Private Drivers in India: How a Car-and-Driver Trip Works

You hire a vehicle and a professional driver together, by the day, for a route agreed in advance. The driver collects you each morning, drives between towns, waits while you visit a fort or a market, and takes you on to the hotel in the evening. It is the way most of our itineraries move within a region, from the Golden Triangle and Rajasthan's desert roads to Ladakh's mountain roads and South India's temple towns, and it differs from a taxi in one important way: the car and the driver are yours for the whole day, not for a single ride.

A driver is not a guide. He knows the roads and the timings; at a monument, a licensed local guide explains what you are looking at, and on our trips that is a separate person (local guides).

Between regions that are far apart, a domestic flight usually joins two drives; on our multi-region trips a new driver meets you in the next city.

• Start times. Agree the next morning's start the evening before, especially on long driving days, so you reach monuments before the crowds and arrive before dark.
• Driving after dark. The UK Foreign Office advises travellers to avoid travelling at night and in fog, when accidents are more common, and to travel in a well-maintained vehicle. Plan long drives to finish in daylight.
• Changing the plan. Within reason, the day's stops can change as you go: an extra viewpoint, a longer lunch, a shorter museum visit. Large changes to the route affect the distance and the hotels, so raise them early.
• Rest. A driver who has driven all day needs his night's sleep. If you want an early start after a late arrival, say so when you plan the trip.

On a multi-day trip the driver travels and sleeps away from home. The usual arrangement, and ours, is a daily driver allowance, a set sum for his meals and a bed, built into the price. In our experience many hotels on touring routes have rooms or a dormitory for drivers. You do not need to book or pay for his room or meals separately if your quote includes the allowance, as ours does. Whether he eats with you is up to you: some guests like the company, others prefer the time alone, and either is normal. For tipping, see our money and tipping guide.

• Tolls and parking are part of each day's running cost, paid as you go at toll plazas and car parks.
• Crossing state borders. Since 2021 the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has let tourist vehicle operators apply online for an All India Tourist Authorisation or Permit, granted for three months or multiples of that, up to three years, with the aim of letting tourist vehicles move smoothly between states.

On our private car and driver service, fuel, tolls, the driver's allowance and state taxes are included in the quote, so nothing is collected from you on the road. If you hire elsewhere, ask the operator to confirm each of these in writing.

Size the car to the group and the terrain. We use a sedan for smaller groups on paved roads, an SUV for rougher roads such as Ladakh or the desert, and a larger vehicle for bigger groups, confirmed at booking. Check that the rear seats have working seatbelts: the UK Foreign Office notes that seatbelts are not common in the back seats of taxis and advises using vehicles that have them. Our vetting page explains how we check the transport we use.

It is possible, but few visitors do it. The UK Foreign Office tells British drivers they need the 1949 International Driving Permit and their UK licence in the car, notes that rules on how long you may drive on a UK licence vary from state to state, and warns that India has a high death rate from road accidents, with wandering livestock and frequent use of the horn and headlights. Other nationalities should check their own government's advice. For most trips, a driver who knows the roads is the simpler choice: see our guide to getting around India.