Plan India’s sacred journeys from people who actually made them.
We travelled the Uttarakhand Char Dham and a Maharashtra temple-and-heritage circuit with our two young children. Choose a journey for the route we followed, what worked for our family, and the details you should verify before travelling.
Both journeys were private road trips with our two children. Their walking, overnight stops and included services were different. Use this comparison to choose which detailed account helps your planning.
Our April and October 2026 family trips
Planning detail
Uttarakhand Char Dham
Maharashtra temples and caves
Route and time
Four dhams from Dehradun, 10 days / 9 nights in April 2026.
Five Jyotirlinga temples, Shirdi, sacred stops, Ajanta and Ellora from Mumbai in October 2026. The booked package was approximately 9 days / 8 nights as remembered.
Children on the trip
Aged 4 and 7.
Aged 5 and 8.
Walking we experienced
Adults walked to Yamunotri; both children used pitthus. We flew to Kedarnath and stayed overnight.
Temple approaches, steps and walking through Ajanta and Ellora. The heat affected how much we chose to see at the caves.
Overnight pattern
Two nights each at Barkot and Uttarkashi, and one near Kedarnath Temple.
Bhimashankar region, Nashik and Sambhajinagar, followed by two nights at the same Parli hotel.
Historical family package
₹142,000 for four: vehicle, driver, accommodation, breakfast and dinner, including GST. Helicopter-related costs were a separate ₹42,977.
₹118,000 for four: car, hotels and breakfast only. Other meals and ritual or attraction costs must be considered separately.
Five Jyotirlinga temples, Shirdi, sacred stops, Ajanta and Ellora from Mumbai in October 2026. The booked package was approximately 9 days / 8 nights as remembered.
Children on the trip
Aged 5 and 8.
Walking we experienced
Temple approaches, steps and walking through Ajanta and Ellora. The heat affected how much we chose to see at the caves.
Overnight pattern
Bhimashankar region, Nashik and Sambhajinagar, followed by two nights at the same Parli hotel.
Historical family package
₹118,000 for four: car, hotels and breakfast only. Other meals and ritual or attraction costs must be considered separately.
These are dated records of what our family booked, not current prices or complete trip totals. Different durations, meals and transport arrangements make the package amounts unsuitable as a like-for-like price comparison.
Two World Heritage cave days
Ajanta and Ellora, through our family’s visit
Separate photo-rich guides combine sourced history with the route, heat, walking and choices we actually experienced.
The first wide view that made Ajanta’s horseshoe-shaped setting clear to us.
Buddhist art · 6 October 2026
Ajanta Caves
From Sambhajinagar to the shuttle, horseshoe gorge, painted monasteries, prayer halls and Cave 26.
We followed the customary west-to-east order: two dhams by road and on foot, Kedarnath by helicopter, and Badrinath at the end of a day full of temple stops.
Many of the most useful things we learned on the journey were difficult to find in one place beforehand. Most of them were practical: how steep the Yamunotri trek really is, what the cold at Kedarnath does to wet socks, and which small temples between the dhams were worth stopping for.
This guide is our attempt to put that in one place. It is honest about what we saw and clear about what you need to check yourself.
Our tour package: ₹142,000for our 10-day / 9-night package, family of four, including GST
The package included
Private vehicle and driver
Accommodation
Breakfast and dinner
Help with pilgrimage registration
Please read this
This was our package price in April 2026, not a quote for your trip. Prices change by season, operator, hotel and vehicle.
We paid separately for the Kedarnath helicopter, pitthus for the children at Yamunotri, the pujas we took part in, and the early-morning Abhishek ticket at Badrinath.
It also excludes our international flights and the Delhi–Dehradun transfer.
We were promised an Innova Crysta and were upgraded to an Innova Hycross.
We arrived early enough to experience the first puja of the day. We remember the many bells along the approach, the associated shrines, the Rakt Shila and the Mahabhairav shrine.
Tradition
The Rakt Shila is part of the local tradition associated with the goddess at Kalimath.
We use these labels to distinguish different kinds of information: what we experienced, what we recommend, what tradition holds, and what changes and must be checked. Look for these labels.
We did this
What we did, saw and paid on the dated journey described. It is one family’s experience.
Our tip
Our subjective recommendation. Other pilgrims may reasonably choose differently.
With children
Practical observations from travelling with our children. Their ages and the trip date are shown in each account.
Tradition
What tradition holds or what many pilgrims believe, described respectfully as belief, not verified fact.
Verify before travel
Registration, dates, prices, helicopter rules, darshan systems, weather and road restrictions. These change; check current official information.
Local gem
A stop along our route that we would especially point a friend to.
