Varanasi Private Guided Tour: Spiritual Boat Ride, Historic Ghats, Temple Visits, and Ganga Aarti

Embark on a private guided tour of Varanasi, exploring the spiritual boat ride on the Ganges, historic Ghats, temple visits, and witnessing the mesmerizing Ganga Aarti.

Duration: 13 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Banaras Ghats - Boat Ride: Begin the day with a sunrise boat ride on the Ganges River. Guests will be picked up from their hotel at 5:00 AM in summer or 6:00 AM in winter. The journey starts at Dashashwamedh Ghat and concludes at Manikarnika Ghat, followed by a Heritage Walk through the narrow lanes. This mystical and spiritual experience at…
What's Included
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
  • English Speaking tour guide
  • Complimentary bottled water
  • Tea and coffee included
  • 1:30 Hours Sunrise Boat ride on the Ganges
  • Air-conditioned transportation
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

Early morning we will be taken for a boat ride on the Ganges. It is a mystical and spiritual experience as you watch people offering water to the Sun God and devotees taking a holy dip in the Ganges. We will visit all the famous Ghats of Varanasi via boat and return to the hotel for breakfast. After breakfast, see the “Temple Tour” most religious Kashi…

Location
Banaras Ghats
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(222 Ratings)
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Emelyv438
May 2, 2025
Great experience in Varanasi - The trip was amazing. We were picked up bright and early by our guide, who speaks very good English. The day started with a boat ride along the river and stopped at the crematorium. After breakfast and a walk along the narrow paths of old Varanasi, the taxi driver picked us up to visit the main Hindi temples, an incent factory and a textile mill. After a tasty and clean lunch we continued the tour with visits to Buddhist tempels. During the hottest part of the day we took a break at the hotel, to be picked up again later to see the beautiful ceremony from a rooftop. The tour ended with another good recommendation from our guide, for a restaurant to eat dinner. Would definitely recommend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Roving05028811342
May 1, 2025
great tour in varanasi - very interesting experience in Varanasi, particular city worth visiting (going prepared). tour with guide Sunny, very good, punctual, courteous. enthusiasm in illustrating the various artistic and religious aspects of the city '. prepared and competent. city recommended!
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Snezhana
Apr 29, 2025
Ask for Ballu-the most gentle and nice guide - Namaste, all Varanasi is a very special place. You definitely need blessing to “touch” its spirit. If you are lucky and gave Ballu for your tour you can be at peace you will get the essence of this holly place! Many thanks for being so generous and gentle. You are much more than tour guide, you are family to all with pure hearts that come your way! God bless you🙏🏽🍀🫶🏽
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Ann
Apr 29, 2025
Great day in Varanasi - Sunny the guide was very accomodating, friendly and knowledgeable. He made sure we had regular breaks, got the best seats for the aarti festival, took us to traditional weaving areas to show how garments were made and gave in depth information about all the sites we visited. Salman was an excellent and friendly driver and the car was big with AC as well. All in all a great day
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F4092agalicec
Apr 29, 2025
Magical experience - The tour in Varanasi was amazing. We had a sunrise boat trip, it was a magical experience. Then we visited a gath, and its holy fire, temples in Sarnat and Varanasi and we whatched Aarti Cerimony at Dasashwamedh Ghat. Our guide Sunny was excellent, he explained us everything in a clearly way, giving us lots of details about religious traditions in Varanasi and religious belives. Sunny was really considerate and carful. We really liked this experience. We have lots of beutiful memories about this tour.
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Martina
Apr 27, 2025
Through the streets of Varanasi - We had a wonderful experience thanks to Sunny who accompanied us through the streets of Varanasi, the ghats and Sharnat. Thanks to him we were able to find out more about the history, culture, customs, daily life of those who live in this place. Varanasi is not dangerous but with him we definitely felt even more calm. Polite person , respectful and helpful , never intrusive and clear in explanations . Thank you for this taste of Varanasi that is impossible to understand in two days but that gave you food for thought on many things in our lives.
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Sarah_c
Apr 21, 2025
A thoroughly enjoyable hectic day! - We booked the trip based on previous reviews & we were not disappointed. Arvind was very quick to reply to messages prior to the trip. We started out at 5.45 am & watched the sun rise & the city awaken, from our boat on the Ganges. Afterwards we walked through the streets of Varanasi seeing the sights, sounds & smells, we felt very safe with Arvind. After returning to our hotel for breakfast we continued on our visit via car. Arvind & his driver kindly detoured so we could visit the Buddah smile school, which is for local poor/street school, to make some donations of equipment. After finishing our afternoon tour we were returned to our hotel to freshen up & were then taken to witness the Aarti. It is a hectic day with an early start & late finish but we thoroughly enjoyed it. We definitely recommend this tour Arvind as he was very knowledgeable & told us lots of interesting information.
Review provided by Viator
Martin
Apr 20, 2025
Great trip with an amazing guide - Our private tour with Baloo in Varanasi was excellent. The early morning boat ride on the Ganges was a moving experience. Baloo was knowledgeable, funny, patient and friendly throughout. His food recommendations were spot-on, and the temple visits in both Varanasi and Sarnath were fascinating. We enjoyed seeing traditional silk production in the Muslim quarter and purchased some beautiful scarves. Baloo's accommodating nature made this tour truly special. Highly recommended!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Reife
Apr 24, 2025
Good but very expensive. - We tend not to book tours because they seldom deliver. However, with the culture and history of Varanasi, combined with limited time, we did. The tour was good and our guide, Shushank, seemed very knowledgeable. The boat ride, Ganga Aarti and visit to Sarnath were the highlights for us. Overall we thought it was worth doing but we thought it was very very expensive.
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Janique
Apr 20, 2025
All finished all right - The guide didn’t show up and didn’t call me to let me know he wouldn’t be here . But the good news is I haven’t been charged. So it’s a plus however I would have loved a texto to tell me he had canceled the day. Hari Om Janique
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $59
up to 15 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).