India a price guide!!

Is that one or ten thousand a week? The first wouldn't be easy to do today I'd say (it might be remotely possible); I've done it on Rs. 200 a day, but that was 1993 (and already then many fellow travelers would seem to consider it insane; had the time of my life though, nor felt I was missing anything. Hey, I was quite young too, and the world laid at my feet & all that.)

But, no, it's not what I'd advise for today. If you read back a little to my earlier but recent posts, I'd advise Rs. 800/day minimum for basic but probably adequate comforts; but to have some extra money just in case.

And on a decidedly budget level, mind. Well, I had a little more comforts than in '93, admittedly. It can probably be done cheaper still; I just feel uncomfortable advising to count on it. Like I'd said before, returning home with some money left sure beats ending up skint on the road. And then in India of all places, I mean some begging white hippie traveler (whether on dope or not -- and yes, I've had friends like that even. WTF are you doing going to India guys?!) is really just about as pathetic as it gets.

Sorry, pet, 1000 per day.
My pension is, after rent in OZ, 190 aus dollars, which roughly works out at 7200 rupees per week.
If I could live on 1000 per week, That would be serious ice cream money for extras.

I can usually get a room for about 400. In off season, a/c most of the time. Up north in Shillong, it's not needed.
Meals about 100 per day. And about 300-400 for travel and stuff, coz you don't travel everyday.
I'm not a fan of night trains to save money, I just don't sleep as well, and need more time to get over the train trip.
In Fort Cochin last year, the room was 200 , and really nice. In Goa , it was 100 . Off season is the time I think.

Hm, yes. I barely dare speak it out loud here (as many seem to subscribe to it), but I don't really get the concept anyway.

Let's say (whether it's a fixed check-in or 24-hr. hotel) you had a train to catch on Wednesday, arriving on Thursday.

So you'd have paid for that room till Wednesday, and will be paying the other once you check in on Thursday.

I don't see any gain there, except you'll have paid for a train ride in the meantime. I mean arguably over months of travel you might add up a few hours to add up to a day or two of saved money (remember that recent thread on gaining travel time by traveling in a certain direction?) (and it would very much depend on the check-in scheme of whatever hotel you left and arrived at, too, and how that fits into your next journey, and etc.), but I think it's otherwise really negligible.

Yeah, and everyone goes to sleep at about nine-thirty, so I feel the need to as well.

After the initial spend spree with being over charged and ripped off my budget automatically levelled off at 9000 Rs (just under $300 AUD) a fortnight all inclusive;

Accommodation 250-350/day
train/bus/transport fares
tickets to attractions
2-3 meals a day including ice cream
cigarettes
3-5 soft drinks/day plus bottled water
20-30 Rs tip for the hotel boys to run up the road to fetch me a few bottles of grog.
The odd change of coins which often handed to the beggars.
With all this I still found around 1000 Rs left over at the end of every fortnight.

Not a lot for accommodation, sometimes cheaper, but often a bit more than that.

I hope mine isn't much more. I just always seem to find a lost soul who needs a bit of looking after for a day or so, that always takes a bit I 'spose.

Avoiding the peak seasons and the pilgrimage routes helps.

Absolutely.
I met a couple of guys last year from Ireland. They were on 500 per day for everything. 7000 per week for both of them, but they did have to stay in some pretty terrible places. They had a room in Varanasi, which had no window, and was about 45 degrees inside, . It felt like a slow cooker. Like being braised.

ok but how and where can I exchange money? is this better to do in the airport or somewhere downtown? maybe exchange rates are different

This has been answered in alot of threads-- here is one:

Exchanging Money

Take a look and come back if you still don't know the answer.

very useful

I'm really hoping to budget 2500 a day ~ accommodation is already paid for , is this realistic ?
Nothing to pay for except food , taxis & gifts...what do you think ?

The problem with your question is that you don't give enough information to really answer it.

If you go to expensive restaurants, take a taxi for an all day trip and buy expensive gifts, like jewelery, you can spent and unlimited amount of money. If you are planning on eating at small inexpensive restaurants, take taxis for short local trips and buy inexpensive trinkets, you have plenty of money!

If you just read back a little on this thread, you'll find people's own estimates and examples I'm pretty sure. Find my own earlier on this thread, here, and remember it's always highly personal & will be determined by many factors, indeed.

But in short, for me, Rs. 2500 minus accommodation (per person per day) would be sheer luxury; I'm sure others would consider it rather meagre.

Hi there,

my partner and I are heading to India in January 2010 and have been looking at travel company versus doing it ourselves. the travel company quote seems a little steep though I have heard good things about them.

we have a draft itinerary planned but haven't booked anything yet. if we do things ourselves, can anyone advise re the following?

- a friend of a friend said we should be able to get a driver (English-speaking) for about $50 AUD per day? Does that sound correct?
- if so, do we organise that each day at a travel agent or via the hotel we're staying at or just on the street? will we be able to organise that last minute wherever we are (e.g. rajasthan)?
- I read on one post that booking internal flights is cheaper if you do it once you're there and through any travel agent there rather than doing it in advance?
- in terms of hotels, again are we better to book in advance and if so, direct through the hotel websites or via asia rooms website or something similar?

oh and I read someone's post saying that jaisalmer is definitely worth going to even though it's further out - we had omitted it from our itinerary in rajasthan but are now reconsidering??

Any suggestions would be much appreciated