First time India - Advice please!!

Hi there,

It's my first time traveling to India and I'm extremely excited but don't have much of a plan.

Arrive in Mumbai the 28th of May and then making our way up to Delhi by the 12th of June. Thought of visiting Udaipur,Jodhpur,Jaipur and of course Agra. Any other suggestions? I know the heat is going to be intense so would prefer non-touristy places.

After June 12 I will be traveling alone till July 20 and was thinking of visiting a ashram practicing some yoga and meditation. Thought of going into Nepal for this but any suggestions would help so much!

I wouldn't miss Udaipur, but that's just me

No idea what it is like this time of year though.

Good luck and have fun!

You must visit South India, especially Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

About ashram, there is 'Bihar school of yoga' in Munger, Bihar. It's an amazing ashram place where lot of expats come for long durations. It's called as a school because they have yoga classes for weeks and months as a part of their courses but anyone who just wishes to live the ashram life, is more than welcome. But one has to confirm with the ashram before arriving there. Do check their website...I have stayed there for about 25 days and I cherish that experience.

Thanks so much!

Hwy!

I'm visiting around the same time (also a first time traveler), and was wondering whether you looked into traveling with another person. Honestly, I am a little intimidated at tackling the Indian summer by myself.

Thanks!

There are many amazing places all around India but the scorching heat of the plains will make traveling very very difficult and painful during daytime. Only hill stations can give some relief to you that too with altitude over 5000-6000 ft. Assuming still Taj is too tempting , visit it with crack of dawn when you can get weather a bit comfortable and less crowd for good photos. To stay fit consume lot of water, juice, fruits and avoid taking spicy foods and don't push yourself too hard. Intense heat often causes sunstroke and even if not , it will take its toll on your body.

Think aout kumbhalgarh/Ranapur, and Bikaner, Mount Abu offers some evening respite from the heat too and is also in Rajasthan.
If you are looking to avoid touristy places then think of dropping Jaipur or Udaipur
And be very aware of the heat in Rajasthan, it being such a dry heat it's easy to overlook just how much fluids you loose by sweating, as it evaporates instantly.

If it all gets too much then head for the hills but choose wisely Indians like to escape the heat too and the schools are on holiday, so there will be masses of Indian tourists at all the larger hill stations, so busy hotels and lots of traffic.

Yes, for a new person it is not quite easy to speculate the severity of heat in the summer months. Certain times ,out of excitement and wanderlust , one feels , somehow I will manage but in reality it gets real real tough to cope with the blazing Sun over your head. I have visited Agra,Khajuraho(MP) in early April , Jaipur in August, Lucknow in late April, Delhi in mid May....... though managed to complete the day on all occasions but it caused immense suffering. Due to strong determination and with aid of glucose, water and juice survived the day, but from the evening and coming day it resulted to severe headache, slight fever and bodyache, loose motion and could not get out of home/hotel. Never underestimate the heat.

Thanks so much for all the replies, greatly appreciated. Yes, I am stressing a bit about the heat and will try stay on high ground:-) Gonna try digest all the info and work something out!

@Hatem, Sounds good to me,If you want we could meet up in Mumbai and see how it goes?

If you are visting Rajasthan, you can find some good ashrams in Pushkar and Mount Abu. But I would suggest you make a trip to Haridwar and Rishikesh, where you will find plenty of ashrams. But please enquire well before you settle down for one.

You can visit Kashmir or you go North east and Visit Arunachal Prades, Assam, Mizoram. Nothern plains will be too hot, dusty in summer. Better avoid the Northern belt. Goa can also be a good option.

For ashram, and Yoga, spirituality, Rishikesh in Uttarakhand is the center but it will hot there. If Summer heat is not the problem for you than you can enjoy the Northern belt.

Yea that sounds great Tihan! Have you pre-booked trains? I haven't yet, and I am a little worried...

Hi Tihan.
Non touristy places?
I did a Mumbai to Delhi trip in March (with a tour company for 15 days). Didn't feel very touristy except the obvious places like Ajanta. Our itinarary was:
Mumbai
Aurangabad (Ajanja/Ellora) (Oops there goes the non touristy places)
Jalgaon (just overnight)
Maheshwar/Omkareshwar
Mandu
Ujjain
Sanchi
Orchha
Delhi

Have a good trip, whatever your plans

Thanks to all of you for the information! Leaving in a few days so getting a bit of an idea where i'm heading..

@ Hatem, I haven't booked any trains yet but have been told that there are some tourist quota's but not 100% sure.