stated, I may have missed something but I don't remember it being mentioned. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the tour and would recommend Akash and his team. Rajesh was a great guide and made every effort to ensure I was getting what I needed from the tour. As is common, the tour included the suggestion of several shopping opportunities. I listened (as they did sound interesting) but never felt pressured to accept these; saying no once (or maybe twice) was enough. Lastly, for the journey from/to my Delhi Airport hotel, Deepak was a great driver and again regularly asked if I had everything I needed (rest stops, water, food, etc.). I would say that the traffic in and around the cities can be chaotic and may be unnerving for the faint-hearted! There is also a common use of mobile phones whilst driving in India. However, I never felt unsafe and it all relaxes for a large part of the journey on the Yamuna Expressway. Great job guys and keep up the good work 👍