Festival Holidays

Name: Festival Holidays
Brand: Exodus
Rating: 4.6 (561 reviews)

Join the celebration

Festival Holidays

Time it just right, and a festival can make the difference between a fantastic holiday and an utterly unforgettable one. Why not coincide your trip with a huge cultural event, giving yourself some added insight into local life and, of course, the chance to celebrate along with the locals?

Our festival tours are all designed to work around the momentous event, to give you a front-row seat for the festivities, without worrying about the timings yourself. In Mongolia, that means watching the horse racing at Naadam Festival; in Ladakh it’s the unforgettable high-altitude masked dances at the Tibetan Buddhist monasteries; and in Mexico it is the colour and excitement of the Day of the Dead. Join one of our festival trips and you could be in the whirlwind of colour that is India‘s Holi Festival.

Festival Adventure Holidays

15 Days from £ 1895

£ 1645

Guided Group (Excl. Flights)

Spend two weeks exploring the delights of this diverse island

Culture

9 Days from £ 1149

£ 899

Guided Group (Excl. Flights)

From the Taj Mahal to the Bengal tigers of Ranthambore, explore a land packed with culture and excitement

Culture

7 Days from £ 745

£ 725

Guided Group (Excl. Flights)

A gateway to India’s fascinating culture and spectacular Moghul architecture.

Culture

9 Days from £ 1149

£ 899

Guided Group (Excl. Flights)

Discover India's Golden Triangle plus the incredible city of Varanasi

Culture

14 Days from £ 1449

£ 1199

Guided Group (Excl. Flights)

Find peace and paradise in India’s two southernmost states: Kerala and Tamil Nadu

Culture

15 Days from £ 1899

£ 1649

Guided Group (Excl. Flights)

Hop on the saddle to discover majestic monuments and picturesque palaces in India’s Land of Kings

Cycling

14 Days from £ 1849

Guided Group (Excl. Flights)

Experience the best of India's colourful desert state

Culture

14 Days from £ 1479

£ 1379

Guided Group (Excl. Flights)

Discover the domain of the maharajas, exploring regal residences, seeing the Taj Mahal and searching for tigers

Culture

13 Days from £ 1379

£ 1129

Guided Group (Excl. Flights)

Discover the domain of the maharajas, exploring regal residences, seeing the Taj Mahal and searching for tigers

Culture

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In focus: Holi Festival

“Holi celebrates the beginning of spring and it is possibly my favourite festival in India: a riot of colours, with people throwing dyed water at each other in the form of buckets, water guns and water balloons, and smearing colourful gulal (powder) on each other’s faces. All accompanied with dancing and music, and traditional Holi sweets and delicacies such as gujiya and bhang. It really does bring pure joy to everyone as the bursts of colours transform your face and clothes. Everyone gets involved and as a visitor, you’re a prime target! You’d have to literally stay indoors if you want to avoid it.”

Louise Ungless is an Exodus Expert

I honestly can’t recommend this trip enough. From start to finish, it was full of unforgettable moments and thoughtful touches. We travelled through Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur, and everything was so well organised – it was the perfect introduction to India. One of my favourite memories was being greeted with flower wreaths at a Jaipur flower market—it felt so personal and welcoming. The visit to the Taj Mahal was obviously a highlight, but there were so many other surprises too. Staying at Suroth Mahal, a 600 year old heritage hotel, was something special. After a short cooking demonstration, they even put on a traditional Indian wrestling match in the courtyard, which none of us were expecting! We also had an optional stop at Chand Baori stepwell—recognised it from the Batman film, The Dark Knight! It also wasn’t just bus journeys – we were on camel carts, cycle rickshaws, and it was in these moments you really got to see the chaotic but beautiful pace of life in India. The food was another major highlight for me. I went in expecting curry and naan, but it was so much more varied and regional than I thought. The evening cooking demonstration in Jaipur was a real treat too—we learned how to make things like masala chai, lentil pakoras and korwan aloo, and it gave me a whole new appreciation for the flavours and how fresh everything is. We even got to try some street food chai and sweet jalebi!

Kristen Whitla India's Golden Triangle

Sri Lanka is beautiful and worth traveling too. Would I recommend doing it with Exodus? Not for me – their tour was too overly structured, and the local tour operator doesn’t follow the ethos of traveling small and local. Our group was only 15 but our experience was no different than if we had been on a motorcoach with 50 tourists. We were always one of dozens of other coaches packing lunch and coffee stops, nothing unique about it. We thought we’d be able to have lunches and dinners on our own, as they are not included in the tour, but actually there was never another option besides the big-tour stops chosen by our guide, and the hotels were too remote to walk to anyplace else. The tour included a number of “cultural” stops that were really just high-pressure shopping opportunities, again filled with other tour buses, as if they were all in on it. We saw and did a lot in Sri Lanka but it could have been a more authentic experience.

Hannah Devine Sri Lankan Highlights

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Expert Blog Entries

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You’re in safe hands

At Exodus, every single one of us is passionate about travel and adventure. Together, our staff and tour leaders have visited more than 171 countries, and we come from a range of backgrounds as diverse archaeology and mountain rescue. We have the hands-on experience to help when you need it, and from the moment you pick up the phone to the moment you land, we’re here to take the hassle out of your holiday. We’ll meet you at the airport, get you safely from place to place, and provide you with the right kit to tackle your chosen adventure.