First trip to India for 5 weeks

freebirdnz

Hi there, my flatmate and I are heading to India just after Christmas so will be there over New Years. We will be travelling for 5 weeks and would like some feedback from people on a reccommended Itinerary . We will be flying from London and were thinking about flying straight to Delhi, visiting the Taj Mahal and then heading down the west coast through Bombay and then Goa. To give you a little idea on what we are wanting to get out of our trip, we aren't fitness freaks!, we do like to party and have a good time but we also want to appreciate the beaches, temples and anything else you can reccommend.

Does anyone have any ideas for a 5 week Itinerary? We both love the beach and we both dive and snorkel, that is why we thought South India and the coasts rather then North. Anyone have any suggestions for New Years? What is Goa like for New Year's? We do want to party over New Year's!.

Thanks for you help!

Shareen

chrissawka

well i spent 5 1/2 weeks in southern india and absolutely loved it.i landed in mumbai then went south to tip and up to madurai<the temple is awesome> then back
goa is nice and i'm sure a party at new years
you'll love india and i have a list on my destinations and route somewhere on this site not sure myself how to find it
if you p.m. me i have a copy of it i can email u or if u r interested i can fi8nd out how to access this item
all the best u will enjoy

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enjoyed 6 weeks in southern india and saving up to go back..
i never hated.....yet loved<more>a country soo much
words cannot truely describe the satisfaction it gives u

steven_ber

Here is a link to Sawka's route.

thoughts/impression of india<south>

Also check the following link for a little info on Diving companies in Goa.

Action weekend in Goa

It is going to be expensive to stay in Goa at New Year; there will be parties (not always popular with the locals), ranging from a few old hippies who 'found themselves' a few years ago (but haven’t found their way home since) to hundreds of spaced out kids on package tours.

Finding the right kind of party might be the hardest part; any info you could give about your kind of party might help others advise on the best place for a party.

This site may offer some help.

You need to consider the distance from Delhi to Goa, If you are leaving London after Xmas it will be the 27th (at least) before you get to Delhi and you should really be in Goa by the 30th, it is over 24 hours by train (would need to be pre-booked), would a plane be above your budget?

Good luck.

freebirdnz

Hi there,

Thanks for your reply Steven and Chris. I am now considering flying to Delhi, staying for a couple of days and then flying to Goa. (this depends on cost though). We can leave London the on the 26th Dec and only want to spend a couple of days in Delhi, mainly to see the Taj Mahal. To give you an idea on what type of party we want for New Year's, I am 29 and my flatmate is 25..... we prefer people around my age or older. We don't want to end up at a mad drug rave, we want to be somewhere where we can at least meet a few people, have lots of drinks! and have a dance, no mad young druggies thanks!.
Do you also think it would be wise for us to book our accom in Goa now? We will probably spend two weeks there but I was thinking we could at least book the first week (over New Years) and then if we wanted to stay another week then we should be ok to find somewhere else. Now if we decide that a flight from Delhi to Go is too expensive, and we opt for the train......when you mean pre-booked, do you mean book it here in London before we get there? That would be alot easier if we could do that as long as if we happen to miss the train we can get a refund or get on another train. I know it seems a little pointless to be spending all that money for a flight from Delhi to Goa if we are only in Delhi for a couple of days.............but I can't go to India without seeing the Taj Mahal!.

Any information anyone can give me will be most appreciated, and if you could give me your advise on when we should start booking everything (including flights) I don't know if it's better to wait to get a cheaper flight or just go ahead and book them anyway (since it will be peak season). Your help would be most welcome and appreciated. Thanks again, I am so glad I joined this Web Forum!

Freebird

Rockers

Why not try flying into an airport in the South first? You could stay for New Years, do your diving and then train it to Delhi, then bus it on to Agra (to see the Taj) and then end of your trip and fly home from Delhi.

Jaipur is a great place to check out if you do decide to go North, but I wouldnt recommend squeezling too much in. Southern India is amazing, relax and soak it in!

We once tried to fit North and South into a similar timeframe and regretted it. We would have preferred spending more time in the places we liked the most (Trichy and Jaipur), quality not quantity!

I understand the need to see the Taj, but now I have seen it, I wouldnt go back to Agra.

Instead of going through Delhi, we fly into Sri Lanka, then Trichy or Chennai or wherever in the South.

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"Freedom is not doing what one pleases for the sake of it, but the ability to make good, moral choices to fulfil our social duties to our fellow human beings".
Gandhi