India is a country of great diversity, a strong cultural identity, a fascinating history and of vast geographical scale. Possibly no other country has its religions so intertwined with every aspect of life. Home to a large number of the world’s economically poor, it has an amazing array of traditional crafts skills and consequently is a major source of crafts products for Traidcraft. Combine this with Fairtrade farmers growing products like Tea, Cotton spices and ginger and India enables you to see fair trade in action in a wide diversity of situations.

All the tours are led by our experienced Indian guide, Ranjith Henry who will help you understand India and the work of fair trade on the ground.

India Highlights - 25 October to 08 November 2009

Our longest running tour we visit 3 regions to see for ourselves just some of the variety that India has to offer. Starting in Delhi and Agra we visit Tara Projects and their crafts workshops and enjoy the sights of Delhi, the Taj Mahal and the spectacular Red Fort before heading south to the green state of Kerela. Here we visit  we visit NAPC, Traidcraft’s supplier of pineapple, papaya and stem ginger. We take the opportunity to explore the old port of Cochin, a strategic centre for spice trade for centuries and enjoy the beautiful canals and lagoons of the backwaters by hand-poled narrow boat.


Set against the Hooghly River and a backdrop of strong colonial architecture the strong Bengali culture makes Kolkatta a great place to explore - it is rightly described by some as a city with a soul. Visits to Sasha's shop and some of the artisans that they work with make a great end to our journey. Click here for more information

“I must say that my tour of India will be one of the most memorable visits of my life which was particularly made more so by the people who participated”

A Taste of Southern India - 17 January to 01 February 2010

A classic journey across Southern India that gives you an amazing insight into the culture and way of life as we travel through a landscape of beautiful mountains and coastal areas.

Starting in the city of Chennai we take a train into the Nilgiri Hills, an area famous for its tea. This unique tour includes visits to a variety of projects and producers, where we hear from people about the issues facing the Indian tea industry that provides employment for a vast number of people.

Our tour includes time in Tribal areas and have a relaxing introduction to Ayurvedic medicine and practices. We spend time enjoying Kerela’s coastal backwaters and then return to Chennai from where we visit the famous shore temple at Mahabalipuram before our journey home.  Click here for more information

" I had no idea that Southern India was so beautiful and found the people delightful and the country less strange than I had expected"


Western India Tour -  13 to 28 February 2010

Famous for its textiles, crafts, and its cultural and social diversity, Traidcraft has sourced crafts and textile products from producers in Western India for over 15 years and in the last 5 years has been sourcing agricultural products from the region. The region contains the commercial centre of India, Mumbai and one of the largest tourism centres in India, Rajasthan. Western India is an excellent location to explore the diversity that is India.


Our tour takes us through the states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Gujarat and has a strong textile flavour. We visit smallholder cotton farmers who are working with Agrocel, Traidcraft's partner in their project More from the Cotton Fields. After learning more about the production of organic and Fairtrade cotton we visit textile, appliqué and embroidery producers in Mumbai, Kutch and Jaipur. Along the way we will visit various sites of historic and cultural interest and our tour will finish with a visit to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Click here for more information

"I was unaware of Traidcraft until this tour - I am very impressed with the vision, not only of providing fairly traded goods, but of creating tours to meet the producers"