Goa, Diu or Kochi please help

gohome

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the help you have given us to plan our November 2007 holiday to India by allowing us to read this great forum. Now I think I am game enough to submit my itinerary and ask for comments. We are a reasonably well travelled (Asia & Europe) couple in our 50s so not really of the backpacker variety, but still on a medium type budget.

We love the countryside, great towns/cities to wander around, food, food and more food and of course the odd bit of shopping. Here goes:

Delhi 2 nights
Agra 1 night
Bharatpur 1 night
Train to Kota
Bundi 2 nights
Chittaurgarh 1 night (stay at Bassi Fort)
Deogarh 1 night (stay at Deogarh Mahal - birthday present for my husband)
Ranakpur 1 night
Udaipur 4 nights

All of the above by car with driver.

Now comes the problem, I have a love of coastal destinations and would like to spend a few nights (4 or 5) in a great spot with fantastic seafood. Emphasis is on seafood. We are happy to fly and do not like long train or driving distances - 4 hours max per trip.

Where would you suggest? - Goa, Diu or Kochie, or somewhere else!

We will end our holiday with 4 nights in Mumbai before flying back home. Mumbai is important as I was born there and haven't returned for 40 years. I want to see it again and also share by heritage with my Australian husband.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

steven_ber

Hello and welcome to indiamike.com

Will you want to do a backwater cruise?

Diu is probibly out, there are only flights to Diu to/from Mumbai, though I suppose you could get a flight from Udaipur to Mumbai then.....

I've no idea about seafood, it's not really my think, others will advise.

I'm moving this thread to the Itinerary forum.

__________________
.
How to get helpful replies to your transport/Itinerary questions.


Train information.


RAC & Waitlists explained.

gohome

Thanks for such a quick response, I wasn't expecting it.

After all the tripping around in the car we were looking for just one location to 'plonk down'. Kochi seems to have all the ingredients, but as we were in the car on the way down in southern Rajasthan, I thought we could keep going to Diu, but there is not much information on this destination, nor how to get their from Udaipur.

Goa does have my heart as my grandmother was from there and we ate a lot of goan food at home, even in Australia my parents cooked a lot of that stuff. But I am not happy with some of the information I have read on this forum about the Brits etc. We are not party people, usually in bed by 10am.

Answering the question - no backwater cruise, not sure of the mozies, or being stuck in a small boat in the middle of the night.

Also what do you think about the Rajasthan section.

Thanks again.

steven_ber

I'm a little confused, you say "All of the above by car & driver". But you say 'Train to Kota' (there are also trains from Bundi to Chittaurgarh).

Where will the drivers be based?

Other than that, it looks nicely spread out and relaxed.

I wouldn't worry about the Brits in Goa, it's a big place with maybe 50 - 60 destinations, the problem with tourists (including Indian tourists) are limited to a handful of places.

There are a few members of indiamike who can advise you of good places in Goa, as well as Kochi.

I'm guessing your budget for Goa or Kerala is Rs2000-3000 per night per room.

gohome

I have contacted Compass Tours who worked out the Rajasthan itinerary, it was their suggestion for the train trip and I liked the idea as it gives us an opportunity to experience train travel in India.

We pick up the car at Delhi airport on arrival - don't know if the tour company will change drivers in Kota when they collect us from the train station.

Once we reach Udaipur we will be without a car. Just hanging around the city and see the sights with local transport, same for Mumbai and Kochi or Goa or Diu.

Yes, overall I have been working on about Rs3000 + tax per night except for Deogarh Mahal. So far this budget has given us a good room with western bath and air con. In some cases with a view.

Dont' know if I can withhold my excitement until November, if it wasn't so dam hot/rainy in India between now and November I would bring the trip forward.

Thanks for your interest and information.

steven_ber

I'd guess you'll be on the Jan Shatabdi train from Bharatpur (15:48) to Kota (19:40), so the following won't be much help, but it shows the train times from Bundi to Chittaurgarh.

Train 282, Kota 06:35, Bundi 07:18, Chittaurgarh 10:35.
Train 9020A, Kota 09:05, (Bundi 09:18**), Chittaurgarh 12:00.

**Bundi 09:18, this time is wrong, 38 kms in 13 minutes, not on Indian Railways, the time should probibly be 09:48.

EDIT, just noticed your reply, but the above should be useful to others.

rajeev1008

Diu is very relaxed and a great destination for a quiet time in a lovely sea-side place. In my opinion, the best resort in diu is the Radhika. We spent a nice 3-4 days there last Oct. Being a vegitarian, I am not sure about the Sea food quality there. Though I heard that you do get good sea food in Diu - and one of the recommended places was Hoka.

As Steven mentioned, Diu has a flight only from Mumbai. If you want to travel on from Udaipur, Ahemadabad is about 4-5 hours by road. From there Diu is about 375Km- 8 hours on Volvo sleeper buses or 7 hrs in a taxi.

gohome

Thanks Rajeev, I thought the distance between Udaipur and Diu would be too great to drive/train. We are not into long journeys and we don't have the luxury of a long holiday. So maybe I will go back to looking at Kochi and Goa again.

dino2333

I would recommend the Bogmallo Beach resort in Goa for your final 'rest'! The hotel is right on the beach on its own private bay, with several brilliant restaurants - I would recommend Joets or The Full Moon both of which sell the 'catch of the day' caught by their own fishing boats.There are no night clubs so its all peace and quiet at night.