1st time to India, 10 days

Hi I am newbie to IM and am going to India on a packaged holiday visiting the Triangle+Srinagar. the guided tour finishes in Delhi and I have another 10 days to spend on my own, I am planning this on a medium budget:

Delhi -(overnight train)-> Varanais(3nts) --> Calcatta(2nts) -->Chennai or Madurai? (2nts) --> Mumbai(3nts) - fly->Delhi

When I check train table there are stations Delhi & New Delhi, which is in the centre? or closer to airport?

Will there be a Float Festival in Madurai? if not perhaps I should do Chennai instead.

Is there other overnight train I can use in my itinerary? I prefer 2AC

Please advise if I better skip or add other town.
Thanks mates~

(I just did 2 weeks in Vietnam around Mekong, Saigon, DaLat, Nha Trang. Spent 1/3 of my budget on a 3 days Motorbike tour which was damn good though.)

overnight . . . Varanasi/Calcutta . . . Calcutta/Madras . . . that's a pretty rock and roll ten days of travel . . . Have fun.

Just to make sure you understand the travel time involved.

Delhi -(overnight train)->
(9hrs)Varanasi(3nts) -->
(8-10hrs)Calcatta(2nts) -->
(27hrs)Chennai or (38hrs)Madurai? (2nts) -->
(33hrs from Madurai)Mumbai(3nts) - fly->Delhi

and one I was trying to make by referring to your trip as rock and roll . . . allow for travel time. If you could get beamed from place to place, or reach warp speed as in Star Trek, travel time wouldn't be an issue. But Indian Rail (while a lotta fun) isn't the Enterprise. You may be able to help yourself by booking trains in advance, just to make sure you can get a seat/berth.

Delhi and New Delhi are closely located stations. However you will have most of the priority trains from New Delhi stations. Just FYI there is another station "Hazarat Nizamuddin" in Delhi. Some times Delhi railway station is also referred to as Old Delhi (just keep in mind if any reference comes up) You may also have some trains from Hazarat Nizamuddin but New Delhi is the busiest one.

Neither Delhi nor New Delhi is particularly close to airport. Hazarat Nizamuddin is also not quite close - just a bit closer - may not be much useful except some trains from Mumbai come to Hazarat Nizamuddin.

Thanks mates for the valuable information. To be honest, I didn't realise it is good 27hrs from Calcutta to Chennai, think need to search for cheaper air tickets. 8-10hrs is OK to get through I hope.

Anyone travel on Air-India Express before? Found its ticket much cheaper than others on Mumbai-Delhi, but cannot get through payment yet: error~!

Is congestion really bad in Mumbai & Delhi? For 1140hr flight when should I leave hostel in town for 1020hr check-in?

can be horrendous. Both multi-million-people cities . . . people going to work . . . coming home. Depending on the time of day and the direction you're going, it could be busy. I arrived @ 8 AM into Delhi station and headed for my hotel near the airport . . . traffic coming into the city was thick at that time, while I just cruised.
Make sure you take at least one looooooooong train ride though. It's a quintessential part of any Indian adventure.

Overnight trains are great, arguably more preferable than a plane ticket. It's the ones where I have to sit day and night on train where I'd much rather jump on a plane.

I guess loooooong =<18hrs during day light~

just started taking course of Melfloquine, a bit late but fingers cross ~!

I found flight from MUMBAI to DELHI on Air India IX 201D for total of 1799Rp one-way. Are these the right airports?
CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT & INDIRA GANDHI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Shi#^ ~! error page when I confirm payment!
Microsoft VBScript runtime error '800a0005'

Invalid procedure call or argument: 'Chr'

C:\INETPUB\WWWROOT\AIE_PROD\AI R\../includes/Encrypt.inc, line 55

Why these places?

What are you hoping to get from visiting these places?

Good question Steven

As to why?! Calcutta 'coz it is so famous for sister Teresa. Varanais to see pilgrims & the Ganges. Chennai: actually not sure why.:<

Also, it makes a difference when you will be travelling.

For trains from Delhi to Calcutta in October, you will find that most will be solidly wait listed 2 months in advance because of the Durga Puja. However tourist quota tickets may still be available.


With that said, it's well worth going to a Metro, for a major festival. A once in a lifetime experience.

Otherwise, visiting nothing but Metros could be a bit hectic...





Driving times from CP to the domestic airport at 9-10 am will be long. Smack in the middle of rush hour. Give yourself an hour or more at least. At 10 PM it should take about 40 minutes
max.

I am on the way to Amritsar now~!