IRCTC has variety of tour packages; here's how you pick one for holiday season

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which was once known for being the railways’ ticket booking and catering service, has over the years launched many tour packages. From domestic to international, from rail tours to cruise packages, and from long leisure trips to short spiritual ones, it covers just about everything. You can choose from 70 origin points and scores of destinations. So, if you wish to find out more about IRCTC package tours, read on.

Types of packages

If you thought that IRCTC might offer only rail packages, you couldn’t be more wrong. Of course, it does offer rail tour packages, but side by side, you can choose from air packages (by flight), cruise packages (by ship), and land packages (by car) as well.

The land packages are usually short round trips, starting from a well-known city such as Visakhapatnam, for instance, and covering points such as Araku Valley and Simhachalam. There are some week-long land tour options too. These are best for short, pocket-friendly trips around your home. Or, you have the option of reaching the boarding city on your own and do a part of your trip with IRCTC.

Also read: Top 8 places in India for a December Christmas-New Year holiday

IRCTC so far offers only seven small cruise packages, starting from different parts of the country. These are mostly 1 Night/2 Days or 2 Nights/3 Days packages and promise to be a luxurious experience. The package costs are quite high, with the minimum being Rs 21000 for a 1N/2D trip.

Rail and air tours comprise the bulk of IRCTC packages, where you can choose long trips within the country as well as international destinations (only air), such as Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Singapore, and Dubai. The destinations are limited, though IRCTC offers different kinds of tours to these destinations. So, you have plenty to choose from. For instance, you can choose a Christmas Carnival tour to Thailand as well as a Thailand Valentine’s Special.

The rail packages offer an incredible range of options, with some trains leaving every week. The Swadesh darshan category offer tours spanning up to 11 days.

Categories

You can choose from categories including Swadesh Darshan, Rail Tour Package, Holiday Package, Foreign Tourists, Domestic Air Packages, International Packages, Cruise Packages, Bharat Gaurav, Coach Tour, and Wellness. These can help you narrow down your search from the package types.

Also read: IRCTC launches low-cost religious tour package from Lucknow to Nepal

Origin points 

The best part about the IRCTC tour packages is that you can choose from a whopping 70 cities and ports as the origin point. Some of the rail tours give you the options of more than one boarding and deboarding stations. So, you do not necessarily have to make a round trip.

What’s covered?

Every tour package has a list of Inclusions right next to the thumbnail. Not only are your train/flight/cruise/cab fares, hotel rent, and meals covered, many tours have insurance cover as well. Some mention Guide/Escort, too. When you choose your tour package, you can check in advance what all are covered.

How to book

You can book the tour packages very easily online. Before you book, you can click on View Details, which will take you to a page covering Overview, Itinerary, Inclusions, Terms and Conditions, etc. If you are satisfied with the details, you can click on Book Now. Or, you can submit your query to get a call back.

Also read: IRCTC update: You can now book up to 24 train tickets a month

Once you go to the booking page, you can select the booking date, boarding and deboarding stations (if more than one options are available), and available stay options, such as Comfort, Deluxe, and Superior.

Once you have selected your options, you will be asked to select the number of rooms. Some packages have single-occupancy options, while some have two as the minimum category. Once you have taken your pick, you have to log in to your IRCTC account and complete the booking. It’s as simple as that.

So, what are you waiting for? IRCTC has a host of tour package options waiting for you this holiday season, no matter which part of the country you live in. Most of the tours still have vacancies and you can book your seat today. Have a wonderful New Year!