Traveling to India

[DavideMexia]

Hello!

I am thinking to go to India next Holiday (between Jully- August) for a full month. This will be my 2nd time to India. First time i went there was in 1996. I was only 12 yo and it was a familly trip, reason why i dont know anything about travellng as this is also my first time traveling on my own.

My budget for this trip is thousand pounds, with flight ticket included so around 500£ to spend all over India.I know that the prices of the food are very cheap, however if i want to make trips internally like from (Mumbai/Rajestan,Taj Mahal/Goa/Daman/Diu) Like three for days in each city. In terms of Transport how much have you paid, how much have you spent? In addition, what do you advice me hotel or accomodation ? How much you can get them and hotel or accomodation ?

Please, anyone who has travelled to India recently and stayed there for a month, please do advice me of prices of accomodation, food and transport, taxis (rixas prices) and own security as well.

[bednobs]

personally i think you will be pushing it to get hotels, food and internal transport for £500

[bednobs]

just worked it out - that's £16 a day for all that. Even if you stayed in hostels, i think you would struggle

[237SJ]

Get a Lonely Planet book and take it with you. They grade their accommodaton by price. You can get places really cheap but you will stretching it on your budget. You would have to get the train everywhere rather than fly around. By the way July/August is smack in the middle of the southern monsoon. You might be better just doing the North of the country for a couple of weeks so that the budget stretches and doing the south for a couple of weeks some other time.

[delrich]

I've been going to India for 5 years and used the Goa area as my base. However it is easier to travel to say Bombay(Mumbai) and i flew to Goa for approx £55.00 return. Bombay is the key aeroport for all travel thoughout the areas you wish to visit.The amount of hotels and at ALL prices are available and dependant on what you want then depends on which part of of the town... we stopped at the Subra hotel. This is by the Taj hotel and is adjecent to the Gate Way to India and the hotel arranged for the 4 X 4 a/conned taxi to collect from Aeroprt and we arrenged for a day tour with this taxi company and it only cost £18.00 for the complete day with a great guide.We also tried the other taxis and had to sit with hands over our eyes throughout the trip. Bombay is so large that you could spend many days siteseeing, but we stayed for 2/3 days and moved on to Goa. Here we stayed at the Casa de Goa in Calangute and from their we travelled to the sites in and around the Goa area. the taxis here needs to be haggled over to get a good price and suggest Old Goa/Vagator beach/Mapsa/Panjim in the North as the South is mainly beachs with all inclusive resorts.From Goa you can move on to other Southern India resorts. But above all most can be booked in the UK but need to haggle for all other things.

[tamborine]

Michael Palin's travels in India showed him sleeping in sikh temples for £1+pn with free curry. The temple wallahs would organise fair-cost, reliable taxis for you :)

[DavideMexia]

Thank you for all good answers and good ideas!

Delrich, thank you for the information and for sharing your traveling experience. I might not stay much longer in Mumbai. Probabily 2 days sightseeing and then leave. I remember mumbai it is soo overcrowded, rats in the road, if you enter into a shop vendors they give you tea for you to make business with them, the street food and things like that. I want to visit the new mumbai and not the old mumbai. I think it is impossible to travel all around india in 1 month. My main point is to visit taj mahal and come back to diu and do some trips all areas around taj mahal near the ganges river.

[DavideMexia]

hello tamborine:

Yep i know that, i remember going in to a church in punam where they used to give food for free, not curry, it was dhaal in banana leafs. No dish, but it was so cool.

[tamborine]

I did the Golden Triangle 5y ago. It was all in with Jules Verne @ £399. Extra for escorted sight seeing.

[DavideMexia]

Hi tamborine.

Golden triangle tamborine? Is it like norh, northwest and south? How much was that trip?

[boxtops]

Golden Triangle is in the north as I recall, Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.