Looking for a guide in Varanasi? Meet your Sāthi.

The problem

Why "just find a guide when you land" goes wrong in Varanasi

Varanasi has more self-appointed guides per ghat than almost anywhere else in India — and most of them make their money from commission, not from you. It's a well-documented pattern:

• A stranger approaches you at a ghat or temple gate, walks you around for twenty minutes, then asks for an inflated fee at the end.
• You're steered toward a "government emporium" or "cousin's shop" where prices are marked up specifically to cover the guide's commission.
• Temple queues are confusing and unmarked for first-time visitors — the wrong line can cost you hours.
• Nobody explains what's actually happening during an aarti or a darshan, so it becomes a spectacle instead of something you understand.

None of this means you should skip having a guide — it means the guide needs to be arranged before you arrive, not picked up on the spot.

How we're different

A Sāthi is a guide who isn't paid to sell you anything

Every Kashi & Kin guide is on a fixed salary, not commission — and signs a policy that if they ever steer you to a shop for a kickback, your entire trip is refunded. Beyond that:

• Matched to your language before your trip starts — 15+ languages covered, including English, Japanese, French, Spanish, Hebrew, German, Bangla, and Tamil.
• With you for the full day, not a fixed 2-hour tour slot — temples, ghats, markets, boats, whatever the day needs.
• Handles the practical friction: the correct queue, the right gate, negotiating fairly with boatmen and shopkeepers on your behalf.
• Explains what's actually happening — the history of a temple, the meaning of a ritual — instead of reciting a script.

Pricing

How much does a private guide cost in Varanasi?

We quote a Sāthi rather than publish a single price, and the reason is worth explaining honestly: what changes the rate is the language, not the day. A Sāthi covers the whole day either way — queues, gates, rituals, negotiating on your behalf — and none of that is charged as an extra.

Why a language specialist costs more

Varanasi has no shortage of guides who work in English or Hindi. That is our standard rate, and it is the one most guests pay.

It has very few who can properly guide in Japanese, Spanish, German, Korean, Hebrew or French — and fewer still who can do it around temple ritual, where the vocabulary matters and a rough translation changes the meaning. The people who can do that work are in genuine short supply, they are booked well ahead, and they are paid accordingly. A specialist can cost meaningfully more than a standard Sāthi, and during festival weeks the gap widens because there simply are not enough of them in the city.

We would rather tell you that plainly than advertise one number and revise it once you mention the language.

What we need to quote you

• The language you want to be guided in.
• Your dates — festival periods and Dev Deepawali are priced differently, because availability is genuinely tighter.
• How many days you want someone with you. It does not have to be all of them.

Send those three things and you will have a figure in writing, usually within the hour. No deposit to get a quote, and no obligation once you have it.