Travelling holiday around India....

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

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Has anyone done it? Me and the Mrs have booked 16 nights in late November flying into Delhi from Manchester and out of Goa back to Manchester.

I've done a bit of travelling myself (standard travellers route - SE Asia, Oz, NZ, Fiji, USA) and so know what to expect but having never been to India myself i'm just wondering if anyone off here has been?

The rough itinerary I've got down at the moment is as follows....

Delhi
bus to
Agra
bus to
Jaipur and then Ajmer
bus to
Udaipur and Rankpur
fly to
Mumbai
over night train to
Goa

We wont be spending several days in each place, it'll be a couple of days in each place seeing the sights and then moving on so pretty fast and furious haha.

We aim to get down to Goa where we'll spend 3 days or so purely chilling before heading home.

I've got the Lonely Planet guide and have done some research on trains etc and it all seems do'able. Has anyone else on here done a similar kind of route? Or just travelling in India in general?
 
Personally, would avoid the bus. Take the train if possible. Quicker, cleaner, better. Maybe more expensive, but it's not much if you think about it in pounds. Given you are planning well in advance (which is good), book first class in the trains. Take Shatabdi if they travel any of those routes.

General tips - stick to bottled water. In Delhi, if taking autos/taxis - check price before getting on. Expect to haggle. All of them have a meter but will make up some excuse as to why it isn't working.

Mumbai - taxi's wise, all of them should use meter anyway so you'll be fine.

Goa is excellent for chilling out.

Do you have hotels etc. sorted? I haven't stayed in them myself, but would avoid hostels.

Born in India and lived there for 17 years so let me know if you have any specific questions. Too much to say for just general tips :)
 
Sudden said:
Personally, would avoid the bus. Take the train if possible. Quicker, cleaner, better. Maybe more expensive, but it's not much if you think about it in pounds. Given you are planning well in advance (which is good), book first class in the trains. Take Shatabdi if they travel any of those routes.

General tips - stick to bottled water. In Delhi, if taking autos/taxis - check price before getting on. Expect to haggle. All of them have a meter but will make up some excuse as to why it isn't working.

Mumbai - taxi's wise, all of them should use meter anyway so you'll be fine.

Goa is excellent for chilling out.

Do you have hotels etc. sorted? I haven't stayed in them myself, but would avoid hostels.

Born in India and lived there for 17 years so let me know if you have any specific questions. Too much to say for just general tips :)
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Yeh most of our journeys have been planned around the train actually dont know why I put bus haha.

We arent staying in any hostels, will be hotels all the way Id imagine as its pretty damn cheap really so can splash out on some nice places on the way and will probably have it all prebooked before we leave.

The proper route is Delhi -> Agra -> Jaipur -> Ajmer -> Udaipur (visit Ranakpur whilst in Udaipur) -> Mumbai - Goa

Does that route seem do'able? Ive devised a more specific timetable detailing which days we're there, and which trains we need to catch, at what times and the times it takes to get to each place. Hopefully its right!

Can you recommend any good places to stay at the places ive planned, and any 'must see' things that a normal traveller may not know about?!
 
Route seems fine, but my geography is pretty bad to be honest! It is all northy stuff followed by mid, so that makes sense. Just check the direction of travel.

Regarding places to stay - I'm afraid I can't help with a lot of them as I haven't been there or I lived there so had house or stayed with relatives. If you're splashing out on hotels, then any of the 5 stars would be great. 5 stars in India are a lot better than the ones here since they are extremely lavish. One I went to in Hyderabad for lunch had a waterfall in it. Most have some shops as well. In Goa, I've stayed at the Fort Aguada beach resort. That I do recommend, but it has been many many years so double check reviews. Taj is a good hotel chain so most of their stuff will be good. The best restaurants also tend to be in the 5 star hotels (though not always obviously).

Things a normal traveller may not know about - In Mumbai find a 'Shiv Sagar'. It is a chain of restaurants. Go there and order the 'Pav Bhaji'. Essentially, bread (pav) with mashed vegetables. Absolutely delicious and will likely set you back only about 50p or so.

In Goa, not sure if it is still there, but there's a restaurant (near the Fort Aguada hotel) called 'Suza Lobo'. Amazing seafood. Normally a big line and no reservations. Right on the beach.

I'll have a think about other must see stuff and get back to you. The problem about living in a city is that you never do the touristy stuff.

Oh, one tip. If you're planning to see a lot of places in one day in the same city, hire a car instead of taking public transport everywhere. It should cost about £15 and you'll get a car and driver for 8 hours (some limit on distance, after which you start getting charged as well normally, but shouldn't be too much and none at all if places aren't too far apart).

If you're going in November, you'll be there for Diwali likely. It is the festival of lights and will essentially mean constant stream of fireworks, probably 24 hours on the day itself and pretty intermittent in surrounding days. If you like that kind of stuff, you'll have a blast. If not, err...carry earplugs.

If you find a place to let a few off, you can probably pick some up as well :)
 
Thanks for all this info mate!

Just a quick question - we're looking at getting an overnight train from Mumbai to Goa, I've identified the Konkan Kanya Express as the right train but i'm having an absolute nightmare sussing out how to find out the best 'class' for the train, and how to book tickets for it.

On trains like this is there just one 'class' that you can sleep in, or do the sleeping options have more options (i.e standard, 2nd class, 1st class, own cabins etc?) All the prices I've seen seem dirt cheap for the train so figured we'd try and get the most comfortable ticket available!

The India rail websites are pretty difficult to use but i'm finding it hard to suss out myself!

We miss Diwali aswell unfortunately :(
 
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R.O.S.S.I said:
Has anyone done it? Me and the Mrs have booked 16 nights in late November flying into Delhi from Manchester and out of Goa back to Manchester.

I've done a bit of travelling myself (standard travellers route - SE Asia, Oz, NZ, Fiji, USA) and so know what to expect but having never been to India myself i'm just wondering if anyone off here has been?

The rough itinerary I've got down at the moment is as follows....

Delhi
bus to
Agra
bus to
Jaipur and then Ajmer
bus to
Udaipur and Rankpur
fly to
Mumbai
over night train to
Goa

We wont be spending several days in each place, it'll be a couple of days in each place seeing the sights and then moving on so pretty fast and furious haha.

We aim to get down to Goa where we'll spend 3 days or so purely chilling before heading home.

I've got the Lonely Planet guide and have done some research on trains etc and it all seems do'able. Has anyone else on here done a similar kind of route? Or just travelling in India in general?
Click to expand...

I went to India last Month and I absolutely loved it, I went alone. (for the record I've travelled to around 50 countries, so I have a bit of a gauge on whats good and bad)

My itinerary was based over 8 days. I went to :-

Amritsar - awesome to visit the golden temple (I'm a Pakistani muslim btw) it was a really nice place to see and experience.
I then flew to delhi, however I recommend taking the train as it's lots cheaper and probably just as fast. Getting around was easy enough by Auto.
Delhi - pretty standard city really. Jama mosque and the nearby Karims restaurant, I went to these places. Another place you simply must go to is Akshardham Delhi, and go to the little exhibitions, boat rides etc as they really are interesting places to learn about the hindu religion (I admit I knew almost nothing prior to going there about hinduism) the metro stop is in front of it. Getting around Delhi should be limited to the Metro, other forms of transport are slow.
I took a bus to Agra as tickets were completely booked on the train (although take the train if you can!) Don't consider any bus that isn't "volvo" class IMO.
Agra - The usual sites really, in the Taj Mahal, I highly recommend you get a guide (I paid 150rs) as he explained things and showed me things I would have completely missed. I stayed close to the centre, so didn't really have to rely on local transport.
Jaipur - I stayed in an awesome homestay here (its no2 on tripadvisor) and only cost a tenner. For convenience in this city I hired a cab for the day for 1200rs.

I then went to Hyderabad (to eat Hyderabadi Biryani) and then on to Sri Lanka.

If you want to see pictures or any other information, let me know.
 
Im here in India now for work, its really hard work travelling around here. I cant say its a pace I would want to go on holiday but the food is amazing.

Enjoy your trip, your seeing all the best parts. I found goa to be over rated. Stayed in the Tag which was also over rated and over priced.

Tips - Take lots of jungle formula, do not open your mount in the shoer, brush your teeth with bottled water. ONLY drink bottled water, dont eat street food. I find 100mg per day doxycycline a good idea.

I have now had to come here 4 or 5 times in the last couple of years and have never got sick, the key is just be carful (I eat out every day)
 
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Approaching Wagah Border
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The Border itself :D
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Golden Temple
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Delhi Metro
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The temple - annoyingly no cameras :(
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Lal qila
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Imtiad Dalah tomb, worth seeing imo
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First class train, perfectly habitable.
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Meal included.
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Those pictures look great. Thanks for sharing them!

We've already booked our accomo for Goa. Going to research the best places/areas to stay in New Delhi, Ajmer, Jaipur, Udaipur and Mumbai. Im also going to devise an itinerary of the must see things as I want to cram in as much as possible as we literally only have a couple of days in each place tops!

Ye I've heard the buses can be a nightmare if you get a rubbish one! Hopefully we'll be using the trains the most! How easy is it to get a guide for places? I'm thinking it would make it the easiest to get one in each place and have them take us around or is that not really economical?

I was quite looking forward to sampling the food over there both in restaurants and from street vendors! It can't be that bad can it? I ate off street vendors regularly when I was inThailand!
 
R.O.S.S.I said:
Those pictures look great. Thanks for sharing them!

We've already booked our accomo for Goa. Going to research the best places/areas to stay in New Delhi, Ajmer, Jaipur, Udaipur and Mumbai. Im also going to devise an itinerary of the must see things as I want to cram in as much as possible as we literally only have a couple of days in each place tops!

Ye I've heard the buses can be a nightmare if you get a rubbish one! Hopefully we'll be using the trains the most! How easy is it to get a guide for places? I'm thinking it would make it the easiest to get one in each place and have them take us around or is that not really economical?

I was quite looking forward to sampling the food over there both in restaurants and from street vendors! It can't be that bad can it? I ate off street vendors regularly when I was inThailand!
Click to expand...

there is a website www.makemytrip.com that has good hotels etc listings on it.

Getting a guide is easy, they are everywhere when you approach tourist attractions. Yes just get one for the Taj, I wouldn't really bother with anywhere else unless you really want to know detailed information about how long it took them to carve pieces of rock. I'm sure your book will equip you with enough knowledge.

I didn't eat from street vendors as I had a tight schedule and couldn't afford to get ill. I wouldn't recommend it either, only eat from restaurants and such like. India isn't Thailand, so chances are, you will get ill if you eat from the street. I carried on to Sri Lanka and ate anything and didn't get ill.
 
Nice pics above. Ive just moved to living in Bangalore for some months from Belfast and so far found it a great place.

People very friendly, lifestyle is cheap if you avoid the places designed for westerners and climate is much nicer than home!
 
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