We are proud to announce the following small group tours:
Known primarily for custom tours, we are also promoting several popular routes such as:
Please scroll down for more links.
About India for Beginners
India for Beginners founder Mariellen Ward is known world-wide for her India travel expertise. Mariellen is from Toronto and originally travelled to India in 2005 on a six-month personal and spiritual journey. She started travel blogging on that first trip, (making her one of the first travel bloggers) and launched her professional travel blog Breathedreamgo in 2009. In 2019, Mariellen won India’s top tourism award, a National Tourism Award for Best Foreign Writer and Blogger. Also in 2019, she founded her tour company India for Beginners in India, where the company is incorporated as Breathedreamgo India Pvt Ltd. In 2020, Mariellen trained as a naturalist at a tiger reserve in India.
Mariellen has spent about 9 years altogether travelling and living in India and built her tour company on her extensive experience and insider knowledge. She is passionate about helping people travel safely and well in India and is an advocate for female solo travel, responsible travel, and following your dreams at any age.
“I earned a Yoga Teacher Training certificate in Toronto at age 45, started travelling and blogging in India that same year, founded my professional travel blog at age 49, moved to India at age 58, founded my tour company at age 59, and trained as a naturalist at age 60,” Mariellen said.
“I know that India can be a challenging place for travellers. Through my blog posts, social media posts, and India for Beginners, I try to assist travellers with tips, advice, recommendations and tours. India is not for everyone, but for those who feel called to visit India, I encourage them. Ultimately, I think India is a very special travel destination – one of the most transformative trips you can have. It can be magical in ways that are beyond description or explanation.”
Over the past 18 years as a travel blogger, Mariellen has won many awards and has been featured in a wide range of publications including USA Today, BBC Travel, Toronto Star, Vogue India, and National Geographic Traveller India. In 2022, Breathedreamgo was recommended by the Lonely Planet Guide to India (page 1193) as a go-to site for female travellers to India. Mariellen is on the Travel Advisory Council for the iconic JourneyWoman travel site.
India for Beginners in brief:
India for Beginners was founded in 2019 by Mariellen Ward based on her extensive knowledge of travel in India and insider experiences. Though Canadian, Mariellen considers India to be her “soul culture” and she has spent about nine years altogether travelling and living in the country. India for Beginners is owned and operated by Breathedreamgo India Pvt Ltd, incorporated in India in July 2020. The company is based in Delhi, offers custom tours to people visiting India for the first time, and is dedicated to helping people travel safely and well in India.
Links for tours and more information:
Mariellen in India
We hold your hand in India: An in-depth look at India for Beginners
By Mariellen Ward
I founded India for Beginners after travelling and living in India over many years as a solo female traveller and professional travel blogger. I know the challenges women face when visiting India, especially for the first time, and the company was designed to address these and offer a safe, reliable, and ethical solution.
Our goal at India for Beginners is to help people – especially women – travel safely and well in India. We are a service-oriented company that helps our guests prepare for travel in India in advance. While in India, we provide a tour manager to each guest who coordinates the entire trip and is available to solve any issues that come up. It’s a complete turnkey service.
India for Beginners is also an ethical company that upholds the values of responsible tourism. As a long-time travel blogger (since 2005), I have always supported local businesses, women in tourism, sustainable practices, and important causes such as animal welfare. We do not allow elephant riding on our tours, and we seek out ethical animal sanctuaries, such as Wildlife SOS, that our guests can visit.
Both my business partner, Anjani, and I travel continually in India looking for unique, local, and culturally authentic experiences that we can add to the itineraries. We prefer to support women-owned and local businesses, and to take people to fascinating, offbeat locations. As a trained naturalist in India, I also love introducing travellers to India’s amazing national parks and tiger reserves. India is not just cities! There are incredible experiences you can have in the mountains and forests, and on rivers and beaches.
India for Beginners guests in India
Read Testimonials here and our many 5-star Google reviews here.
