2 months south india ,help with the itinerary

Hi Folks, I am going to India this summer, for 2 months with my boyfriend and we are planning our itinerary.
We are not sure if this is doable in 2 months,( july and August) so please any help would be more than appreciated , also if there is something we should rule out or add . Also we would like some advice regarding the weather conditions, ( monsoons).
We are not sure about how many days spend in each place,(some advice here, again are wellcome!!) we are travelling on a budget and train and bus will be our main transports.

This is the idea, but we wonder if would be possible do some kind of tour which take us to the Andaman islands, sri lanka or Maldives? If so,it would be worth visiting such places in monsoon season?
We just want the itinerary to have an idea, but we are quite flexible, and we don't want to rush.

We don't have any bookings for train nor bus, should we made the reservations ahead or we can do it just the day before at the train station?

Arriving to Delhi
Flying to Mumbay

Aurangadbad ( to visit Ellora and Ajanta caves)
-Goa
-Hampi
-Mysore
-Kochi
-Allepey
-Varkala
-Kovalam
-Madurai
-Thanjavur
-Chidambaran
-Pondincherry
-Mamallapuram
-Chennai ( another idea, is take a flight to vanarassi , spend there a couple od days, and then take a train to Delhi )
Thank you very much !!

Hey..

Well firstly if you are coming in july & august the rains are going to be following you for almost the entire time. SO do be prepared to walk around with umbrellas or protective jackets.

Goa would be empty and most of the beach shacks and restaurants are shut in that season. Though it is still very scenic and beautiful.

Your itenary as such is planned and is in the right direction. but the road from varkala east to chennai might be a little long. Trains if available would be the best bet. Most routes buses would be plying and you could backpack your way to each destination.

Though i would really recommend on travelling north india during that period as the rains really will damped your spirits (pun intended.

Let me know if you have any more questions
Cheers

Take a day trip to Rameshwaram from Madurai.

Seems you have selected the much advertised spots through online search. There are many more cute and less crowded places.
Danushkodi near Rameswaram is a must see. Similarly temples of Darasuram near Kumbakonam can be visited along with Brihadeswara at Tanjore. If you can strain a little more, you could see the temples of five elements - Sri Kalahasthi, Kancheepuram, Tiruvannamalai, Thiruvanaikkaval (Trichy), and Chidambaram. House Boating in Lake Ashtamudi (Kollam - 30 mts by train from Varkala) will be a wonderful experience. Or travel to Alleppey by Kollam - Alleppey boat. Also Auroville near Pondicherry, Theosophical Society at Adayar (Chennai) are good for walk with nature. Belur - Halebid (near Hassan), Somnathpura (near Mysore ) are old Hoysala Temples.

A trip to Gokarna is a nice option while at Goa. If you are traveling by a hired vehicle along the coast, an evening at Murudeshwar (temple , beach) is a nice pick.

Some trains do not run daily like Rameswaram - Kanya Kumari Triweekly Exp. And Tatkal reservation will be difficult especially in Kerala.
It is better to buy a South India Guide. Also please visit sites like Keralatourism.org , and identify most economic routes (time) using a map. Train info could be obtained from websites. Also check with a railway map. Train traffic is less in stations like Pondicherry, Kanya Kumari. But nearby stations like Villupuram, Nagercoil respectively will give you more access.
You can make online train reservations ar Irctc.co.in website.
So decide on each place to visit. And also the level of travel. (Historic / beaches) . Though time consuming, Kerala is better to be travelled during day due to her greenery. Will sure help with the itinerary.

thanks so much for the information!but to be honest now I am even more confused hehe , too many things to see

I was thinking to change the way of our route , and instead of starting in Mumbay and going to Chennai, doing the other way around, from Chennai to Mumbay . Do you think guys it would make any difference in terms of monsoon?

Well, I am going to do some research about all the new things you've told me and see how I can add them .

forgot to say that I don't want to go to the north because I 've already been there. We bought the flights to Delhi just because was the cheapest one.

If you are plannin g to travel this summer you need to start looking seriously at booking trains as quite a few of them will book up weeks in advance.

There is info here on booking trains.

http://www.indiamike.com/india/india...012-a-t165379/

Apart from the monsoon there is another advantage to start in Chennai.
The distance between the places that you want to visit is not so big and can often be done by bus.

It gives you more time to book the trains for the rest of your itinerary.

we decided to change our itinerary so we are starting in Chennai. And again, we need a bit of advice, seems we get stuck planning the itinerary.

This is what we have worked out so far:
-Chennai
-Mamallapuram
-Tiruvannamalai
-Pondincherry ( auroville)

Until here, we have checked and most of the places are reachable by bus, and not very far between each other, so how many days would you advise to stay in each? also, can we do some of them in the same day?
Any experiences staying in Auroville? We really would like to stay there.

After Auroville we want to see Rameswaram, but no idea what we should see in between.

Any ideas please?

Chidambaram (Pichavaram), Tranquebar, Thanjavur, Madurai could be some options.

In 2011 we stayed some days in Kumbakonam, a temple town in the Cauvery delta.
From there it is easy to visit Thanjavur for the temple and eventually the palace and museum.

We hired some days a local car and visited among others
-Swamimalai, here you can see the making of bronze statues
-Thiruvaiyaru, there is school for traditional music. We just dropped in and were allowed to attend some lessons. The principal assured that visitors are welcome
-Just a day with a car to see small local villages, temples and daily life.

Your advantage in going to see Auroville in July is that all the options are open to you in terms of guest houses, as it is not the main visiting season; and, although unpredictable, it will probably not rain much, or sometimes only at night.

there are some threads on Auroville already, for instance this one
Auroville

After reading first some about Auroville and the many projects happening there: Tell me how many weeks you can spend there, and what your fields of interest are, and your budget, and I can perhaps give you some pertinent advice where to go and how to spend your brief time.

http://www.auroville.org/

http://www.aurovilleguesthouses.org/gs-profiles.php

I wouldn't linger in Chennai - it's not a pleasant place and nothing to do there. Get in and get out.

Mamallapuram is beautiful - like a mix between Goa and Hampi (would also recommend these, especially Hampi!), and is great for a bit of beach time also.

Pondicherry is a nice little city, laid back and pleasant atmosphere but don't give too much time to it - there's not much to do and 2 days should suffice.

Auroville is an interesting one. We stayed a week there but if you're not staying long-term, they don't really bother with you. Tourists often cannot avail of volunteering projects etc during their short stays...

Check out this blog entry for more of our info & itinerary advice etc:

http://madeinsouthasia.wordpress.com...a-in-pictures/

Thanks a lot guys, this place is really useful, now I got loads of information , so now I just need to make up my mind. i can't wait to go to india!! thanks for all the information, and the last indiamiker , I really enjoyed your pics!!

in Kodikanal there is a place called Bodizendo if your looking for something spiritual, its a zen/catholic retreat but mainly zen lol, its beautiful, in the forest